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View Full Version : Congratulations appreciated - long post but pix and clips included!


SHARP
2008-05-22, 21:17
So, a couple of years ago I got in contact with a certified Pyrotechnician, and worked for him whenever I got the chance.
Now, unfortunately he turned out to be an asshole, and just about everyone working for him quit.

The next in command started his own company about 8 months ago, and he contacted me shortly after - he wanted to know how I felt about working for him, and of course I said I'd be more than happy to.

So, he decided to pay for the course to get a cetificate for me, as well as for three other guys.
Yesterday I passed the exam, and as I don't have a criminal record, I'm just sitting here waiting for my Pyrotechnician certificate to dump in my letterbox, it should take about a week or so. :)

This is where the good stuff starts, because naturally I thought of BB during the last day where we were to prove we could handle low explosives safely and so on.
Also, they did a bit of demonstrations of various compounds, so I decided to snap a couple of pics and shoot a couple of clips for you guys.

Some of it may be boring to some of you, but not everyone getting into Pyro have seen it all, so I decided to include the mundane parts anyway, hope you'll enjoy. :)

The first clip is just a demonstration of quickmatch, for those of you that haven't seen it, it burns at roughly 30 m/sec, at least it does where I live.

Quickmatch. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Lynstupin.flv)

This is a demonstration of a magnesium flare, it contained some Na(something) to give it a yellowish color, the old guy is talking about how the temperature would've reached 4800°C if the Mg had been pure, instead it reached around 3000°C.

Flare. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=NaogMg.flv)

I can't remember exactly what compounds he mixed, but there was only two, and if memory serves, one of them was KClO4.
He wanted to show what would happen if it got wet.
If I'd been a bit faster with the camera, you would notice there isn't a fuse running up to the pile, instead he used a mister to squirt some water on it.

Water test. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Vandtest.flv)

The point was to show us that you can't always use water to put out fires near fireworks - in some cases it'd just make the situation a whole lot worse...
BTW, does anyone know what he could've mixed with the KClO4?
Of course it's a fuel but what?
Mg? Al? Ti?

The next clip is of 17 grams of flash powder in an envelope, the FP was removed from a military hand grenade simulation charge (hereafter referred to as "MHGSC", as I can't translate its Danish name to anything you'd know - we call 'em "Blueligthning" because they're painted blue).

MHGSC flash powder. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=17gramFP.flv)

Now, this is what they sound like when used properly.

MHGSC. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Bllyn.flv)

And just to give us an idea of exactly how powerful they are (already knew that), they decided to cut a bit off the handle, mount a weight, and dump it into a barrel of water.
The barrel is a standard 25 kg sheet metal barrel, this one had contained Al powder the cops had confiscated from some dude that were making illegal M-80's.

MHGSC in a barrel. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Bllyninabarrel.flv)

This is what the barrel looked like afterwards, notice how the bottom has been imprinted with the texture of the concrete underneath...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Tnde1.jpghttp://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Tnde2.jpghttp://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Tnde3.jpg

Then we started rigging up the mortars and so on.
We were 15 people, split into four groups - I worked with the three other guys from the same company.
We were supposed to ignite two setpieces electrically from a box, and the rest by hand to demonstrate we weren't "gun shy" or whatever you call it where you live, what I mean is "afraid of the blast, bursts and sparks", as well as keeping ourselves out of the line of fire at the same time.
We shot a couple of fountains, cakes, and then 2.5", 3", 4", and 6" aerial shells, unfortunately I didn't get any clips of the shooting because I was busy at the time, but I did get a bit before and after we were done rigging.

Normally you wouldn't be allowed to fire in an area like this, but as it was part of the exam we were told to disregard that particular rule, and besides, we had just completed a course in fire figthing, loads of fire extinguishers near by and a couple of fire hoses rolled out, as well as some 50 fire fighter trainees standing by in full gear.

Cone fountains, rigged with quickmatch, these we lit by hand.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Conefountains.jpg

Then we had a 25 shot cake, this is a 30 mm version, which is the highest caliber allowed to the public (that doesn't include me! :D), there's "Professional fireworks" and "Consumer fireworks".
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/25Shot30mm.jpg
That one we lit by hand too.

This is a Professional multi effects cake, the reason it isn't allowed to the public is because it contains too much powder, over here there's a 1 kg powder limit on Consumer fireworks, and this one was well over.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Profcake.jpg
Hand lit.

The mortar tubes before we secured and loaded them.
Unfortunately we didn't get enough shells to fill the racks, so you'll notice in the later pics that some of the racks aren't full. :(
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/Uladtebnke.jpg
Left to right: 2.5", 3", 4", and 6".
The cakes were to the left of me when I took the pic, and the fountains were a bit further left.
The spectators (the rest of the class) would be standing on the opposite side at the end of the racks, some 100 m away.
When firing from racks, always remember to keep the spectators at the end of the racks - if something goes wrong and your safety measures fail and the rack tips over, they won't be firing in the direction of the spectators, but out to the side.

The racks we hand lit was fused with yellow Visco (18-23 m/sec)
This is the 2.5" rack, we lit by hand.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/25in.jpg

The 3" rack, I loaded that one, usually we'd cut down the quickmatch from the shells to extend about 15 cm from the muzzle and tape the main-fuse to the side of the rack, but we left them at the length they had after we cut off the the safety fuse (green Visco) or "leader" and didn't tape 'em down, to let the guys doing the inspection see how we did the connections.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/3in.jpg

Luckily we got 9 4" shells, so we could fill this rack completely, too bad it wasn't the 6"s...:D
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/4in.jpg

We only got 3 6" shells...:(
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/6in.jpg

Short clip of all the loaded racks. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Ladtebnke.flv)
Notice the electric igniters on the 4" and 6" mortars, we'd prefer to be well clear if one of the shells decided to go Pot a Feu, or even worse, burst the mortar.
It doesn't happen often, but I've seen a 4" mortar tube after something went wrong, the shell might've been loaded with something it wasn't supposed to, the tube looked like a piece of abstract art...

We'd planned on firing the 4" and 6" electrically, and after we'd connected the wires the test indicator showed up green, but when we hit the fire button nothing happened, so one of the guys ran in and lit by hand without even breaking sequence.
We also managed to put out a couple of fires during the other groups displays.
Yeah, we're pro's like that. :cool:

The sequence we fired in is as follows:

Cones - 25 shot cake - big cake - 3" - 4" - 6" - 2.5"

The reason why we chose to use the 2.5" shells as the finale is because they look like shit individually, so we fused them with quickmatch and fired 'em in a barrage.
It's true they'll never get the same height as the larger shells, but on the night sky a blast of multiple 2.5" shells looks pretty damn good IMO.

After our group was done firing, I went to take a piss (no, I didn't jerk off ;)), and I handed the camera to one my colleagues and told him to film one of the other groups as they fired.
As we fired during the day, you can't really see the effects, but as every group fired the same calibers, at least you can see how much smoke a 6" lift charge makes when the shell is hurled towards the sky.

Random fireworks. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Fireworks.flv)

And, because you're all a bunch of Pyro-nuts, I saved the best bit for last.
While we were rigging up the mortars, we were interrupted by some of the firefighter trainees - they'd found a barrel containing a bit of Heptane, and they couldn't empty it completely, so they decided to light it up.
Personally, I think they did the right thing, I mean, they could have just left it with the lid off and let the rest of the Heptane evaporate, that way no volatile fumes could build up, making it a ticking time bomb, but why on earth would anyone do that when you could blow it up instead?:)

The guy talking is saying -"you'll hear it start cracking, and the lid might bulge a bit." the second time he speaks, he saying -"you can hear it now..." and then the barrel takes off.

Heptane barrel going airborne. (http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p124/Arachnoholic/Pyro/?action=view&current=Heptan.flv)

And now you might wonder why I all of the sudden start posting here again, but let's just say it has something to do with legality. ;)

So, when all is said and done, is this cool or what?

TheAlmightyVineMan
2008-05-22, 21:45
Grats on the cert, bro.

asilentbob
2008-05-23, 07:25
Congratulations!

Thats interesting with the barrel + the explosion simulator. A few licenced friends of mine put a 3/4" flash salute under neath an overturned 55gal barrel and sent it up into the air, bulging out the bottom. Thats cool how in that vid the sides of the barrel are sucked inward instead of bulging outward. Vacuume from the water perhaps? Hmm... I might have to try that sometime on a smaller scale.

I intend to get the US equivalent sometime next year. I have worked on 3 pro displays, unfortunately all 3" and under shells so far.

If you use IRC might want to go to:
irc.Chat4All.org #Pyrotechnics
Some other pyros hang out there, some of them work on pro displays a bit to. A few are licensed too. From US, Canada, somewhere in Europe, etc.

BB really doesn't get enough of this pure pyro stuff!

SHARP
2008-05-23, 08:00
Grats on the cert, bro.

Thanks VineMan. :)

Congratulations!

Thanks a bunch, I can hardly believe it myself. :)

Thats interesting with the barrel + the explosion simulator. A few licenced friends of mine put a 3/4" flash salute under neath an overturned 55gal barrel and sent it up into the air, bulging out the bottom. Thats cool how in that vid the sides of the barrel are sucked inward instead of bulging outward. Vacuume from the water perhaps? Hmm... I might have to try that sometime on a smaller scale.

Dead on bob, that's exactly what happens, as the water is blown out, no air is sucked in to replace it because the water blocks the access for just a fraction of a second, and the barrel is crushed inwards.

I intend to get the US equivalent sometime next year. I have worked on 3 pro displays,

Hope you'll get it, I'll keep my fingers crossed. :)

unfortunately all 3" and under shells so far.

Oh well, we gotta start somewhere.
But, you can seriously look forward to the big stuff, you can feel the "FWUMP" in your lungs from a big shell as it leaves the mortar.
Unfortunately you don't get to see much of the show yourself if you light by hand, but you do get the shock waves. :D

If you use IRC might want to go to:
irc.Chat4All.org #Pyrotechnics
Some other pyros hang out there, some of them work on pro displays a bit to. A few are licensed too. From US, Canada, somewhere in Europe, etc.

I don't know how that works, help please?
If I copy/paste it, I get a screen that says:

"Server Default page

If you see this page it means:
1. hosting for this domain is not configured
or
2. there's no such domain registered in Plesk"

BB really doesn't get enough of this pure pyro stuff!

Nope, it doesn't, but next time I'm on a show I'll try to get a couple of clips.
It'll most likely be a night show, so there'll be a lot more to look at. :)

asilentbob
2008-05-23, 08:39
IRC is Internet Relay Chat, its kinda a instant messenger thinger, but made for big group discussions instead of between just 2 people. If you have firefox you can get an add-on for IRC chat here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16

Or you can find a standalone IRC application, personally I like X-Chat2...

Then in your application or add-on type:
/server irc.chat4all.org

That should connect you to that server, then:
/join #Pyrotechnics

Should connect you to the pyrotechnics room... Then just /nick (whatever you want to be called)... Theres alot more options, but thats pretty much the bare minimum basics.

Hope that works ok for you. I'm off to sleep.

SHARP
2008-05-23, 08:52
^^Thanks, g'night.

warweed12
2008-05-23, 19:34
congrads looking forward to hopefully seeing more video in the future

SHARP
2008-05-24, 18:33
congrads

Thanks. :)

looking forward to hopefully seeing more video in the future

Shouldn't be a problem, usually we'd fire from a box, so one man can fire everything by himself.
Of course I'd still need to keep an eye on the set, the fallout and the spectators, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem getting a couple of vids...