darkness21 Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but i am fairly new to pyrotechnics i was wondering if it was possible to roll your own tubes around a dowel and just pump your comets like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkInLight Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but i am fairly new to pyrotechnics i was wondering if it was possible to roll your own tubes around a dowel and just pump your comets like that I've done it, but I don't have near enough experience with comets to compare them to any others made with a different process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormanman Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but i am fairly new to pyrotechnics i was wondering if it was possible to roll your own tubes around a dowel and just pump your comets like that I suppose you could, the tube just needs to be really strong. Don't forget the most important part though, don't leave you dowel in the tube after your done pressing the comet. I did and my dowel is now stuck in the tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but i am fairly new to pyrotechnics i was wondering if it was possible to roll your own tubes around a dowel and just pump your comets like that It would probably work for, but I imagine the tube would get soggy and deform after awhile...better to use something else like plastic/Al/SS. I've rammed comets in spiral wound tubes and then peeled away the tube before, but never kept it for re-use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActiveA Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I prefer Comets over stars, at the moment I'm using Green Meal + 10% Pine Charcoal and 5% 2mm - 3mm shredded Al. The size of them isn't exactly great; 1" but they look fine, I'll have a few videos soon enough. I must get myself some more Ti sponge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmuro Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Four diffrent comets.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EfCTx_FKUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljnkiUX2nBUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNWHr-jIBo4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi1CGZsEG8w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActiveA Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I like that C-6 with the Salute, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkInLight Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Four diffrent comets.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EfCTx_FKUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljnkiUX2nBUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNWHr-jIBo4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi1CGZsEG8w Gave every one 5 stars, great comets. The heavy lifting made them look great, especially the first one. That thing looked like a rocket and seemed to go about as high too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwezxc12 Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 Not to jump on the bandwagon, but nice job! That C6 + MgAl comet took off like crazy...if you make your lift yourself, congratulations. That's some good stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormanman Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 How did you attach a salute to the comet?I'm trying to do it w/ a one inch aerail shell and my comets keep cracking. I drill a fuse hole and then it cracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmuro Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 How did you attach a salute to the comet?I'm trying to do it w/ a one inch aerail shell and my comets keep cracking. I drill a fuse hole and then it cracks.I press my comet and then drill a 6mm hole in the midlde about 1 cm deep. Then I mix some of meal/NC and paste the fuse of salute to the comet and at the end just a little of hot glue to attach a salute to the comet. O and qwezxc12, I do make my lift myself. It burns like that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uefUudBjHTs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I did have a question about the comets actually. Are they cored at all, or just solid "pucks"? Puck probably isn't the best word, but lacking of core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormanman Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I did have a question about the comets actually. Are they cored at all, or just solid "pucks"? Puck probably isn't the best word, but lacking of core. Most comets are puck-like. They are solid unless like Zmuro said you are attaching a salute or aerail (which I'm a newb at). I guess you could make different burn rates with a cored comet. I hope that helps but thats about all I know on comets. BTW, Zmuro, how did you get your comets to stay uncracked when drilling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmuro Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 BTW, Zmuro, how did you get your comets to stay uncracked when drilling?Like I said, I press my comets with 5t hydraulic press and after 1 week they are hard as rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaadjes Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Hi there, I have a question. I have a few 2" comets C8 mede a while ago. They are around 50gr each and not dry jet. I think I've mesured to less binder. They may break apart during lift i'm affraid, so I am thinking of crush them again and add a bit extra binder and ram them back in shape. I was planning to shoot them on newyears eve, but I doubt that they will be dry then. What do you people think? And would it help, to wet them with alcohol instead of water so they would dry faster? Greets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Wetting them with alcohol will only make them weaker. Addition of some alcohol may help to dry them faster though. My best recomendation, due to the time frame you're looking at is to let them dry as is. You won't be able to dry them properly if you crush, and re-ram them. Put them under forced air current, and it will go a lot faster. You don't mention how much or which binder you used, but if you used at least 3-4% dextrin you should probably be alright once they are dry. I find my comets always seem rather crumbly when they are still damp, but rock hard once fully dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 You could also use a lifting disk under the comets (between the lift charge and the comet).It takes some of the shock away from the comet. A pc of stiff cardboard with some holes in it should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudidotdk Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Another possibility is to top fuse them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmuro Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 3" 160 Comet With 10g Salute + 10% Ti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo1j0Q5XbDk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplmac Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 You could also wrap those comets real tight with several turns of heavy kraft paper, that should keep them from coming apart. Do these comets have a cavity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyboy25 Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 i have a question i want to make either a 2" or a 4" comet but i dont have any tooling and i dont want to but any do you have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottagotomoz Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 One way or another, you will need tooling whether it's commercial or homemade, no? I believe there is a tutorial for this. Alternatively I can't see where a dowel and pipe could go wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwezxc12 Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 i have a question i want to make either a 2" or a 4" comet but i dont have any tooling and i dont want to but any do you have any ideas? You *might* get away with a 2in made from a dowel and a piece of PVC (I doubt you'd find copper pipe in 2in). Ram the hell out of it and have fun pushing it out of the PVC sleeve - any metals will bite into the PVC making it hard to extract - that's also why pressing it might be bad...too much compaction into a soft sleeve and you'll never get the comet out intact. I'd say to use iron or steel pipe, but water pipe is mostly ERW (rolled with a welded seam on the inside) and you won't get a comet out cleanly; that's why I ordered DOM (drawn over mandrel) SS tubing for my 3in comet tool. 4in? - I think you'll need tooling to make a hard enough comet to stay together during the lift. You could always pioneer cast comet testing There are some hummer formulas that have a high proportion of oxidizer and use the resin binder as the fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudidotdk Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 You could also do as passfire and use to pieces of pvc, both with a cut lenghtwise, one fitting around the other. These are hold tightly together with hose clamps.The rammer can be any non sparking cylinder, such as resin, wood or durhams in a pvc pipe (as descriped on passfire) When the comet is pressed it can be released by loosening the hose clamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hst45 Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 i have a question i want to make either a 2" or a 4" comet but i dont have any tooling and i dont want to but any do you have any ideas?(I doubt you'd find copper pipe in 2in)If you need a short length of 2" copper PM me, I have a piece about 4 or 5 feet in the barn (somewhere ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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