coffman34 Posted July 17, 2013 Posted July 17, 2013 I was wondering if it would be ok to make a 1.75" cannister, and add a section on the bottom for a few stars as a lift mine, and then just increase the amount of lift charge to account for the added weight of the 2 effects. Basically, I'm asking how to combine an ariel as well as a mine into a single cannister.
Mumbles Posted July 17, 2013 Posted July 17, 2013 I normally add the stars to the top of the shell. They look more like a mine IMO, and are shot up higher. If you mix them in with the lift, they tend to sort of anemically flop out from my experience. There is plenty of lift gases around to light everything.
coffman34 Posted July 18, 2013 Author Posted July 18, 2013 So the actual ariel part acts as a piston in a mine shell? Just build the burst shell as normal. Add some stars on top, maybe in a double wrap of kraft paper, and the lift on the bottom, running the fuse like normal?
Mumbles Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 That's the basic idea. I know you specifically mentioned cylinder shells, but for anyone who comes across this later, it is absolutely a terrible idea to do with ball shells. I generally would use a tissue paper bag instead of kraft just to make sure it fully burns away and everything gets lit, but it sounds like you have the right idea.
californiapyro Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 mum, why is it a terrible idea with ball shells?
Mumbles Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 I suppose if they were contained in a bag or something, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. What you want to avoid is getting the star to wedge itself between the shell and the wall of the mortar. This can very quickly lead to flowerpots and other dangerous situations. Ball shells essentially funnel stars toward the wall to wedge themselves in there. It depends both on size of shell and type of star to really assess the hazard.
californiapyro Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 In my experience with this effect in ball shells, the gap around the shell lets gases out at a very rapid rate, "pushing" the stars out of the gap should they start to head that direction. This is the same reason "orientation ropes" don't get stuck in the mortar. Another question to consider is what will happen if the star does get stuck? Flowerpot the shell? I think crushing the star is far more likely.
Excal Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 Could you light the stars by a coil of slow fuse to almost full effect before the lift? That way your pushing lit stars out the tube ahead of the cannister.
Seymour Posted July 18, 2013 Posted July 18, 2013 suppose if they were contained in a bag or something, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. What you want to avoid is getting the star to wedge itself between the shell and the wall of the mortar. This can very quickly lead to flowerpots and other dangerous situations. Ball shells essentially funnel stars toward the wall to wedge themselves in there. It depends both on size of shell and type of star to really assess the hazard. I'm seconding Cali here. The only issue with doing this with ball shells and loose stars is if you want to pull a shell out of a tube without firing it. Then a loose star can jam and make it stuck. This is the reason the stars go in a bag As for them getting stuck as the shell fires, this is news to me and I've done this with ball shells kind of a lot. The lift gases are so good at coughing up these jammed stars that I find the concern a touch amusing. Excal, if your shell has quickmatch running to it, remember that this fills the mortar with fire too, well in advance of the lift being lit. If you're really paranoid you can slit the match whre the stars are, but really just prime everything alright and it'll be fine.
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