It seems like as I get up in years it is getting harder and harder to light and run. I do a lot of hobbling these days. On the other hand it seems like a major convenience these days to mount all of the fireworks for a show for friends and neighbors without having time lapses by reloading and lighting new ground novelties and shells. I've been seeing a lot of hype on wireless ignition systems which let you shoot a number of displays by pressing buttons. At the same time the cost is at a premium for a hobbyist like me--$300 to $600 dollars. I'm not looking at buying a car or being a professional in fireworks displays. I just want to have some fun and entertain friends and neighbors.
In talking with more and more folks involved in fireworks and in talking with hobbyists, I've found a site where I can get something more in my price range, has wireless capabilities but just lacks some of the bells and whistles of some of the more professional systems.
In two weeks (week of October 18th) I'll be putting up a review of some of the wireless systems that I've been trying out. Sorry I can get this to you tonight. I would like another couple of weeks to talk with folks at CrackerJacks to find out what they've been doing. Please take a look at my site then for a review of some systems and video clips on how at least one of them works.
Sid
Colored Smoke Bombs
It has been a while since I've put out a post. Sorry about that. My bad. I experimented for a couple of months in trying to get color into smoke bombs until I finally got something to work. This week I'm off to Virginia for the CrackerJacks Fall festivities. One piece that I'm going to pay particular attention to is a presentation made regarding colored smoke bombs. So. . .if everyone can wait until next week (week of October 11th), I'll be able to write up my own experiences and experiments as well as provide info about what I learn at the training session.
Again, I'm sorry this has taken a while. I promise to have the blog posted by the end of next week.
Sid
Again, I'm sorry this has taken a while. I promise to have the blog posted by the end of next week.
Sid
Smoke Bombs
It really doesn't take long to discover that there are smoke bombs and then there are SMOKE BOMBS. I was kind of excited when I went to the store before a 4th of July several years ago and bought one of their combo packs of fireworks which seemed to have a lot but really only had a variety of small fountains, sparklers, cracker balls, and punks. Also in the package was a small package of smoke bombs that looked a lot like cherry bombs except for the color. When we tried them out, disappointing wasn't exactly the word I'd give it.
The thing sizzled and fumed and then emitted some colored smoke. The whole thing lasted for about 15 seconds and the smoke was gone in a whisper. Yes, quite a dud. Very little fun and very little smoke. It really turned me off the whole thing and I went onto other things like rockets.
Recently, a friend of mine called me and asked if I would try out some M-19 Smoke Grenades that he had gotten. They were military/police grade smoke grenades in a variety of colors. I was a little skiddish--military/police grenades? But we tried them out. The video below shows the results.
The thing sizzled and fumed and then emitted some colored smoke. The whole thing lasted for about 15 seconds and the smoke was gone in a whisper. Yes, quite a dud. Very little fun and very little smoke. It really turned me off the whole thing and I went onto other things like rockets.
Recently, a friend of mine called me and asked if I would try out some M-19 Smoke Grenades that he had gotten. They were military/police grade smoke grenades in a variety of colors. I was a little skiddish--military/police grenades? But we tried them out. The video below shows the results.
It was impressive. Once the pin was pulled and the can dropped, it smoked with a thick orange smoke for about 1.5 to 2 minutes. When we started doing some comparisons with other smoke bombs that were available, we were slightly startled at the results. We found one from Pyrocreations.com that smoked for about 3 minutes at half the cost. The density of the smoke far outperformed the military grenade and frankly the thing was more fun to shoot. Pulling a pin and dropping a canister sounds like some of the war movie clips you see all the time on late night TV but lighting a fuse and watching something burn that you've put together has it beat hands down.
The video below shows the homemade smoke bomb. Keep in mind that the smoke is white rather than colored but with a little dye, you can make just about any color you choose.
This smoke bomb is to go on sale at Pyrocreations.com in the very near future. Again, it is half the price or less of the military/police bombs, produces more colored smoke, with more density. The experience was incredible. I just can't say enough about the savings in cost nor the fun involved.
Finally, I'd like to give credit where it is due. We had a great time due to Pyrocreations.con for the assemblies and Thurder Valley for the chemicals. You can link to both on this blog. (Again, I haven't been paid to make this statement, it is the plain truth from a hobbyist.) I love this stuff.
To summarize, for a smoke thrill, dont' use the military/police grade smoke grenade. They are fun and do produce smoke in a variety of colors but are expensive and don't provide as much smoke that you can get at half the cost. Check out some of the other options like Pyrocreations.com and Thunder Valley at http://www.highqualitychems.com/servlet/StoreFront.
Cannons for the Hobbyist
When I got started with this hobby some years ago, I was only looking to make a firecracker. Little did I know that it would evolve into firing cannons in the back yard as an adult during a major recession. Cannons are safe (given that you practice common sense and safe procedures), they're fun (given the number of ingredients you can use for powder), and they can make a lot of noise and spectacular fireshows in the night. Like I said, I didn't know this realm existed but once I hit Pyrocreations.com and saw the cannons in stock, I began investigating.
Before reading on, please read the following again and again and again without fail. The use of flash powder is SERIOUS stuff. It is one of the few compositions that you can put together with chemicals which are relatively easy to find. At the same time a primary difference between flash powder and gunpowder is that you don't have to confine flash powder to get a pretty forceful discharge. For example, we placed about a half a teaspoon full on a metal plate and set it off with a fuse. The resulting blast could be heard from some distance away. The powder was not encased in anything. Gunpowder on the other hand would simply burn. BE CAREFUL IN USING THIS STUFF. DO NOT OVERUSE AND BE AWARE THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ENCASED TO GO OFF WITH A CONCUSSION THAT HAS SURPRISING STRENGTH. Make only as much as you need for your immediate project; do not make a quantity and store it.
The following are a few cannons I found and how to use them. For the most part, I've used Thunder Valley for the chemicals and Pyrocreations for the hardware. Both are inexpensive and their service is painless and fast. (Neither one is paying me to say that! It's just the plain truth.)
The Big Daddy Thundermug is built from a solid steel stock bored with a two inch hole and stands five inches tall. We've shot it with gunpowder rammed halfway through it with a paper napkin cap and we've shot it with about 4-5 ccs of flash powder NO RAMMING AND NO CAP. The video below shows it firing with flash powder.
Before reading on, please read the following again and again and again without fail. The use of flash powder is SERIOUS stuff. It is one of the few compositions that you can put together with chemicals which are relatively easy to find. At the same time a primary difference between flash powder and gunpowder is that you don't have to confine flash powder to get a pretty forceful discharge. For example, we placed about a half a teaspoon full on a metal plate and set it off with a fuse. The resulting blast could be heard from some distance away. The powder was not encased in anything. Gunpowder on the other hand would simply burn. BE CAREFUL IN USING THIS STUFF. DO NOT OVERUSE AND BE AWARE THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ENCASED TO GO OFF WITH A CONCUSSION THAT HAS SURPRISING STRENGTH. Make only as much as you need for your immediate project; do not make a quantity and store it.
The following are a few cannons I found and how to use them. For the most part, I've used Thunder Valley for the chemicals and Pyrocreations for the hardware. Both are inexpensive and their service is painless and fast. (Neither one is paying me to say that! It's just the plain truth.)
The Big Daddy Thundermug is built from a solid steel stock bored with a two inch hole and stands five inches tall. We've shot it with gunpowder rammed halfway through it with a paper napkin cap and we've shot it with about 4-5 ccs of flash powder NO RAMMING AND NO CAP. The video below shows it firing with flash powder.
We've also tried something called the Little Brother Thundermug. We were so impressed by these that we now have three of them. The Little Brother is cylinder bored with a hole into a solid one and a quarter inch by 2 inch solid block of brass. It has taken all of the abuse and more than the Big Daddy counterpart at a fraction of the cost.
We've tried gunpowder but to tell you the truth, we've ended up putting about 4 ccs of flashpowder into it and setting it off. No, we haven't broken any windows, and no one has been hurt but it makes for a great sound and resulting mushroom cloud rising magestically through the tree tops. We certainly do not pack it and do not use any tissue to stop the hole--just fuse, fill, and light. The following is a video.
The final cannon I'm showing today on the site is a replica model. This one is modeled after a Civil War field cannon. To tell you the truth, we all ducked for some solid cover the first time we shot it. It just doesn't look like it would withstand a lot of pressure. But the thing is made from gun steel and has stood the test of what we gave it.
We filled it with 5 ccs of gunpowder and packed it tight with tissue wading. From the video below it may look like it totally disintegrated but it only jumped in the air and landed two feet away. It was unscathed and ready for action again.
We shot it three times within 15 minutes and the cannon looked clean and untouched. We also experimented by using about 1 cc of Titanium with the 5 ccs of gunpowder. It was night and provided a great sparkling show. What fun! Check out the video below. If you are using Quick Time, put it on pause right before the blast and press the right arrow key to go through it frame by frame. It's great.
For formulas for gunpowder and flash powders, I'll provide that information on this site in a later blog as soon as we've finished doing our research for the best ways of creating the combinations. In the mean time check out some of the books that I've linked into this blog. I'm trying to hit sales on Amazon when they're available to reduce the prices as much as possible.
My next blog is going to be about smoke. It should be up in about a week. Look for it then or sooner.
Bottle Rockets for the Fast Fix
I've always loved bottle rockets. They're fun and versitile. Frankly, I just love rockets but bottle rockets provide me with a quick fix rather than spending hours hovering over an Estes rocket to put it together, paint it, sand down the fins to a seemless finish, and then launching it to go elegantly into the sky and then splatter into a farmer's cornfield. Build a bottle rocket, and you don't care about the aftermath. It's gone but it was simple and fun and you didn't need to chase after it to retrieve the remains that would most likely go into the trash later on. I do love bottle rockets.
A friend of mine asked me to try out a tooling set for making bottle rockets and I'm providing you with the same directions and pictures that I gave him. It was a fun and successful project and I got a free set of pyrotechnic tools from the work. PERFECT.
It is suggested that you use the ¼ inch tubes (shown in the picture above) and fusing supplied by Pyrocreations which fit perfectly with the tool set and produce truly great results in a swift and effective manner.
For the nozzle and end plug you can use whatever clay mixture you currently use (even ground up kitty litter!) We’ve had a lot of success in creating a mixture described in: Amateur Rocket Motor Construction, David Sleeter (The Teleflite Corporation, 2004) p. 109. The mixture is composed of:
— Powdered clay 61%
— Grog 31%
— Paraffin Wax 8%
For further information contact Pyrocreations or reference the manual at the link provided to it on Amazon.
1 Qty=50 1/4" ID x 2" long x 1/16" Wall Tubes RED
1 Qty=1500 ft 1/16" fuse
In addition to the tooling and suggestions above for fuse and tubes you will also need: black powder, thin 12-14” light weight dowels, nozzle clay to use for the nozzle and end plug, and a light weight rubber hammer. OPTIONAL: You may like to use powder in addition to the black powder like a flash powder to create a final effect when the rocket reaches apogee. I get most of my chemicals from Thunder Valley which have good customer service and reasonable prices.
The use of all of these materials is outlined in the following steps for creating your own bottle rockets. Once all of the materials and hardware are assembled, you can easily create your own bottle rockets in five minutes or less.
The following steps are for using a short spindle with the tooling you select. For the longer spindle, you only need to use a longer 1/4” tube and more black powder. This will increase the height of your rocket’s performance.
Steps in Creating a 2” Bottle Rocket
1. Ensure that a spindle is inserted into the base.
A friend of mine asked me to try out a tooling set for making bottle rockets and I'm providing you with the same directions and pictures that I gave him. It was a fun and successful project and I got a free set of pyrotechnic tools from the work. PERFECT.
It is suggested that you use the ¼ inch tubes (shown in the picture above) and fusing supplied by Pyrocreations which fit perfectly with the tool set and produce truly great results in a swift and effective manner.
For the nozzle and end plug you can use whatever clay mixture you currently use (even ground up kitty litter!) We’ve had a lot of success in creating a mixture described in: Amateur Rocket Motor Construction, David Sleeter (The Teleflite Corporation, 2004) p. 109. The mixture is composed of:
— Powdered clay 61%
— Grog 31%
— Paraffin Wax 8%
For further information contact Pyrocreations or reference the manual at the link provided to it on Amazon.
1 Qty=50 1/4" ID x 2" long x 1/16" Wall Tubes RED
1 Qty=1500 ft 1/16" fuse
In addition to the tooling and suggestions above for fuse and tubes you will also need: black powder, thin 12-14” light weight dowels, nozzle clay to use for the nozzle and end plug, and a light weight rubber hammer. OPTIONAL: You may like to use powder in addition to the black powder like a flash powder to create a final effect when the rocket reaches apogee. I get most of my chemicals from Thunder Valley which have good customer service and reasonable prices.
The use of all of these materials is outlined in the following steps for creating your own bottle rockets. Once all of the materials and hardware are assembled, you can easily create your own bottle rockets in five minutes or less.
The following steps are for using a short spindle with the tooling you select. For the longer spindle, you only need to use a longer 1/4” tube and more black powder. This will increase the height of your rocket’s performance.
Steps in Creating a 2” Bottle Rocket
1. Ensure that a spindle is inserted into the base.
2. Mount the two inch tube over the spindle and onto the base.
3. Pour 1/3 cc of your nozzle material into tube.
4. Use the rammer with the hold through the center to gently compact the nozzle material into place in the tube.
You will want to gently strike the rammer a couple of times, turn the tooling set and then strike the rammer again. Using about three turns while striking is plenty to set the nozzle firmly in place in the tube. (If you are using something like Kitty Litter, you may want to tap and turn about twice or three times that number.)
5. Remove the rammer.
6. Measure out 2 ccs of gunpowder and using the same rammer tap it down in the tube while turning the tube after three or four taps.
7. Measure out another 2 ccs of gunpowder and repeat the procedure in Step #6. You want to ensure that the powder is packed down tightly in the tube and without any air pockets.
8. Remove the rammer and inspect the tube to ensure that there is no loose powder. You also want to ensure that the packed powder level is now above the tip of the spindle. If you can still see the spindle top, add more powder and tap it down as in Step #7. Also, ensure that the powder level is still well below the top of the tube.
9. At this point you may simply cap the end of the tube with your clay (or Kitty Litter) mixture or add a small amount of flash powder for an effect.
10. If you choose to use flash powder it is important to do no more tapping. Tapping flash powder will also certainly cause it to light and explode. Simply use the solid rammer to press the powder in place by hand and then cap it with a small amount of your clay mixture (or ground Kitty Litter). (Press this in by hand with the solid rammer.)
11. Remove the loaded tube from the spindle and base by gently turning it and pulling it away from the base.
12. Tape the loaded tube to the end of a lightweight length of wood (12-14” long). The whole assembly (tube and wood dowel) should balance on your finger placed just after the tube. If it does not balance, you may need to adjust the weight of the tube or the dowel keeping in mind that you want the whole assembly as light as possible. You might want to decrease the width of your rod if it outbalances the tube.
13. Cut a 2” length of fuse and insert it into the nozzle of the tube. Tape it into place as required with a small amount of tape.
14. You’re now ready to stick the rocket into a tube/bottle and launch it.
HAVE FUN. As you become more practiced and with the right pyrotechnics tools, you should be able to make these bottle rockets in three minutes or so.
Pyrotechnics Hobbyist Beginnings
When I was young my family took vacations. One of the best holidays that I had from those times was a trip to Toronto. My family went there to see the sights but one of the goals of my older brother was to buy fireworks to bring back to Ohio for fun. No one knew this but me and like a good younger brother, I kept quite in the back seat of the car with my brother while we passed through customs back into the U.S. with the fireworks under our seats that he had bought in Canada.
We had a great time shooting those fireworks together and the love of the flashing lights in the sky along with the bang of the report has always been a thrill. It wasn't legal then as I'm sure it isn't today but no one in our neighborhood became upset and everyone seemed to have a good time. He's gone now but the thrills of the flash, the fire, and the report still remain.
The talking heads on the news, always willing to give the negative, combined with the government agencies looking to pick low hanging fruit, condemn the fireworks unless someone pays "an arm and leg" to build and shoot them off for a great display.
Well, I remember those times with my brother. I remember the times we launched something really good with an occasional burnt finger, and I don't want to lose the joy. I am a pyrotechnics hobbyist and I'm more than willing to share what I've learned to empower others to experience the joys of building and shooting fireworks.
It has been a number of years but my sons have revived the hobby for me. It has taken several months to read the reference books available, to cut through the depths of internet information available, and identify the pyrotechnic resources available. (Like anything else there are good one and bad ones.) I think I've identified a core of good ones that can help with all of our needs to work with pyrotechnics without spending an arm and a leg. Those are the ones that I've linked to on this site. As I talk about projects in the future updates on the site, the links can help you with anything that you might need to complete them.
Our plan for this site is to update it every month or two with new projects and new pyrotechnic videos from YouTube. The advertisements will be chosen which meet the criteria for the projects described: low cost, good customer service, and quality materials produced. If you would like to automatically receive an announcement for a new project as they come out on the blog, please send me at email at ssteppphd@gmail.com and I will add you to the notification list. Optionally, describe the types of pyrotechnics you're most interested in.
You may opt out at any time; our emphasis is in the fireworks hobby and "get by" on any profits.
We had a great time shooting those fireworks together and the love of the flashing lights in the sky along with the bang of the report has always been a thrill. It wasn't legal then as I'm sure it isn't today but no one in our neighborhood became upset and everyone seemed to have a good time. He's gone now but the thrills of the flash, the fire, and the report still remain.
The talking heads on the news, always willing to give the negative, combined with the government agencies looking to pick low hanging fruit, condemn the fireworks unless someone pays "an arm and leg" to build and shoot them off for a great display.
Well, I remember those times with my brother. I remember the times we launched something really good with an occasional burnt finger, and I don't want to lose the joy. I am a pyrotechnics hobbyist and I'm more than willing to share what I've learned to empower others to experience the joys of building and shooting fireworks.
It has been a number of years but my sons have revived the hobby for me. It has taken several months to read the reference books available, to cut through the depths of internet information available, and identify the pyrotechnic resources available. (Like anything else there are good one and bad ones.) I think I've identified a core of good ones that can help with all of our needs to work with pyrotechnics without spending an arm and a leg. Those are the ones that I've linked to on this site. As I talk about projects in the future updates on the site, the links can help you with anything that you might need to complete them.
Our plan for this site is to update it every month or two with new projects and new pyrotechnic videos from YouTube. The advertisements will be chosen which meet the criteria for the projects described: low cost, good customer service, and quality materials produced. If you would like to automatically receive an announcement for a new project as they come out on the blog, please send me at email at ssteppphd@gmail.com and I will add you to the notification list. Optionally, describe the types of pyrotechnics you're most interested in.
You may opt out at any time; our emphasis is in the fireworks hobby and "get by" on any profits.
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