7 replies to this topic

[Skyler]

this maybe the wrong place to post and if it is im sorry, but i need some help with an aerial firework idea, im planning on making one but i don't want it to do the whole exploding thing. i was wondering if any of you could please tell/help me figure out a way to make a sort of glowing ball or string (preferably both) that does not fall very fast and will dissolve into ash or something before it hits the ground. But the glow has to be seen from the sky. If you can help me please do i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

-Skyler

[Phoenix]

Apologies for the downer reply, but that would be a tricky (probably impossible) combination of requirements for an advanced firework maker, and something tells me you're fairly new to the craft. This probably isn't what you want to hear, but you would benefit from doing some reading on the subject before you start making things. "Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics," available from www.skylighter.com is widely thought of as one of the best beginners' books.

BTW, spelling and punctuation are appreciated here

[zanes]

Sounds lke you might want a magnesium based comp?

Maybe just pure magnesium with a starter comp?

Or summat like incense.

I sell 30" flare parachutes on eBay fairly regularly, they may be of use.

As for propulsion, I would use a mortar with the comp or mg on top of the bp or whatever, with model rocket or similar wadding between that and the parachute.

Just my 20 cents on this. Its probably all rubbish but some may be of use.

Edited by zanes, 23 May 2004 - 07:03 PM.

[Skyler]

k thanks for you help. sorry to disagree with you but i do think its possible and im going to try and get it to work.

-Skyler

[RegimentalPyro]

This sounds like the "falling leaves" shell effect. As far as I remember the shell consists of many square pieces paper coated with a slow burning colour comp - often the edges of the paper are primed with BP

Anybody got any videos of a falling leaves effect?

[Creepin_pyro]

glowing ball or string (preferably both) that does not fall very fast and will dissolve into ash or something before it hits the ground.

Umm.. that sounds a little like a distress flare to me. Any kind of parachute firework is going to be extremely difficult to make, and distress flares can be easily bought. As for the "glowing ball", I can't think of anything suitable which would "dissolve" before it hits the ground - nearest thing is going to be a cloud of glowing powder, which would diffuse into the air. I'm not sure if you want your ball to glow or burn, but I can't think of anything which would dissolve as it glows.
Is there a specific purpose for this firework, or do you just want to get a glob of glowing stuff into the sky?

I vaguely remember seeing some leaves somewhere round here:
http://www.hanabi.co.jp/vtr/top.htm

Edited by Creepin_pyro, 24 May 2004 - 11:25 AM.

[Phoenix]

There are various ways to get a similar effect to the one required, but none I can think of would meet all of the specifications.

A lampare will hang in the air for a few seconds without falling, and the fallout should be quite low, but they usually have a big flash powder burst charge, which will explode (a lot).

A girandola could hang in the air pretty nicely, without exploding, but the fallout from one of them is a big wooden frame.

A parachute flare would work well, again apart from the fallout.

A ground fireball might be the best, since it will send a burning fireball up into the air, without any fallout, but that's more of a ground effect.

A falling leaves shell cpould be promising. I've always wanted to try one of them, and I've done a few experiments making "leaves" out of paper, that will fall nice and slowly. I came up with a design that was about a 5X5cm square of paper, with two corners glued together. A box star, or possibly just a slow cut star, is glued to the place where the two opposing corners meet. This can be folded flat, to form a sort of elongated hexagon shape with a star in the middle. These could be stacked in a shell, and when it bursts they spring open into...kind of...tubey things that are are hard to describe. When they fall, these things spin themselves (like sycamore or ash seeds) and apparantly generate a bit of lift, as they fall much slower than an equivelant plain parachute, or simple piece of paper. They don't take too long to make either. I've never made any live ones though, just weighted dummies.

EDIT: Just remembered, there's an autopsy of a falling leaves shell on Passfire, with some pictures of how it works. Yet another reason to join!

Edited by Phoenix, 24 May 2004 - 01:21 PM.

[Skyler]

Thank you very much for you help, i will look into the information that you have given me. The purpose of me knowing this is i want to make a new type of fire work, a special one, and i know how i want it to work the only thing is i needed to figure out if i could do it. And thanks to you all i think i may have been able to, but again im going to take a look at your ideas and see what i can do. Now the next thing is finding a place where i wont start a forrest fire. Thanks again.

-Skyler