24 replies to this topic

[concept]

Hi everyone I’m trying to build up a small collection of standard firework memorabilia from their last 10 years or so of British manufacture; I’ve already got a few (empty) boxes and a brochure from this period but quality stuff on eBay is rare. I also wish to "reverse engineer" some older fireworks to find out commercial manufacturing tricks or techniques which old companies may have used. For this I will require some "lives", I hope to put my findings up on the forum along with some pictures. If anyone can help me out I’ll be at the kimbolton factory visit. Brochures, dummies or live items, I’ll consider anything so just PM me.

Thanks all Doug

[fruitfulsteve]

Hi everyone I’m trying to build up a small collection of standard firework memorabilia from their last 10 years or so of British manufacture; I’ve already got a few (empty) boxes and a brochure from this period but quality stuff on eBay is rare. I also wish to "reverse engineer" some older fireworks to find out commercial manufacturing tricks or techniques which old companies may have used. For this I will require some "lives", I hope to put my findings up on the forum along with some pictures. If anyone can help me out I’ll be at the kimbolton factory visit. Brochures, dummies or live items, I’ll consider anything so just PM me.

Thanks all Doug

I know someone that has some standard 'ground mines' !!

[Mortartube]

Although I don't want to get rid of them. I have a Standard centenary shop poster and some of the big card dummies (Unmade) that went in the shop window. I will try to get some photos on here sometime. I also have a black background Brocks poster from when they were at Sanquhar.

I went to Standard in the good old days. Many of the small squat fountains were filled upside down with slow burning compostion (It was loose not pressed. The touchpaper was already twisted).

The tubes were put in a wooden hexagonal frame and a large funnel with lots of spouts (One over each tube) had the powder in. This was shaken by hand to fill the tubes. Then coarse sawdust was drawn over the tubes. A wooden paddle with 2 handles (Like a stoolball bat with handles opposite each other) had the right number of wooden dowels on (One for each tube). This was used to press the sawdust into the bottom of the tubes. Finally red resin was squirted into the tubes to seal them from a nozzle. The nozzle looked a bit like a metal ballpoint pen barrel and was connected to a plastic tube. I didn't see the resin tank that was outside of the building.

I think the fountains were made a gross at a time (144 fountains per operation).

The devil amongst the tailors had a wooden jig that clamped around the mine and candles to hold them in place. These were then taped on (probably glued as well). They stayed in the jig to be matched up. The match was already cut to the correct length and already had the holes in the piping at the right place. The match was held on with tape similar to PVC insulating tape but shinier.

Small Roman candles (About 18mm) were filled and rammed by hand. The girls would put in the delay comp, then a piece of torn touchpaper to ensure the star lit, then the lift and so on until the tubes were filled. These were also done upside down in bundles already touchpapered.

The small fountains were tested in a brick building not far from the main entrance gate. At one end was a big iron box full of sand if I recall. About waist height. Above it was a cowling that housed an extractor fan. The fountains were put out in the sand and lit once the fan was on.

Some candles I saw had a piece of white tissue paper wrapped around the star. This had two parallel lines of BP (Probably made up with gum Arabic) painted on it to ensure ignition around the star to the lift charge.

It was around this time that their rockets introduced flash burst instead of a BP burst as the dfference was demonstrated between the two.

They used to test all noisy items between set times on a Friday afternoon if I recall correctly.

This would have been about 1987 to 1988. I hope this helps in your investigation into the methods used.

Edited by Mortartube, 24 May 2009 - 02:45 AM.

[Mortartube]

As promised some Standard point of sale bits. All from 1992 except the Centenary poster from 1991.

http://s454.photobuc...M...991 - 1992/

[concept]

Thanks for you're very interesting and detailed reply mortartube, you're lucky to have visited while the place was still operational, of course it's all been demolished now. Did you ever get a look at how the air b***s were made, I was always fascinated to how they made them with out visco. A member of the forum did his work experience there back in 2004 and was given a guided tour of the derelict factory along with some old tools. I'll put the pictures of these up along with some rocket motors being pressed in the early 90's and the demolition of one of the sheds.

http://pyrotechnics....es/img_0854.jpg multi-press and loading board?
http://pyrotechnics..../img_0857_2.jpg Roman candle jig
http://pyrotechnics..../img_0858_1.jpg Roman candle jig 2
http://pyrotechnics....es/img_0860.jpg Rocket spindel and tools
http://pyrotechnics....manufacture.jpg 4oz Rocket pressing
http://pyrotechnics....nufacture 2.jpg 4oz Rocket pressing 2
http://pyrotechnics....ure fusing .jpg 4oz motors being fused with PIC
http://pyrotechnics..../andy75 (2).jpg Shed demolition
http://pyrotechnics....andy75b (2).jpg Shed demolition 2
http://pyrotechnics....de75(1) (2).jpg Shed demolition 3

[Rip Rap]

Did you ever get a look at how the air b***s were made, I was always fascinated to how they made them with out visco.

I presume you mean the aerial report itself? If so, this is a reply I gave to a similar question on another forum -

All of the Airb**bs that I have seen, the actual "b**b" bit was a card
tube, plugged with clay one end & a delay comp pressed in the other.
This delay comp was formed with a cone shape pressed into it on the
inside, so that as it burnt through, it would burn to the apex of the
cone, then flash into the burst charge, while still providing
confinement. The burst charge was flash powder made with bright
aluminium.
Alot of the later ones were simple side fused into the lift charge,
but the earlier top fused, blue touchpaper ones, had a delay comp in
the top of the mortar. This burnt down to the "b**b". Wrapped around
the projectile was paper quickmatch (for want of better description)
- basically this was 2 pieces of paper, pressed together with 2 trails
of B.P. between them. This "quickmatch" flashed around the projectile
to the B.P. lift charge.

The full thread is here link

EDIT - As I didnt describe it very well, I have uploaded a pic of the passfire "quickmatch" tape that was wrapped around the b**b. It transfered fire from the delay comp above the b**b, to the B.P. lift charge below it.

Edited by Rip Rap, 25 May 2009 - 07:52 AM.

[dr thrust]

fantastic! ive always wondered how confinement in the salute was achieved especially with the delay burning away, the cone shape pressed into the delay is shear brilliance, the simplest ideas are always the best

[Mortartube]

Concept. your loading board in the first image listed is of exactly the same design as that for pushing the sawdust into fountain tubes, only it had more dowels.

On recollection, my quote of the number of fountains filled at one time may be incorrect. I believe that IS one of the dowel boards for squat fountains such as the smallest in this box selection.

http://www.wf.net/~l...tandardpack.jpg


Also Rip Raps picture of the white paper passfire is exactly the same as I was trying to describe in my earlier post.

Edited by Mortartube, 25 May 2009 - 10:33 AM.

[concept]

Rip Rap I can assume from the passfire quickmatch that you have done some firework dissection yourself? If you have taken unit measurements/powder weights would you kindly share . Also I would like to build up a sort of old firework effect library to help people reproduce the old effects, from this I would though experimentation come up some formula that could replicate the effects. If anyone has any videos of old stuff being set off it would be brilliant as we could have something to compare with. On the Kimbolton visit maybe Rev Lancaster could help out as he himself worked for Standard and surely has some formula.

Any help would be much appreciated Doug

[Rip Rap]

Rip Rap I can assume from the passfire quickmatch that you have done some firework dissection yourself? If you have taken unit measurements/powder weights would you kindly share . Also I would like to build up a sort of old firework effect library to help people reproduce the old effects, from this I would though experimentation come up some formula that could replicate the effects. If anyone has any videos of old stuff being set off it would be brilliant as we could have something to compare with. On the Kimbolton visit maybe Rev Lancaster could help out as he himself worked for Standard and surely has some formula.

Any help would be much appreciated Doug

Hi Doug,

that was taken from a unit I "investigated" about 20 years ago. However, when I was looking for that passfire to photograph, I also found a tube with no label or touchpaper, which may still have its contents. It is definitely a Standard "Supersonic Bang" / "Airb**b" (as you will be aware, they were the same thing). I will check later today whether it still has its insides. If it does, I will get some measurements & weights for you.

EDIT
Before I start, let me say that this "autopsy" was carried out wearing protective equipment & well away from others.

OK, here we go -

Standard Air B**b

Date of manufacture – approximately 1989



Overall length = 12.3cm
Tube length = 8.6cm
Tube OD = 2.3cm
Tube ID = 2.1cm
The method of assembly would be to invert the tube, so I will dismantle it this way.

Upon removal of the plastic spike, a white paper end plug is revealed. The purpose of this end cap is to hold the lift charge below the aerial report. It is a push fit & not glued in place.



Behind the end cap is a small tissue bag containing 1g of medium coarse B.P. lift charge.



Next is the aerial report unit itself. As you can see from this picture, a flat paper, quickmatch passfire system is wrapped around it to transfer fire from the delay comp to the lift charge.




The unit itself –
Tube length = 2.9cm
Tube OD = 1.7cm
Tube ID = 1.2cm
Complete weight = 5.13g

A delay comp is pressed into one end, while a paper plug seals the other. The delay comp is pressed with a cone shape on the inside (sorry – couldn’t get it visible on a pic) but the thickness of the comp at the edge from the bottom of the tube is 1cm, while at the centre is 6mm. Obviously the comp burns through this 6mm before breaking through at its centre into the flash comp.



The flash is dark al & weighs 1.38g.

Above the report unit in the tube is the initial delay comp.



This is pressed solid & extends 2cm into the tube. The total weight of the delay comp is 4.1g.

I hope this is useful to you Doug. It would be great if you, or anyone else could find out what the formulas were for the delay comp in the report unit & the firework tube itself. They look different - ie the same isn't used in both. As you say, maybe the Rev could shed some light on this. Please let me know if you find anything out .

Edited by Rip Rap, 26 May 2009 - 10:54 AM.

[Gavin]

Thanks Rip Rap, that really took me back! I can see the display cabinets now. The ones with delay comp were great. Bubble, fizz, splutter, the anticipation, then phut... kablam! just great.

[Mortartube]

Although I don't have the formula for the initial delay comp, I know that a numer of this type of item had some woodmeal in the mix to cheapen the comp. I suspect many were just a BP comp with excess charcoal to slow it down.

Edited by Mortartube, 26 May 2009 - 12:43 PM.

[concept]

Fantastic RipRap! I appreciate that you had to sacrifice one of your collectables to help us all understand how the classic Air B**b was constructed. The simplicity of the delay on the flash unit is genius, I assume Star shell's and similar fireworks would have been constructed in the same way? Maybe some others could follow Rip Raps example and take apart a double which they may have? I think our best bet is to ask the Rev about the compositions, unless anyone on this forum worked for any of the old companies. There must have been a sort of formula book that each company must have had, maybe Standard still has there’s in their archives?
Thanks again Doug

[pyrotechnist]

Looking at the picture of the delay mix it would seem that they used clay with black powder mixed in but I am probably wrong.

By anychance is the delay comp of the unit touching the touchpaper for initial ignition?

Edited by pyrotechnist, 27 May 2009 - 09:52 AM.

[Mortartube]

I reckon that red stuff is woodmeal. (Small darker brown lumps). Raw saltpetre (Hence the lumps), and a little BP. Also some red gum or Accaroide resin.

Edited by Mortartube, 27 May 2009 - 10:17 AM.