10 replies to this topic

[pudi.dk]

I'm sick and tired of working with pyro in my bedroom (gasp!). I'm thinking about safety and space for the stuff. It's difficult to work, I litterally hate it and therefore I don't do pyro very often (almost nothing now). Recently I've been planning a nice pyroshop in the basement. It's really nice for working. It's a furnace room with a gas furnace though, do you think it is OK for me to work with pyro there. I'm talking about most things like: mixing chemicals and ramming and such. Not ball milling though.

If it is way too dangerous too work there, my parents won't let me work there, and I see no option but to leave pyro or kill myself

What do you think?

Edited by pudi.dk, 20 May 2007 - 04:17 PM.

[BigBang]

If its anything like my basement, dark/dingy and no ventilation, its not the ideal environment! and secondly a furnace in the same room...not a good idea! Also, in case there is an accident, (not likely i know, 'but'), you have to take into account whats directly above you

[ITCHI]

Dust and open flame of gas furnace are not a good combo also.
Ever thought of doing your mixing and such on the back stoop? Outside.

[pudi.dk]

I'm not sure I would call it "open flame" the flame is inside a metal box. When metal box is opened there is a small glass where a little flame can sometimes be seen. I would call it a closed flame but in case you wouldn't: Bye for now, hope to have more luck with pyro in my next life.

here are a few pics on the furnace:

The motherf*cker:


Can be opened:


Small window where flames can sometimes be seen, not now though:

Edited by pudi.dk, 20 May 2007 - 05:22 PM.

[ITCHI]

Well of course don't kill yourself, it would be a waste of a perfectly good carbon footprint,(inside American joke there) and your video's on youtube are fun to watch so quiting pryo would be a great loss to the hobby.
Btw, that furnace seems closed enough if it's far enough away from the work area. Others may chime in differently.
Good luck on your task.

[Skarphedin]

I'm sick and tired of working with pyro in my bedroom (gasp!). I'm thinking about safety and space for the stuff. It's difficult to work, I litterally hate it and therefore I don't do pyro very often (almost nothing now). Recently I've been planning a nice pyroshop in the basement. It's really nice for working. It's a furnace room with a gas furnace though, do you think it is OK for me to work with pyro there. I'm talking about most things like: mixing chemicals and ramming and such. Not ball milling though.

If it is way too dangerous too work there, my parents won't let me work there, and I see no option but to leave pyro or kill myself

What do you think?

In my opinion you should not work with pyrotechnics in any inhabited building. If you decide to, try to do dusty operations like ramming/screening outside. Dust will easily settle everywhere inside and can cause accidents later. Stuff like charcoal is also very dirty as I guess you have alredy experienced. Also, if you still want to do this try to store finished compositions, devices, and chemicals somewhere else away from your pyro shop (and not in a building where people live!). Try to minimize consequences in case you ever will experience an accident. If you ram rockets, move every finished rocket to your storage area (even if you just ram a few!). Read safety article(s) on Passfire, Fireworks safety manual by Bill Ofca (published on the skylighter site), in Shimizu (Fireworks: The art, science and technique), introductory practical pyrotechnics, etc.

[pudi.dk]

I've thought a little about making something fireproof around the furnace, so when (if) any spark will appear it would be stopped by the fireproof material. And I COULD work with dustclouds outside as well as working with potassium dichromate. There will (if the shop is gonna be) a ventilationsystem of some kind though. I will try to do anything I can to do pyro in the shop as safely as I can rather than quitting.

I would like to know how you (yes YOU) work. Like where is your shop placed, how big and such. It would be a great help for me!

- Thanks!

[c-lab]

I would just like to add on a bit as well. Firstly i used to work in my basement at home. It does get vry dirty when working with charcoal, BP ect.. but the biggest problem is the ventilation. I found that when working with many oxidisers like pot perchlorate it got vry dangerous with hydrogen gas and also things like aluminium particles tend to hang around inside.
The best thing to do is to get a shed outside (as far away from the house as possible ) and do it there.
Hope this helps,
Regards

[al93535]

No matter what you do, that furnace needs air to operate. Air is sucked into the furnace from your workspace. If said air is accompanied by the right amount of ANY fine flamable dust it will ignite, and trace right back into the room causing an explosion. Now insert pyrotechnic composition dust with its own oxidizer. Thats a damn bad combination!

What about using acetone, or any other solvent when making stars or granulating? I know of one guy who was dipping comets into NC laquer/prime, these vapors ignited in just the same way, and there was an inferno! Its really not worth the risk.

There ARE filters available to filter out super fine dusts, I am unaware if its a special setup, or if you can just insert the filter. You should check that out. If you must use the room I would NOT mix, screen, ram or do any other dust producing activity. Perhaps use it just for weighing and storing chems to take outside and mix.

You really should mix and screen chemicals outside, or in a room made for the purpose. an open garage is a good place as well.

[pudi.dk]

Sounds like a good idea. Although a shed is not possible, we simply don't have as big living areas as in US/UK.
We do however have an terrace with pent roof, perfect for mixing, screening as such. Right now we have nice weather, but when time changes it will be cold to do stuff outside, even in the summer! Let's see how all goes..

[c-lab]

Sounds like a good idea. Although a shed is not possible, we simply don't have as big living areas as in US/UK.
We do however have an terrace with pent roof, perfect for mixing, screening as such. Right now we have nice weather, but when time changes it will be cold to do stuff outside, even in the summer! Let's see how all goes..

A terrace would do fine. I must say though going to the hastle of ventilating a room and adding lots of filters is not worth it. You might as well do it outside and when it gets windy going in.