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Copyright 2012 by Skylighter, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Introduction
This book is designed to give you an overview of how the most popular types of fireworks are made: stars, aerial shells, and rockets. This little book is by no means exhaustive. But it will give you a fairly complete presentation of most of the current types of stars, shells and rockets commonly used in fireworks today, and a brief overview of how each type is made. The sections are designed in building-block fashion. First you learn about stars and other devices used inside aerial shells. Next youll see a section on different types of and construction alternatives for aerial shells. And finally, the chapter on rockets shows you rocket engines and how shells can be used as rocket headings. There are many, many kinds of fireworks you can make, other than the ones shown here. But these are the ones most requested by our customers at Skylighter. So, this is a good starting point for learning to make aerial shells and rockets and just what goes into them. All of the chapters in this book were written by Ned Gorski, and we are indebted to him for his thoroughness and clarity in their presentation. We welcome your input and suggestions for changes and corrections. Just address them to info@Skylighter.com.
Free Fireworks Making Plans Fireworks Making 101 is the beginning of 75-part fireworks-making course that you can get online from Skylighter. Just click here to sign up for detailed plans on making every kind of fireworks you can imagine. The plans and projects are free. Theres no catch, no credit card required. When you sign up, youll receive an exciting new fireworks-making project every 3-5 days by email. Each one gives you a detailed, step-by-step tutorial that shows you exactly how to make each type of firework. Tutorials are all instantly downloadable and contain color photos, detailed diagrams, and even videos to show you exactly what to do. There is no charge for the tutorials, and you can unsubscribe to them anytime you want. You are not obligated to buy anything, although we do hope you will consider Skylighter when you need fireworks chemicals, fuse, tubes, tools, and other supplies.
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Contents
Introduction.............................................................................. 3 Contents ................................................................................... 5 Stars & Shell Inserts................................................................ 7
Introduction ................................................................................................ 7 Fireworks Stars........................................................................................ 10 Star Effects .............................................................................................. 11 Star Manufacturing Processes................................................................. 12 Cut Stars.................................................................................................. 12 Pumped Stars .......................................................................................... 15 Rolled Stars ............................................................................................. 18 Garnitures Wrapped in Paper .................................................................. 19 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 23
Fireworks Rockets................................................................. 36
There are Rockets and Then There are Rockets..................................... 37 Fireworks Rockets in Depth ..................................................................... 40 Anatomy of a Fireworks Rocket ............................................................... 42 Size Does Matter ..................................................................................... 43 Traditional Fireworks Rocket Size Nomenclature .................................... 44 Rocket Motor Sizes and Designations ..................................................... 45 Types of Fuel Used in Fireworks Rockets................................................ 46 Overview of Fireworks Rocket Construction Methods ............................. 48 Nozzled versus Nozzleless Motors .......................................................... 49 Methods of Consolidating Rocket Fuel .................................................... 50 Means of Stabilizing a Rocket.................................................................. 51 Rocket Heading Types............................................................................. 52 Summary of A Rockets Nomenclature .................................................... 52
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1
Stars & Shell Inserts
Introduction
Garnitures. Kind of an old-fashioned word, not heard very often in conversation. But, as used to describe the class of fireworks components we are about to look at, Ill be darned if I can find a better word. From Traditional Cylinder Shell Construction, Part I by A. Fulcanelli, found in Pyrotechnica IX: Garnitures. The general term garniture refers to the contents of a shell (e.g., cut stars, pumped comets, serpents, whistles, reports, tourbillions; essentially anything that will fit in a shell.
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Pumped-Star Garnitures Filling a Shell-Casing Hemisphere And, from the dictionary, the root of the word garniture lies in the term garnish, which is defined as to furnish with beautifying details. To furnish with beautifying details. Doesnt that sound lovely? Thats exactly what we are asking of our various types of garnitures. There are basically two sub-assemblies of a fireworks shell. The first assembly includes the shell leader-fuse, the lift powder, the time fuse, the shell casing, and the burst powder. That whole integrated construct, though, serves one purpose that of getting the second assembly, the garnitures, up into the air and ignited. Without the garnitures, the shell wouldnt really serve any purpose. So garnitures refer to the contents of a shell, whether it is used as an aerial shell, a rocket heading, or as an insert in another shell. (In the case of a shell insert to be used inside a larger shell, I suppose the contents of that smaller shell could be referred to as garnitures of garnitures, or maybe garnitures squared.) The contents of fireworks mines, and other ground devicessuch as cakes, roman candles, and single-shot cometswould also be called garnitures.
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Fireworks Stars in a Mine/Mortar Cross Section Interestingly, as a slight contrast to the definition of garnitures as the contents of a device, many of these components can be attached to the outside of a shell to act as what the Japanese call Kyoku-do, rising effects. Large stars attached to the outside of a shell will create a rising tail as the shell ascends skyward. These large rising tails can also be created for rockets by attaching a large comet to the exterior of the rocket motor or heading, to be ignited when the rocket launches. Scatter-stars assemblies, described toward the end of this essay, may be attached in pairs, Lincoln-Log fashion, on the exterior of a shell, with graduated time-fuse timings. As the shell rises, these stars will spit out to the side, perpendicular to the shells trajectory. Small star shells or reports can be attached to a shell to create ascending small flowers or ascending thunder. Or attaching a whistle can augment a shells ascent. Although stars are typically the first components that might come to mind as the contents of a shell, when you stop and think about it there are actually many different varieties of shell inserts. It is an overview of these varieties that Ill be presenting here. Information on how to actually make the different kinds of garnitures is the subject of separate projects.
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Fireworks Stars
When we picture the traditional flower display of an aerial shell, the individual points of light and trails of sparks are created by stars,pyrotechnic composition which has been bound into solid pellets. Simple firework stars are like small charcoal briquettes, with the composition bound together using a binder such as dextrin, some other starch, or a gum. I remember the first time I dissected a commercial, consumer fireworks shell 20 years ago (something which has to be done very carefully). Inside the shell I found what looked like seeds coated with black powderblack-powder coated, rice-hull burst-powder I later learned. And there were small chunks of stuff which I described as small charcoal briquettes in my notebook. This was my first experience with fireworks stars.
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Star Effects
Virtually an endless array of visual and audible effects can be produced by fireworks stars. Most of these effects result from the different compositions used to make the stars. Youll hear star formulas described as charcoal streamer star or color star or silver-spark streamer or strobe star, etc. These different effects are created from the different chemicals in the composition formulas. Other star effects are the result of different processes used to make the stars: pumped stars, cut stars, box stars, rolled stars, go-getter stars, etc. Many different effects are dependent on the method that is used to make the stars. The star effects listed below are created simply from different consolidated compositions, with no tubes or wrappings on them. (Composition-filled tube effects will be described in a minute): Single color, non-tailed star, in a wide variety of colors Colored star which leaves a spark tail behind it Color changing star Charcoal star which leaves a trail of orange, charcoal sparks Star which leaves silver or yellow metal spark tails behind it Unique metal-fueled stars like zinc-granite stars, and electric-spreader stars Firefly stars Daytime smoke stars Crackling stars Strobe stars Very fast burning stars Slow burning stars Silver or gold glitter stars Small stars which produce a flower with many points of light Large stars which produce a few, large, bushy spark trails
Those are just some of the different effects which arise from simply varying the type of composition that stars are made from, or the star size, and/or the process used to manufacture the stars.
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These three methods produce stars with shapes unique to each method: Square stars (usually cubic,) made by cutting star composition Cylindrical stars made by pumping star composition (although one master pyrotechnist, who is also a master machinist, produces rectangular pumped stars with his special, hand-crafted, rectangular star pump.) Additionally, some folks have experimented with troweling damp, water/dextrin bound star composition into square-divided suspended-ceiling light grids and allowing the cubic stars to dry before ejecting them. Round stars (spherical) made by rolling star composition in layers, as jawbreaker candy is made
Cut Stars
Cut stars are quick and easy to make, and have traditionally been the stars of choice in Italian-American style cylinder shells. No special machines or equipment are necessary to make cut stars. This makes star-cutting relatively inexpensive. Cut stars can be stacked carefully in ball shells, too:
Loaf-Box for Making Large Batches of Cut Stars One more cut-star method has recently become popular for making relatively small batches of parlon-acetone bound starsscreen-slicing. In this method, a parlon-containing star composition is dampened with acetone, which softens the parlon (a synthetic rubber). A pancake of the damp star composition is made, and the patty is pushed through the square holes of a framed stainless-steel screen. When the patty is pushed through the screen, stars are sliced quickly, and they end up consistently sized, too. Star priming can be incorporated into this onestep slicing method. These parlon-acetone bound stars make wonderful colors and effects. Best of all, they dry very quickly, so you can use them in fireworks devices after only a few hours.
Pumped Stars
Pumped stars are made by packing slightly dampened star composition into a hollow cylinder, either a single-star pump, or a gang pump called a star plate. The star composition is then consolidated with either hand pressure, hand ramming with a mallet, or with the use of a hydraulic or pneumatic press:
Single Star-Pump, Star-Plate, and Pumped Stars Typically only slightly dampened, water-dextrin bound composition is made into stars with a star pump. So, pumped stars dry much more quickly than comparable water-dextrin bound cut stars. This is especially advantageous when larger stars and comets are being made. Pumped stars stack very nicely inside cylindrical shell casings, resulting in strong shell integrity. This is advantageous when large, multi-break cylinder shells are being made. The use of single star pumps or star plates makes this method of star manufacture a little more expensive than star cutting. Looking at the photo above brings up a question: What is the difference between a comet and a star? Many fireworkers would describe the large diameter pump above as a comet pump, and the plate as a star plate. The large puck could be described as a comet, whereas the smaller pellets could be described as stars. Technically, any fireworks projectile fired individually out of a mortar would be defined as a comet, no matter what size. And any projectiles, fired in multiples out of shells or mines, would be referred to as stars, once again regardless of their size.
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Cavity-Star Pumps
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Crossette Pump with Cross-Shaped Cavity-Forming Tip After a crossette has been pumped and dried, the cavity in it is filled with either a loose powdered explosive, or with a small firecracker hole shot. Then the star is pasted with paper except for the solid end. The comet burns from that solid end until the explosive is reached. At that point the projectile splits into fragments, which fly away from each other. This sudden splitting of all the stars in a shell burst is very surprising and impressive, especially if the stars have been carefully crafted so that they all split simultaneously. So, you can see that different star pumps, compositions, and construction techniques can create different effects in the sky as the pumped stars and comets fly through the air.
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Rolled Stars
Spherical stars, often called round stars, are made using a star-roller. These stars have an aerodynamic shape and fly through the air in straight trajectories. The stars can be sized during the rolling process in order to create batches of stars which have very uniform, consistent sizes. Consistent sizing of rolled stars is highly valued because it results in stars which either change color and/or burn out all at the same time. One of the really significant advantages of rolled stars is that they can be made with one color composition rolled first, followed by a different color rolled on top of that first one. This produces color changing stars. Different colors or effects are often rolled up in thin layers and allowed to dry between those layers. So the overall star rolling process can be a lengthy one. But, large batches of stars can be made using the rolling method. Advanced fireworkers can produce stars which change colors multiple times, or start with a color, go dark for a short time, and then flash on with color again, seemingly out of nowhere. Precisely rolled stars are the hallmark of the highly artistic Japanese ball shells. Star rolling begins with cores such as a small cut stars, lead shot, small seeds, or even little pieces of pasta. An advanced technique for starting star-rolling involves spritzing dry, powdered star composition with a water-filled spray bottle, to create cores on which to continue rolling the stars. Star composition is layered onto these cores using a star roller. The simplest star roller can be a round or flat-bottomed plastic or metal bowl. The bowl is swirled round and round by hand as the star cores are dampened with sprayed-on water, and more dry star composition is slowly added to grow the stars as they roll. Usually, though, a mechanized star roller of some sort is used. A round container of some sort is rotated by a motor as stars are rolled. Plastic or metal drums, large or small bowls, or even rubber tires, are used in various versions of the star roller. Using a star rolling machine usually makes this method of star manufacture more expensive than cutting or pumping stars.
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Different Types of Star Rollers, Commercial and Homemade So, in summary, simple fireworks stars can be made from basic compositions bound in pellets with binders. Many different effects can be achieved by varying the star formulas or the process by which the stars are made. But, there is a whole different class of garnitures, normally referred to as inserts instead of stars.
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Box Star Insert Construction Hummers sound like their name implies; these tube inserts create a whirring sound which can be accompanied by a spiraling spray of sparks. A fuel composition is rammed between two clay plugs in a strong-walled cardboard tube. Tangentially-drilled vent holes cause the inserts to spin and whir as the fuel burns.
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Hummer Insert Construction Farfalle inserts (plural for the Italian farfalla), called butterflies in English, are constructed identically to hummers, except the two holes are drilled at the same time, on opposite sides of the tube, straight through the center of the tube. This results in a butterfly-shaped spark spray which causes the inserts to wobble and spin erratically as they fly through the air. Whirlwinds, also called tourbillion inserts, are made in a fashion almost identical to hummers, except the vent holes are drilled in the tube in a way that makes the insert spin end-over-end as it flies through the air, creating a cyclone of sparks.
Whirlwind (Tourbillion) Insert Construction Serpents are another variation on the theme of clay plugs and fuel rammed in cardboard tubes. Instead of vent holes in the tube, though, a serpent has one vent hole through one of the clay plugs, as would a small rocket motor. An ignition fuse is installed in that hole to ignite the fuel when the insert is ejected from a fireworks device. The resulting spray of gasses and sparks causes the serpent to fly in a serpentine manner through the sky.
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Whistle Insert Construction Another creative effect can be achieved with scatter stars. These inserts burst out of the shell blind, with no immediate visible effect at all. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, dozens of stars appear, shooting every which way in the sky.
Scatter Stars Insert Construction Go getters create a similar effect when they fly out of a shell burst, except their vibrant colors are visible right away. Then, suddenly, the self-propelled go getters zip in every possible direction.
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Conclusion
You can see that this broad classification, garnitures, includes quite a variety of effects, uses, and manufacturing methods. From the simplest compositions and techniques, such as charcoal-tailed cut stars, to the most complex applications and techniques, garnitures serve a wide variety of purposes in fireworks. Simply experimenting with and learning about these ways to furnish our fireworks devices with beautifying details can keep us challenged for many years in the art that is pyrotechnics. --Ned Gorski
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2
Aerial Shells
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Double-Petal Starburst from an Aerial Fireworks Shell click image to play video
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Reloadable Aerial Fireworks Shell and Mortar Reloadable means that once the shell is fired, another shell can be loaded and fired from the same mortar. The long ignition fuse leads to black-powder lift charge which is attached to the shell in a lift bag. The shell is loaded in the mortar, which is safely secured, and the fuse is ignited at the top of the mortar. Some consumer fireworks shells are not reloadable. They come as single-shot devices, with an ignition fuse installed in the side of the mortar at its base. The black powder lift charge has been dumped loose in the bottom of the mortar, and the shell has been dropped into the mortar on top of the lift powder. Those components are held in place at the bottom of the mortar by pieces of cardboard pressed down on top of the shell. With these single-shot units, the mortar is secured, the fuse ignited, and one shell is fired from the mortar, which is then thrown away.
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Parts of a Shell
Basic Parts of an Aerial Fireworks Shell Heres the sequence of events that happens when a mortar-fired shell does its thing: Light Visco ignition fuse. The Visco fuse ignites the quickmatch (shell leader). The quickmatch ignites the black powder lift charge. The lift charge fires the shell into the air from its mortar and The flame from lift powder ignites the shells time fuse. The time fuse burns through to the inside of the shell. Inside the shell, the time fuse ignites the shells burst powder. The burst powder lights the stars/garnitures, And the shell bursts, Throwing the garnitures out far and wide.
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Paper or Plastic?
Almost all shells are made from one of two types of material: paper or plastic. Most budding pyros start out making aerial shells with plastic casings, and the majority eventually switch to using paper for their shells. Standard size, plastic shell casings have the advantage of being quick, easy, and simple to assemble. But, typically, they do not produce ideal burst symmetry, and they spread plastic debris around the shoot site. Paper casings are more traditional, produce better shell bursts, and leave only biodegradable paper debris behind. But, the techniques for making paper shells are more involved, take more time, and require more practice to master.
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Balls or Cans?
Shells can be further classified by shape--spherical or cylindrical. The former are referred to as ball shells, and the latter as cylinder shells. The casings shown above are used to produce ball shells, like the ones shown at the beginning of this article. Ball shells have their roots in the Orient, starting in Japan, then migrating to China and elsewhere. Machine-made paper and plastic casings are used to make simple cylinder (also called can or canister) shells.
Plastic Cylinder Shell Casings More traditional, hand-production techniques are used to produce the largest and most complex of cylinder shells. These techniques originated in Italy and have flourished in Malta, and incorporate paper, paste, and string.
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Consumer Fireworks Peanut Shells In a multi-break cylinder shell, two or more cylinder shells are combined into one assembly. The fuse for the first break takes fire from the quickmatch leader, and each succeeding break taking its fire from the explosion of the previous break.
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Traditional Multi-Break Cylinder Shell Construction The above illustration is taken from the two-part series on cylindrical shell construction techniques by A. Fulcanelli in Pyrotechnicas IX and XI. This series is considered to be the bible in making Italian style, cylindrical multi-break shells.
Garnitures
What the heck are garnitures? Garnitures are what an aerial fireworks shell is all about. They are the visual and/or audible effects being carried into the air to be displayed at the perfect moment.
Well, Im holding a 12-inch, mortar-fired aerial shell. Its a paper ball shell, with a rising tail, designed to produce a large silver palm-tree effect, with two red coconuts. Which would look like this.
Palm Tree Shell with Red Coconuts Now there is a whole lot more to making shells than whats contained in this brief article. In fact, the variations in shell-making are probably infinite. But these are the basics, the nomenclature, and the fundamental alternatives. --Ned Gorski
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Just click here to sign up for detailed plans on making all kinds of aerial shells and other fireworks. The plans and projects are free. Theres no catch, no credit card required. When you sign up, youll receive an exciting new fireworks-making project every 3-5 days by email. Each one gives you a detailed, step-by-step tutorial that shows you exactly how to make each type of firework. Tutorials are all instantly downloadable and contain color photos, detailed diagrams, and even videos to show you exactly what to do. There is no charge for the tutorials, and you can unsubscribe to them anytime you want. You are not obligated to buy anything, although we do hope you will consider Skylighter when you need fireworks chemicals, fuse, tubes, tools, and other supplies. Start learning to make your own fireworks shells right now, by clicking here.
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3
Fireworks Rockets
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Model Rocket Amateur rocketry, sometimes known as amateur experimental rocketry or experimental rocketry is a hobby in which participants experiment with fuels and make their own rocket motors, launching a wide variety of types and sizes of rockets. Amateur rocketeers have
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Launch of an Amateur Rocket High-power rocketry is a hobby similar to model rocketry, with the major difference being that higher impulse range (i.e., more powerful) motors are used. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) definition of a high-power rocket is one which has a total weight of more than 1500 grams and contains a motor or motors containing more than 62.5 grams of propellant or more than 160 Newtonseconds. Commercially manufactured motors are most frequently used in high-power rocketry.
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Launch of a Large Fireworks Rocket by Dan Thames, 2-Inch Whistle Motor, 10-Inch Ball Shell Heading Photo by Mark Stallings Except for the project on homemade Estes-type rocket motors mentioned above, the focus of this article and at Skylighter is on fireworks rockets. The purpose of fireworks rockets is entertainment. The rocket motor is often designed to provide an entertaining visual and/or audible effect, such as a long glittering or spark tail, or a loud ascending whistle. Additionally, the rocket motor is often fitted with a heading, which creates a traditional fireworks displayfor example, a loud report, a shell burst of stars, or
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Cross Section of a Typical Fireworks Rocket The diagram above shows the elements of a typical fireworks rocket. The top of the rocket is on the right, and the bottom of the rocket is on the left. This rocket has three main components. The rocket motor consists of the paper tube (case), which has a clay nozzle built into the bottom of it to direct the rocket exhaust. It is packed with fuel to provide thrust (thrust fuel) and a delay (delay fuel) after the thrust fuel is exhausted. The top of the tube is partially closed by a clay bulkhead which has a passfire hole built into it. The second component is the rocket stick, which is attached to the side of the rocket motor and extends to the left. The rocket stick provides stabilization to the rocket at lift-off and in flight. Finally, attached to the top of the rocket motor is the heading containing stars and burst. The heading is responsible for the fireworks display seen in the sky as the rocket reaches the top of its climb. The functions of the 3 components are explained in detail below.
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Homemade Fireworks Rockets The large skyrockets you can buy at your local fireworks store typically have inch ID motors. A -inch black-powder motor can carry a heading of between 1 and 2 ounces into the air. Thats the same weight as a spherical or cylindrical, consumer-sized, aerial fireworks shell. The handmade rockets shown above are very nice, real rockets. Yet they are small enough to be suitable for flight in almost any area where rockets from the fireworks store could safely be displayed. Moving up to -inch ID motors from the -inch ID ones yields another 2 to 3 times increase in motor volume. So, inside diameter alone is not a good indicator of how much larger one rocket motor is than another. Half-inch, black-powder rockets are a great place to start, and I personally enjoy the heck out of making them to this day. They are small enough that they can be made quickly and dont use huge amounts of materials. But they are large enough to really be impressive. They provide that black-powder-rocket whoosh as they launch, and theyre able to carry a nice payload of stars or other garnitures into the air.
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You can see from the table that the length of the tube is approximately 10 times the tubes ID. This can vary a little from one maker to another, though. On the small end, there are -inch ID and 3/8-inch ID bottle rocket tubes and tooling available as well, and we could call these 1-ounce and 2-ounce motors.
3/8-Inch-ID Turbo-Pyro Magnum Bottle Rocket On the large end, some rocketeers, with the necessary space to fly them, make larger fireworks rockets too, sometimes referring to them as 30-pound or 60pound motors.
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Launch of a -Inch Black-Powder Rocket click image to play video But perhaps the biggest advancement in fireworks rocketry in the past 50 years has been the development of different fuels, other than the traditional blackpowder fuel. Whistle fuel is used in whistling rockets, and also in conjunction with other types of fuel as a powerful booster.
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Launch of a -Inch Whistle Rocket, with Report click image to play video Strobe fuel, used with a whistle-fuel booster, produces one of the most striking visual, and especially audible, effects of any fireworks rocket. A brightly flashing tail is accompanied by loud popping. It almost sounds like an incoming helicopter.
-Inch Strobe Rocket Taking Off click image to play video Rockets with brilliantly colored tails can be made by using color-producing fuels. Such rockets often use whistle fuel as a booster. Powerful hybrid fuels can be made by mixing granulated black-powder fuel with granulated whistle fuel, and pressing that fuel mixture in motor tubes. Other fuels such as zinc-sulfur fuel, and sugar or candy fuelto mention only a couplehave also been developed. So you can see that starting with just the rocket motor, there is plenty of room for creativity and experimentation with fireworks rockets.
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Cross-Section of a Cored Black-Powder Motor In a traditionally made black-powder rocket motor the hard clay nozzle is formed by ramming powdered clay into the bottom of the tube. This is done using the tooling, a mallet and a sturdy ramming post for a base. The spindle forms the central hole in the nozzle. The fuel in a fireworks rocket must also be compacted into a solid mass (called a grain) in order to ensure that burning of the fuel proceeds in a controlled fashion. This process is called consolidation. In the case of our black-powder
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Tools for Hand-Ramming Rocket Motors But more sensitive fuels like whistle or strobe composition should not be subjected to the shock associated with ramming. Also it is sometimes desirable to achieve higher densities of compaction. In these cases, mechanical or hydraulic presses are used to press increments of the fuel into the paper tubes.
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Spin-Up and Launch of a Spin-Stabilized Stinger Missile click image to play video
--Ned Gorski
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