Pokey pokey no explodey....

[Altarr]

So this year everything is getting poked. I have done some items in the past but with the talon failure rate I had last year.... Well...

Couple of ease my mind questions for you all.

I have a brass awl.

Is there ANY danger of grinding the powder in this process? (again brass tool)... Some of the items poke far easier than others and while I will never not plan for a worst case, it would certainly ease my mind mind more when doing the shells.

On the shells....

I had planned on driving screws into the racks to loop the wire around before heading into the mortar. I don't anticipate an issue but this wouldn't modify the flight of the shell correct? I am assuming the speed will just rip the igniter straight out.

Thanks for any and all help

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I often hear and feel the powder with the awl when I poke a cake. That's when I know to stop. If you're asking if there's any chance it can ignite the power, the answer is not likely. I'm not going to say 100% no, because there's ALWAYS a chance something unexpected can happen. But in reality, the chances are almost nill.

As for the shells... I don't poke shells, so I'll leave that to the people that do.

[Birdman]

I'm poking some cans this year and this thread has some some information and one of Dave's videos showing how he does it.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/showthread.php?7987-Average-lift-time-for-60g-cans

[Mattp]

I don’t poke shells either... but your poking into the lift charge... so it will not cause any flight problems and will blast right out of the tube ... and ditto on what rick said about the cake poking ..use. common sense and do it outdoors with top of cake facing away from you and your house /firework stash