Re: Loading and Spiking (Fulcanelli)

For me the degree of importance in achieving acceptable breaks are:

1. Spiking with extra winding on the shells horizontal plane.
2. Ignition starting at the center of the shell.
3. Surround the break charge with stars especially above and below.
4. Applying the paste wrap.

Jap fabric fuse is actually .234 diameter or 6mm, for a fuse tube used in
both round and cylinder shells roll 3 or 4 turns of 50 wt Kraft around 13/32
(.406) diameter tube which brings the finished paper tube diameter to .470

The internal diameter of the finished tube is just right for the.234 fuse
diameter and the crossmatch after bending it and making 2 ends. To further
ignition 3 more .090 diameter pieces of match can added with a pinch of
meal. Gluing on a square of thin Kraft paper secures the end.



"Mike Swisher" <Mike_member@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:du572n015e5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What you report is most peculiar. I have not had this experience myself. I
continue to believe your problems arise from the use of time fuse (as
opposed to
spolettes) and your pasting technique.

A simple and effective technique when using time fuse is to take a
cup-type
paper end plug and punch a hole the diameter of your time fuse in the
center of
it. Use 5/8" plugs for quarter-inch and 3/4" or 7/8" plugs for 3/8" fuse.
Cross
match the fuse and pull it through the hole in the plug so the cross match
is
bent upwards along the walls of the cup. Now pull the fuse through the
hole in
the top disc of your shell. Instead of laying flat, or nearly so, against
the
end disc, the cross match will stick up into the powder core. It seems
like so
little a change that it couild not possibly do anything, but I have seen
this
technique improve breaks noticeably when using time fuse.

You may also be making your breaks too long. A simple break of stars is
better
made slightly oblate than oblong, especially if you're using time fuse.
I'm not
saying you should make 'pancake' shells, but that using (say) a 4-1/2"
liner for
a six-inch break of stars is not unreasonable. Making it taller won't
improve
the effect, and indeed may detract from it. It's a common error of
beginners to
make the breaks too tall, thinking that 'more is better.'

Sometimes it is quite difficult to get to the bottom of someone's
problems. I
recall in 1988 at the Gary, Indiana PGI convention, talking at length with
someone who had terrible problems with dud shells. I asked him all sorts
of
questions and every answer sounded right. I despaired of figuring out what
his
problem was. Finally taking one last stab at it, I asked him where he got
his
spolette tubes. He responded, Kosanke Services. At once I knew what was
amiss!
Those tubes were not proper New England Paper Tube spolettes.

They were cheap kraft tubes, rolled perhaps by Sunoco, and were soft and
water-permeable. When the K's first offered them I bought some out of
curiosity
because I wondered how they could possibly be so cheap even after the K's
had
added their markup. No wonder, when the order arrived.

My questioner's duds were the consequence of water from his pasted crown
soaking
through the soft, punky paper of which the tubes were made, and turning
the
match in the hollow end of the tube to mush. Changing to proper NEPTCo.
tubes
solved his problem.

I expect that somewhere in your practice you have a similar problem that
is
causing the irregular breaks. It is not the instructions in the articles
that
are at fault, but with some deviation from proper practice that has
resulted
from a misinterpretation of those instructions.



In article <8PmNf.16294$fU6.10494@trnddc08>, Mike says...

For me applying this extra reinforcing is absolutely critical in order to
get a perfect break of stars when building single break cylindrical
shells
that follow Fulcanelli's illustrations.



"tes" &lt;tshavel@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1141213662.050993.269070@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mike and Mike Swisher,
Perhaps Mike's "extra end windings" is has a good technique for
reinforcement of multbreak applications? Comments?
best regards,
tes






.

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