Bringing "Pyrotechnic" science to SF

[SpudBlaster15]

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[Ragnarok]

Now you've said that, I'm now wondering who the rest of those 10 to 20 are...

[TurboSuper]

I really need to get into that group of 20 people...

But I've never really had much of an interest in explosives or pyrotechnics in general. They're fiddly, rather difficult to obtain materials for, and almost invariably illegal. It's not that I lack the capacity to understand them, only the will to learn about them.

And clide, you can't get evidence much more concrete than that...

Pretty much the same reason for me as well. Also, I got nervous when plugging in my +-5V DC supply for the first time, I don't think I could handle making my own volatile explosives.

I wanted to make a hybrid rocket motor someday, but I think that's about as far as i'll go.

I agree that most things regarding spudguns are quite simple. Case in point: I managed to get one working

[CannonCreator]

Join http://pyronation.forummotion.com/ for pyrotechnics disccussion please, to pyrotehcnics off the spudfiles forum.

[frogy]

.................
The majority of individuals here know the absolute basics of spudding; How piston valves work, how to construct a pressure vessel, how to solvent weld, how to build a breech loading setup, the absolute basic operating principles of combustion launchers ("Use online calculator to find fuel meter pressure, put pressure in meter, put fuel in chamber, ignite, potato flies out of the barrel"), pneumatic launchers ("Pressurize air chamber, open pilot valve, pressure vents from pilot chamber, chamber pressure opens valve, air pushes projectile out of the barrel"), and hybrid launchers ("Put excess fuel in chamber, add air pressure to balance the ratio, ignite; pressure rise ruptures burst disk, projectile flies out barrel"), and some grade 8 level mathematics formulas that allow them to figure out volume ratios. These are the people who direct my vote towards NO.

Is there anything else to know lol...

Really not many people need much more info than that, and very few go the distance to actually make a valve there self, when it is so much easier to just copy off someone else...

What else is there than what you list above though? I'm not disagreeing that all the above isn't very easy and basic... But spudding doesn't get much more challenging...

Most people keep to the above guidelines, except the few that make specialty valves, clear guns, or some odd design, which don't really take much extra work...

[SpudBlaster15]

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[MrCrowley]

This is where spudding (for the most part) differentiates itself from pyrotechnics and explosives. To succeed in the manufacture of high explosives or relatively unstable pyrotechnic compositions, you really need to have a sound knowledge of chemistry, or you will be maimed or killed. To succeed in basic spudding, you are simply required to know that "Pipe is glued into fitting, pipe has certain pressure limit, valve is actuated, projectile shoots out barrel". The consequences of idiocy are far smaller, the materials far more readily available, and the construction and basic understanding much simpler.

You could say black powder is the pyro version of a basic combustion, but far more dangerous.

All you need is about $30, a chemist and a list with the correct ratios.
You don't exactly have to be smart either.

[Hotwired]

It helps to have a decent knowledge of chemistry and a serious interest in safety.


I knew a friend who had a friend whose parents had an oven...

...until he let a fertiliser mixture dry out too much :blob6: