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What did you do today in pyro?


dagabu

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I did 3'' D1 glitter shells for my sister birthday party :)


http://i.imgur.com/HsoGaEy.jpg


Gonna be shooting them tomorrow.

Edited by Stef727
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Started a large set of 3lb rocket tooling for someone. :)

1422418564282.jpg

 

Thats one purdy set of tools there Caleb, can you post the finished picture as well? You keep this up and I'll retire and watch you make ALL the tolling! :P

My first attempt at stars.

 

http://youtu.be/jBk2jCoV1G0

 

Nice bright flashes stix! Good job!

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  • 1 month later...

Added another tool to my shop today. Been looking for one of these for a year or more and missed out each time one would come up for sale in my area. A little work and it will run like a new one. This is a Logan 821 metal lathe with quick change gears. Anyone on this site have any experience with this model?

 

 

post-11643-0-17799900-1425244742_thumb.jpg

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Nice lathe mikeee! The feed speeds really remind me of the south bend I use at work. No cross feed on it?

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Just got the lathe unloaded and need to crib it up to get the legs back under it.

Glad I don't move these for a living!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I'm starting at the beginning. I made my first charcoal today...

 

TLUD in 1 gal. paint cans. Boy they don't make those like they used to. The wood was Spanish cedar. Really? Yup, cleaning out all the old cigar boxes and thought, hmmmmm, lightweight wood, Eastern red is good, balsa and willow are good, what have I got to lose? Just a good way to get my feet wet I guess.

 

Got a little anxious on my first two cans and had a bit of uncooked wood I had to sort through. I'll get the hang of it. I think I had the cans packed a little too tight as well, not enough air moving through.

 

Anyway, I'm on the way. My goal is some rockets and mines this year. I'm a little time challenged but I sure do like the smell of burning powder in the morning!

 

Thanks for all the great information here. I'd say I spend too much time reading but I've got a lot to learn.

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YOU BURNT SPANISH CEDAR !!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

 

:o :o :o

:angry: :angry: :angry:

 

HEATHEN !!!!

:D

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Oh c'mon caleb, it was just old cigar boxes. You need some? I bought some a while back when I was in the midst of my heavy cigar habit to convert an old radio cabinet into a humi. I'll trade you for something.... :D

 

Is there a better use?

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You never stop learning in pyro as with most things in life. Well these days I don't think most people ever start learning but that's a different topic. I think I read for a year and made tools like a ball mill and home made media before I attempted anything. And my first step was making charcoal and good BP. Once BP is mastered, what you can do in the pyro world gets a lot more diverse. I personally started with rockets. I made 3/8" tubes and rammed a core burner rocket on home made tooling. From that first intense whoosh I was hooked and jumped up and down and ran back to ram another dozen. They were small rockets but still some of my favorite as they usually get lost in the clouds. Quite impressive for what they are and easy to make. If you get to making hot BP try a nozzle-less rocket as they are even easier to make with good hot BP. From there you can stay busy for a year with just BP chemicals and maybe a little aluminum for glitter and sparks.

 

Good luck and welcome.

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I see.... old cigar boxes are fine.... You should go buy some at the wood store to build or line a humidor with... It's crazy expensive.. at least it was where I went to get some.

I have the planer shavings in cigar boxes in my humidor... great for nestling nice cigars in.. tuck them in to hibernate for a while... mmmmmm...

 

Welcome and try some Eastern red cedar pet bedding for charcoal. You will get very usable powder just screen mixed and great bp milled.

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Thanks FMB, I've been hanging here for at least a couple maybe three years. Not much chatter but a lot of learning. Got the ball mill thing almost dialed. It's BP and some modest projects for this year.

 

The incidents of the last few years here almost made me bail. I could not leave the smell of the smoke so I've got top line PPE, never make exceptions and sometime it goes slower that I want, but I'm never going to take an unnecessary risk. Just me. I'm an old guy and already feel my mortality, no need to hasten the process.

 

Again, this place is awesome. For those that really want to learn something, there is more than enough here to keep smart folks in the "catch up" mode for quite a while.

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Spent a few hours today putting a tool together to true up the wood ball case formers after they are roughed out on the lathe.

 

 

post-11643-0-97172500-1427066816_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thats good.:) I making sheaves for the visco fuse machine today. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Acquired some Sorbitol - just making some small 3/4 inch grains (KNSB) for testing. A work in progress...

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Worked on several sizes of rocket tooling on the metal lathe, these are spindle extractors.

 

post-11643-0-61492300-1431867818_thumb.jpg

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Does reloading ammo count?

I need to load a few rounds myself. Too busy making powder though.

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Anyone actually tried making black powder for shooting in muzzleloaders, how well does it work?

 

I wish I could make my own smokeless but forget it, way too many variables, a slight difference would result in exploding guns.

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The main issue is having a consistent black powder with the same level of energy. Most muzzleloading firearms have heavy barrels designed to handle variations in the black powder. Most barrel failures are from loading the firearm twice by mistake, leaving the ram rod in the barrel, too much wadding. Poor quality metal choice for the firearm barrel is a possibility, there are only two main types commonly used for muzzleloading barrels 4140 Chrome-Moly and 416 Stainless Steel. Many countries require actual proof testing of a firearm prior to putting it on the market. A double load of powder and two lead balls is a common practice for proof testing a barrel in some countries.
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I'm under the impression that blackpowder firearms are never proof tested, and that only a few like Savage 10ML is proof tested because that was designed to handle smokeless powder.

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