24 replies to this topic

[portfire]

Ok,as i'm sure some of you have noticed the forum has been a little slow lately,this i guess is due to the fact that xmas is here (i prefer the 5th if you ask me,anyone ?) or the fact that it's tooo dam cold to do any real work.This has been the case with me,and ive been thinking alot,so i thought i'd throw some ideas around .

Now,at the moment ive been making hummers(when i can) of different sizes,my goal is to have 4 different timed tones in a mine.Anyway,while making a hummer the other week i noticed that the way i make them leaves a recess after ramming the end-plug (yes..i knew it was always there,but thought nothing of it),and thought,why not press a star comp in there.

Here's a pic.I have made one,and fired it earlier.It looked great...


Although ive seen hummers with metal or a color comp,ive never seen this idea.Anyone?

Now after that,i started thinking of what else you could do with a hummer...The best way to describe my idea is with a picture



The idea is that the device is lifted and all you see at first is a star then,hummer and a final salute.....All in one device.

Now on to my third idea.



The idea behind this,is that the device is lifted and after a short delay,the star comp ignites and then the device starts to rotate,creating a ring of color or,have the stars light upon lifting and then rotate high in the air,again creating a ring of colored light.

I will at some point be making these but,if anyone fancies ago,please do,and any comments,criticism,your barking mad,are all welcome.

Thats it really,i do apologize though...i'm poo at explaining things in writing

Merry xmas
dean

Edited by portfire, 21 December 2007 - 08:36 PM.

[pudi.dk]

Wow, seems like a cool insert for a roman candle or cake.
Definitely sounds easier than using a colored propellant for colored hummer, however the the orange sparks from the propellant might be more visible than the star composition... I dunno.

[icarus]

i considered igniting a flare compound solidified with resin in end of hummer punch a hole a little way down tube insert visco so immediatly after flare ignition visco lights other end of visco into fuse hole to fire hummer into air with lit end flare . the big danger is that the hummer lands with a lit flare roaring away . this could be even more exciting than my saltpetre impregnated charcoal raining down from a shell glowing alight down to ground level. Aa large clear test area is needed as your salute rocket disappears into the heavens then falls back to earth as a cabbage shredder!!!

[portfire]

Wow, seems like a cool insert for a roman candle or cake.
Definitely sounds easier than using a colored propellant for colored hummer, however the the orange sparks from the propellant might be more visible than the star composition... I dunno.

Thanx.I couldn't really see orange sparks from the fuse,i used meal+Ti for the star comp,so my eye was on that.I can see what you mean though,using a 'dark fuse' comp should eliminate that.

[dr thrust]

great stuff! how are the hummers coming along dean? and how long before you progress to stage two with the salute

[Mumbles]

The first picture made me think about mines. I think a group of these, maybe 20 or 30 shot into the air would look great. You get the color on the way up, then hummer at the apex. It would be nice if you could time them to start up the hummer just as the color is fading. One trick I have seen to reduce the amount of sparks is to mix in whistle fuel. This is commonly used to give the hummers a shot of steroids. The same could be done with the salute on top of it. It would certainly be a crowd pleaser *PGI competition ideas brewing*

With the second, I have seen devices similar, specifically in the Westech Manual. Generally I've seen it done with two fountains on the outside pointed in opposite directions. This gives kind of a flying saucer effect, and a broad spread. Some sort of glitter composition would be good. Another thing I think would look amazing would be waterfall composition.

[portfire]

great stuff! how are the hummers coming along dean? and how long before you progress to stage two with the salute

There coming along,but slowly.I can't get into the "workshop" as often as i'd like to, so don't know when you'll see "saluting hummers".


Mumbles.I agree,a volley of them would look great.You could also try to complement one effect with another,say chrys#6 as your star comp,then add Al to the hummer comp,so you'll get a charcoal tail with a silver "spinning top".

Timing wise.I think the key here, is having a repeatable process for loading the star comp. Once thats achieved you can experiment with different comps in the end of the tube to get burn-times, and then i was thinking of using the way beraqs are timed, varying the ratio of gum arabic/meal to get the desierd delay.

Hummers on steroids hmm,this gets me thinking.I've been playing around with tones,but i've been using hummers with varying ID's. Varying the ratio of BP/whistle,i should be able to get different tones from one size of case.Obviously,a higher % of whistle=faster rotation=higher pitch,and vise versa.

I wonder,with lots of experimentation, and finally a mine,could you get them to play a tune in the sky.

dean

[cooperman435]

With my hummers I have to use a side fuse so whats the idea to transfer fire from the end of the star comp (inside the tube) to the side vent on the star colour then hummer designs? do you intend to have the external side fuse simply timed to ignite the hummer once the timed star comp dies out?

[portfire]

do you intend to have the external side fuse simply timed to ignite the hummer once the timed star comp dies out?

Yeah,thats basically it,but the problem i see is in loading the star comp.To get accurate timing the loading force of the star comp has to be consistent.The two choices are. 1-Dampen the comp as normal and load as if you were pumping stars.This would be the quickest way,but timing maybe affected due to inconsistant loading force.This would be my choice though,as it's the quickest,and with practice one would be able to get a repeatable (ish) result (0.5-1sec in burn-time would be acceptable i think)..2-Pressing the comp into the void.This way you would get a accurate loading force,but a gauge on ones press would be needed.

Edited by portfire, 13 January 2008 - 04:55 PM.

[pyrotrev]

To be honest, I don't think you need to worry too much about the exact timing, since they take a certain amount of time to spin up and hummers are by nature pretty random and erratic things anyway

Edited by pyrotrev, 13 January 2008 - 07:19 PM.

[portfire]

To be honest, I don't think you need to worry too much about the exact timing, since they take a certain amount of time to spin up and hummers are by nature pretty random and erratic things anyway

LOL,of course talk about going OTT.I suppose if they were manufactured on a commercial scale then you wouldn't be to bothered about exact timing.I do believe though that the hobbyist can produce a superior product,as were not bothered about turnover,and have the time to perfect such items.Oh well.

dean

[pyrotrev]

To be honest if you're using a composition of normal density damped, with binder, as long as you make sure you fill precisely to the top of the cavity with no voids I don't think there will be much variation in burn time. Dry pressed stuff does have it's burn rate determined somewhat by loading pressure, but then we're talking of tons per square inch (which might knacker your hummer )

Edited by pyrotrev, 14 January 2008 - 01:27 PM.

[cooperman435]

I make salute inserts exactly like that.

I use veline compositon but only slightly dampen it with acetone so its still loose and wont clump on its own then ram a predetermined depth into a tube leaving a void at on end and it flush at the end (the bottom when ramming) timing is easily achievable to the .1 of a second. I then fill the void when there dry with flash and seal the top off with pasted paper then prime th bottom with slurry and granules.

if the comp is too wet it shrinks and causes them to bang on launch but this wouldnt happen to yours as they have a seperate fuse to the bp propellant.

[portfire]

Thanks for all your input guys.I've started work on something for the meet in march,but you'll just have to wait (may as well create some suspense lol)

Oh,and the two people who know,keep it shut

Dean

[dr thrust]

hmmm,how much $$$ to keep my gob shut?