23 replies to this topic

[marknotts]

As a kid I once went to a fireworks party where there was I think a Standard firework that consisted of a long strip of wood approx 1Meter in length with about 4 or 5 fountains mounted along its length all wired up with quick fuse.
It was mounted horizontally on a fence and the effect was like a water fall of blue/green/white fire.

Can anyone else recall these and tell me more about them?

[phildunford]

They are still to be found Mark.

I'm rather fond of these and have made a few myself, here's a video of a 5 case one:

waterfall

The shorter ones are rigidly mounted for convenience but long ones are often suspended on wire or rope so they move about and give a better effect.

They work by using a composition that has an excess of aluminium so that it falls all the way to the ground.

They can be spectacularly large - I think there was one the whole length of Sydney Harbour Bridge a few years ago.

Instructions for making one here:

Greenman

[Arthur Brown]

The waterfall is an array of gerbes or fountains designed to run choke down. Fireworks companies tend to make them on a string so one string has say 12 to 20 tubes on a single catenary and fused with QM. Stage pyros use waterfalls a LOT esp for finalé backdrops the tubes are singles, electrically fired and held in special holders supported from the rigging, they will use lots.

Edited by Arthur Brown, 27 September 2008 - 04:12 PM.

[phildunford]

Pic of the Sydney harbour one here (on a flickr album - not mine)

flickr

[Firefiend]

These may be the sort of things you remember

Standard Waterfall & Niagara Falls

Standard Jewel Spray

Standard Morning Sunrise (Size 20)

[marknotts]

phildunford, If you made that, i wouldnt mind coming round yours at bonfire night!! Thats awsome.

firefiend, it was the Standard waterfall in question, seing that has brought back many memories.

Nov 5th has always been memorable for me, from as young as I can remember, we used to celebrate bonfire night. I was brought up in the 'standard' days and remember quite well the smells of the fireworks, rockets bigger than myself, a crackling bonfire, and all the traditional edibles' that go with it.
My dad used to light 3-2-1 bangers on a wall, and I remember such names as the Traffic light, Jack in the box, snow serpant, chysanthiums, flood light, a type of roman candle where there were 3 mounted on a plywood board, and the air b**b batteries too!
Although not standard, we would always have a pack of screeching mini rockets aswell, and launch them from an old type milk bottle!
Nov 5th always seemed freezing cold as a kid, My mum would dress me up in hat, gloves and scarf and we would light sparklers too.
At the end of the night we would collect all the powder that was left in the box and 'geenie' it on the fire, and I always used to save the empty firework cases.
As a kid, me and my brother would make a guy, sit him on our go cart and take it outside our local newsagents, I wonder what would happen if kids did that today?
I miss the proper standard fireworks, the stuff you buy today i dont think is a scratch on the 80's stuff. Its a shame there gone, I think the only way to re live those memories like that for myself and my kids will be to re-manufacture them myself...........so ill read on!

[Mortartube]

Arthur, most waterfalls are not choked but simply contain mixed meshes of large flake aluminium and an oxidiser, They are basically a slow flashpowder mix with mega sized aluminium. I made one when I was at Wells which was fired by Milennium Pyrotechnics from the Clifton suspension bridge.

The tube burns away. The large ones we made had one end of the tube taped with brown tape (temporarily so they can be filled). An antimony star is dropped in first to ensure ignition then the mix is rammed. The tape was removed after then they were capped.

[Arthur Brown]

From the Le Maitre catalogue:

"Waterfalls are a speciality of ProStage II.
Traditionally there have been 2 types of waterfall.
An inverted gerb giving a rushing effect, or the archetypal
waterfall with a large choke producing a liquid water effect
but with a huge amount of very hot fallout hitting the floor.
ProStage II Waterfalls use a new type of choke that gives
the best of both effects without the tubes catching fire."

I don't think there is a "regulation" construction of a waterfall! The detail of the effect is in the detail of the construction, including the possibility of a choke.

In theatre and stage work the inert case is an advantage as it prevents the fire spreading to other things in the rigging. (Usually!)

[Mortartube]

A stage waterfall would generally be of a non consuming case type, i.e small gerbs to eliminate the chance of fallout.

Most external ones are of the type that I described above. The problem with using choked gerb style cases for waterfalls that need a long drop is that the Al flake is so big that it is highly likely to clog the choke and result in an exploding case.

You would never get a 150 foot drop from a choked case unless it was so excessively large in diameter, as to allow a huge choke, and then it would have to be a very slow burning mix owing to the surface area of the composistion.

Self consuming cases for external work are ideal and tick all of the boxes.

[phildunford]

phildunford, If you made that, i wouldnt mind coming round yours at bonfire night!! Thats awsome.

Thanks Mark, yes indeed, was one of mine and my back garden can be quite an interesting place on November the 5th - and quite a few other nights too.

I agree totally with what you say about old fireworks - a very different experience from modern ones, and to my mind mostly a better one.

Re-creating the old ones is certainly one of my main reasons for being into amateur pyro.

You might like this website

Firework Museum

Has lots of pictures and labels of old fireworks. It's organised in a rather chaotic way, but there is some wonderful stuff there if you search around a bit.

[Mortartube]

I liked your waterfall a great deal Phil, but I still think the best thing of yours that I have seen is the Weingart tree of gerbs with saxons. It was a work of art before you even lit it.

[Spyrotechnics]

I have been looking for a waterfall that has a strobe effect in it, does anyone know if these are available??

[marknotts]

The link to the fireworks museum is excellent, It has brought back many more memories.
The Greenman link is also excellent, I would like to try and make one of these waterfall fireworks but i might be being a little too ambitious right now as my firework making skills are non existant as of yet. I can remember the devil amongst tailers as shown in this link, what a piece of kit!
One thing ive never seen as im too young!!! is the jumping jack!, ive heard of these but believe they were banned before my time?
I might start with something simple like a fountain. Can I buy the tubes ready made anywhere or do I need to make them myself?

[phildunford]

Mark,

A fountain is an excellent place to start.

If you have a search around this forum and the internet, you will find sources of tubes. However, you can sometimes utilise left-overs from packageing and it's also pretty easy to roll your own - again, search here and you shall find!

[Mortartube]

One place to get tubes is shops that sell material for clothes making. Some of the cloth comes on fairly thick walled tubes. If you wish to roll your own tubes, flour sacks from a local bakers (or pizza shop in my case), provide a good thick paper.

Toilet roll tubes make an inner tube for a mortar mine made with a kraft paper outer bag.

Greengrocers often have rolls of plastic bags which are on a card tube. You will no doubt see these tubes everywhere that you never noticed before.

Cling film for wrapping pallets sometimes comes on a tube ideal for making mortars from.