Shooting ashes in the form of a fireball

[joed2323]

I was asked to do a small pyromusical.
A buddy of mine recently passed away and his wife would like me to shoot some of his ashes into the air since he was also a pyro at heart.

He loved the fireballs in my shows and
I planned on just adding ashes into the black powder charge.

I've never shot ashes before nor do I think it will have any ill affect on the black powder charge but hey you never know!

Looking for opinions on if the ashes will create issues and which way i should go about doing so?

I could possibly put in separate bag and tape to the black powder charge and shoot them separate but together??

[Birdman]

Had this conversation with a friend recently and the best idea i could think of was putting the ashes in the top of a canister shell that has the plastic top. Never shot a fireball so can't speak to that but would be afraid it wouldn't expel all of the ashes cleanly.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

[displayfireworks1]

I would make a star mine out of a small part of the "Ashes". Many years back I made a video called "Whiskey Bag Star Mine". I made this video in 2010. 10 years ago. LOL. I had it as private. I'll now make it unlisted so you can view it. This is back when I restricted some of videos because some of my "Universe" friends told the ATF to start watching me. The ATF was sending my videos to attorney's in DC for legal analysis. I think this one is safe to release unlisted. The upside to this one is , you can make it and shoot it on the same day.
I suggest you request a very small amount of the ashes from the wife, a tablespoon or get a 30 ml medicine cup and reach and and fill it half way. You can even do this on the day of the shoot. Then add that small amount into the star mine mixture. If you have a firing system, shoot a gasoline fireball right next to the star mine and fire the star mine with the ashes and the traditional gasoline mine as close to the same time as possible. Since you can build the Whiskey Bag mine pretty quickly, tell the wife to bring the ashes to the shoot site. Then dip in and walk away to build the mine. You can add a ceremonial touch to it that way and she can witness the actual ashes removed and added. Also, if you feel comfortable doing so, add a salute close to the mines as they lift. These gasoline mines are pretty quiet when they lift. Adding a salute just off of the ground near the mortar adds to the effect.
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdU31brtKcQ

[specialfxpyro]

Ashes mixed with a black powder charge used to fire a fuel mine should not alter the effect or energenic qualities of the black powder.


I would suggest if it's OK with the widow that you tape a small bag of ashes to the top of 1 or more canister shell(s) and give him a finale barrage. Be sure that whatever wind you have carries the ashes away from the crowd.

[joed2323]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts and opinions on this

So I have the ashes. His wife had someone deliver the ashes while I was at work, and apparently they dropped all of the ashes off! No way am I shooting that much into the air.

Anyway, I still want to shoot his ashes in a fireball form, mainly because he seen me shoot one a few years back and he was hooked ever since. We never were able to experiment with any more then a 5 gallon fireball, he was a crazy guy and always wanted to "go big or go home"

I can shoot up to about a 5gallon fireball with the tubes I have. I have plenty of 2fg powder to make whatever charge needed.

I was looking to shoot about a 2.5 gallon fireball but I can go up in size if need be.

I feel I can shoot more ashes into the air using a fireball then I could with a canister shell.

I do not know how much I can safely shoot into the air, but since they gave me all of his ashes, I can use however much of his ashes as I want to.

Again I appreciate everyone's opinions.

The plan was to do the shooting of the ashes before the show kind of like a moment of silence and then fire the fireball or fireballs if need be.

I do have access to a cpl 4" salutes if need be but I was trying to keep the show 1.4/1.4pro mainly

Dave i will take a look at your video and comment back shortly.

[joed2323]

Sorry, I forgot to add that I have a cobra firing system and thats what I will be using.

Dave- i like your Whiskey bag star mine idea, except I do not have the materials on hand to build one by Saturday.

I have a bunch of critical acclaim mines that I could cannibalize but I think making black powder charges is easier since I have all the materials to do so along with titanium sponge

[displayfireworks1]

Now you get a taste of what it is like to deal with "customers" that want something special to be part of a fireworks display at the last minute . Did she give you all of the ashes or some of the ashes? From reading your post I now see she dropped "All" of the ashes". This is typical of loved ones saving the ashes. It all sound good until it becomes , now what do I do with this box of ashes. LOL . Don't feel completed to be part of this and have to use it all. Take some of the ashes and spread part of them across the top of gasoline and just let it fire. I'm sure that will please her. Don't say something along the line of , Here is what left now what shall we do with them. You need to make the decision she can't make. That is what is left of the ashes and decide what is proper. Do you know this person? Find a childhood location he enjoyed and spread the ashes there. I'm sure you now see there more to this than initially appears. Remember it is more about pleasing the wife and her grieving than the physical properties of the ashes.

[joed2323]

Now you get a taste of what it is like to deal with "customers" that want something special to be part of a fireworks display at the last minute . Did she give you all of the ashes or some of the ashes? From reading your post I now see she dropped "All" of the ashes". This is typical of loved ones saving the ashes. It all sound good until it becomes , now what do I do with this box of ashes. LOL . Don't feel completed to be part of this and have to use it all. Take some of the ashes and spread part of them across the top of gasoline and just let it fire. I'm sure that will please her. Don't say something along the line of , Here is what left now what shall we do with them. You need to make the decision she can't make. That is what is left of the ashes and decide what is proper. Do you know this person? Find a childhood location he enjoyed and spread the ashes there. I'm sure you now see there more to this than initially appears. Remember it is more about pleasing the wife and her grieving than the physical properties of the ashes.

Thanks Dave.

Yes so he was a pretty good friend of mine and did alot for the small community we live in.

She gave me all the ashes partly due to her not having it in her to sort some of it for the show. She's still in pretty rough shape. He ended up taking his own life due to losing a battle to alcoholism. His body was shutting down and be didnt want to go out that way. Its a very sad situation especially around the holidays.

I do not think she wants me to use up all the ashes, she just wants me to use whatever is needed to shoot some of his ashes into the air due to his love for fireworks.

He actually funded a show last year out of his own pocket that I shot and he was talking about it till the day he died.
The year before that we shot another show at his house!
Regardless with his battle of alcohol, he had a huge heart and would do anything for anyone in need, and he did alot for the community and surrounding communities.

His wife agrees that he would want some of his ashes dispensed Into the air via a fireball!!! Thats why im on the fireball kick.

Do you think its better to spread some of his ashes into the gasoline and not into the black powder charge?
I guess im just not sure how much of his ashes i should try and use! It sure feels like there is atleast 20pounds of ashes!!!
I know she wants what I dont use back, I wasn't really planning on using alot of it. I was just trying to use enough for the principle

His wife initially wanted me just to put some of his ashes into the show but it seemed like the crowd would not really know where or when it was, thats why I planned on doing it before the show!

I definitely like adding a salute or salutes to the fireball
I have a couple m25 airburst cakes that I cut the bottoms off of and ran quick fuse around the tubes to speed the cake up as fast as possible. I could even double match the cake to make it faster

[specialfxpyro]

You could do a 5 gallon bucket cremora fireball. A mix of powdered sugar and sawdust is a cheaper alternative to cremora. You need the sawdust to fluff up the mix. I made 9 of these for a show and used roughly 50% sawdust, 50% powdered sugar. In your case 50% sawdust, 40% powdered sugar and 10% ash.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Domino-Confectioners-Powdered-Cane-Sugar-2-Lb/10291794

A powered sander and a few pieces of wood allows you to make sawdust quickly.

Or grind up some hardwood charcoal in a coffee grinder (outdoors) and avoid the sticky mess by using the charcoal dust as the fuel for a cremora.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Louisiana-Grills-20-lb-Premium-Hardwood-Lump-Charcoal-55290/301123362

If you want to go big group 4 or 5 cremoras together.
https://www.skylighter.com/blogs/how-to-make-fireworks/cremora-fireball


Remember cremora fireballs are messy so protect the mod from the sticky fallout.


If you add the ashes to a fuel mine just be careful not to put to much in. Adding more than a 1/4 lbs. might effect the performance of the fireball.

[joed2323]

You could do a 5 gallon bucket cremora fireball. A mix of powdered sugar and sawdust is a cheaper alternative to cremora. You need the sawdust to fluff up the mix. I made 9 of these for a show and used roughly 50% sawdust, 50% powdered sugar. In your case 50% sawdust, 40% powdered sugar and 10% ash.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Domino-Confectioners-Powdered-Cane-Sugar-2-Lb/10291794

A powered sander and a few pieces of wood allows you to make sawdust quickly.

Or grind up some hardwood charcoal in a coffee grinder (outdoors) and avoid the sticky mess by using the charcoal dust as the fuel for a cremora.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Louisiana-Grills-20-lb-Premium-Hardwood-Lump-Charcoal-55290/301123362

If you want to go big group 4 or 5 cremoras together.
https://www.skylighter.com/blogs/how-to-make-fireworks/cremora-fireball


Remember cremora fireballs are messy so protect the mod from the sticky fallout.


If you add the ashes to a fuel mine just be careful not to put to much in. Adding more than a 1/4 lbs. might effect the performance of the fireball.

I will pass on the Cremoras. I have never made one and I would rather test them a few times before I was comfortable enough to put them in a show and shoot them in front of a crowd. Im sure they are not bad to do but im comfortable shooting gasoline fireballs

Again thank you, I appreciate your feedback, I will be sure not to go crazy with the ashes. If his wife wants me to use more then I'm thinking then I will have to put them into a couple fireballs