Ventsi Posted November 2, 2009 Posted November 2, 2009 Well I just got a job at a local Papa Murphy's , doesn't get much better than that right now. I think some Wolter tooling might be in order.
BigBang Posted November 8, 2009 Posted November 8, 2009 Got my class B shooter today. Almost legal pyro woo!
Twotails Posted November 9, 2009 Posted November 9, 2009 Just made a bunch of bamboo Charcoal, and a bunch of Hemp charcoal. Funny thing was the first batch of Bamboo I Swear to god, was compleatly out, cool, and purdy. I transferd it to a cookie sheet, placed it on an outdoor speaker(Yay!), went off to make the Hemp batch, smelled charrded plastic, ran over to the speaker, and somehow, it re-lit its self. It wasent too bad, Nothing could have burned around it exept the speaker. The weird thing was, the charcoal WAS cool for a good 15-20 minutes BEFORE i took it out of the can. I guess there must have been a coal in there somewhere, and the light wind made it light the others. Hmm, no biggy, speakers fine, the only bad thing was, the first batch was reduced to ash..... Hmm, the next batch i let sit in the can for a good 2 hours, that seemed to work.
Ralph Posted November 9, 2009 Posted November 9, 2009 i lost a 44 gallon drum full of apple once after having it sitting in water(the drum not the charcoal) for 3 hours i assumed it would be fine to open up and i thought there were no coals but it light up
Twotails Posted November 9, 2009 Posted November 9, 2009 That sucks, Personaly i only make(as of now) enough to try out, a large coffiee can full at a time. that way, i dont waste it(if it re-lit) and i dont have to worry toomuch about storage.
TheEskimo Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 I make my charcoal in a soup pot.....I think its a gallon or so.And on the happy side of things..... I just finished my 60 notecards, properly cited in APA format, for my senior project. They were due today, but we upload them to a hosting site, so as long as the date says that I uploaded on or before Nov 10th, I'm OK with the teacher. Good night
KruseMissile Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 Just got 3 one gallon jars from dapaki. Awsome quality!!! I'll have to take pictures!
TrueBluePyro Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 Im loving life at the moment and it is the end of term and there are assignments and exams to be done.
scarbelly Posted November 12, 2009 Posted November 12, 2009 I just found an old fill in the blank diary that I wrote when I was "P E/4" years old. I think the p was a backwards 4 and the E was a backwards 3. Anyways, it made my day. One of the fill in the blanks was "My favorite sandwich is _______" And the word I inserted was "butter" Another sample was "The funniest thing that ever happened to me was _______________" I filled in that blank with "When I dropped the toothpaste on my leg"
Swede Posted November 12, 2009 Posted November 12, 2009 I just found an old fill in the blank diary that I wrote when I was "P E/4" years old. I think the p was a backwards 4 and the E was a backwards 3. Anyways, it made my day. One of the fill in the blanks was "My favorite sandwich is _______" And the word I inserted was "butter" I hope you don't mind, your story reminded me of my dad, who passed on about 10 years ago. He taught himself the ability to hypnotize. My brother and I would watch him do hypnosis at parties and such, and it seemed bogus, although the people he hypnotized certainly thought it was the real deal. he always said "I'll hypnotize you when you're old enough." So when I was 17 or so, he agreed to hypnotize me. Did the count backwards thing, all the standard hypnosis stuff. The whole time I'm thinking "I'm not hypnotized. It's not working." He took me "back in time" to my first grade class. Then he had me write my name on a piece of paper. I'm holding the pencil, thinking I'd whip my name right out, and my hand wouldn't work. I managed to print my name in big, blocky kid letters. Then he brought me out of it. In his desk drawer, he has an old paper from my real first grade. When we compared the printed names, they were identical! It was truly one of the oddest things I've ever experienced. I wish I still had the papers.
scarbelly Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Haha no I don't mind at all. That actually is a pretty crazy story. I've always been skeptical of hypnosis, and I think it would be really awesome to be hypnotized and change my mind It's interesting that you were perfectly aware of what was going on but unable to function normally...
Seymour Posted November 15, 2009 Posted November 15, 2009 I have 300g of brocade stars, and 500g each of silver, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue and purple stars drying. Add to that 1.5kg of rough powder drying. Having 1.5kg BP and 4.3kg stars drying makes me a happy person.
MilkyJoe Posted November 15, 2009 Posted November 15, 2009 Got plans for a decent new years show, Seymour? Very tempted to come and watch! hah
scarbelly Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 (edited) Finally finished my first round shell! Can't wait to show it off. Gotta make some other 'works for this weekend though... Edit: Actually It's pretty much my first shell ever, I made a quick can shell not really expecting it to work, so I didn't try very hard, and put in on top of a rocket that catoed. And so it exploded only like 15 feet into the air... And it didn't really work. On another, slightly more disgusting note: I just saw a video of the most awesome maltese fireworks show, and I practically orgasmed... Edited November 16, 2009 by scarbelly
dagabu Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 On another, slightly more disgusting note: I just saw a video of the most awesome maltese fireworks show, and I practically orgasmed... Sounds like 4F? Speaking of the past, I was cleaning the garage yesterday (I will accept all sympathy ) and I found two bowls of coated walnut shells for cleaning brass and decided to bag it up so it wouldn't spill and as I took them out of the container they were sitting in I found a pound of pine charcoal I made (still in sticks) from 1997!! I cant wait to crush it and compare it to what I make now. D
TheEskimo Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Hooray for scarbelly. Get past the theory, and apply your knowledge. Daga, how are coated walnut shells used to clean brass?And I am happy, because my newest batch of BP is my fastest ever (7 hour paulownia. Gives a thump just like FP, without corning or sieving) Shells, and rockets, heres wes comes.Anybody use Ping-Pong balls as small casings for firecrackers? Fill 'em w/BP, and tape 'em shut. They explode with a good report, and fly into the air with big orange flames shooting out.
scarbelly Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 I don't know what 4F is, and the youtube video doesn't make any mention of anything called 4F... Here's the link if anyone wants it: Haha charcoal from 1997? I was only 4 years old then! That's really quite a find. Thank you Eskimo, I've been pretty lazy recently, so I'm glad I finally got around to making it. I probably should have done a bit more testing beforehand, but I'm fairly confident. My biggest worry is that the stars are too big, and that there won't be enough burst... But whatever, I'll find out soon enough! Damn, congrats on your BP - that's fast!
TheEskimo Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 TY, scarbelly. BTW, that vid is awesome!Oh I'm so happy, oh so happy...lol. A very pretty lady friend of mine is enthusiastic about coming over and trying her hand at some shells or rockets. And it doesn't hurt that she is having boyfriend problems...... Just went to a movie night w/her and some other friends.Anyways...suggestions? I'm thinking a fountain or two, a mine, a rocket w/salute, and perhaps some ball shells w/ blue, red, D1, and/or Ti streamer. And, of course, a cremora fireball. Perhaps I'll try the 5 gallon version...
Ventsi Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Just try not to go too big and scare her/anyone else. Even if something did go wrong , and it likely will [fireworks wise] I'm sure she'll still appreciate it. Let her make a ball shell and launch or such, my friends really get a kick out of seeing something they made go up.
scarbelly Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 (edited) I'd say definitely do things you can pretty much finish up and use on the spot. Nothing that requires long periods of drying. So have your stars premade and such, and of course if you decide on ball shells, you should probably do plastic (if you have them) otherwise canisters might be a better option. From my one shell's worth of experience, I've learned that pasting is a bitch, and I doubt she'll be turned on by it . Most of this I'm assuming you already thought of. Definitely a cremora; those are very easily gratifying - especially to the "unaffected". They also may be a little too easy and she'll think that you're trying to give her "simple tasks" if you don't do something else with her also though. Don't forget that we as pyros have a different appreciation for fireworks than other people. But yeah, basically all the things you said sound like good ideas - they're relatively simple and not too time consuming, and they will produce gorgeous results. I'm pretty sure I didn't really provide any information you didn't already know, but it's information nonetheless. Good luck with your endeavors! Edited November 17, 2009 by scarbelly
Seymour Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 I have 300g of brocade stars, and 500g each of silver, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue and purple stars drying. Add to that 1.5kg of rough powder drying. Having 1.5kg BP and 4.3kg stars drying makes me a happy person. Nah, just to fire before then. I might not even be in NZ for NYE. I might be on a plane. Speaking of which, I just got my UK work visa accepted! Eskimo, I'd put my weight behind mines. They have a very good effort/effect ratio going on. if she's even more interested as a result, you can diversify. Scarbelly, I can give you a number of cases where girls loved pasting. Oddly, it has always been what people wanting to 'make fireworks' have been keen on. As for your experience with pasting that shell being bad, perhaps you need to refine your technique. I keep seeing people labouring away with fancy pasting techniques on small shells. For example, using twenty five strips per layer on a 3" shell, in three different sizes to stop it over lapping at the poles. I just use two strips of paper per layer replicating the tennis ball pattern. So long as you leave your pasted strips of paper stacked somewhere to soak for half an hour (half an hour of you doing anything you want), it will be soft and pliable, making such large pieces of paper lay flat. Rotate your pattern around, and you'll get an even shell casing, in only a few minutes per 3" shell.
Arthur Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 Eskie, Who's a lucky guy doing the pickup over pasting shells. -You'll have her making pattern shells soon, Hearts!
TheEskimo Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) Meh, Arthur--no pattern shells. My dad's afraid that the local constable is gonna haul his butt off to jail for shooting off one or two three inchers. Silly PA laws on aerial devices. ATF says that I can make and shoot off my stuff on the same day. You should see the neighbors come the 4th.Maybe I'll save my money, and we'll come bunk with one of you guys at the PGI Conv. Too bad there aren't any clubs near where I live.....No one wants to live in the boondocks of NorthEast PA. Edited November 18, 2009 by TheEskimo
Mumbles Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 There is a PA pyro club, although they might not mean at what you consider close. I have to drive around 3 hours for every shoot, and that is almost nothing compared to what some people do. I've heard 10+ hours drives regularly for people in the Crackerjacks.
scarbelly Posted November 19, 2009 Posted November 19, 2009 Seymour, that's probably what I did wrong... I didn't soak them enough, and getting them to stick took a lot of rubbing in. Well, you learn from experience! Thanks for letting me know.And it's interesting that pasting would bring such a crowd, I mean I guess making fireworks couldn't be TOO easy, or it wouldn't be fun.
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