Fireworks and obscure hobbies

[FlaMtnBkr]

I was born on the 4th of July and I think that made me a bit of a pyro. I really enjoy fireworks and growing up I always had a stash to light. Now that I'm older I have actually gotten into the hobby of making fireworks. There is a little bit of chemistry involved and it allows me to have a grown up chemistry set.

I started off making rockets and have now moved onto ball shells and other simple devices. I make my own black powder that is just as strong as commercial bought if not sometimes quite a bit stronger. I make all the stars that go into the shells. I follow the laws the best that I can interpret them which unfortunately are fairly restrictive in our post 9/11 society.

I just was wondering if anyone else shared the hobby or just likes to watch or light bought ones? I am always looking at product labels to see what they contain and if it could have any use making my colored flames. I think fishing might be the most normal hobby I have. Anyone else have a off the wall hobby or something similar like rocketry?

 

[knarfeng]

I have several friends who are licensed to do commercial fireworks displays. They live in Eastern Iowa and call themselves "the Richmond Shooters." I have been fortunate enough to be able to get right up close to their shows. Very good boogie.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

I have thought about trying to find a company to work with for awhile or maybe part time but there are none close by. I am a member of one of the larger clubs in the country that is based in Florida. They have a couple yearly events with some of the best fireworks in the world. They just had a show that used shells made in the Maltese style that was 2 years in the making.

Since no one seems to have the fire bug, what about exploding targets? I know there are lots of people who shoot guns, so has anyone played with the exploding targets that can be bought online? They make quite a boom and there is no question if you hit your mark or not. They are supposed to be legal because they are a 2 part mixture that is mixed on site. They can be a little pricey but I make them for next to nothing. Mine aren't as sensitive but will go off with a .223 round every time. BOOM!

PS I am not a terrorist. Although if the media knew people actually had hobbies like this I am sure we would be made out to be one.

 

[roughedges]

Anyone else have a off the wall hobby or something similar like rocketry?

I grow rare South African succulents, mostly haworthia. Locality plants, hybrids, odd Japanese cultivars and, now that I've got quite a bit of good stock, I'm trying my hand at making hybrids of my own. It's a long process, even the fastest growing take 18months or more to look like, well, anything. And some require 5 years or more from seed.

I suspect blowing stuff up has much more immediate gratification.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

Well I had to look it up to see what they looked like. Some look like a cross between aloe and a cactus. What exactly is a hybrid? Just a cross of two species? Is it done by pollination or grafting? I grow a garden some years but I don't think I have the green thumb.

Some of the shells can take a long time to put together because they have to be put together with paste and paper to give them strength for good containment. And when you make the different components the total time put into it can add up. Making the black powder, making the 'stars' that go into it, making some fuse, and the actual assembly all add up. If you were to just start from the very beginning with nothing it would probably be a week before you had anything when drying times are taken into account.

Some things don't take long though and the exploding targets are a quick and easy 'fix.'

 

[roughedges]

Well I had to look it up to see what they looked like. Some look like a cross between aloe and a cactus. What exactly is a hybrid? Just a cross of two species? Is it done by pollination or grafting? I grow a garden some years but I don't think I have the green thumb.

A hybrid, specifically, would be a cross of two different species. There are also cultivars, generally given fancy names, that could be hybrids or a plant of a specific species that has parents which were selectively crossed, and often back crossed in succeeding generations, to isolate desirable traits. Both are always created through pollination. There are, however, several other means of propagation. Leaf propagation is exacty as it sounds, one takes the leaf along with a bit of core tissue and hopes that plantlets will pop out once the wound heals. On species with thick roots, the same can be done with the root. Also coring, where one literally tops the plant with a sharp thin knife. Lastly is meristemming, the only method I haven't used yet as it requires a sterile environment and basic laboratory equipment to be effective. All plants propagated in these manners will be genetically identical to the parent plant but will often not grow true. For instance, a variegated leaf prop might well grow new plantlets that lack variegation.

The diversity in Haworthia is truly staggering and it is sometimes hard to believe that such different plants are close relatives. When I feel the need to remind myself that I am far from neurotic, I spend some time reading over the latest news in the taxonomic wars taking place between the 3 most recognized taxonomists in the study of the genus.

If the rain lets up tomorrow, I'll take some photos of some of the more unusual plants in my collection and post them up for you to see. It's something I've been intending to do but haven't been able until recently as the majority of them in my collection (all those growing on the western cape of South Africa) are dormant in summer and look rather bland. It has something to do with the crassulacean acid metabolism common in most arid growing plants, where they process carbon differently from plants of other climates and shut down all transpiration when night time temps don't drop below ~80F.

And now I bet you wish you hadn't asked!

Some of the shells can take a long time to put together because they have to be put together with paste and paper to give them strength for good containment. And when you make the different components the total time put into it can add up. Making the black powder, making the 'stars' that go into it, making some fuse, and the actual assembly all add up. If you were to just start from the very beginning with nothing it would probably be a week before you had anything when drying times are taken into account.

I made some black powder bangers when I was younger but never anything near the extent that you've described. Always wanted to try my hand at it.

 

[Kalindras]

Back when I was in college, I had an interest in becoming a professional blaster, but a couple of things ultimately dampened my hopes:

First was an experience with a professional pyrotechnician/stunt professional at a USITT conference in Atlanta. We were talking about the industry and what was needed to work in film and theatre with effects and fire, etcetera. He said, "Hold up your hands." I did, he looked briefly at them and said, "You don't have enough experience to get a job outside of a firm. You should intern for a few years, first." I asked how he could tell from looking at my hands. He then held up HIS hands. All eight fingers of them. He explained that if you worked around explosive effects for long enough, it was almost inevitable that you would be involved in some sort of fiery accident. Losing a finger or two, he explained, immediately showed a potential employer that a) You had been doing this long enough for it to have happened, and b) you were lucky enough, or good enough, not to have been killed when it did.

Second was the almost nonexistent industry in the Texas area. As I have never had any desire to move to one of the seaboards (which is where the primary areas I wanted to work--film or theatre--were strongest), I couldn't justify the risk.

This is not to say that my roomie and I didn't reinvent the wheel with our own studies of pyro. We went to the local gunstore and bought four kegs of various grades of gunpowder (ah, the good old days!) and proceeded to be the cause for numerous "unexplained noise trauma incidents" in the area. The local wildlife was probably skittish for YEARS around our house after we left. You never knew when you drove up if you'd be leaving with all of your car windows intact, and we kept the local glass supply house singlehandedly afloat during some mighty lean years...



So, yeah, it was a hobby. But now I'm older and I don't have so much time for it. But I'm getting my son into model rocketry, soon, so I'm sure it won't be long before HE'S out here posting a reply...

 

[mwerner]

My wife refuses to let me have a cannon, rockets, catapults, trebuchets, or similar devices....So I build cigar-box guitars.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes you definitely have to be careful when dealing with energetic material. I spent months reading before I started making anything. And any time I go to mix up something I research it to make sure I am aware of any dangers. There are some things I do not mess with just because it can be sensitive or because the chemicals are so toxic.

I agree that it can be dangerous but if you think things through and have a plan and are able to keep a level head during a crisis then I think he was probably exaggerating a little. I have had some close calls but most all have had to do with fire and most of them happened when I was a kid. I set the pasture on fire quite a few times and most of the time was able to keep it contained by myself with a shovel after I let most of the dead stuff burn off. It always made the grass grow back greener so my parents weren't too mad. I also had a potato cannon explode on me while I was holding it. Luckily it only blew the end off and I was holding it to the side so it didn't hit me. Apparently the oxygen and acetylene was a bad idea. Plus it was more of a golf ball cannon. If I could hit a ball like that I would be a millionaire. It went out of sight almost immediately and wasn't even starting to curve back towards the earth. It is amazing I lived through my teenage years because the things I did I must have had about a dozen angels assigned to me.

I think a lot of the guys that don't have fingers are ones who made/make illegal M80s and just learned what the chemicals were and start mixing them up. It can be friction sensitive and is highly energetic which is a bad combo if you aren't taking precautions. I can't think of the first person who is missing anything in the club I am in. A lot of them are professionals and make their living with fireworks. Of course there is also a saying that if you have to do something dangerous you want to be using enough of it that if there is an accident you don't have to worry about the consequences. That is a little extreme but I have heard it more than once.

 

[WA Martin]

I've always liked fireworks but never tried to make any.

I even bought a college level inorganic checmistry text because it had a picture of fireworks on the front and inside there was a special section on fireworks and how the different colors were made. I don't remember if there was anything about manufacturing though.

If I remember, and can get to it, I'll look at that section again and maybe post the name, ISBN, etc.

 

[roughedges]

The rain didn't let up but I took a few photos anyway. A few more than I intended to post actually. FlaMtnbkr: you did say obscure hobbies... I figure mine qualifies!
Some clickable thumbnails for anyone that is interested.

First is H Sprinbokvlakensis, an alien looking plant even for haworthia. Each leaf looks much like a deflated balloon when dormant and actually pulls itself below ground level to avoid the summer time heat.


Two different variegated H Limifolia. Commonly called Fairy's Washboard for the ridges on its leaves, I sometimes see non-variegated versions for sale at Home Depot, etc.


H. 'Mirror Ball', a Japanese cultivar


H Truncata 'Congesta'

A Japanese H Maughanii cultivar


The next two are of a variegated H Pumilla. This species is perhaps the largest in the genus, growing to perhaps a foot tall. No one knows for sure but it is theorized that the little white bumps, tubercles, developed as a means of increasing surface area thereby helping the plant to stay slightly cooler in the heat. Even as immature as it is, this is easily one of the most valuable plants in my collection.



H Magnifica v Splendens, this plant is just starting to wake up. In another month or so it should look more strikingly colorful.


H 'Yumidono', another Japanese cultivar

H Koelmaniorum. Judging by its size and that it's slow growing even for a haworthia, this is probably the oldest plant in my collection. Behind it you can see leaves of a Dorstenia, truly a...promiscuous plant... of the plant kingdom. I can't have two within 6 feet of each other without them shooting seed all over the place.

 

[m1marty]

I have always liked fireworks/explosives. The usual little kid games of blowing stuff up progressed into joining the Army and working with explosives for a living. Fireworks on a MUCH larger scale.
Scary part was taking someone elses "fireworks" apart. If you messed up in my job......you'd never know it.

 

[timcsaw]

Intarsia.

I've never seen anyone do any knife handles using intarsia techniques so right now I'm trying to make some scales for a folder to see if it's "doable". I'll post pics of the finished product.

 

[Robert.B]

I collect Canadian quarters…I got about six of em...

seriously though I have a bonsai thats been developing for about 5 or 6 years now, its a pot belly fig and looks pretty cool. I was going to do more but US customs wont let me bring them stateside when I immigrate so i'll wait till i am here. Wanted to do a japanese elm bonsai for some time now, but the larger variety where your tree is a couple feet high and you recreate a scene from nature scaled down but living.

I blame Mr.Miyagi for this odd ball hobby

stunning japanese elm example...would love to find an 80 - 100 year old example within the US.

 

[roughedges]

I blame Mr.Miyagi for this odd ball hobby

:thumbup: I grow bonsai as well but being in South Florida none of mine are considered traditional species. Also orchids, tropical plants, vegetables, etc. Used to be an ok living but the hurricanes kind of put a halt to that a few years back so a hobby it is! For now, anyway.

ETA: If you can find a copy for less than extraordinary price, I highly suggest picking up a book called "Classic Bonsai of Japan". Truly breathtaking trees, many of which are considered national treasures in Japan.

 

[Robert.B]

:thumbup: I grow bonsai as well but being in South Florida none of mine are considered traditional species. Also orchids, tropical plants, vegetables, etc. Used to be an ok living but the hurricanes kind of put a halt to that a few years back so a hobby it is! For now, anyway.

ETA: If you can find a copy for less than extraordinary price, I highly suggest picking up a book called "Classic Bonsai of Japan". Truly breathtaking trees, many of which are considered national treasures in Japan.

I'll definately try to source a copy, I will need all the inspiration i can get when i attempt to create a visual masterpiece.

check this site out too, very expensive but well developed trees...if i had $5k this would be mine.

http://www.whitebearbonsai.com/product/1Trident

good for inspiration...is their any US based sites that sell good saplings for bonsai?

 

[roughedges]

Brussel's Bonsai is the largest that I know of. Also, Dallas Bonsai sells supplies and often has very good deals on seed packets from Japan. I've also had good experience buying supplies, mostly lava, from BuyBonsai but they also often have good deals on various species.

Where will you be moving? Mostly what I do is just visit local nurseries and find trees with good thick trunks and nice nebari. Branch ramification and all of that can always come in time. In this fashion, I've picked up many trees for $10 or less that quickly started looking like bonsai. Mostly ilex and willow leaf ficus. I assume you can do the same with juniper, maple, etc. in other climates.

 

[Robert.B]

i'm going to be moving to north Kansas, not more then a stones throw from Nebraska...it can get rather cold in winter (we got over a foot of snow in the first fall this year) and then toasty in summer, so something local growing as well wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I'm in the US atm but going back to Australia in 4 weeks...but those are good tips to finding a decent tree, I have even considered an attempt at grafting a branch from the same tree to the thick estabished trunk. One book i have (the name evades me atm) details how this is done and is a good way to get those robust looking trees going but it is hit and miss to get a good graft going so i'll need to play around.

 

[WA Martin]

I was going to do more but US customs wont let me bring them stateside when I immigrate so i'll wait till i am here.

Can't you get a phytosanitary certificate for them? Even if you needed a CITIES permit I wouldn't think it would be that difficult. They're not orchids afterall. Of course I don't raise bonsai so maybe I just proved my ignorance...

 

[Steel Talon]

Tantric instructor here
ST~