nater Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Let's get this board back on track. The 4th is over and PGI is right around the corner.. I won't be at the convention this year, so the next big event I am looking forward to is MFF in Northern Indiana. These are a few 3/4" FeTi comets which will be used in roman candles. The comp is simply C6 with 10% FeTi added, dampened with 5% water and pressed with an arbor press. Once dry, the ends will be primed with a BP slurry and dredged with fine grained BP. The candle delay comp I use is just nitrated charcoal and lift is 2fA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrokid Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 What are the details of the nitrated charcoal? That sounds like it might have a few cool applications if it burns well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) It is just 70/30 milled nitrate and coarse charcoal with up to 5% dextrin, if desired. Weigh the charcoal and place it on a sheet of paper. Screen the dextrin and nitrate together with a 40 mesh screen onto the charcoal. Mix with a 12 or 20 mesh screen and place into a suitable container for mixing. Add roughly 20% boiling water and stir the mixture with a wood spoon. It will cool rapidly, when it is cool enough to touch, form into a ball and granulate through a 4 mesh screen onto a tray lined with a sheet of newspaper. Form the granules back into a ball and repeat the granulating 3 more times. (Some may find this process very similar to Mr. Swisher's instructions for polverone. How about that? ) One dry this works well for a gerb base and candle delay. It can even be used for rockets with the right tooling. http://youtu.be/3cieG40nQ2w Edited July 30, 2014 by nater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparx88 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 what kind of pressure are you at with these on the press? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 I aim for 1000-1500 PSI on the comp for pressed stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparx88 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) ty. Also on the delay powder you make for these RM's, This is a new idea for me. I'm from the mini fused- lift, comet, sawdust and repeat style. How do you layer yours? Lift, comet, delay and repeat I'm thinking, but do you ram the delay before you add the lift to make sure it gets around the comet and makes contact with the lift? I used to having a fuse run full length as a sure fire. Edited July 30, 2014 by Sparx88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowcat1969 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 This is a method that I've used to make candles with a delay comp. Its a little more labor intensive but it works well. http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to-make/Smith-Roman-Candles.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 I am new to candles, my first one had good timing but poor star ignition. The stars were unprimed D1 comet and they did not a stay lit. Going to try something else this time. To me, the hallmark of a roman candle is the soft spray from the delay in between shots. You do not get that when using fuse to time. Yes, I use lift, comet and delay which repeats for each shot. Following the recommendation in Hardt's Pyrotechnics, each comet has black match wrapped around two sides and the bottom to pass fire. The lift is poured in, the comet dropped in place and the delay rammed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparx88 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 black match around the comet for passfire, thats pretty slick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts