What flash powder?

[hindsight]

BurritoBandito, I was mid-post when there was a server disconnect. No, your foot is not in your mouth, but I was about to post something that was not likely to mediate anything, rather to make an observation.

 

Dragging this thread even further off topic...

 

I love this site for the honesty of people's interactions. A knowledgeable member who will condescend and chastise on this forum, will be a perfect gentleman on Ned's site. No excitement-loving human being would leave this forum unless driven off by Atila himself.

[nater]

Lambent, I did not intend to sound too hostile. I am not always the most tactful sounding when I write. To me, it sounded like your posts were stating that flash is unstable and shells containing it should not be stored. If you meant you are not comfortable storing them, then so be it. I am not one to judge someone for not doing something they are uncomfortable with. Breaking your comfort zone is good for somethings, not so good for pyro or other times your life is on the line.

 

I did not bring up the discussion about firing that shell since you took a pretty good beating on Fireworking and learned the lesson.

[FlaMtnBkr]

Yet Lambent, you are in high school. And it is showing in that last post.

 

My issue is that you, yourself, are a newbie and doing this less than a year. But the way you write, you present things as fact. When they are your opinion or hearsay. You need to say things like "I think", "I read", "I heard", or "in my opinion" to let people know that it is not written in stone fact. Many things you say are your opinion or not exactly right and you give no disclaimer that it is just your take on the subject.

 

Also, I still wonder about your email. It makes it sound like your affiliated with the military when you are 16. I guess I'm just real particular about our military and who claims to have served.

[Jordan]

I am just starting out in the manufacturing of small can shells. I was wondering if you could use rice hulls and some booster in a shell smaller than four inches and still get the same results. This is because Ned (Gorksi) recommends that you use BP rice hulls for 4 inches and up. Thanks.

[Jordan]

Newb question. Wrong area. (facepalm)

[hindsight]

If a fellow really is in high school and can even hold a reasonable discussion with people decades older on a complex subject, then he is to be commended and encouraged. We all require correction from time to time, and we all appreciate being handled kindly.

[nater]

Jordan, yes you can use coated hulls on smaller shells. You might want to experiment with both techniques to see which results you like best. I like to use granulated BP because I always have it on hand and Iike softer, Poka breaks as rocket headers.

 

Ned says he has better bursts with granulated BP and he certainly builds nice ball shells.

 

Edit: I just reread that and noticed you had asked about cylinder shells. Yes, you can use both coated hulls or granulated BP. Most use granulated BP which is the traditional method.

Edited May 8, 2014 by nater

[LambentPyro]

Yet Lambent, you are in high school. And it is showing in that last post.

My issue is that you, yourself, are a newbie and doing this less than a year. But the way you write, you present things as fact. When they are your opinion or hearsay. You need to say things like "I think", "I read", "I heard", or "in my opinion" to let people know that it is not written in stone fact. Many things you say are your opinion or not exactly right and you give no disclaimer that it is just your take on the subject.

Also, I still wonder about your email. It makes it sound like your affiliated with the military when you are 16. I guess I'm just real particular about our military and who claims to have served.

First of all, if you would have read my first post, you'd see that I CLEARLY typed an I apostrohe D, as in what I would do. I never presented anything in fact, all I said was what I would do handling flash.

 

If we're going to get facts straight, please do know I have been involved with Pyro for about three years now, building shells specifically for about two. Not much shooting as building and experimenting, so my shoot skills are a bit lacking. But those things come over time, I have my whole life ahead of me and I can fulfill it with types of Pyrotechnic experience that I haven't learned because of some of my limitations that I am held back upon. With that in mind, I have recently joined a builder's club so I can become legal (besides safety, this is my most prodigious concern) and expand upon everything I do not know such as shoot experience, setting up a show.

 

My experience has grown exponentially from joining sites like Fireworking and not being so close-minded about the learning resources I have right in fromt of me. Even reads I don't believe are relevant, I still force myself to do so because maybe I am able to relate things with Pyro and learn a couple of things. For example, I'll grab a chemistry textbook and see if I can find any information that may not directly help Pyro building, but give me an understanding behind the theory and concepts of Pyro.

 

A bit off topic, but my E-Mail is the way it is because I look at myself with others I attend school with and see a significant difference in my personality with others. I am more respectful to my teachers and substitute teachers, I always tell the truth, I don't go out smoking or drinking, I care sincerely about my grades, I am very intellectual with more hobbies and interests than my fingers and toes can count, and I'm a very hard and diligent worker. I am not saying that everyone at my school is the complete opposite, but I find at least everyone has one or more of the inverse traits that I described above. So what I am getting at is that a Lambent (gleaming/incandescent) Veteran (a person with a unique experience) is a person, in my interpretation, that sticks out from the rest of others; an individual for a lack of a better term, in comparison with the group (those which that conform).

 

I chose this hobby because I could express how I feel in an artistic sensation, at the same time participating in a field of Science that I am fascinated by. A good hard day's work with Pyro gets my mind off things I don't want it to be on, and even though my clothing somehow still smells like Black Powder after being washed or my hands are covered in star comp or dust, it keeps my mind from focusing on miserable things.

 

I know I really went off on a tangent here, but it's a way of opening up to show that I am giving you my trust and undertstanding.

 

Have a good night fellas...

 

Dylan

[psyco_1322]

When I need to get my mind off things, I go screen a couple pounds of flash.

[boule]

I am just starting out in the manufacturing of small can shells. I was wondering if you could use rice hulls and some booster in a shell smaller than four inches and still get the same results. This is because Ned (Gorksi) recommends that you use BP rice hulls for 4 inches and up. Thanks.

 

As nater mentions, your milage may vary especially when using BP for a break charge in small shells. If you have a solid construction and good confinement in addition to fast BP, you will end up with a decent symmetric break regardless of using granulated BP or rice hulls. Granulated BP has the advantage of being a little bit more compact and fitting enough ooomph into the center column of your shells and leave enough room for additional stars. This is especially great for people like me who just make a central burst tube and dump in the stars around it ;-). Now, if you carefully stack your stars and want them held in perfect position, you may just fill the empty space with BP coated rice hulls and compress them a little, thus holding the stars in position. Both approaches work and are completely dependent on a solid stringing to acieve decent burst patterns.

 

Now, if you really want to minimize your shell size, you end up where plain BP won't be the superb choice. Squeezing rice hulls in 3, 2.5 and 2" shells will be in interesting endeavour and the smaller you get, the more important become considerations of space for burst vs. stars. At some point, you just end up with whistle or flash since it takes up less space.