Plastic or paper hemis?

[Thezoranator]

I am trying to decide whether to use plastic or paper hemispheres for my upcoming shells im working on. Tips?

[ollie1016]

I am trying to decide whether to use plastic or paper hemispheres for my upcoming shells im working on. Tips?

I prefer paper, as they have less if an environmental impact than plastic shells, however plastic shells are probably better for beginners.

[psyco_1322]

PAPER PAPER PAPER.....end of discussion.

[schroedinger]

Paper, you need less boster, so will get less problems with stars blowing blind, and like said before less pollution.

 

For a beginner the best way would be to look for the so called nested hemis, as they no nearly no pasting

[nater]

I prefer paper, and I prefer to be on a shoot site where people use paper. Some shoot sites don't allow plastic, especially if you are shooting in a pasture that cattle graze in. My biggest concern with plastic is the shards that rain down on the shoot size after the shells break. You should be wearing eye protection and a hard hat if you are inside the fallout zone, which helps protect you, but the plastic can still hurt.

[Jakenbake]

Go paper and never look back at plastic. The last 2 years I have used plastic. This year I finally took the step to paper. The breaks are so much better and symetrical. Wished I would have never wasted my time with plastic.

[MrB]

Oh god. The people that swear by plastic, wont dare to show up in here. I have to agree. I make my own hemis, and i make em from recycled paper. Ideally one should make them from virgin craft paper, but i'm using what i get delivered home for free, newsprint with advertisements on them. A large part of why is the sustainable environmental factor, even tho i can agree with people that claim setting metal powders, PVC, and poisons on fire in the sky might make it sort of a invalid argument to argue that plastic is an environmental hazard. I also don't use leadshot for cores when making stars...

 

Plastic hemis wouldn't be so bad if they were made of starch. It still wouldn't be good to eat, but it's biodegradable, and not polluting in the same way as refined oil products are. Sadly, i don't think anyone is using bioplastics for shell manufacturing...

B!

[pyrojig]

I swear by plastic. . I had in past made hundreds of shells this way. The one benefit it ease in construction . But as said , it does need a good boost . I was using strapping package ( fiber reinforced tape) to give better breaks. BUT...... After going paper years ago I have to say It is the best way.I can vouch for the plastic being a big concern, as well as fallout. I even find many shells today are a "hybrid" pasted plastic on several of my commercial show. So cleanup can be a headache . It didnt seem right leaving plastic shards and packaging tape fallout on the ground as litter.

I say if your willing to experiment , try both paper and plastic and see for your self. If you fear pasting , you can always buy gummed tape , easier than cutting and pasting your own paper strips .

[Respirator]

I have honestly never tried plastic hemis but paper has the advantage that you can very easily make it yourself. I can typically make 10+ full shells an hour. This can be viable if you cannot buy hemis (my case) or if you run out of them very close to a deadline.

Plastic also seems mode difficult to paste but again, I have almost no experience with true plastic shells so i'll leave that out there for others to elaborate on.

[psyco_1322]

Oh and if you figure in the cost of plastic hemis, the fiberglass tape, the solvent to weld them shut (if you choose), your cost for a shell is going to be 3-4 times more. Plus the headache of plastic being everywhere, leaving behind evidence that does not go away with time and rain. Also as it's been stated already, you can easily make paper hemis for nearly free, and gummed tape will not break your bank.

 

Edit: Another reason! Plastic is just going to piss you off when your shells turn out looking like shit.

Edited May 13, 2014 by psyco_1322

[nater]

 

Edit: Another reason! Plastic is just going to piss you off when your shells turn out looking like shit.

I agree with everything, except this last comment. It is true that the best ball shells I have seen were made with paper or gummed taped hemis, however I have seen some very nice shells made with plastic hemis. I think once dialed in and properly pasted, a practiced pyro can make a great shell with them. Paper is just better for all the other reasons.

[psyco_1322]

I agree with everything, except this last comment. It is true that the best ball shells I have seen were made with paper or gummed taped hemis, however I have seen some very nice shells made with plastic hemis. I think once dialed in and properly pasted, a practiced pyro can make a great shell with them. Paper is just better for all the other reasons.

 

And, I'll agree with that. I've too seen some nice plastic shells, the Westfalls used to make some great 6" ones. I think they have since switched to paper. I was speaking more on a "noob" level, where they will most likely be making rather small shells. I think in the smaller calibers, the thickness of the plastic casings just doesn't allow for good fragmenting, and thus the shell comes out looking like crap. The new comer is most likely going to be disappointed in the results.

[Mumbles]

My feelings on this are that both hemi materials require different methods to get the best performance out of them. The vast majority of information out there is dealing with paper shells, since they've been around a lot longer and tend to be more favored by industry and advanced amateurs. You have to be willing to invest some time, supplies, and frustration into getting plastic to work right. Small shells are harder to get to work right, paper or plastic.

 

I believe the Spanish use plastic hemis fairly regularly. They certainly can make some gorgeous shells.

[MrB]

As far as i know, guys (and girls) that do well with plastic hemies, use that "welding" fluid, and then paste it as a traditional shell. Someone i talked to a while back claimed they made them exactly like the paper shells, the only difference being that they never boosted the burst of a plastic shell, supposedly due to the plastic shells breaking harder on their own. Guess the structure has a higher tensile strength with the "welded" hemis.

I never used plastic my self, as i said before, i elected not to for environmental, and monetary reasons.

B!

[Sparx88]

I prefer paper because it's biodegradable. Thats a popular reason for most who do. Paper shells are a bit more time consuming and require a degree of consistancy and close tolerances. Plastic shells are easier in this instance. The use of methylene chloride to "weld" the plastic hemis is by far the easiest and most effective. It actually softens and melts the plastic on each hemi where applied so when put together you have a near seemless and perfect joint. It also is very volatile (evaporates real fast) so well in fact that in just 1 minute or less the halves are permanently joined and ready to go if you don't want to paste them over. You can in fact do this and with some fiberglass reinforced tape around the seam and cross taped twice. 5 equal length pieces that go all the way around and only overlap 1/4". Just hold the shell fuse side down and tape around the shell in a X, the rotate 1/4 turn and repeat, that's it. The more you tape it the harder the break until ofcourse there is too much tape and the shell will break unevenly and embarrase you

 

I'm in the sign buisness and use Methylene Chloride all the time to bond plexiglass and silvatrim on sign letter faces. It does a superior job.

 

edit-- Instead of me saying to start out on plastic, which is kinda well, lol...Just get paper and learn from there.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Sparx88

[pyrojig]

I have seen both, and feel both have their place. It is a different animal for sure to dial in. As far as preference goes, it seems that I can do them both well( breaks) but like the cleaner breaks and cost of paper. Sometimes the "original " way of doing things just cant be beat.

I like not having to do extensive cleanup for paper products , And have switched over to almost 100% paper shells and inserts, for the last several years of manufacture.

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Plastic is nothign compared to paper. Paper all the way! The performance of paper shells is extremely more desirable.

[taiwanluthiers]

I wonder would it work if plastic hemis are made from celluloid rather than standard plastic? Might be expensive but maybe celluloid will burn up in the air before reaching the ground, if they don't burn up from the lift gases first...

[nater]

Close prox shells are made with something like that. I have no clue on the details, but everything burns up in the air resulting in zero fallout. That is very important indoors and in certain other venues like theme parks.

[Sparx88]

Thats something I have thought about too, a few years back I remember a buddy showing me these clear cellulose rolling papers. I though that would be pretty cool to have clear cellulose shells you can see inside like that. Would be a neat gimmick if not another approach to teaching shell construction.