60 replies to this topic

[Jerronimo]

Yes I think muse should have won, they realy are great

[Rhodri]

Hint.....hint.....can we keep this on topic please? I was very tempted to move this reply to the general chat and discussion forum.

Thanks

[BurlHorse]

Oh i dont know, i suppose im going to actually have to make one in an attempt to prove you wrong.... hehe. Might make in 3 inch bah, its too hot to think.

-Matt

Kewl, Make it a three incher, more worms, and don't forget to invite lots of ladies to your grand opening.....hehehehehe

Yea, typical yankee humour, cept I'm a southerner, That spelled R_E_B_E_L,

Please post pics, I'd love to see em!

Regards, Stay green...........NA...

Bear

[bernie]

So the UK guys don't get the wrong idea Bear........Southerner/rebel does not equal racism. "It ain't hate, it's heritage."

[BurlHorse]

Amen.........

Bear

[Stuart]

I have now recived the picture by Phoenix. Follow the picture site link in my sig and look in his folder

Stuart

Edited by Stuart, 19 February 2004 - 07:52 PM.

[Phoenix]

Many thanks to Stuart.

The picture shows better than I could describe how the crimp is made and held in place. The rocket in the picture is an endburner. Made like this with the propellant I posted earlier they are very sluggish, but straight meal would probably work OK. Alternatively, an awl can be used to quite quickly make a core, in which case they are quite mean little buggers.

With regard to headings, the flash would need to be quite fast not to just jet out of the crimped end. I have tried testing a few ground salutes made from the rocket casings, using grain BP, and then have just jetted rather than burst, but the crimps always held - just the choke was too wide. I'll probably just stick to microstars anyway

[alany]

I've been refering to what you call crimps as chokes, not that it matters I guess, as long as we all understand what it means. What do you call closures like the end of a shotgun shell?

I tried one of mine last night with flash, only a pinch. It didn't report, probably because I pressed the flash solid when I inserted the wadding above it. It did make a very bright flare of light that set the case and stick on fire, as the rocket fell it broke up into several pieces some of which burned all the way to the ocean (likely the stick).

I probably need to fluff up the flash a bit in addition to using more. I don't have any cab-o-sil, any other suggestions? Maybe some pulverone? I was thinking of trying flash hulls (and as break for other things), but how do you coat the hulls with flash?

[bernie]

Sawdust has been used as an anticaking agent in reports. Bran with the larger applications.

[alany]

Thanks for that bernie, I'll give it a go.

Oh, I retested one of those nozzleless motors I pressed moist. They have apparently dried out well now, as it flew up over 30 metres. I was considering junking the lot, or shooting them from a mine as serpents, but they look more promising now.

[adamw]

How to coat flash rice hulls? Add a small amount of dextrin to your flash, mix well (following flash safety procedures). Spray the hulls with a light misting of water from a plant sprayer, making sure all get a wetting. Using the ratio of about 3:1 (flash:hulls) place both in a sealable bag / tub and shake for about 30 sec. Empty out onto a tray and leave to dry in a safe area. Not all of the flash will stick to the hulls but there should be some left loose anyway. Dont discard the loose flash but keep with the coated hulls as there should be some 'undiluted' flash left in the break.

[lord_dranack]

I have found the best way to crimp tubes is to wet roll them, then when just rolled, crimp very tightly using kite string. They then dry very solid, and the hole can be made larger if needed when dry.

Edited by lord_dranack, 25 February 2004 - 12:56 PM.

[Phoenix]

Crimping them whilst wet certainly produces the neatest crimped choke, but I found with the paper and glue I used that they tended to reopen themselves if I didn't tie them shut. For these endburning rockets the choke needed to be quite narrow. I also wanted to dry roll the cases to save time (as I was tying to find the fastest possible way to make them). But of course, whatever works best for you

Edited by Phoenix, 25 February 2004 - 06:44 PM.

[lord_dranack]

I also add a few drops of sodium silicate sol. around the nozzel to hel make it last longer- not sure if it improves performance, but when dry they are much harder.

[Stuart]

Right, me and a friend just fired off 12 bottle rockets. They were 5mm ID, 7mm OD and 40mm long. They had 1.5g BP for the lift and then about 1g for the report. The order of layers were, Nozzle (1mm hole), BP, Glue Gun with hole, KNO3/Sugar mix for a small delay, BP and then Glue Gun again. They all went between about 3 and 7 meters high I guess. The reports aren't very loud but a nice crack.

They were fired off in lots of 3 all fused with touch paper and then one big lot of 6. Quite nice especially the ones with a broken up star in the burst.

Stuart