1569 replies to this topic

[karlfoxman]

I wonder if there is a way to get the irregularity of shape out of the tail. I mean a straight line would look much better than this tail that comes from the rotating from the shell.

Is there a way to prevent the shell from rotating?! Maybe to add a type of fire broof barrier tape or something to it?! With projectileas and arrows this method works. So why should it not work with a shell?

Any coments or suggestions?

You could attach a rope to act as drag behind the shell, though the spinning of the shell looks rather lovely as it rises

Sorry i am quick a typing today, too much sleep i fear

[The_Djinn]

As Karlfoxman has said, a rope would work and is used for some specialist shells so that they burst the right way up.. though you would only stop or slow the spin in one direction.

Mark

[karlfoxman]

As Karlfoxman has said, a rope would work and is used for some specialist shells so that they burst the right way up.. though you would only stop or slow the spin in one direction.

Mark

Following on from Mark, the rope could be attached to the very top of the shell and passing through the center of the large comet. This will place the comet on the spinning axis. When fired the shell will turn over and stay that way, any spinning will not be noticed as the comet is in the axis of spin. Hope this helps Paul

[JamesH]

Another method would be to employ a meteor shell. This is basically a shell that has been completely covered with a streamer comp. The coating process is similar to that of star rolling but on a much larger scale.
For a 5" shell a 4" hemisphere set is used and about a 3/8" layer of comp is applied.
I am not sure what shell size is the upper limit for this technique.
A description of the construction of these shells can be found in David Blesers book - Round stars and shells.

[chris17]

Is there a way to prevent the shell from rotating?! Maybe to add a type of fire broof barrier tape or something to it?! With projectileas and arrows this method works. So why should it not work with a shell?

Any coments or suggestions?

A commercial heart brake shell has four down-pointing sticks attached to the bottom of the shell to stabilize the flight and prevent rotation. The shell with the sticks is attached to a wooden platform that has four grooves for the sticks to sink in. The whole shell-platform device is then loaded to a mortar. The platform and shell separate on lift and the sticks stay attached on the shell.

[Mumbles]

I've thought about using this in my ring or saturn shells, but never tried it. I have heard of people using denim strips before. It will hold up to the lift easily. Denim is biodegradable as well.

Edited by Mumbles, 17 November 2005 - 10:29 PM.

[karlfoxman]

I was talking to James H lastnight and he sent me a pic from freakpyromaniacs web site. The picture is a maltese canister shell but the break is fantastic. There is a ring of yellow comets and the pistil is a filled in yellow star surrounded by a filled in blue. We were both wondering how its done, i can only think that the comets are stacked as you would any can shell and the pistil is loaded into one end. There must be a star shaped devide keeping the yellow stars away from the blue stars. Any feedback would be great as this will be a very interesting disscusion. Go look at it if your a member, its one of the recently added pics.

This is it

Edited by karlfoxman, 19 November 2005 - 11:57 AM.

[ProfHawking]

Wow that really is fantastic!
would they have used a card former inside the canister to shape that star?

[karlfoxman]

Wow that really is fantastic!
would they have used a card former inside the canister to shape that star?

I would think they would have to use one, just as the chinese use tissue paper. I am trying to work out how high the stars must be placed, it cant be too deep or you could create a fireblock. Also the stars i think must be quite small to get the dense effect. I really wanna try making one at some point, i think a 5inch would just about do it. I would love to take a peek inside one to find out how its done. The way i have guessed seems to me possible.

[italteen3]

Is that definately a canister shell? I was always under the assumption, read it somwhere, that patterns, besides a ring, could only be done in spherical shells. Karl if you go to passfire they have a few dissections of high-quality pattern shells showing a rope attached to a shell and different methods of putting in and securing a pattern.

Ive seen pics from the FPM website showing LARGE spherical shells. Could have been a big pattern shell.

[karlfoxman]

Is that definately a canister shell? I was always under the assumption, read it somwhere, that patterns, besides a ring, could only be done in spherical shells. Karl if you go to passfire they have a few dissections of high-quality pattern shells showing a rope attached to a shell and different methods of putting in and securing a pattern.

Ive seen pics from the FPM website showing LARGE spherical shells. Could have been a big pattern shell.

I dont believe it is a spherical shell, the ring looks like a clasical cylindrical shell one. Rings can be made from cylinder shells, even the inserts from them come out in a spherical pattern. As for the pattern well i am not sure because i have never seen a pattern from a shell look quite that lovely.

[Frozentech]

I dont believe it is a spherical shell, the ring looks like a clasical cylindrical shell one. Rings can be made from cylinder shells, even the inserts from them come out in a spherical pattern. As for the pattern well i am not sure because i have never seen a pattern from a shell look quite that lovely.

Almost certainly a cylindrical shell, the photo properties gave a name that I forgot already, but it refers to a Maltese Saint's Day celebration, so a Maltese shell. Nothing is beyond those guys. Probably like a 10" or better cylindrical ? They make freaking *huge* shells.

[paul]

Frozentech is right, the Forum?s "description" respectively the pictures title says that it is a cylindrical one.

But I ask myself ONE question. HOW the hell do they get this inner pattern WITHOUT the "hole" usually produced by the break charge?! I mean, the break charge explodes and the stars travel through the air from center on. So why isn?t there a place in the center with no stars?!

Any suggestions?!

[karlfoxman]

Frozentech is right, the Forum?s "description" respectively the pictures title says that it is a cylindrical one.

But I ask myself ONE question. HOW the hell do they get this inner pattern WITHOUT the "hole" usually produced by the break charge?! I mean, the break charge explodes and the stars travel through the air from center on. So why isn?t there a place in the center with no stars?!

Any suggestions?!

I also looked at that, i can only suspect that the stars you see are in one end. If you look close there is a hole in the star, a very small hole. If they were in one end of the shell then you could cut the canule short to miss the stars.

Karl

[paul]

Correct me if i did not get your point!

So you think, the stars are put, together with cardboardliners or whatever at the end of a canister and then are kind of ejected from it and not spread through an "explosion" from the middle?!

If you really think this, I think it is not possible if we take the picture as a source. The outer yellow stars definately travelled the way from the middle away. So maybe there was one shell which produced the inner shape and one shell for the outer ring?!
But theres only one smoke cloud (one break) and so on.

So, WHATS GOING ON THERE?! I?m going mad ):

Edited by paul, 20 November 2005 - 07:04 PM.