rec.pyrotechnics Google Group

Re: Your ALL Pathetic

hasanl...@gmail.com — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:26:13 UT

Re: Selling a bunch of my pyro books on eBay.

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:24:08 UT

ynotp...@gmail.com fired this volley in news:9222a118-b3fb-4b9b-9ad1-
c47157c5d514@googlegroups.com:

There are lots of non-pyros out there who'd think they're special, yes.

If they are new and shipping is included, then I guess the prices are
fair.

When you first posted, it smelled like you were a pyro 'getting out', and

Re: Selling a bunch of my pyro books on eBay.

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:47:03 UT

ynotp...@gmail.com fired this volley in news:6d798c71-bbf7-48a5-9bb2-
160c69cba733@googlegroups.com:

Gosh... that's a really odd, ecclectic collection, with absolutely no
"meat & potatos" books on modern 'basics'.

No Shimizu or Lancaster? No Shidlovskiy? No JOP or Pyrotechnica?
Kentish is interesting, but useless for today's practicioner, except as a

Re: Geeting a funny felling about Lloyd!

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:00:51 UT

oda...@gmail.com fired this volley in news:7b6fb3bd-9a9b-46cd-9b1c-
b2691e740dad@googlegroups.com:

Heh! You'd be _terribly_disappointed_ if I told you that the stunt was
done with a remotely-controlled super-16 camera in a "hard box", locked
inside that trailer with no humans nearby... (awww! <G>)

Geeting a funny felling about Lloyd!

oda...@gmail.com — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:54:38 UT

April 1st, 2008ish give or take a year.
I have found proof that Lloyd supplied whistle to reports to underage thugs who commented a heinous crime!
[link]
That poor child, subjected to those rockets, and locked up in a shed!
Yeah, I know that most are thinking, "humph, I've stuck rocket sticks in my bum, lit, then removed the hair that grows down".

Re: It Burns !

oda...@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 02:53:12 UT

Snag,
If you play around PROPERLY with that mortar, and pestle, it'll hook you into tweaking towards better, and faster.
The M&P is a dead end for BP.
Ball milling is next, and it opens a vast area.
I have Lloyd's book (almost sent it to him and sign to feed his ego).
You want to make good powder listen to him, and do.

Three Card Infinite Pass Klondike

chimasylviabu...@gmail.com (Humphry Chima Sylvia) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:26:34 UT

Googler's Matt Cutts G+ [link]
***************************
Three Card Infinite Pass Klondike [link]
Export Query to Excel for SQL Server [link]

Re: I'm trying to find the star cluster with Auriga!

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:57:26 UT

Daniel Kaiser <oda...@gmail.com> fired this volley in news:95524546-117a-
49cc-8c91-3202f22da...@p12g200 0yqo.googlegroups.com:

Dan, Passfire will update you on your password.
Just try to log in, and if it doesn't work use the links to contact the
admin.

Lloyd

I'm trying to find the star cluster with Auriga!

oda...@gmail.com (Daniel Kaiser) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:06:46 UT

Started going through my stockpile of chemicals and thought of Auriga.
I know he's located in the sector of Passfire, but I've lost my
everything to get in.
Also his phone#.
I know there are some who lurk here during morning coffee, and, or,
constitution (if they have a laptop).
If some who knows Auriga, please pass this on.

Re: It Burns !

not-h...@anon.net (Spinal_Injury) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:23:52 UT

Ah, you'd do well to 'snag' Lloyds book on the subject, and read it
three times to make sure it has sunk in. You don't really need pure
KNO3 IMO, but the charcoal and sulfur should be a fine grade - I use
rubbermakers sulfur, lump willow, and fertilizer grade nitrate, then
it's 3 hours in a PROPERLY CHARGED 2 gallon (about 3000 grams comp )

Re: It Burns !

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:52:37 UT

Bob wrote:

Got it , that's today's lesson . Actually yesterdays too , because Lloyd
said the same thing . I'm using an el-cheapo mortar and pestle , and really
just playing around at this point . We're in the middle of a move to
N.central Arkansas , and once my machine shop is set up there I'll complete

Re: It Burns !

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:06:41 UT

On Mar 21, 6:11 am, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"

No, but if you combine damp mixing with fine sieving, you should be
able to get an intimate enough mixture to avoid the slag you're
seeing. I would try comminuting the KNO3 separately first. If you
have no way to do so other than via the mill you're constructing, and

Re: It Burns !

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:54:56 UT

No, usually it means it wasn't mixed well enough. The deposits could
be of nonflammable binder (depending on the brand of briquets), but
usually they're of melted and congealed KNO3. If you don't have an
excess of KNO3 in the mixture, then it means the mixture wasn't
intimate enough. What method of mixing are you using?

House obliterated, man killed in huge bomb blast in Cambria County

tta...@gmail.com (rat bastard) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:09:22 UT

Slightly off topic, but this story has it all...seems that this loon
was involved in some clandestine manufacture of fireworks in the past.
If I had to guess, probably bootleg salutes. The last paragraph deals
with his past adventures in pyro. This one is for the Anon Emous
archive...

[link]

Re: It Burns !

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:13:45 UT

"Snag" <snag_...@att.net> fired this volley in

Neat! As I learned early-on from some taking some military contracts --
military 'pyrotechnics' use the same materials (mostly), but are mostly a
far cry from 'fireworks'. <G>

LLoyd

Re: It Burns !

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:11:51 UT

"Snag" <snag_...@att.net> fired this volley in news:dWv2t.92839$Hg7.77935
@newsfe30.iad:

The fineness of flour as compared to properly milled BP is as bowling
balls to table salt.

You cannot accomplish it with a mortar and pestle. In a _properly_
charged ball mill running at the right speed for its size, media size,

Re: It Burns !

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:22:33 UT

I'm using a small mortar & pestle , slightly dampening the mix when I
combine it . KNO3 milled alone , sulphur and charcoal together , then
combine . I'm for sure not getting it as fine as it probably should be -
flour fine . I've held off on making a small ball mill until I finish
getting moved to our place in Arkansas . Got the drum finished except for

Re: It Burns !

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:29:08 UT

"Snag" <snag_...@att.net> fired this volley in news:1Yr2t.190985$KR.40036
@newsfe27.iad:

Both parts of that sentence worry me.

1) Stick with 75/15/10 until you get it right. You're mixing up too many
variables, and that fundamental mix has proven to be the best all-round
BP for everything pyrotechnic.

It Burns !

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:51:25 UT

But not as well as I'd hoped . I know for sure that one thing is the
briquets I ground up for charcoal <hangs head , blushes> but next round
should be with white-wood charcoal that I'll make . Last mix was 75/15/10 ,
left a yellowish glassy deposit <burned in a 4-5 layer paper tube> .
Tonight's recipe is 75/17.5/7.5 , drying as I type . I'm kinda-sorta sure

Re: Black and white smoke

prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de.invalid (Thomas Prufer) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:23:12 UT

On Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:03:48 +0100, Thomas Prufer

And why a free, independent, and critical press is no good if it's staffed by
people who haven't... oh, no rants welcome here?

OK, this is what the recipe was reported as, elsewhere:

"'To produce the black smoke we have colored potassium, untracina- it’s very

Black and white smoke

prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de.invalid (Thomas Prufer) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:03:48 UT

The Vatican news has the following smoke recipes:

"How the white and black "Fumate" are produced"
(...)
For a black “fumata” the chemical compound is made of potassium perchlorate,
anthracene, and sulphur. The white “fumata” is a mixture of potassium chlorate,
lactose, and rosin. The rosin is a natural amber resin obtained from conifers.

Re: Medieval black powder

prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de.invalid (Thomas Prufer) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:50:37 UT

I found this online, "Instructions for the Manufacture of Saltpetre", a pamphlet
from 1862. Yields of a thousand pounds of saltpetre are talked about...

[link]

And they were very aware that it was either leach saltpetre or use as
fertilizer:

Zirconium for sale

chadvach...@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 04:00:57 UT

Hi there, i would like to buy this from you .
Thanks
prop...@ca.rr.com

Re: Damp or dry ?

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:14:47 UT

Bob wrote:

Yes , I plan to use the powder scale I use for reloading rifle and pistol
cartridges . I'll need a bigger scale (and a ball mill , which I have
started building <Thanks Lloyd S. !>) when time comes to make larger batches
. My main objective right now is to gain experience , later I'll be making

Re: Damp or dry ?

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:34:42 UT

It does.

That's common practice. Can you weigh precisely enough to work in
such small quantities?

Damp or dry ?

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:31:22 UT

I just ordered a small porcelain mortar and pestle to make some small test
batches of BP . I'm wondering if I should work my ingredients dry or should
I dampen them slightly ? For sure it's safer to work this stuff damp , but
not too damp . My thinking is that damp , in addition to being safer , will

Re: Medieval black powder

cdho...@hotmail.com (Diogenes) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:08:30 UT

On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:20:57 +0100, Thomas Prufer

During the American Civil War the Confederacy was desperately short of
nitrates for the manufacture of gunpowder, and urinary nitrates were
needed for this purpose. To meet the shortage a particularly diligent
agent of the Nitre Mining Bureau in Selma, Alabama placed the

Re: KNO3 Available in 5 lbs Boxes

snag_...@att.net (Snag) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:20:04 UT

I bought one . Nice stuff !
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

Re: Medieval black powder

zenadsl6...@zen.co.uk (Peter Fairbrother) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:25:40 UT

There were four main European sources of saltpeter in medieval days:
first, scraping from the walls of caves and cellars, known from about
1250 and very likely long before.

Second, dirt from sheep pens, stables, garbage dumps, toilets, the
fruity composts you mention - and yes, as it contains both potash and

Re: Medieval black powder

prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de.invalid (Thomas Prufer) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:20:57 UT

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:24:10 -0600, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"

Here is what the our book has to say: "Saltpetre (...) forms naturally in humid
soil containing decaying animal and vegetable matter, and under old French law
the agents of the Royal Ordinance had the right to enter and search in any

Re: Medieval black powder

cdho...@hotmail.com (Diogenes) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 05:28:32 UT

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:09:43 -0800 (PST), Bob <docs...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Upon doing a bit of research my recollection was incorrect. The "urine
from a wine-drinking bishop" was preferred for 'corning' the powder --
that is moistening the mixture of KNO3, sulfur and charcoal until it
forms a 'cake', letting it dry and then breaking it up into granules.

Re: Medieval black powder

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:09:43 UT

Do we know whether there's empiric justif'n for this one?

Re: Medieval black powder

cdho...@hotmail.com (Diogenes) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:33:58 UT

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:24:10 -0600, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"

According to at least one medieval source the best source of nitrate
was the urine " . . from a wine-drinking bishop." And I'm sure there
were many other popular superstitions about powder making.

You might check your library for this book -

Re: Medieval black powder

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:24:10 UT

Thomas Prufer <prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de. invalid> fired this volley in

Actually, "night soil", or soil thoroughly and long-used for a toilet.

Urine, both animal and human, was sought after to make saltpeter. It was
collected in pots by folks, then sold to the local powder maker. The

Medieval black powder

prufer.pub...@mnet-online.de.invalid (Thomas Prufer) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:40:14 UT

I'm looking for sources on medieval black powder production.

My son, 14, is writing a paper on early medieval firearms. He's been to the
museum, and read up on matchlocks, flintlocks, and so on, but they don't have
much about production of powder. There's a bit on gunpowder manufacturing in
Diderots Encyclopedia, where we have a volume of reproduced engravings and some

Re: Rockets, KClO4 & KClO3

ejennin...@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:17:17 UT

I am also in the Vancouver area, looking for a good pyro supply in Canada. Have you had any luck finding this?

10# Boxes of KNO3 on eBaY - Urban Off Roader

catch...@att.net (UrbanOffRoader) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:46:50 UT

[link]

KNO3 Available in 5 lbs Boxes

l.mer...@yahoo.com (Merlin Mach One) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:11:03 UT

[link]

Passfire Fireworks Documentary

hegill...@gmail.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:30:46 UT

Hey, I just got this video update from Jesse Veverka today. Some new footage from the Passfire fireworks movie guys. They've been staying in Indonesia for the past few weeks. At first they thought there was nothing much in the way of fireworks there, because they're officially illegal in that country. But they found this one village, "secretly?" making match crackers, and they were allowed to go and video....

Re: Firework "....too low and too bright."

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:59:00 UT

Casey Helfrich <ca...@premierpyro.com> fired this volley in news:f4ef614c-
7548-4c6c-b052-0286ec433ed9@go oglegroups.com:

You're WAY late, and I wish you hadn't asked.

It's been many weeks since he's published any, and now you've stuck a stick
into the hornets' nest again.

Lloyd

Re: Firework "....too low and too bright."

ca...@premierpyro.com (Casey Helfrich) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:40:47 UT

What is the purpose for your posting of all these articles?

Re: Selling off SUPPLIES IN ONTARIO, CANADA (followup)

alexgreen1...@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 19:27:50 UT

Как насчет Zinc powder 200 mesh. Если есть позвони 6474045548 Alex

Re: model rocket ignition parts

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:38:57 UT

Peter Fairbrother <zenadsl6...@zen.co.uk> fired this volley in

Not at all! It says that the Chinese are continually reducing quality
and life in order to charge us more each year for their trash.

It also says that - for the most part - one of the 400-series ferritic
stainless steels might work just about as well for an igniter wire as

Re: model rocket ignition parts

zenadsl6...@zen.co.uk (Peter Fairbrother) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:16:28 UT

Been doing some research, it seems that the really cheap chinese
elements for toasters and hot air guns etc are made from an
iron/chromium alloy, with no aluminium (slightly surprising) and no
nickel (not really surprising, as nickel costs about ten times as much
as chromium and fifty times as much as iron [1]).

Re: model rocket ignition parts

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 01:07:48 UT

Not the igniters, the rockets!

Re: model rocket ignition parts

tombi...@optonline.net (Tom Biasi) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:40:54 UT

So you think just the igniters will call attention to you?
If you use a lit fuse yes but electric igniters and I would thing you
were just a guy launching rockets. Bring a kid with you.

Re: model rocket ignition parts

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:52:32 UT

I'm not going to be along with anyone else.

Re: model rocket ignition parts

(Lloyd E. Sponenburgh) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:50:59 UT

Bob <docs...@gmail.com> fired this volley in news:f6b40fa3-ac72-4e9c-
92ca-7b543b302...@m12g2000yqp. googlegroups.com:

'Real' Nichrome is almost totally corrosion-proof. The Fe+Cr+Al &| Ni
alloys in cheaper stuff is very similar to stainless steel in corrosion
resistance -- until it's been heated red-hot once.

Re: model rocket ignition parts

tombi...@optonline.net (Tom Biasi) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:29:36 UT

No model rockets are properly lit by fire fuse.
So if you did that you would stand out. Electric means are plentiful and
easy to make as I outlined above. 100 ohm should be 10 ohm I ddoubblled
ttyyped:-)
Why would anyone look at your motors when launching?
I make my own motors and igniters and launch along with everyone else,

Re: model rocket ignition parts

docs...@gmail.com (Bob) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:01:18 UT

I don't have that excuse for not reading later posts before my last
one.

I haven't looked at recently-made appliances. My broiler & toaster
are really old. The broiler is ~50 yrs. old from JK Metal Co. in
Brooklyn. I found it in my dead friend Peter's stuff, still boxed, in
1996, a slightly fancier model of the contemporary one my mother got a