.
. Not the best time of year to say the least. Have lost a bit of oomph to go ahead and make/test more of the pyro effects because of the snow. BUT…This is just ridiculus
Jan 19, 2009 Personal
45 to 50 cm snow on Sunday… That’ll put an effective stop to all testing right now. I got my hands on some great tubes for a simple mortar today, and really looking forward to testing that. All I need is a way to plug it, but I think I might have a solution for that. Tomorrows forecast predicts about 20 new cm’s of snow, so I might not get a chance to build it before work. Have to see how it goes..
Didn’t have a chance to make dextrin today because of.. well.. a few different things. No stars drying to be tested, but there’s still time. It’s kind of hard to have the parts and compounds lying around but no time to build and test. If all goes as planned, I’ll have some spare time this weekend, and things might happen…. That remains to be seen.
See you in the sky!
Too bloody cold!
Jan 18, 2009 General, Personal, Pyrotechnics
All this snow and wold weather just makes it hard to be outside testing. Knowing that I can’t test stuff, makes it hard to make new stuff… It’s a vicious circle! Last batch of BP is dried and tested and I’m well chuffed again. This’ll work great as break. I have to make a mill to get good liftpowder but I can use what I’ve got, just have to use a bit more than the optimal percentage.
I’ve got a few canisters ready for filling, but I have to make some stars and test those. Lacking dextrin as a binder, but hopefully I can make that during the coming week. My starmix has not been tested yet so I don’t know if it’s even usable, but hopefully with some good priming it’ll do the trick. My testing-mortar is ready, and this time I’ll make sure to test it while filming. Great to have some video documentation to see the progress from start to finish.
Snow is the worst part of winter. It can make for some very good photos, but again…too cold to take the camera out (for me). My camera can handle the cold, but I can’t 
.
Finally!!!!!!!!!
Jan 16, 2009 General, Learning, Pyrotechnics, Science
Today I got my first successful launch 
On a downside, I didn’t bother to film it as I didn’t think it would work.
I built a very small shell, maybe a 1″ canister. I didn’t weigh it to measure the liftcharge, so it didn’t go quite as high as I wanted. The spolette I made was waaay to long and the shell actually fell back down before lighting… Booboo. Still was fun though, but I need some real timefuse!!!!!
I’ve never been more chuffed than when the mortar went of, and I saw it lift. The trail from the spolette was just cool. This was something I made myself. Learning… Here I come!
Not working until evening/night tomorrow, so I’ve got a couple hours left of today . Off to make some “pipes” for some slightly bigger canisters.
Not today
Jan 15, 2009 General, Pyrotechnics
Didn’t have a chance to do anything yesterday, as I was a bit tired from a 12 hour shift. All I did manage to do, was update my WordPress to the latest version. This was long overdue.
This morning was a bit on the dozey side, so no work done. Only 7 hours of work today though . I really don’t mind, I love my job 
:D.
I have to make some more BP though, it takes time to dry so best to have it ready
WOW!
Jan 13, 2009 General, Learning, Pyrotechnics, Science
Success!! Read the rest of this entry »
NC lacquer alone didn’t do the trick, but mixing in some good starmix meal with the NC was successful. Homemade fuse, dipped in the NC/Starmix solution and let dry a few minutes = USABLE!
Oh Yeah!!
Jan 12, 2009 Personal, Pyrotechnics, Science
Finally! Some BP I can actually use Read the rest of this entry »
A day off
Jan 12, 2009 General
I’ve had today off from work, and I’ve really enjoyed relaxing. So much so, that I’ve not done much of what I had planned. The charcoal got done yesterday, and today I started grinding it. As I don’t have a mill it’s ground in a machine and then sifted to as fine a mesh as I can get. I used a very fine cloth as the final sift and I actually got what looked like pretty good airfloat. Man is that hard work!
Using the cia method I made a 100g batch and that’s now drying off. Hope its dry tomorrow, and ready for a test. Had planned to make som NC lacquer, but I haven’t gotten out to get the last part I need to make it…
The plan was to test some of my fuse after coating and priming it, but if I can’t get the last part it’ll have to wait. Out to see what I can get a hold of now
What’s going on?
Jan 11, 2009 General, Life, Personal
Haven’t posted in ages, so I guess it’s time to post a simple update..
I have been so busy working as of late, it’s quite remarkable. This means I have little to no time to spend with my (many) hobbies, but I thoroughly enjoy my job so I don’t mind.
One thing I have been able to keep up with is simple pyrotechnics. I’m still in the toddler stage, but it’s fun to see sparks (like you see in fireworks) that you’ve made from scratch.
As I’m writing this, I’m waiting on my last batch of homemade charcoal. I’ve used a few different types of wood trying to get a fast BP. Briquettes are a no-go (but I allready knew that). They’re ok for a BP rich in C for stars, but that’s about it. Used a few “softwoods” as well, but not satisfied by a longshot. The batch on the “stove” now is maple. Looking to be done in about an hour, so it’s ready for testing in the morning.
BP should be ball milled, but as I haven’t made my mill yet I’m stuck with the precipitation method (also called the CIA method). I’ve seen some pretty fast BP comps made using CIA, so I know it’s possible. Hardest part is to get good airfloat charcoal without the mill, but the grinder I’m using should get it quite fine.
Here’s a video I made of a homemade fuse I “cooked”:
Homemade fuse (on YouTube)
I also made a video tutorial of the fuse. If I get the fast BP I want tomorrow, I’ll make some dummy shells (fireworks with no innards) and hopefully some vids of them.
Hope I can remember and find the time to post more frequently.
