11 replies to this topic

[richgg]

Hi My names Rich I am 33 and I am a bushcraft instructor and knife maker in the u.k., Just thought I would say hello and intrduce myself, I have no pyro experiance but have loved fireworks for many years and they have always facenated me, I spend well over a grand every firework night trying to get the display I want in my back garden but there are always things I would like to add to make it unique and I guess making my own designs would be the best way to go, I would love to start a hobby in this subject but do not know where to start.

As I understand it is illegal in the u.k. to mix any powdered or solid propellent to enable me to start home made firework projects ? , I have read alot from skylighter an american site and I guess a good starting point is basic fountains or "gerbs" making different effects and noises.

any help on the facts of the law for a home builder in the uk and some basic projects to start me off "if allwed too in this country" would be great, there may be some loop holes such as "scientific research" and "small quantitys" ?

well thats all for now, I look forward to chatting to you all and any help for a new commer would be very much appreciated.

also a list of the PPE required before I start would be usefull if anyone can help.

feel free to pm me if you wish.

Thanks,

Rich.

[pyrotechnist]

Hello and welcome to the forum , I would say before starting any basic pyro project, and btw fountains can at times be tricky to get perfect, is to make your first batch of BP and get that better and better and even when you think its good even better but not taking it to the extremems of turning it into a sport like I see these days, you just need it FUNCTIONAL for your needs. Next up I would say is to start with small gerbs and work your way up slowly and anything like Roman Candles, Shells and Cakes to be last on your list.

For PPE I would first buy a good P3 or higher respirator some gloves like thick welding gloves for when you may consolidate comps into tubes for fountains etc and some cotton overhauls to protect you from any sort of heat and some normal gloves for when you work with chemicals or comps. After this would be containers for keeping everything air tight, secure and free from each other like chemicals or any stored comps or stars etc (dont keep these around for to long).

The law is a very tricky and currently states you can make experimental comps up to 100 grams for experimental purposes only though I am sure a lot more on this forum will elaborate on this topic.

Last but not least is NEVER BUY ANYTHING WITH CHLORATE'S IN THEM AND I MEAN NEVER IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE! your friend is potassium nitrate for now.

[Atom Fireworks]

Probably your best starting point is to get or build your own ball mill. And keep whatever you do too yourself i wouldnt encourage posting videos or anything directly incriminating yourself just incase. Never test anything at home unless you own a farm and no one is likely to bother about it. Another good point is to get a contact for your supplies, I suggest cooperman345 for chems and hes a good fella knows his stuff.

I started pyro just to make shells and comets, depends on what you want to get out from this hobby another point is be very patient with it, dont rush anything let things dry for good lengths of time. I would also suggest stay away from the likes of chlorate's, i dont use any the chlorates. I suggest you use perchlorate, it is the best starting point for simple colours and also not too dangerous as opposed to chlorates. Read as much as you can there is much info on here, try pyro guide aswell theres usually allot of info that you will find usefull, most of what i learnt was from there.

Dumper

[richgg]

Thanks Everyone for all your advice, I will get the PPE and storage sorted out I have made a ball mill some years back when I used to mill kno3 and charcoal to make rocket fuel and Ejection charges, I made some of my own pine charcoal for BP and it seemed to have a much higer burn rate than with standard Household charcoal, I will do as you suggest and start with getting that correct and go from there, Thanks again for your help.

Rich.

[richgg]

Looking at step one the black powder, When making the BP what qualitys am I looking for when making it for pyro use and whats the best method of achieving this? ie screening, ball mill, wetting it and mixing it in to biscuits then crushing it back up to different meshes

whats the best way to test it?

do I want a fast burn or a medum burn or maybe both?

I guess I need something that is consistant too?

sorry for all the questions but I feel the only way to learn is ask!!

Rich.

Edited by richgg, 19 January 2010 - 07:05 PM.

[Atom Fireworks]

Your best bet is mill it for aslong as you want, longer will make faster bp but you dont need it to be the best bp ever just good enough for our use, for example i mill mine for around 2 or 3 hours and it seems to loft shells high enough when granulated. The only way to tell if its up to the job is make a batch and go and fire a dummy shell in the day light, see how high it goes, if you want on one of my threads a chap called digger made a spread sheet that if you weigh your shell, measure its size, time its flight from lift to land it will tell you how high it went n other relevant information. Its trial and error until you find what your happy with.

Dumper

[RegimentalPyro]

Thanks Everyone for all your advice, I will get the PPE and storage sorted out I have made a ball mill some years back when I used to mill kno3 and charcoal to make rocket fuel and Ejection charges, I made some of my own pine charcoal for BP and it seemed to have a much higer burn rate than with standard Household charcoal, I will do as you suggest and start with getting that correct and go from there, Thanks again for your help.

Rich.

I also had this experience - My home made charcoal (biscuit tin full of finely split willow thrown onto a bonfire for a couple of hours) seemed to perform much better than crushed commercial lumpwood

My fastest results have come from milling the sulphur, Crushed Charcoal and 5% dextrin together for 2 hours then adding the KNO3 and milling for a further 3 hours

Granulate the resultant "meal" by moistening with 14% Solvent [66Water/33Meths] and then pushing through a 10mesh screen. Leave to dry on a piece of newspaper

Produces two grades
10-20 mesh - good for lifting larger (4inch and above) shells out of longer tubes
20-40 - good for lifting smaller shells and aiding break (I don't like using flash as a break charge booster - too frisky and gives a white flash that shuts the eye down to the more subtle effects)

Keep any dust for sprinkling over wet stars as a prime.

I hope this helps.

[pyrotechnist]

My shittest bp can get some great height by wadding 2 sheets of your unwanted yellow pages down the motor.

Edited by pyrotechnist, 20 January 2010 - 11:46 PM.

[Atom Fireworks]

My shittest bp can get some great height by wadding 2 sheets of your unwanted yellow pages down the motor.

What do you mean exactly? are you just firing 2 sheets of paper out of your tube? it will just shred them lmao.

[frosty90]

What do you mean exactly? are you just firing 2 sheets of paper out of your tube? it will just shred them lmao.

I think he means wadding over the shell. It stops the gasses escaping around the shell. I do it with small mines, it does make a huge difference.