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Crosette pump size?


pyroMIKE

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Just curious..Would a 1 inch crossette pump be too big for a 6 inch ball shell or should I get one bigger?.. Planning on making some D1,c6,c8, TT, willow stars..

Edited by pyroMIKE
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1" is the right size for such a shell and can be used even in smaller ones. But aou also could go and take one one size bigger.
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Are you talking about ball shells or cylinder shells? Probably fine for either. 13 or 14 per ring in a 6" cylinder shell. You could probably go up to 1.25" if you wanted to save a little work on them (10 per ring).

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Are you talking about ball shells or cylinder shells? Probably fine for either. 13 or 14 per ring in a 6" cylinder shell. You could probably go up to 1.25" if you wanted to save a little work on them (10 per ring).

 

Where do you draw the line for 3/4" crossettes in a cylinder shell?

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They will go in a 6 inch ball shell..I'll probably go a little bigger then to save on work..I'm thinking 1 1/8 or 1 1/4.Haven't made my mind up yet.Im leaning more on the 1 1/8 since all I will be making are 6 inch ball shells..I dont have any mortars for 5 inch..The next size I use is 4 inch ball shells.I need to get into cylinder shells..All I have ever build are ball shells.

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MIKE do you have a passfire account? They had lots of informations and ideas for them there when i had an account (10 years ago now, so should have been grown quite a lot).
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I would think a 3/4" crosette from a faster burning comp would be fine in a 3" cylinder shell. At least, I have been wanting to make a TR inspired shell with small color stars and a ring of 3/4" D1 crosettes.
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Have never been on passfire or fireworking..I think I would rather try my own comps and go from there on my own..My only question here was average size of 6 inch ball shell crossettes and I thank everyone for your speedy comments. More comments would also be appreciated. :)

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I like working on my own projects/experiments too, but the knowledgeable members at fireworking are incredible, and extremely helpful. You'll also find a lot more active discussions there than anywhere else I've found.

 

Worth the cost of membership for sure.

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I decided to go with the 1 1/8 Wolter pump.I also got the adjustment rings with it.It looks like an impressive tool..Hope it works as good as it looks.Anyone know where to get graphite spray?

Edited by pyroMIKE
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Home Depot also carries graphite spray in hardware dept. Messy black stuff, though.

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I decided to go with the 1 1/8 Wolter pump.I also got the adjustment rings with it.It looks like an impressive tool..Hope it works as good as it looks.Anyone know where to get graphite spray?

 

I haven't had good luck with the spray, I use a little tub of seed graphite to powder the tip, it works much better for me.

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So what is the best easiest lube to use to get the comp from sticking to the tool while removing the star? Or is any even necessary with the Wolten tool?

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With the wolter tools you won't need any for most things.

 

The easiest to use are either ptfe spray or graphite powder. The ptfe needs will last fkr about 100 stars before you need to replace it, really easy to work with.

If you use graphite put it into a little plastic container with a long nose and spray some into the tool every 10 comets, you also can add about 2% to the comp.

 

Why not just use ptfe? Graphite gives much better results when working with comps containing coarse particles.

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One other question..Would using hard metals such as titanium hurt the Wolter pumps? I know using titanium in your comp is not recommended for brass pumps.

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One other question..Would using hard metals such as titanium hurt the Wolter pumps? I know using titanium in your comp is not recommended for brass pumps.

 

I find brass to be the best with Ti, aluminum the worst and the NiTuff coating to be inbetween.

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Dag. For practical reasons I use 3/4" in 3" and 4" cylinders. 1" in 4"-6". I don't actually own any larger tooling. You can use 3/4" in any size you like really 3" and larger. It's more of a factor of time that keeps me in the mentioned ranges. Pumping and assembling close to 100 3/4" crossettes for a 6" shell probably would be impressive, but a lot of work and time.

 

Sorry pyroMIKE, I don't have a lot of experience with crossettes or comets in ball shells. I would probably go with either 1" or 1 1/8" though. They don't pack quite as densely into ball shells, so slightly smaller than for cylinders probably would be better.

 

I've used all sorts of lubes, and with the NiTuff coating, they all work fine. Graphite spray and powder, Teflon spray, Sailkote, even cooking spray. They all work. The biggest thing is to keep the tooling clean, especially around the pin and the base of the cavity. When comp builds up there, it tends to start accumulating more and more. I keep a toothbrush around to quickly knock anything off.

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