37 replies to this topic

[italteen3]

Well post all close calls or accidents you have had if you wouldnt mind sharing. Some are meant to be a bit humorous others serious to possibly prevent others who read this from doing it. I would appreciate no pics of people with nasty burns or missing limbs, but if you do atleast give a warning.

Mods if you feel this thread unnecessary you kow what to do.

I will be posting my stories when I get back from drivers education.....

[adamw]

Please keep the stuff here reasonable. We dont want any fuel for the 'anti' brigade. Remember this is a public forum so we dont want to scare people. You should all know that the hobby has its risks anyway, but I think anything that can make it safer through the sharing of knowledge isn't a bad thing.

[Yugen-biki]

I have never had any serious accident. Sure I have gotten some burn blisters. This is how I think before makeing any thing pyrotechnical:

1. Is the mixture safe? Also in combination with other mixtures.
2. How much comp. is safe to handle and charge in to a device?
3. What is the purpous of the device? How does this effect the the next questions?
4. Where can I fire it to not hurt people or animals?
5. Where can I fire it to not make any damage on property/nature? (fall out)
6. What if the device behaves in a way I have not counted on? Is the selected fireing ground safe?
7. Where do I take cover if 6. takes place? (Every one/thing else has higher priority than I. I am prepared to take risks, and I can't allow any risk to people not involved. I always see to it that the risk is minimal. To high risk = abort)

So far commmon sense and a lot of research before before new tests have helped me to stay safe.

[italteen3]

I too have some advice for things not to do.

Do not disect consumer shells. This was 3 years ago and a shell to a tripple break shell did not burst. It came down and I cant remember how I got it open but I lit a star and it turned out to be a crackling shell. So soon after I was engulfed in crackling all around me for a second or two. No burns, bruises, or injuries but I learned something. Wish I had all the knowledge I have now that I did back then. If something is a dud dispose of it properly...

Sorry was not specific enough. Any accidents, made stuff, mixing, at a show, your rocket goes off at 20 feet up, etc. Reasonable though. Yes it is a bit humorous if your first rocket farts and tips over, but some stories are true and for those fellow beginners learn from yours and others mistakes.

What Yugen has posted is excellent. I will be copy, pasting, printing, and hanging that up in my lab those seven questions. I had a general idea of that but with that staring me in the face I will adhere to making sure those questions are answered correctly.

[chim-chim]

I have a few fountains pop, maybe a CATO or two, but these weren't accidents per se.
They were known possiblities, therefore planned for, not a suprise and of no consequence.

It's the 'coulda beens' that get my attention most often.
For example-
Although I try to remember to -
open container-remove what I need-close container
I was doing a really small fountain recently and left a scoop in an open container of rather coarse charcoal and caught my unbuttoned cuff on it later. Not a big deal, not even tough to clean,
but it 'coulda been'...
had it been toxic the cleanup would have been a pain,
airfloat I'd still be cleaning,
fine chlorate, I'd never feel safe in the lab again (which is why I don't even open it there).

When things like this happen I like to use it to remind myself to be careful with everything. If you can get yourself to a point where you wouldn't even think of leaving a spoon in corse C or make a fountain with unbuttoned cuffs, you won't be very liely to absent-mindedly ram whistle mix.

[sasman]

Not having made many pyro devices i havn't had many mishaps...but here is my first ,
i was making some rocket propellant..i had the standard 75:15:10 mix straight out of the ball mill(in a zip lock bag) I didnt mark the bag raw BP?...i then took some of this raw mix and added 25% Charcoal.....made about five rockets then went of some tea....came back and started making some more rockets after pressing the second rocket i thought it didnt look as black as the other rockets i had pressed?...
...........So i burnt a small batch and found it was raw green mix ..
.............what i had done was accidenataly mixed up the bags of raw mix and the watered down mix 25% charcoal...Now i was lucky to have spotted this mistake....So i have learnt you MUST write every thing down and clearly label every thing..sound's common sense but i made the mistake thinking i could remember what i had`done only half an hour earlier ...but unfortunatly when you get to 40 senial dementure must be setting in? .....


sasman

[Creepin_pyro]

I have had one "incident" which happened a few years ago, long before I joined this forum and became much more Knowledgeable about safety/chemical incompatabilities, etc. Just shows what can happen when someone delves into the world of energetic materials without a guide.

Anyways, I was happily sitting in my back room, ramming some composition into a plastic tube (probably containing Sodium Chlorate ) when suddenly friction/static/heat or whatever happened. There was no casing breach, and the drift flew right past me, so I think I was relatively lucky. Well - my mum came running downstairs (after hearing the loud explosion) and found me stumbling around in a cloud of smoke. After managing to get outside, I could see the extent of my injury - all fingers intact, but my right hand had turned into one giant, purple blood blister (an amazing sight - wish I'd photographed it :-) ). I ended up in hospital pretty quick. The nurses were informed about the nature of the incident, and seemed to find it quite amusing - they couldn't decide wether to treat is as a burn or pressure induced wound.

Well, I left the pyro alone after that for a few years. It was only after reading through this very forum that I decided to take it up again, this time with safety firmly in mind, and staying way away from chlorates.

[Skyler]

i have a kind of funny "incident" with my first ever home made rocket. Mind you it was a real P.O.S. considering i was like in 5th or 6th grade. But anyways the wings were all crooked, the parachute was have sticking out, everything was just bad on it. I had it on the launch pad and when i pressed the button, it surprisingly went up like 10 feet or so. Then it turned and headed straight for me, thankfully it suddenly went up the engine died, the parachute came out and it hit me on top of the head.

I don't know if you guys think its funny, but after it hit me in the head i started cracking up. It would probably be better if you were there yourself.

-Skyler

[italteen3]

Hey Skyler welcome to the forums!

Yes some incidents can be funny afterwards. Like my crackling incident I looked back and laughed because of how stupid it was, but I was inside an actual crackling shell .

Just be careful. Model rockets can be potentially dangerous. In my tech class 4 years ago some slackers did not want to follow directions well. Lets put it this way, a few rockets sent half the class running. Others thought it would be funny to put a D engine in their small rocket, it ended up over a half mile away all the way in the woods.

Edited by italteen3, 21 May 2004 - 02:15 AM.

[Phoenix]

Has anyone seen the video of the "Disastitron" on DJ's Site? It was on his hidden page, which I can't seem to find now . Anyhow, I have the video saved on my computer.

For those who haven't seen it, its a large tourbillion that gets about 3 or 4 metres up, blows a plug (I think), comes down again narrowly avoiding his car, then sits on the ground burning fiercly for about 10 seconds. By the time it finishes, there is a patch of thoroughy incinerated ground smouldering away, and DJ cracks up laughing. The perfect ending for the video comes when his accomplice stands beside the burning circle of ground and says "It kind'a worked." Always makes me smile.

[bmiller14]

One time when I had first started to make kno3/sugar smoke b**bs I was cooking it over a hotplate out in my shop and to test how my ratios were working i scooped up a bit and lit it (I did not have a scale so had to use trial and error). Anyway a little piece of burning kno3/sugar flew of and landed in about half a pound of smoke mix and the whole thing went up in smoke (pun intended).
Things I learned from that are never make that much comp & if your going to test it test far away.

[phildunford]

When I was a kid, my dad let off a tourbillon (helicopter) in our garden. We knew they were a bit eratic, so we dashed inside the garden shed to watch it. Instead of going up, it went sideways in a semi-circle, shot in the shed door, went in the front of my dad's jacket and shot up his sleeve. Fortunately (and miraculously!) we all escaped quite uninjured - singed his jacket a bit though!!

[Zinginex]

One time when I had first started to make kno3/sugar smoke b**bs I was cooking it over a hotplate out in my shop and to test how my ratios were working i scooped up a bit and lit it (I did not have a scale so had to use trial and error). Anyway a little piece of burning kno3/sugar flew of and landed in about half a pound of smoke mix and the whole thing went up in smoke (pun intended).
Things I learned from that are never make that much comp & if your going to test it test far away.

My friend did exactly the same thing but with about half a mortar and pestle full of homemade bp (not extremely fast burning) and it made loads of smoke and a huge roaring flame

[starseeker]

A few years ago i used to file down a Mg engine caseing and mix it with sulphur and all it would do is fizzle,one day i must of got the ratio right because when a lit it there was a blinding white light and when i looked at my hand ,the whole side of it was burnt white looking back now i obviousley made my first flash powder, This memory serves me well what ever i am mixing,making or letting off.
Vince.

[TheExplosionist]

No injuries yet, rough chronological order:
1. My first mistake, heating a mix of NaNO3 and sugar in a can to dry it out literally hit the roof.
2. Sugar/KNO3 smoke mix molten together I attempted. I foolishly heated it in the kitchen oblivious to the inevitable. The blue methane flames heated the pan full of golden syrup coloured mixture and it became hotter and hotter. I calmly continued before a hiss became a roar and the smoke erupted throughout the room. I desperately swayed the pan of violent flames back and forth but couldn't decide whether I should make a dash for the backdoor over the prized laminated wood flooring or stay put. Before I could realise my stupidity the worksurface was burnt to a crisp but had I learned my lesson?
3. My first ever rocket would be the most exciting device yet. A simple design of a small plastic case filled with powder and a small hole in the end. Upon ignition after a long and uncomfortable wait for the unreliable fuse it blasted off the ground breaking free of its stick that was crudely held. It moved at incredible speed creating bright orange trails as it spun uncontrollably up, down, left and right forming loops and spirals. Its motion was less than 6ft from the ground and so unpredictable that God himself wouldn't know where it would end up. Unbelievably it landed within inches of its launch place.
4. A close call. I was sat down taking it easy like I am now surfing the internet. Not even in my worst nightwares would such bad luck happen. I heard a knock on my door and then he said "Theres some smoke coming out the outhouse".
"I hope you're joking", I said as the adrenaline kicked in and all the alarm bells in my head started screaming. Down the stairs I went carefully but swiftly heading straight out the back to behold the horrific sight of grey smoke pouring out the blue outhouse door. I wasted no time evacuating my powder supplies before the fire could start an explosion. The whistleblower doused the boxes ablaze in the rear with water by the gallon load reducing the mass of flame almost filling the entire interior and then took them out while still burning as the fire was resisting being extinguished fiercely. I knew all along it was my fault, I was convinced bad things never would happen and leaving the odd smouldering piece of cardboard was no big deal. Of course all the formula testing on the boxes had increased their flammability and I had not foreseen this. Ever since I have the odd nightmare now and then that there will be a huge explosion.