nater Posted July 29, 2014 Posted July 29, 2014 Both Lloyd and Mike have used the same phrase, I do not know who said it first. The last time I diapered flash made from blue aluminum, it was rather anemic. I don't think the flame from the spolette was quite enough for good ignition and diapering will never mix as well as screening.
MrB Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I generally try not to explicitly mention this, as you might be able to tell, but I screen all of my flash. It's really one of those things that you need to be shown in person how to do, in order to do it safely. Its really more of a sifting than screening like you would do with a star composition. It's the safest way to mix large quantities of flash powder.I cant help but get flashbacks to Mike Rowe visiting Little Big Shots & Albert... I cant help it, but that is a pretty good representation of how not to do it. Or anything, for that matter. Poor use of air-filtration, no eye protection, banging stuff around, and generally being pretty violent with the stuff. I wonder if Albert ever was scared during the recording... Oh, and btw, did you guys SEE the overwhelming lack of PPE of any kind, not just the one's mentioned above? Anyway... I try to eliminate the need to screen live flash. Most stuff i do doesn't really need it, i can just put it in the shell, and it will mix during handling and transportation. Tiny, tightly timed salutes isn't my artform, so i can get by, at least for now.B!
schroedinger Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I generally try not to explicitly mention this, as you might be able to tell, but I screen all of my flash. It's really one of those things that you need to be shown in person how to do, in order to do it safely. Its really more of a sifting than screening like you would do with a star composition. It's the safest way to mix large quantities of flash powder.Ok, thank you, that sounds a little scary to me (even if i think it could be quite safe if done proper). By sifiting you propably mean you pass the mix through the screen by moving the screen, instead of moving the powder on top of the screen? Propably just interesting if you are making a huge load of small salutes, which would consume a god load of flash.
Andreas1987 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Posted July 31, 2014 I also see the Television Show with Mike Rowe very scary! They screening the Flash and it's a lot!Mike carefully taps on the Screen and ask: to carefull? Albert: yes! Mike taps a bit harder.After that Mike bangs the Screen on the Working Table all is coverd with Flash.Albert said: Oh that's not very carefull.A must see is also when they making Bp coated Rice Hulls! I had to laugh! Interesting to see.It was in Dirty Jobs Season 4 Firework Expert! ;-)
OblivionFall Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 If we're going to look at this in the safety sense, Kn03/Al/S is a fairly safe mixture as far as flash powder goes. If you have tested the miniature salutes with black powder and that isn't as good as you had in mind, you can go to the next level which would be flash powder. Understand that flash powder increases the risk of mutilation/blindness/deafness. I recently made a 5/3/2 Kn03/Al/S mixture with the aluminum being homemade german dark aluminum powder that I milled myself and I have found it to be satisfying and at the same time not extremely dangerous when I tried it with 6 1/4"x 2 1/2"x 1/16" firecrackers in a 3" shell. Like Ollie1016 mentioned, slower flash powder is in some cases better and gives a more pleasing booom rather than a sharp bang. My flash powder was poorly mixed because my gram scale is going wonky so it, when lit unconfined makes a sssSSSSSHHHH and shoots sparks left and right. Even with slow flash powder like this you can still get great results in the small scale or even in the large scale, if flash powder speed is your main concern.
Nessalco Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 FWIW - TPA flash is a lot safer to work with, and works very well in report inserts (and most everything else). Kevin
Bcorso85 Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 I would use 50% P. Nitrate 25% Sulfur 25% Dark Aluminum Make sure the case if rolled thick. This wont work too well for a small insert. I use this formula to break open my cake inserts. I get some spectacular breaks. Safety is always important. However I feel if youre making a small batch, and out side with some light wind, youll be fine. As long as you are respectful and delecate. I don't see the need to be grounded. This isn't 100# of chlorate based flash. I like to leave alittle room in insert for the gasses to expand and do their thing. you might like to look into some antinomy for a different type of base.
jonybravomdp Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 HI!, with the slow flash you will need to put some BP at the center of the shell for a good sound and flash. In the past i did that kind of report, was very nice. If you'll use Spherical Aluminum you'll have a super bright flash.
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