21 replies to this topic

[pyromaniac303]

I had the idea of making a 1/8" end burner rocket tool when I found some old brass turned pins at work which were intended for electronics use. I never got round to it but if I get the chance in the week on the lathe it might be worth a try.

I already have a working 1/4" but the main problem with a 1/8" set is ignition, still not 100% sure how to pass fire down the nozzle when its about 0.9mm... this will not fit any standard fuse sizes, unless I make some incredibly fine blackmatch.

[Mortartube]

I would suggest making some runny BP prime with gum arabic and squeezing it down the mini rocket choke with a syringe. Just stick a piece of thin green visco into it before it dries.

[Potassium chlorate]

The smallest real fireworks I ever saw were Bengal matches. Like fusees but with colour.

[pyromaniac303]

Oh I forgot about this topic... I tried the tool kit with the 1/8" brass turned pin and it was a waste of time. It seems below a certain size rockets are almost impossible to construct and are never stable enough to fly properly. Also the fuel burning inside the rocket chamber on a 1/4" end burner is 4 times the amount burning inside a 1/8" motor (area of 1/8" circle = 7.9mm^2, area of 1/4" circle = 31.6mm^2).

[Potassium chlorate]

The smallest rockets in Sweden are the so called tiger rockets. They're open nozzle rockets about 5 mm inner diameter and a lenght of 45 mm and filled with whistle mix and a small amount of very strong flash.

The smallest firecracker in Sweden was the so called "1-öres". 1 öre is 1/100 of a Swedish krona, which is about 1/13 of £1. In reality they costed much less than an öre. They were about 1½ mm thick and maybe 10-12 mm long and filled with approx 50mg of black powder.

[bushman]

I was experimenting with some quick match the other day and found that about 3 or 4 inches of this stuff with a sliver of bamboo cane for a stabilising tail made a good little rocket I had no charge on the end so I do not know how much weight it would carry but it certainly flew staright up. Not sure that this classes as a rocket it being without a charge but it was certainly small.

[David]

There were, probably still are, some very small fireworks in some TNT selection boxes, little 2 second fountains about an inch or so high. Cynics would say that they are there just to make the numbers up "This box contains 30 fireworks" etc. But I like them- a bit different. That said, they would be pointless for a family/back garden display.