1569 replies to this topic

[SwissTony]

Cracking stuff Pudi.
Very good tutorial.
I hope to start making my own soon, Just want to perfect my BP first.

[pyroman89]

Very nice tutorial. I will hopefully get good shells just need to make better BP and e-matchs.

[paul]

Second that! Great tutorial, all steps well illustrated and explained!
The hobby needs more people like you who take this hobby so
serious!

[sasman]

Yes that is a very nice tutorial..Also very nice shell!!..

[pudi.dk]

Also made a small tutorial on wheat paste:
http://www.pyroguide...tle=Wheat_paste

[ultrabuf]

I just finished my first 3" shell today, just waiting for the glue to finish drying. I used rolled Chrysanthemum of Mystery stars, bp on rice hulls for burst, a 1 gram booster of a 50/50 flash/bp mix. The flash was just 50/50 KNO3/Mg, I don't want to waste what little perch I have left on flash. The shell weighs around 116 grams, I used 12 grams of lift. Some of the stars probably cracked a little bit, I had a little trouble closing the shell. I used plastic hemis, I spiked it with fiberglass tape and I pasted about 5 layers of recycled kraft with elmers glue over that. I'll probably shoot it sometime in the next couple days, planning on getting a video. Theres a picture of it on my post at APC if you wanna look at it, its down near the bottom. http://www.apcforum....s...102&st=1140

Edited by ultrabuf, 31 July 2007 - 07:58 PM.

[ultrabuf]

Here is the video.

You cant really see the stars, but they looked really nice.

[Pretty green flames]

Hey everyone

Here are a couple shells I fired yesterday.




Cheers

[Wyvern]

I have been making quite a few shells lately and have found that when they burst they are incredibly loud i use a 2g flashbag surrounded by bp coated rice hulls for the burst for my 3" plastic shells, does anyone have any ideas about making them a little quieter

[pudi.dk]

Less flash? Whistle mix? KP?

Edited by pudi.dk, 20 August 2007 - 01:24 PM.

[BrightStar]

Yup, less flash, more whistle

To be of any use as a booster, the whistle chems should pass 100 mesh and if using sodium benzoate, dry before use. Granulate the mix with wax etc as described elsewhere to keep it consistent with time.

With 3" plastic ball shells with light pasting: 3:1 BP on corn cob = phut (OK for falling leaves), + 20% whistle booster = pop (a good break for glitters etc), + 2-3g flash = bang.

With 4" paper shells, whistle boost gives me a nice deep boom that could be mistaken for a distant clap of thunder... the added bonus is the generally better star ignition. For 4" plastic, ask Sasman!

Edited by BrightStar, 20 August 2007 - 02:22 PM.

[maxman]

Brightstar, whats this about granulating whistle with wax? I couldn't find anything on it. I tried a small pile of loose whistle a while back and didnt think it was fast enough for a break so I dried my sodium benzoate in the fan oven on 75 for an hour then 100 for another 1/2 hour. I've just milled it for 9 hours and milled the perc also for 9 hours. I'm gonna try a mix of a few grams this week although I dont know if the benzoate will require drying again. I was thinking about 5 grams along with my 5:1 meal crispies and just throw in, or will a flash bag be better?

[BrightStar]

Hi Maxman, at first I just used raw sodium benzoate / perc in a small cling-film (sandwich wrap) bag dumped in the centre of the shell. This didn't really add to the burst and the bag blocked the flame propagation giving an uneven break. The next step was drying and grinding the benzoate in a pestle and mortar and getting rid of the bag. Much better, but in the British climate it just degrades as it soaks up moisture. The whistle mix rocket fuel recipes I've seen involve first drying and grinding to at least 100 mesh, mixing it with vaseline or paraffin / candle wax in solvent, adding a bit of iron oxide catalyst, drying to a soft dough before granulating through 15 mesh and fully drying. There are lots of recipes for this kind of mix here on the forum.

This granulated and phlegmatised 'pink whistle' is stable to moisture over many weeks if kept sensibly, and less static and shock sensitive than the raw stuff. You can just sprinkle it in to your BP burst as needed. Unconfined, granulated 'pink whistle' burns like slowish BP, but with the slightest pressure build up it goes bang. I made up a batch of outdoor theatrical squibs with the stuff a few weeks ago - just half a teaspoon of granules in a 6mm * 40mm cardboard tube with an e-match. Believe me, they leave you in no doubt of its power as a booster

Edited by BrightStar, 20 August 2007 - 04:23 PM.

[maxman]

Lovely, Thanks for that Brightstar, Have you any vids of the whistle burning loose at all?

[sasman]

Here are 2 more shells it was very windy last night ..not sure how windy it should be before NOT firing shells?..The video says willow but it was tigertail to buell purple..and tigertail 2 flashcore..4" plastic shell from skylighter..left glue to dry about 4 hrs same for the 6" gammon..

The break was so big on the 4" shell i thought i had fired the 6" first by mistake..The purple was very nice it is not very good on video tape..The 6" had a handfull of blesser white strobes in the burst charge..the camera didnt catch them very well.. but I was very pleased with them.they burn way to fast so will make them bigger next time..My girlfriend moved further away for the 6" i would say about 100 yds and it still wouldnt fit in the shot!..

I had made some buell red cores but when i tested them the prime was not hot enough to light them .. so wasted a batch of those..That is the first & last time i make that error!!..I am just making a small test rocket to try some D1 glitter crossettes that i will fire tonight..

Edited by sasman, 25 October 2010 - 09:34 PM.