Ground Salute

[jbags091992]

Ok, so when filling up my tubes, do I fill to the top or do I leave x amount of room? Also, fuse in the middle or down through the top? And lastly, I am doing a 2/3 ratio of perch and aluminum, is there anything I am missing to pack a louder punch? And fyi, I'm not selling them illegally, I'm not asking where to buy or how to make them, I know they are illegal if you do not have a manufacturers license. I know all about the safety part, I don't want to get a whole bunch of backlash, please. If I could just get someone with experience that could give me a few tips. Thanks, your fellow pyro.

[displayfireworks1]

I moved this thread to fireworks manufacturing. Making a salute is kind of basic to be honest. I don't think it matters where the fuse is. The standard procedure is not to fill the container to the top. Although if it is filled to the top it will not matter. We can talk about salutes and salute compositions , but at the same time we do not want to walk someone into a dangerous situation. You could be 12 years old for all I know. That where to put the fuse is making me suspicious. But what I do know is, if you are at least 21 years old, I would consider getting an ATF license, then you can purchase single 3 inch salutes ready to drop into a mortar and fire.

[jbags091992]

I moved this thread to fireworks manufacturing. Making a salute is kind of basic to be honest. I don't think it matters where the fuse is. The standard procedure is not to fill the container to the top. Although if it is filled to the top it will not matter. We can talk about salutes and salute compositions , but at the same time we do not want to walk someone into a dangerous situation. You could be 12 years old for all I know. That where to put the fuse is making me suspicious. But what I do know is, if you are at least 21 years old, I would consider getting an ATF license, then you can purchase single 3 inch salutes ready to drop into a mortar and fire.

Lol, no I just seen some fuses in the middle and some at down through the top, not sure if it made a difference.

[countryboy7978]

I'm sure I'm just wasting time typing this but.....The only salutes that had a side fused were M80s and Silver Salutes for the most part. Some older more obscure firecrackers like Glittacracks and a few others that slip my mind may also have.

The original M80 had a side fuse not because of increased performance but likely due to manufacturing procedures. Like cherry bombs, M80s were filled partially with unmixed chemicals, then sealed and tumbled to mix. The fuse hole was punched in the side because the canister was already sealed. Later manufacturing techniques used calcium carbonate plugs. So it doesn't matter where the fuse goes. I also don't feel that it matters if you leaves air space in the tubes. The flash is going "high order" either way.

[leftiluci]

air space as well as non clumping [chemite] helps promote accelerated oxidation. watch lbs comparison of salute shells if you don't believe. bp doesn't work the same but al kclo or kclo4 flash accelelerates when confined and the more confinement [aka thicker tube ,better plugs] the more complete it will burn and the louder it will be.

[RalphieJ]

I saw a video from Little Big Shots Fireworks once about his salute making techniques. It appears that he leaves no airspace as he caps the fuse end with hot melt. He uses a "special mix ratio of ingredients" which reminds me of the old Italian master's chest-punching, baby-crying, alarm-tripping, jump-up-and-yell-out-loud salutes. Anyone who has fired or heard his salutes can attest to this. His 3" magnum salutes (3" x 6") are downright frightening.

[countryboy7978]

I'm not a believer in air space. The tests have been conducted and hands down more flash equals louder boom provided all factors are equal. The method in which the container is closed makes a difference. Yes FP will report in an uncapped tube but wall thickness and plug type do make a difference in sound. Spiking and pasting too. Quality of chemicals is the main affector of noise. Mixing techniques I also feel make a difference. There are certain mixes using conventional oxidizers that rock 70/30. But then again increasing cost, time, sensitivity and risk may not be worth the small increase in report or change in tone.

[PGH_Pyro]

i am absolutely not an expert on pyro manufacturing but I do know that the tighter the CONTAINMENT in a tube is for a cracker or shell/cake insert, the more kinetic and loud it seems to end up being .

[ajp989]

I saw a video from Little Big Shots Fireworks once about his salute making techniques. It appears that he leaves no airspace as he caps the fuse end with hot melt. He uses a "special mix ratio of ingredients" which reminds me of the old Italian master's chest-punching, baby-crying, alarm-tripping, jump-up-and-yell-out-loud salutes. Anyone who has fired or heard his salutes can attest to this. His 3" magnum salutes (3" x 6") are downright frightening.

Can you tell me where you saw the video of him talking about his salute making techniques? Thanks

[RalphieJ]

If I recall correctly it was on their website. It was a few years ago. He also showed his diaper technique for mixing flash.

[ajp989]

I saw the video Albert did on dirty jobs I noticed they added sulfur into the mix. I wonder why I heard it makes it more sensitive.

[countryboy7978]

Most old school flash formulas use sulfur. It slightly cheapens the mix and changes the sound. Albert screens flash not diapers according to his video.

[ajp989]

Most old school flash formulas use sulfur. It slightly cheapens the mix and changes the sound. Albert screens flash not diapers according to his video.
Any idea where this video is I cant find on his website or his youtube channel

[RalphieJ]

Most old school flash formulas use sulfur. It slightly cheapens the mix and changes the sound. Albert screens flash not diapers according to his video.

Now I'm doubting my own memory, must have my videos mixed up. (don't get old) I do recall filling a very thick walled tube with flash, then capping with a cross-matched time fuse inserted through a chipboard disc, placing the disc and fuse all the way to the powder line, then filling the void with hot-melt.

[Haklife]

Ok, so when filling up my tubes, do I fill to the top or do I leave x amount of room? Also, fuse in the middle or down through the top? And lastly, I am doing a 2/3 ratio of perch and aluminum, is there anything I am missing to pack a louder punch? And fyi, I'm not selling them illegally, I'm not asking where to buy or how to make them, I know they are illegal if you do not have a manufacturers license. I know all about the safety part, I don't want to get a whole bunch of backlash, please. If I could just get someone with experience that could give me a few tips. Thanks, your fellow pyro.

Fuse placement makes no difference. 70/30 mix works best for my purposes. And perch and al in this formulation is not nearly as sensitive as people like to claim.

I've done my own tests and it takes considerable force to detonate with anything other than a fuse.

I tumble mix my flash

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I tumble mix my flash
I would advise anyone reading this last post to forget anyone ever mentioned "tumble mixing" flash--unless it is pre-measured and done in a tube as a "binary mix".
Static is NOT your friend! Just my two cents!

[chris v]

This all depends on the size of said salutes and the type of casing used