BurlHorse

Hey there Paul, Hope all is well now.

Bear

Hello everyone!

i will write this text in small letters only as i can not use my left hand very good.

today i had my first accident after about five years with my hobby. i put a 15mm id tube on my rocket spindle. it has an 20mm 6mm rod on it to make the nozzle and 1cm of the core.
the spindle and rammer is completely made of SPARKLESS stainless steel. further on i used a plastic hammer to ram them.

the composition was milled black powder. the charcoal was willow charcoal. it had 10% extra charcoal added.

so i rammed in the clay nozzle [bentonite] and went on with the blackpowder. i rammed it not very hard. suddenly a big flame as i hammered in the second increment. at this time only about 3g bp were in it. the rammer came out the case, not very fast as it went in very losely.

anyway, the rockets flame shot out of the open tube for about 1sec. my left hand, i hold the spindle for stability purposes with it, was burnt on the inside. i have a very huge white vesicle inside my hand and two fingers were burnt near the fingernail.

i had safety glassrs on and a cotton overal. what i had NOT on was GLOVES. this was my first and biggest mistake ever and should warn you to use proper safety gear when making ANYTHING relating rockets.



i wanted to inform you about that because i think the community should know about all accidents that happened to members.

i know that it was definately my fault as i did not wear gloves. i know everyone says in forums like this one, that he ever wears gloves. but i also know from many people that they do not use them all the time!!!

so PLEASE be safe and use them. they are not very comfortable to work with on this small devices. but you "see" what can happen.

i will upload an picture of that. i can still move it and so on. only the burnings burn as hell. went to a friend who is a doctor, too and he cleaned and bndaged it propperly.

with best regards,

paul

hello

i am a beginner in pyro.i want to do my first stars to put them in a canister shell.does any one have any info for making them?

Do A Search Here on the Board Matthew, Try these Keywords.....Cannister, Cannister Shell, Italian Shell (S), Maltese Shell(S) Etc, Etc, Etc,

Might I Humbly suggest that you do ALOT of reading or find a Mentor who is close to you and shares the same interests.

There are Alot more resources than you may think, however, Once you find something that strikes your fancy, Verify the source of the info, as there is as Much CR*P Information out there as there is credible info. As for starting Out, Cannister shells may not be your best Thing to start with, Tom Perigrins book is a good starting point as it kind of walks you through things in a logical approach and as you master one thing, he moves you on to more difficult projects.

Your Absolute first concerns and purchases should revolve around safety and proper safety equipment. All chemicals to make green fire are POISONOUS, some more than others, but still poisonous. The simplest white star with just four ingrediants is poisonous (Antimony Trisulphide), All your chemicals will (or should) come with an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), Read them, Collect them, staple a copy togeter and put them in the loo for some great tub side reading....

Obviously my point is before your hands see the first bit of black from charcoal, you need to read, learn ask questions, AFTER, you have searched for answers to those questions using the search feature of the forum. But I digress, I really do believe and practice, SAFETY FIRST. If that nagging little voice in your head is screaming.....ya shouldn't oughta be doin this.....LISTEN to it, stop what your doing and find out why your Darwinian Fire Alarm is going off, then if you find out that your safety will not be comprimised by doing whatever, then have fun, the all clear has sounded. If after your research into the nagging voice, you find out that it's really not a good Idea, then PASS on it until you either learn more and it becomes relatively SAFER to do. Do some searchs on safety gear, I have written some long posts before on what the bare minimums are and I am not going to re-write them when they are already here.

IMHO, you should start out by Getting your safety gear in order, meaning bought and adjusted, a place to properly stow them etc. Then you can set out to building or buying a Ball mill and start making 75:15:10 Black Powder First, As BP is used in nearly every phase of fireworks. It really does not take that long to start making passable BP and in a short time thereafter, you will master it. There are many variables in BP and Mastering it is a huge accomplishment!!

Stay GREEN

Best of Luck,

Bear

Ok, problem noted...Thanks!

They are a "tight" fit for me as well, but not oversized, I don't think.
Were they a 2005 or 2006 production run or other date?
What brands would you recommend, or have given you the least trouble?

I'd Have to say that after the many Demos I attended this year, A&M Pyro BY FAR have made the the best showing so far. Thier colors are right on, bright and clear, They break at the right height for each shell size and variety, I have to say I am IMPRESSED by them, They are relatively new, But man do they wanna take the world by storm!!

Stay Green,
Best Regards,

Bear

I had a display recently and a Lidu Brand triple salute (stacked) shell detonated in the mortar.

Has anyone else had similar problems with this product, or was it just a "fluke"?
...Just asking, to see if these may have a problem.

I've had plenty of trouble with the Lidu "double Bubbles", Salutes and Color/Effect shells, from their being to"fat" to drop in the mortar to them just going off, I hate 'em. They like to eat racks and I have one guy I Lead shoot for who insists on sending me truckloads of double bubbles, He does it to all his lead shooters and had many a near mutiny on the 4th.....In a plural word....Lidu Sucks.........

Stay green

Bear

I have access, through health food chains, to really cheap maltodextrin. I've tried using it for binder and have had some luck. Has anyone else used maltodextrin and is it a good replacement binder for dextrin - meaning, does it do essentially the same thing? I realize the two are not the same chemical.

Hello Lady Kate......

maltodextrins are easily digestible carbohydrates made from natural corn starch. The starch is cooked, and then acid and/or enzymes are used to break the starch into smaller polymers (a process similar to that used by the body to digest carbohydrate.

maltodextrins are polymers of dextrose (sometimes labeled "glucose polymers") (Possibly Added Benefit as an accesory fuel?)



dextrin
An intermediate product formed during the hydrolysis of starch to sugars. There are three classes of dextrin: 1) amylodextrin, which gives a blue color with iodine and is soluble in 25% alcohol; 2) erythrodextrin, which gives a red color with iodine and is soluble in 55% alcohol; and 3) achrodextrin, which gives no color with iodine and is soluble in 70% alcohol.
All are soluble in water but are precipitated by strong alcohol. They are used as adhesives in the manufacture of gummed tapes and paper.


Since Maltodextrin is used in the brewing of beer, as a source of sugar, fermentables, I think the process has for maltodextrin may be more of a simple sugar/carb, thereby probably more useful as a fuel than a binder, though it may have some binding quality.......Experiment with 50/50 dextrin/Maltodextrin, does it slow up the burn or speed it up?

Also, I don't know how you can get dextrin cheaper than malto dextrin, a box of corn starch spread thin on a cookie sheet (flip flop, stir on the half hour, 400 degree oven and 2 to 4 hours later when its a light to golden brown color, There you have dextrin. 2 Pounds of Maltodextrin at the brewshop supply is 12.00......Just a thought, and certainly not trying to be condescending as you made me think about it as an accesory fuel thats cheaper than Lactose, so thank you.

Best Regards,

Stay Green,

Bear