mabuse00 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 (edited) I did not touch anything since NYE, absolute hiatus... But I just regaining my memory of what I wanted to improve.Maybe you guys have some interesting thoughts on this.First point is a very simple one.My standard procedure has always been to glue the fuse into the tube so that it touches the propellant grain with it's tip, at the tube wall.I've had a couple of rockets failing to ignite that way...With smaller rockets I dont have the possibility to form a ring around the spindle or something.Some form of additional prime is obviously an answer, but I dont want to light the core, so the prime must burn not too vigorous and not to sparky.And second, speaking of sparks, some of my tools have very short spindle collars, so the propellant is quite exposed.How do you protect your rockets from accidental ignition in "fiery environment"?Giving it a classic paper wrap is imho not a good idea with hot whistle fuel... Edited July 30, 2022 by mabuse00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 I hope you don't mind me asking but what happened on New Year's eve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabuse00 Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 I had to carry some rockets back from the launch site for re-fusing.Everything was soaking wet, I did not plan to have them exposed for so long. I was cold and rainy, and somehow this spoiled my fun a little... The second try was successful in both of the two cases though.But misfires suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 I am certainly not a whistle expert but what I did with a few that I made was drill a hole through the tube before pressing the rocket that would line up with the bottom edge of the propellant. Then I glued the fuse through the hole to the propellant with NC lacquer. I generally use a piece of wide masking tape just flat over the bottom of a rocket if I think it's going to be a dampness issue. I typically tear it off before launching but on the 4th of July I left it on every rocket and I had no problems. Honestly I did not care too much for the whole process of making whistle Rockets. I felt nervous the whole time I was pressing them. And if something like that is not enjoyable I'm just not going to do it. The remaining fuel is excellent for booster for breaking my shells. I guess the main reason I didn't like making them was the fact that I don't have dedicated whistle tooling. So I had to use a toned down benzo recipe on my Universal 1 lb tooling. It was very hard to get the spindle out even though it was waxed and everything. Sure makes a unique sound on that Universal tooling LOL https://youtube.com/shorts/pbICa9ddIx0?feature=share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmjlab Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 (edited) Out of curiosity, why are you concerned about sparks from a prime? As for the prime to help take fire easier, you could press a thin layer of slow B.P. at the bottom of your spindle, it does not have to be much, and if too many sparks are a concern then you could test different milled powder for a less sparkier b.p.? That 1/8" B.P. pressed in the bottom would help ensure your rocket takes fire reliably, and ignites the whistle reliably - it could potentially help with the next suggestion as well. To protect your rocket from an errant flame / spark, you could use tinfoil wrapped around bottom of your rocket and squeezed onto your fuse. Since it won't be tightly taped on, a thin B.P. prime would likely be enough pressure to blow it off upon ignition, preventing over pressurizing your whistle core. It would also still be secure enough to prevent an errant spark from igniting the whistle rocket. (*Edit* Itay also help with some of your humidity issue as well) As for fusing, quite a few people believe in the drilled fuse hole to have your fuse barely touch the end of your pressed Pripellant grain (whistle or prime - whichever you use). To be fair - these are not my original ideas, they are tips / methods ive picked up from other experts. However, I've never had a whistle grain fail to take fire from blackmatch or Visco. Hope its helpful. Charles Edited August 1, 2022 by cmjlab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted August 27, 2022 Share Posted August 27, 2022 As Charles quotes above, "As for fusing, quite a few people believe in the drilled fuse hole to have your fuse barely touch the end of your pressed Pripellant (propellant) grain (whistle or prime - whichever you use).", I drill the hole after the rockets are pressed. I drill the tube, not the fuel and since I have a 1/2" base projection, I have plenty of bare tube to drill. Trust me, the sparks thrown by CHINESE visco will light the grain every time, unless its raining... I dont own any US made visco, IMHO, it's all garbage. It's the one thing I buy from china that is so much better than US made. Sorry, nationalists... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabuse00 Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) It probably did not help that I used 2mm fuse instead of 3mm...I'l try a little slow BP laquer on the viscos tip next time... Out of curiosity, why are you concerned about sparks from a prime?A spark might hit the core, what might cause a CATO with some setups.I can't say how realistic this scenario is though... Edited August 30, 2022 by mabuse00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmjlab Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 I'm certainly not expert, and would suggest Dags word over mine any day. But I would assume that once whistle has taken fire from the fuse (especially if fused as described above) that the propagation of flame would far exceed any potential spark flying up the core first. Again, Im no expert and would be interested to hear from someone who has lit many whistle rockets, and has experience over years, as well! Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 I'm certainly not expert, and would suggest Dags word over mine any day.But I would assume that once whistle has taken fire from the fuse (especially if fused as described above) that the propagation of flame would far exceed any potential spark flying up the core first.Again, Im no expert and would be interested to hear from someone who has lit many whistle rockets, and has experience over years, as well!Charles Interesting point though... I have seen those with exploding whistle rockets use vaseline on a barrel cleaning swab to coat the core of a hot whistle rocket with great success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Interesting point though... I have seen those with exploding whistle rockets use vaseline on a barrel cleaning swab to coat the core of a hot whistle rocket with great success. I heavily wax my spindle before pressing. In my mind it coats the core of the rocket and wax slows down flame propagation which is why we wax the tubes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 I heavily wax my spindle before pressing. In my mind it coats the core of the rocket and wax slows down flame propagation which is why we wax the tubes. Perhaps it may work but I have not seen it work in real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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