flying fish Posted September 26, 2008 Posted September 26, 2008 Just one more final exam left to fail! I mean...er... take and then I'm done with school and back to work! This also means that I can spend my weekends at home playing with fireworks rather than cramming for exams or finishing homework.
Bonny Posted September 26, 2008 Posted September 26, 2008 I just received some new literature in the mail today to add to my "library"... Joel Baechle's Pyrocolor Harmony and David Bleser's Round Stars and Shells.
mormanman Posted September 28, 2008 Posted September 28, 2008 I'm happy b/c I finished building my star roller/ ball mill today. Like a couple hours ago. http://i36.tinypic.com/ounuj9.jpg http://i33.tinypic.com/24ctqut.jpg
marks265 Posted September 30, 2008 Posted September 30, 2008 I do industrial maintenance for a living. I do anything from fixing a water faucet to repairing a CNC machine. Today I was putting away a few caution wet floor stand up signs in the janitors closet. I then noticed our hot water heater was leaking a considerable amount of water. I told this to the other maintenance guy who follows me on nights. His reply was "Yea, I knew about it for about a couple of months". I am so happy because I think it still holds true today that ya "Can't fix stupid!" I swear this guy is a walking box of rocks! I would be even more happier if Ron White and I discussed this topic over a couple of good pours or three maybe!
Richtee Posted September 30, 2008 Posted September 30, 2008 Today I was putting away a few caution wet floor stand up signs in the janitors closet. I then noticed our hot water heater was leaking a considerable amount of water. I told this to the other maintenance guy who follows me on nights. His reply was "Yea, I knew about it for about a couple of months". I am so happy because I think it still holds true today that ya "Can't fix stupid!" Remember- no good deed goes unpunished. Yer a good man.
optimus Posted September 30, 2008 Posted September 30, 2008 I just received some new literature in the mail today to add to my "library"... Joel Baechle's Pyrocolor Harmony and David Bleser's Round Stars and Shells. Some good stuff in Baechle's book, check out the talcum powder formula! Still haven't managed to get around to making those... I'm pretty ecstatic because, after weeks of wrestling with my new grinder and espresso machine in a cloud of steam and coffee grounds, I've finally mastered the art of making the perfect cappuccino! There are quite a few parallels with this hobby actually, particle size, even consolidation, etc, all have a pronounced effect on the end result.
tentacles Posted September 30, 2008 Posted September 30, 2008 Remember- no good deed goes unpunished. Yer a good man. Amen. I had some guy drain his gas tank last night - we can't take cars with gas, they blow up in the shredder - and the dumbass decided that meant running the car out of gas by flooring it (and blowing up the motor). Then it caught on fire! Just retarded.
marks265 Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 Amen. I had some guy drain his gas tank last night - we can't take cars with gas, they blow up in the shredder - and the dumbass decided that meant running the car out of gas by flooring it (and blowing up the motor). Then it caught on fire! Just retarded. I once lived in a town where this guy had a garage for auto repair. He blew it up twice working on gas tanks and then there was a small company next ot me that blew up a part of thier plant when acid when down the drain. More Brilliance!!!!!!!!!!
tentacles Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 (edited) I slapped together some shells today.. 5 in total, all 3" plastic hemi.. 3 were Buell Slow Gold (I really like that formula, big bang for the buck) and one firefly and one chrys #6. I used about 1/2tsp whistle break (red gum granulated through 20 mesh screen). They broke a bit late for the amount of lift I used (although at just the right height), but I blame the carpet tube for being like .25" larger than it ought to be. I think the firefly aren't entirely dry, as I had smoldering lumps coming down - yet they burned fine to start with. The slow gold is a truly *great* formula. My stars were rolled to about 3/16", and that's just about right for a 3" shell, depending on your charcoal. Frank's that he took to PGI were right between 1/8 and 3/16", and they were perfect for a 4" shell. They're not dim stars, either, good bright almost-glitter/streamer star. I'll see if the cell phone videos came out at all and post them later if they did. Formula: Name: Slow GoldSource: Dave Buell Potassium Nitrate 36 Charcoal Airfloat 29 Charcoal, 80 mesh 14 Sulfur 9 Titanium, sponge, 40-80 mesh 7 Dextrin 5 I used... red alder charcoal, I think.. I didn't write it down for this one. For the 80 mesh, I used 100g of 60-100 mesh, and 40g of 30-60 mesh. It's what I had, all I had, of the coarse Alder. The reactive charcoal is probably why I got such a fast burn time compared to Frank's - he used commercial airfloat/80 mesh, I'm certain. Still, I really like them like this. I'm going to be grinding up more tommorow, and making another batch of BP hulls. Edited October 5, 2008 by tentacles
Swede Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Tentacles, you DOG, you bought a WASP?? Somehow I missed that. WOW! Has it arrived yet? Pictures, dammit!
Bonny Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 They broke a bit late for the amount of lift I used (although at just the right height), but I blame the carpet tube for being like .25" larger than it ought to be. Are those the tubes I gave you? I usually have generous shell clearance with mine, but I either add a few layers of paper or up the lift charge. Are you pasting with paste/paper or using tape? i'm curious as to the shell weights and lift charge amounts too...have any details?
tentacles Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 Swede: It just cleared customs today, should be here on wednesday or so. Bonny: Yep, those are the tubes you gave me. I used some of those plastic shells I've got, since I'm still waiting on the paper hemis (they're probably waiting for me now) and I used a generous amount of strapping tape, then 4 14" strips of 1.5" gummed tape to bulk it up a bit. 12.5 grams of lift got the ~140g shells just about to the perfect height. A tighter fit and I'd only need 10g of lift. There was still over 1/4" clearance if you pushed the shell against once side of the tube. I did some testing with a closer fitting dummy shell (cat litter, 150g) and it only needed about 8g to get it to a good height. No 300', but you want to be able to see the break after all.
Bonny Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Bonny: Yep, those are the tubes you gave me. I used some of those plastic shells I've got, since I'm still waiting on the paper hemis (they're probably waiting for me now) and I used a generous amount of strapping tape, then 4 14" strips of 1.5" gummed tape to bulk it up a bit. 12.5 grams of lift got the ~140g shells just about to the perfect height. A tighter fit and I'd only need 10g of lift. There was still over 1/4" clearance if you pushed the shell against once side of the tube. I did some testing with a closer fitting dummy shell (cat litter, 150g) and it only needed about 8g to get it to a good height. No 300', but you want to be able to see the break after all. Although I don't really know how high my 3" shells go, I would guess in the 300' range, which I find good for now anyway. I guess it depends on what size and type of stars are in them. My TT to blue almost reach the ground from ~300' How long was your timefuse delay? I'm assuming riced redgum BP for lift? I use around 15g of very coarse (-4+10) pressed and granulated lift, but some of my shells (like TT)are quite light (~100g) and seem to lose momentum quickly so I add more lift. I am meaning to try lifting a 3" with -10+20 mesh and see how much less I need. I think my (crappy) shell building was the bigger problem before (too much lift the other) which is why I went to coarser lift.
tentacles Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 The timefuse was a tad over an inch, at least the 'active' area between cross matches. Red gum granulated bp, yep. I riced it through 8 mesh screen, though there are some slightly blobby chunks mixed in. They definitely popped after starting to fall, so I'll try trimming them 1/4" or so. Breaks were pretty symmetrical, the chrys #6 weren't large enough, IMO, but the firefly and slow gold were great. SG could have been a touch bigger, next time I'll just mix in 20% slow charcoal and give that a try. I haven't actually timed my shells to determine height either, so height is just an approximation/guess. I shot my dummy shell with 21g of lift the other day, damn thing must have made it to like 500-600'. I'd venture a guess that the live shells were hitting a solid 200', maybe a bit more. I tend to just wing this sort of thing, and do pretty well.
FrKoNaLeaSh1010 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Chrysanthemum 6 is a very fast burning charcoal streamer as you have noticed. If you want them to burn a little longer you could make them a little bigger or try tiger tail. In my experience the tiger tail burns slightly slower with relatively the same effect. That slow gold comp seems very interesting. The formula looks like a charcoal streamer with titanium added. Isnt that effect also known as horsetail brocade or something like that? I know there was a name for comps that were similar to that pretty much charcoal streamer with titanium too.
tentacles Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Frk: Slow Gold is *almost* a glitter, but with a faster charcoal it's got a fuller tail. That tropical hardwood stuff I've got does something interesting when you burn it (like, in a fire) - it sparks and crackles like crazy, even though it's totally dry. I'm going to try some in a formula that calls for coarse charcoal.
Richtee Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 a fuller tail. That tropical hardwood stuff I've got does something interesting when you burn it (like, in a fire) - it sparks and crackles like crazy, even though it's totally dry. I'm going to try some in a formula that calls for coarse charcoal. Have you tried the Cowboy lump Tentacles? When I have used that for Q'ing, lighting it over my propane burner is like a freakin' light show! I'll even get "crosettes" out of it! A chunk will fly out and pop in the air!
Bonny Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I haven't actually timed my shells to determine height either, so height is just an approximation/guess. I shot my dummy shell with 21g of lift the other day, damn thing must have made it to like 500-600'. I'd venture a guess that the live shells were hitting a solid 200', maybe a bit more. I tend to just wing this sort of thing, and do pretty well. I use ~1" of 'active timefuse' too, but I've never bothered crossmatching the fuse inside the shell. 500 or 600 is a little high for 3" I also don't really know how high my shells go, but they seem about high enough... The red gum BP sounds like it's working well for you. I'd like to try some, but I just hate having to change something that has been working for me until now.
tentacles Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Bonny: I could give you a cup of it if you want, it's dead easy to make. I've gotten more PVC as well, another piece of 8", and 3 pieces of 6". I'm going to order some PVC sheet to make end plates out of. Glue on one end, and use wingnuts on the other like I did on this jar I'm using. My experience with BP has been that, as long as you keep the major variable the same - ie the charcoal - granulation has such a small effect that you probably won't even notice it, except that it saves you some time.
Bonny Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Bonny: I could give you a cup of it if you want, it's dead easy to make. I've gotten more PVC as well, another piece of 8", and 3 pieces of 6". I'm going to order some PVC sheet to make end plates out of. Glue on one end, and use wingnuts on the other like I did on this jar I'm using. My experience with BP has been that, as long as you keep the major variable the same - ie the charcoal - granulation has such a small effect that you probably won't even notice it, except that it saves you some time. Sounds like some great mill jars. I'm pretty sure my mill won't turn a fully charged 8", maybe a 6" though...Although it saves on time, there is still the 1 added ingredient (redgum) that I have no local source for. As my BP seems to perform good enough I'd like to save my redgum for stars. I also like the rock hard grains produced by pressing, which can be handled roughly with very little breaking. I have lifted a few shells with dextrin bound riced BP, but it was always breaking up, reducing grain size and really hammering the shells.
Swede Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Needing to measure two separate temperatures for my mini chlorate "factory," I thought about a thermocouple type of meter. I've worked with them, I like the digital displays, and for what I'm doing, the accuracy is fine. Found this on eBay: http://www.5bears.com/perc/tc077.jpg It comes with TWO thermocouples, type K, and will do differential temperature measurements, meaning I can set it up to display T1 - T2, if I choose. I guess what blows me away is the price... $9. Of course shipping is $22 or so, but still, it is an incredible bargain at that price. I don't see how they can sell these and make any profit at all. Just the probes from a place like Omega would be $20. Even funnier, back when I was designing a model turbine controller, I had to buy a special chip (the AD595) to measure the EGT, and JUST THE CHIP was $25. I still had to make the circuit and integrate it into the system. Thermocouples are handy for chemistry, because you can sheathe the probe inside of PTFE, ceramic, whatever you need. Good for hotter processes.
Richtee Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 OK Guys... I found some sponge Ti- 10 mesh. Wht fun can I have? Those salutes with the rings, right...and? WHEEE!
tentacles Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 (edited) Sounds like some great mill jars. I'm pretty sure my mill won't turn a fully charged 8", maybe a 6" though...Although it saves on time, there is still the 1 added ingredient (redgum) that I have no local source for. As my BP seems to perform good enough I'd like to save my redgum for stars. I also like the rock hard grains produced by pressing, which can be handled roughly with very little breaking. I have lifted a few shells with dextrin bound riced BP, but it was always breaking up, reducing grain size and really hammering the shells. I hear you on the red gum, but you can also use NC lacquer - reportedly it makes harder grains (and the RG grains are reasonably hard) and slows the mix less than RG. That IS locally available, although the acetone is a bit costly. Speaking of which, I'm going down this weekend, you want a gallon of denatured ethanol and or acetone? They're about $13 a gallon down there, I think. Methanol here is like $7/gallon at ukrainian tire, though. WASP arrives tommorow. I'm pretty excited. edit: For the sake of those interested, I used about 2 cups of 2.5% red gum / ethanol solution to wet 2lbs of BP. One could also reasonably use 97 or 99% isopropanol, which is very cheap stuff, if you dried it with sieves. Edited October 8, 2008 by tentacles
flying fish Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Finally started working on the optical trapping experimentation at work today, and I finally got my Grandma's Internets working (which is where I am staying while I'm working)! Two exciting things in one day. I got everything for the trapping setup "in focus" so that I could see spheres running through it...Then I saw some MASSIVE spheres....like 80 microns or more running through - some bigger than the microfluidic channel itself. How did this happen? Then I had to smack myself in the head when I realized they were air bubbles! I'm learning though, pretty soon I'll graduate to trapping real erythrocytes instead of artificial ones!
superman1451 Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 (edited) My dad managed to get Al and Mg shavings from the machinists that work under him. Hooray! He's also able to bring home pounds of magnesium block. Now he just informed that they also drill or cut titanium and he can collect some shavings from that too and bring them home. the Al is on the right while the Mg is on the right Edited October 8, 2008 by superman1451
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