Homemade 4" shells

[Crab107]

Made these using some stuff from skylighter. Black powder kit, zinc cut star kit and D1 glitter pumped star kit. Ball milled all my powder and granulated it with alcohol.
I used about a teaspoon of flash to assist in bursting. I wasnt sure of my lift powder by itself so i used 50/50 my powder/goex cannon grade.
Sorry about the 4 videos! My pause button wouldnt work.
https://youtu.be/t85CXYT-fiQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t85CXYT-fiQ&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/yIFVuhsQjXg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIFVuhsQjXg&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/4QVwdbglTUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QVwdbglTUE&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/YzMr8oekZHA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzMr8oekZHA&feature=youtu.be

Also just finished my first batch of black match!! It worked. Used a black match making machine i ordered(id post the site but i dont want to advertise anything unapproved), a couple of saw horses, some clamps, a pallet and a cake pan..lol. I had a metal fabricator make the string holder
Sorry guys. I tried to post some pics but i couldnt get them to upload. I can post a video if anyone would like to see!

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Good job on the shells. Nice symmetry. Was the low break a time fuse issue? You have come a long way in a short time! "Pat on the back"!

[Crab107]

Good job on the shells. Nice symmetry. Was the low break a time fuse issue? You have come a long way in a short time! "Pat on the back"!

I think there was a hole in my glue. All my time fuse was 1.5" and i crossed matched it at the 1" mark for a 3 second burn before bursting.

[cptnding]

Damn! Nice job Crab107. Very impressive!

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I think there was a hole in my glue. All my time fuse was 1.5" and i crossed matched it at the 1" mark for a 3 second burn before bursting.

What I do with mine is after I glue the time fuse in I add a collar of 1/2" dia PEX tubing--about a 3/8" long piece--hot glue it to the shell, fill the collar with hot glue. After it dries I "crown" it with several pieces of gummed tape. I haven't had a single shell blow thru since I started doing that.
**You can get a PEX cutter at Home Depot or Lowes for $10-$15.00 and a 4 ft piece of PEX for just a couple bucks.**
Make sure you have enough time fuse for your cross match to clear the top of the piece of PEX.
Here are some pics of some 5" shells I made a while ago.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1814&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1815&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1816&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1817&stc=1

[PyroManiacs]

Nice shells!

[Crab107]

What I do with mine is after I glue the time fuse in I add a collar of 1/2" dia PEX tubing--about a 3/8" long piece--hot glue it to the shell, fill the collar with hot glue. After it dries I "crown" it with several pieces of gummed tape. I haven't had a single shell blow thru since I started doing that.
**You can get a PEX cutter at Home Depot or Lowes for $10-$15.00 and a 4 ft piece of PEX for just a couple bucks.**
Make sure you have enough time fuse for your cross match to clear the top of the piece of PEX.
Here are some pics of some 5" shells I made a while ago.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1814&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1815&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1816&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1817&stc=1

How long is your time fuse?? Mine burns at 3 sec per inch so i dont have much length. How far inside the shell does your fuse reach?

[PyroJoeNEPA]

These were 5" shells--Time fuse is 3 sec/foot--I used 41mm--about 1 3/4".
Since I have access to a WASP machine to paste the shells I use a different method than wht you would do if normally hand pasting:
I glue a tube inside the shell with a piece of tissue paper glued over the inside end. Once the shell is filled & pasted I break the tissue paper with a wood skewer and insert several pieces of black match. Then I insert the time fuse & glue it in place, let it dry, insert the collar, let it dry, & crown it. This lets me have a longer piece of time fuse on the outside of the shell for fusing, and still puts the pass fire inside the shell almost to the center.
I don't have any pics of the unassembled shells--but I have some 6" with the tubes glued in them--I will try & get a pic later today & post it for you to see.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

OK--I did have both some 5" & 6" empty hemi's--the first 3 pics are a 5" & the last 3 are the 6". Notice the difference in the length of the tube--and the tissue paper sealed on the end with white glue.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1818&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1819&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1820&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1821&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1822&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=1823&stc=1

[Crab107]

Ok so theres time fuse in the tubes and they are cross matched on the inside of the tube as well??

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Ok so theres time fuse in the tubes and they are cross matched on the inside of the tube as well??
Yes--cross matched time fuse about 1/2" inside the tube. The rest is filled with pieces of black match.