8 replies to this topic

[Monkey]

Hi all.
First off i have made a few small shells before and they sort of went ok :S
Although, they do not pop with the bursting charge i am making, rather, they go fizz and set fire.
NOT what i want lol.

I have tried 2 types of bursting charge,
the first being plain BP

Potassium nitrate: 75%
Pine Charcoal: 15%
Sulpher: 10%

ball milled for 3 hours
Also all the chemicals where 400 mesh or more before they where ball milled.

The second formula i tried was from the PFP database:

Potassium nitrate: 75%
Pine Charcoal: 15%
Sulpher: 10%
Dextrin: +2%

This was mixed with water to form grains then dried.

also made with the same chemicals, does anyone have any idea why the shells do not explode shooting my stars every where, I have also tested both charges on tissue in my garden and they both, have a very slow burn rate.
I just cant get my head around it!

[Bonny]

Hi all.
First off i have made a few small shells before and they sort of went ok :S
Although, they do not pop with the bursting charge i am making, rather, they go fizz and set fire.
NOT what i want lol.

I have tried 2 types of bursting charge,
the first being plain BP

Potassium nitrate: 75%
Pine Charcoal: 15%
Sulpher: 10%

ball milled for 3 hours
Also all the chemicals where 400 mesh or more before they where ball milled.

The second formula i tried was from the PFP database:

Potassium nitrate: 75%
Pine Charcoal: 15%
Sulpher: 10%
Dextrin: +2%

This was mixed with water to form grains then dried.

also made with the same chemicals, does anyone have any idea why the shells do not explode shooting my stars every where, I have also tested both charges on tissue in my garden and they both, have a very slow burn rate.
I just cant get my head around it!

You should start by reading more on this forum. The answers are here. Your powder might still be wet, crappy charcoal,powder grain size..could be lots of things.

Edited by Bonny, 13 November 2007 - 09:03 PM.

[MDH]

Did you not dry using rice grains or "pulverone"?

[Monkey]

No i didnt use rice or any thing in the drying process,
although, today i made a new batch and used 70% alcohol instead of watter and the burn rate was better, but i would still not class it as a bursting charge, more of a lift powder. and yes the powder was total dry, left it for 2 days and 2 nights. was rock solid. but i still have no luck, might be my charcoal.

[portfire]

No i didnt use rice or any thing in the drying process,

I don't think MDH meant actual rice grains.What he was referring to was process know as 'ricing'.

What you need to be looking at is your BP production before shells.I don't want to go into details as it has been discussed indepth already.

Please use the search function,it's all here.Search for things like..ricing,pressing&corning.

dean

Edited by portfire, 14 November 2007 - 06:25 PM.

[cooperman435]

What type is you charcoal and where is it from? this is the first thing that comes to mind.

Is your ball mill efficient? Mine is very good and can make lift in an hour but I still mill it for 6+ to be satisfied with consistency.

What size grains did you make with the +2% dextrin binded Bp? and are you 100% sure they were totally totally dry?

If your bp is fast enough then coating rice crispies in it is the standard UK method for increasing its burst capabilities. Just treat the crispies as star cores and coat them with anything between 2 to 4 times their own weight in bp (the +2% mix)

[W.P]

How about uploading a video of it burning individually (around a gram or so) so that we can help you determine whether it actually burns anywhere near the ideal speed.

[Yugen-biki]

BP is not really good as burst unless the shell is around 8".
If you can't find any other chemicals to use for burst I would recommend more paper on the shells.
A lot of people use a small ammount of flash or whistle to boost the shells. I do that in all my shells even 6" in which I use H3. This is more important though on smaller shells.

[MDH]

That's not perticularly true. For small shells (3/4") I have used black powder. Sometimes for shell inserts I use small cylindrical black powder "salutes" with a layer of charcoal and aluminum with a bit of potassium nitrate on top and a layer of fine black powder on the bottom.