60 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
X-NEWS: cudnvr rec.pyrotechnics: 13397
|
|
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
|
|
Path: carbon!vexcel!ncar!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!panix!ddsw1!news.kei.com!eff!news.umbc.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!library.ucla.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!pacbell.com!amdahl!netcomsv!netcom.com!kwd
|
|
From: kwd@netcom.com (Kurt W. Dekker)
|
|
Subject: Re: Good for starters
|
|
Message-ID: <kwdCowozF.ALC@netcom.com>
|
|
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
|
|
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1]
|
|
References: <2pk96i$d33@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
|
|
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 07:04:27 GMT
|
|
Lines: 47
|
|
|
|
Robert C Rich Jr (ek640@cleveland.Freenet.Edu) wrote:
|
|
|
|
: As i read thread after thread about stuff that will blow
|
|
: your house up if you mess it up, i was wondering if anyone out
|
|
: there has a suggestion for the beginning pyro. I just want
|
|
: something that's relatively stable, pretty easy to make, and
|
|
: will make a good bit of noise. My first experiment was with
|
|
: a 3" black pipe nipple filled with Pyrodex, and capped. But
|
|
: once i saw what the endcaps did to the wall in the barn i
|
|
: touched it off in...never again.
|
|
|
|
Someone here on rec.pyrotechnics mentioned burying a single-end-capped
|
|
pipe with a fuze hole in the ground (fuze already installed), muzzle end
|
|
up. Once it was well buried and the ground (dirt or sand) was firmly
|
|
packed around the buried pipe (I guess the muzzle should probably be flush
|
|
with the ground level for maximum safety), pour in a little bit of
|
|
pyrodex. Then drop in a section of wood dowel, preferably something that
|
|
fits rather tightly in the pipe inner diameter. You could wrap the dowel
|
|
in paper towel to help the gas seal. When lit, the blast should blow the
|
|
dowel up into the air, which is why it's important to be wood, because
|
|
wood will probably turn into matchwood under that kind of stress, leaving
|
|
nothing dangerous to fall back down upon your head (or the heads of others
|
|
nearby watching your antics).
|
|
|
|
Obviously, as you bury the unloaded pipe, you're in no danger. Once you
|
|
pour pyrodex into the pipe, DON'T stand over the open end! Gingerly lower
|
|
the dowel into place, and should there be an accidental detonation at any
|
|
point along here, have eye and ear protection installed, and that should
|
|
take care of any problems, such as flying wood particles and unburnt
|
|
powder blast. If the pipe bursts, it will be underground near the cap
|
|
end. Since the pyrodex is only in the enclosed pipe for a few seconds
|
|
(between the time you pour it in and the time it goes off from the fuze),
|
|
your window of exposure to danger is relatively small.
|
|
|
|
Depending on the pipe diameter, amount of powder, length of pipe, length
|
|
of dowel, etc., the blast from these devices can be incredibly
|
|
spectacular. I would recommend starting with 1/2" x 6" pipe, and a short
|
|
dowel (3" or so) tamped in firmly against about a thimbleful of pyrodex.
|
|
This will make a blast far too loud for any residential neighborhood, yet
|
|
still far on the conservative side of what this device is capable of.
|
|
|
|
Oh yeah: and bring a shovel to help extricate your launch pipe from the
|
|
ground, since it will earnestly attempt to reach China on each launch! :)
|
|
|
|
Kurt
|
|
--
|
|
Dedicated to the relentless pursuit of hedonism. kwd@netcom.com
|