FOOTNOTES:[A]Tourbillion, fromtourbillon, like postillion, frompostillon, the i being inserted to approximate the pronunciation of the French. In pavilion, frompavillon, and vermilion, fromvermillon, one l is dropped; so in battalion, frombataillon; while medallion, frommedaillon, retains the ll.
[A]Tourbillion, fromtourbillon, like postillion, frompostillon, the i being inserted to approximate the pronunciation of the French. In pavilion, frompavillon, and vermilion, fromvermillon, one l is dropped; so in battalion, frombataillon; while medallion, frommedaillon, retains the ll.
[A]Tourbillion, fromtourbillon, like postillion, frompostillon, the i being inserted to approximate the pronunciation of the French. In pavilion, frompavillon, and vermilion, fromvermillon, one l is dropped; so in battalion, frombataillon; while medallion, frommedaillon, retains the ll.
These are unchoked cases, charged like a tourbillion, but pierced only with holes of rotation, for the purpose of turning a coloured fire. Drive them in a mould, as directed before. A good size is,5⁄8internal,7⁄8external, 6 or 7 inches long. Let the tenon enter the case3⁄8of an inch: charge the composition firm till within1⁄2an inch of the top, which leave vacant. Remove it, and fill the3⁄8occupied by the tenon, with plaster of paris. Have acentre-piece, turned like fig. 55, with a tenon,5⁄8diameter at each end,1⁄2an inch long. Glue a case on each tenon. Let the centre-piece be 6 inches long, exclusive of the tenons; so, if the saxon cases are 7 inches long, each, the entire length, as fig. 56, will be 20 inches. Make a hole at a, and another at c, with a shielded bradawl,3⁄16of an inch diameter. Put a bit of naked match in the hole a, carry it round x and y, along to c and on to z. It must be pushed into c with a blunt wire. Cover it with two thicknesses of pasted paper, like the tourbillion. Leave the match exposed at x, y, and at z, and brush it over with meal paste. If the central piece of wood were now put on a horizontal spindle, and fire communicated to the match z, the holes a and c would cause it to rotate, and produce a white circle of fire. This, however, would be hardly worth making; but, by fixing at b, a little case of coloured fire, a splendid effect is produced. This case of colour is usually tied to a nail, driven in at b; but a little tenon of wood may be glued there instead, and the case of colour must be then charged, with a vacancy at the bottom, to fit on the tenon. The caseof colour must be timed to burn as long as the saxon; rather more than an inch will be sufficient.
Saxons are sometimes made by charging a roman candle case with an inch of clay in the middle, and boring a hole through the clay, to receive a spindle. Only one half of the case burns at a time; a leader, placed at the bottom, near the central clay, conveys the fire to the other end; and continues the rotation. For distinction, they are called Chinese fliers.
These are cases about 21⁄2inches long, and 1 inch diameter. Make a bottom to the case with1⁄4inch thickness of plaster of paris, so that it looks like a large pill box. Charge it solid, and at3⁄8of an inch from the extremity, that is,1⁄8of an inch beyond the plaster bottom, round the circumference make five holes, as for saxons; run a bit of match round, connecting the holes. These, when fired, stand out at right angles, the plaster towards the spectator, so that the fire resembles a gas star, with 5 points, as in fig. 130.
Take a sheet of 60-lb. imperial brown, and a sheet of 12-lb. white demy. The imperial, as said before, is 29 by 221⁄2. Cut it into 24 equal parts (2, 4, 3), that is, first into two equal parts, down the natural fold of the paper; then each into four equal parts, at right angles to the first fold; and each of these into three equal parts, at right angles to the second fold. Each piece will then be 55⁄8by 45⁄8. The demy is 221⁄2by 171⁄2. Cut the sheet into sixteen equal parts (2, 4, 2), each piece will be 55⁄8by 43⁄8. A piece of brown and a piece of white will make a case 55⁄8inches long. For a former, procure a piece of brass wire, or stair-rod, about a foot long, and1⁄4inch diameter. Lay eight pieces of the demy evenly on each other; draw the thumbnail of the right hand from the farther edge of the paper straight over the middle towards you, a few times. If properly performed, this will draw piece behind piece; proceed till about1⁄8of an inch of each is left exposed, in the same manner as a pack ofcards would arrange themselves, if set upright, and allowed to fall forwards; something after the manner of the laths of a venetian blind, or slates upon a roof, imbricated. If you cannot acquire the knack of doing this, you must so lay them, one by one. Paste the edges of all the eight pieces thus lying. Place one of the pieces of brown paper before you; lay the former, or stair-rod, across it, nearly in the middle; bend the paper over it, and press it in with the fingers of both hands; roll for an inch, or so; lay it on the middle of a white piece; bend the white over; infold the brown in it, and roll forward, till it catches the pasted part, and sticks. After a number have been prepared, and are dry, choke them, as directed for rockets. The wire of the choker, fig. 24, should be about1⁄16of an inch thick. Now take a piece of square steel, or iron wire, 12 inches long, the thickness of the wire being about3⁄5the diameter of the stair-rod, that is,1⁄4x3⁄5=3⁄20of an inch; if it be found difficult to procure square wire, file a round piece. Bore a hole down a bradawl or chisel handle, 2 inches in depth, and1⁄4diameter; fix thesquare wire in it, with melted lead, like fig. 4; the lead is for the purpose of giving weight to the blows in charging. Black the wire all over with ink, and allow it to dry. The next requisite is a tin funnel, without a neck, of the size and shape of fig. 65. Any tinman will readily make one to order; but if the learner procure a soldering-tool, he can construct one himself. For this purpose, dissolve a piece of zinc in a little hydrochloric or muriatic acid, till the acid is saturated: heat the tool, and dip the tip end, momently, into it; the acid combines with the oxide of copper formed by heating, and the zinc adheres to the clear surface of copper produced; it will now easily take up the solder: the joint to be soldered must be clean, and also touched with a feather dipped into the acid. It is best to make a funnel with a piece of writing-paper, first, for a pattern; when this is got correct, the tin can be cut according to it. By describing a circle with a 3-inch radius, and cutting out a sector of 100°, the correct size is obtained at once;1⁄8of an inch breadth, outside the radius, is to be allowed to lap over. The bore of the squib is5⁄20ofan inch; the size of the ramming wire3⁄20; the hole at the bottom of the funnel may be half way between,4⁄20or1⁄5of an inch diameter. Push the wire rammer through the funnel, till it protrudes 2 inches beyond the bottom; observe the part of the wire which is now level with the top of the funnel; withdraw it, and file a bright mark round the part: it will be about 41⁄2inches from the end. The wire, having been inked, shows the bright mark more plainly.
Make a deal box, 3 inches square, and 4 inches deep, and nail a bottom to it. Also have a little nipple, fig. 73, with a wire, as drawn; it can be secured to a flat board.
To charge the cases. Set the choked end of one on the nipple, insert the funnel in the other end, put the wire rammer down through the funnel, and let it fall to the bottom of the case: put in some fuse, and jolt the rammer up and down, till the case gets so far filled, that the bright, filed notch, before described, is on a level with the top of the funnel. It is necessary to sit at a table to charge the cases; the eye is, then, on a proper level tosee the mark. As the cases are thus charged, set them in the square box, choked end downwards, till a number are filled. Now take out a handful, invert them over a sheet of paper, and give them a few taps with the rammer; this will shake out a great deal of loose composition, that has got puffed up, in the case. Return them to the deal box.
The next operation is to bounce, or bang them. For this purpose take a long slip of paper, 7 inches broad. Stretch it lengthwise before you. Lay a number of the cases upon it, so that all the choke ends lie flush with the left edge of the paper; then roll them up in the paper; turn and set them upright on the choke ends; the paper will now stand up more than an inch above the cases, as a tumbler, three parts full of water, stands up with an empty space above the water. Rest them on a sheet of paper, and pour in a quantity of F grain powder; this will fill every case; loosen the paper wrapper, and allow the superfluous grain powder to fall on the paper. Set the cases, choke downwards, in the square box. As they are all full, it is necessary to get a little out of each.For this purpose, lay the square box, containing them, horizontally on a sheet of paper, on one of its sides; turn it gently over, and lay it on the next side; a little of the gunpowder will spill out; turn it gently over again, and lay it on the next side; and so proceed, till every case has about3⁄8of an inch empty. The ends of the cases are now to be closed. Take a case, in the left hand, as in fig. 63, and wind a piece of string, or whipcord, three or four times round it, holding the end of the string, a, firmly with the thumb; then, with the right hand, bring the end, b, back over all the folds, as in fig. 64; pull the end, B, tight, and the case will be closed.
Melt some common bottle sealing-wax in a pipkin; carry it to a distance from the fire, and dip the ends of the squibs into it. Next, prime them, by pressing the choked ends into very slightly damped meal powder, as directed for wheel cases. Take a piece of touch-paper, 15 inches by 10. Divide it into 48 pieces (2, 2, 3, 4); each piece will be 21⁄2by 11⁄4. Roll a piece round the primed end, twist to a point, and fasten it with abit of carpet thread, hitched three times round it.
These are simply squibs, made short, in order to burn out quickly, as they are intended to be thrown from mines, and would otherwise lie too long on the ground. They are best made entirely of brown paper, pasted all over, exactly like wheel cases, and choked in the same manner. Cut the paper 6 inches by 21⁄2, and roll them on the squib former, so that they shall be 21⁄2inches long. Ram them with the funnel and wire, but continue the ramming till the guide-mark stands a little higher than the level of the funnel; until, in fact, the cases get half full. Bounce, close, and dip them in melted wax, like squibs. The best way to prime them is to paint them with the sash-tool, slightly, then plunge them into dry meal, so that they may be, as nearly as possible, like quickmatch. If they were pressed into wet meal powder, of the consistency of mortar, and then rubbed smoothon a Dutch tile, or slate, or plate, they would dry hard and glazed. In this case, if they were fired from a mine, in all probability three-fourths of them would miss. In brushing them with the sash-tool, with meal paste, turn the brush well round, to leave little in; so that, after being pressed into the dry meal, they may not be choked up, but the cup shape still be left. They are not to be touch-papered, being intended only for mines, rockets, or shells.
Procure some 16-lb. double-crown white paper.
The small strip may be used for odd purposes. Divide the 30 by 17 into 10 strips, each 3 by 17, for penny pinwheels. If the paper were cut the other way of the sheet, it would not wind smoothly, but crumple up. The fibres, from some cause or other, appearto arrange themselves in one direction, like the grain in wood. For halfpenny wheels, divide the sheet into two pieces, each 10 by 30; then cut each of these into 12, each 10 by 21⁄2. For a former, have a straight piece of iron, or steel, wire,1⁄8of an inch thick, and 24 inches long. One end of this must have a basil, or sloping enlargement upon it, which is thus made. Take a piece of double-crown 4 inches square; lay it straight before you, and cut it diagonally, from the right top corner to the left bottom corner; remove the left half; paste the right; lay the wire upon it, so that the rectangular corner is 5 inches from the right end of the wire; roll it up, and press it smooth; the sloping edge will now form a spiral, commencing at 9 inches from the right end of the wire, and being enlarged at 5 inches from the end. Paste a thin strip of paper over the whole, to protect the spiral edges. It will now be something of the shape of fig. 27, only turned the reverse way. The 5 inches at the end are for a handle. To roll the pinwheel pipes, lay the strips of paper evenly upon each other, and work them back with the thumbnail, as before. Paste theedges; lay half-a-quire of double-crown, or of blotting-paper, flat upon the table, to roll on. Place one of the strips of pasted paper upon it; lay the wire upon it, the basil end being towards the right hand; the wire is to be laid, not quite parallel with the near edge of the paper, but slightly sloping, about an inch and a quarter distant from it on the left, and not quite an inch on the right, or basil end. So much of the basil must lie on the paper as will make the mouth of the pipe large enough for the nozzle of the funnel to enter half-an-inch. The basil, of course, gathers up the paper more quickly than the wire, and brings the edge straight, on the completion of the pipe. Now to roll, bend the paper over the left end of the wire, press it in with the fingers, and begin immediately to move it forward; at the same time draw the fingers of the right hand rapidly along, pressing in the paper, and rolling forward, keeping the right, or basil, end of the wire tight, and slightly pulled towards you: the paper round the left end of the wire will have thus become rolled half round the circumference of the wire, before the basil end hasbegun. There is very great difficulty, at first, in rolling so long a pipe as 17 inches; it is advisable to begin with the halfpenny pipes, which are much shorter; the same wire-former will serve for both. If you cannot succeed, get a person to help you; sixteen fingers can manage the matter easily; but it is best to master the difficulty yourself. Have a funnel as nearly the size and shape of fig. 66 as possible. It is best with a lid soldered on the top, with a circular hole in the middle, about the size of a shilling, to prevent the composition from getting spilt. A slightly tapering neck is also to be soldered on at the bottom. Take especial care that the mouth of the funnel dips into the neck, and not have the neck sticking up in the funnel. The joint inside must be perfectly smooth. A charging wire will now be required; this should be a square steel wire, as large as the neck of the funnel will admit, to move easily up and down; let it also have a piece of lead at the end, to give it weight. Take a piece of brass tube, about3⁄8of an inch diameter, and an inch long. Hold the wire in it, with a piece of flannel, or woollen cloth, and pourin melted lead. To charge the cases, first bend a quarter of an inch of the small end of the pipe, over the edge of a knife, into a hook, to prevent the composition running out; insert the nozzle of the funnel in the enlarged end; hold the part of the pipe now round it, with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, slip the wire, through the funnel, down to the bottom of the pipe, which must rest, for a moment, on the table; pour in the composition, jolt the wire up and down; lift the pipe from the table, keep jolting the wire, at the same time turning it round, and let the pipe swing slightly to and fro, till filled. A guide-mark must be filed round the wire, as for squibs, at such a distance as that, when it is level with the top of the funnel, the bottom may protrude about3⁄8of an inch. When a number of pipes are charged, close the large, or basilled, end, which is the one to be lit, by means of a piece of whipcord, or thin twine, wound round it, as directed in figs. 63 and 64. Soak a towel in water; wring it as dry as possible; spread it out flat; lay the pipes in a row, side by side, upon it, like rushes in a chair bottom; roll them up in it,and leave them for 10 or 15 minutes. Then wind them upon the usual circular blocks, and fasten the end with sealing-wax. Be careful that the wax is not in a flame at the moment of touching the case; if necessary, blow it out. Accidents will arise, both from the wax and from the candle, if care is not used. Measure, with a tape, round the wheel, now wound; suppose 4 inches; cut a piece of blue double-crown, 4 inches broad, and any length: cut this into strips about3⁄16of an inch broad, and 4 inches long; paste a slate all over; lay these strips, 7 or 8 of them, side by side, flat upon it; paste their upper surface; lay one across each pinwheel, and bend it over to make the ends meet in the centre on the other side. If you wish the pinwheel to be of double or triple size, after you have charged one pipe, paste the small end of a second pipe, outside, and stick it in the other. Let it dry; then charge the additional pipe. Observe, the pipes must not lie too long in the towel; if the nitre gets dissolved, it soaks into the paper, which becomes, virtually, touchpaper, and one pipe ignites the other. The wire formers must not be allowed to get rusty;therefore, before laying them aside smear them with tallow, or olive oil. The wire is much facilitated, too, in delivering, if, just before using it, it is slightly oiled, and then wiped, apparently, perfectly dry. After the wheels are finished, they should be spread out to dry, as soon as possible. It is not usual to prime them; and, as sold, they are very difficult and troublesome to light; for private use, they may have a short piece of match inserted in the mouth, and a small bit of touch-paper wound round it. French nails are now made, of wire, very thin; those, about an inch long, are much better than pins, for firing the wheel upon, as they have larger heads, and prevent its falling off. Pinwheel blocks may be obtained of Merrick, Shuttle Maker, 155, Bethnal Green Road; the same person sells triangular and vertical wheels; caprice, furilona and pigeon frames; rocket sticks; mine bottoms; saxon centres, &c.; also, plait mills, made to order.
A good tough paper for these is 24 mill, 19-lb. double-small hand.
The strip 30 by 4 may be used for squibs, or any odd purpose. For penny crackers cut the 30 by 16 into 8 strips, each 33⁄4by 16. For halfpenny crackers divide the sheet into 2 pieces, each 10 by 30. Cut each of these into 10, each 10 by 3. For a former have a straight piece of iron, or steel, wire,3⁄20of an inch diameter, and 24 inches long. This will not require a basil. Have, also, another wire, of half the thickness, for an opening wire. Lay the strips on blotting-paper, as before; and place the wire parallel with the edge of the strip, as there is now no basil. When a number of pipes are rolled and dry, hold one flat on a table; and, with the handle of a knife, or tooth-brush, rub the pipe flat along, all except the first half-inch, heldin the left hand, to form a little cup. Now push the opening wire through it, to partially open it. Bend the bottom, over a knife, into a little hook, as before directed, for pinwheels. Take up a quantity; wind a strip of paper round them, as in banging squibs, and pour in a quantity of FFF, or canister powder. Unless the powder is very fine it will not run down. Pipes may be filled with F grain powder, one at a time, by putting a funnel into the cup part, and tapping the pipe with a wire. You can hear the powder run down, and easily judge when the pipe is full. The powder is now to be crushed into meal, by rolling the pipes through a plait mill, fig. 71. This is furnished with a wooden screw, at top; the screw presses upon a cross-bit, which bears upon two movable collars: these rest on the axis of the top cylinder, by which means the pressure can be adjusted as desired. The cylinders of plait mills are of beech, or boxwood; the latter are, of course, the best; but for making great numbers of crackers, it is necessary to have the frames of iron, and the cylinders of steel. If a mill cannot be procured, the pipes may be rolled with a brasstube, or rolling-pin, or passed through an American mangle; but a very good, and far less expensive plan, is to lay them on an anvil, or flat-iron turned upside down, and beat them with a smooth-faced hammer; this is a tedious process, but it makes good crackers. The cup end, having served its purpose, is to be flattened, and bent into a hook. Now lay the pipes in a damp towel, like the pinwheels. Take two pieces of deal, each about 6 inches long and 11⁄2inch broad: let the one for the halfpenny crackers be3⁄4of an inch thick; the other, for the penny, 1 inch thick. Saw and chisel a piece out of each, about 4 inches long and1⁄2an inch broad, as drawn, fig. 67, so that it looks like the first and third fingers of the hand held straight up, with the second finger, between them, shut. Next procure 20 pieces of wire, each 2 inches long, and about1⁄16of an inch thick. Support the cracker-frame in a vice: lay the cracker across the opening; place a wire upon it, as at a, fig. 68; bend the pipe over it; lay on it another wire, on the other side, as b; bend back, and lay on it the wire c; and so on, alternately, till the cracker is bent up. Lift it out of the frame,and let the wires drop. The distance between the wires, in the halfpenny crackers, will be3⁄4of an inch; in the penny, 1 inch; if made according to the directions given. The outside of the frame should be very slightly tapered, or it will be difficult to lift the cracker up out of it. The penny size will probably take 14 wires; the halfpenny 10 wires. Cut the end flush, to expose the crushed powder; wind round it a piece of touch-paper, about 13⁄4inch long, 11⁄4broad; it need not be pasted; fold up the cracker; pass a piece of flax or thread twice round it; twist the thread in and out, backwards and forwards, among the folds; and the cracker is complete. If the paper does not appear sufficiently thick to make a good report, cut the strips broader, and fewer to the sheet; but always cut them up the short way of the paper, or they will not bend properly. The paper for pinwheels and crackers is 30 inches by 20; the longest pipe that can be cut is 20 inches: as an experiment, try a pinwheel and cracker the other way of the paper. If the cracker is intended to be put into a jack-in-the-box, shell, or rocket head, push a bradawl up the mouth,insert a bit of quickmatch, to project a quarter of an inch, and secure it with a little wetted meal, pressed in with a knife. The way of bending it is shown at fig. 69. It is not necessary that a cracker should contain very much powder; the loudness of the bang depends more upon the thickness of the paper than upon the quantity of the powder. So with maroons; more string and less powder, are better than more powder and less string. A very good paper for crackers is 30-lb. royal cartridge; cut the strips 3 inches broad; 16-lb. double-crown may also be used, the strips 5 inches broad. Crackers for mines may be made with brown paper.
To make a cracker with 30 or 40 bangs, it is necessary to join 3 or 4 pipes together, before putting in the grain powder: the mode of making a joining will be understood by attending to the following directions. Cut a piece of paper 3 inches square, and lay it straight before you. At one inch from the right top corner, make a mark; at one inch from the left bottom corner, make a mark; draw an oblique straight line from one to the other, and cut along it with a pair of scissors.Without disturbing the relative position of the two pieces, draw the right piece a few inches towards the right; paste the farther edges, as usual; lay the wire close along the near edge of the right piece, and roll it up; it will have an external spiral; roll up the left piece in the same manner; it will have an internal spiral; when both are dry, paste the external spiral, and screw it, as it were, into the other piece. If managed carefully, and brought up till the edge of the paper forms a straight line, the joining will be as firm as if the paper had not been cut, presenting only a spiral edge, going once round the pipe.
These are for piping quickmatch; they are rolled exactly like pinwheel pipes, on wires of different thickness, to suit the size of the match. They must be large enough to admit the match easily, without much pushing, which would break it; otherwise, the more nearly they fit the match, the more rapidly it blows through. The fire is conveyed from the tail of one case to the mouth of another, by a short piece of pipe, d, fig. 80, with the matchprojecting at both ends; when the fire has to be conveyed to two other cases at once, a fresh bit of piping is slipped on, and the match left exposed, as at a; or a piece is cut out of the side, as at b; each end should be bent into a hook, as at c, to prevent its slipping back. Wheel cases are to be enveloped by rolling a piece of double-crown twice or thrice round them, two inches longer than the case, as fig. 82, shown by the dotted lines. Suppose you have six wheel cases ready charged; lay six pieces of double-crown flat before you, and work them back with the thumbnail, as before described; paste the 6 edges; lay the 6 wheel cases in a row, side by side, and draw the paste brush across the middle, as if pasting your knuckles; then roll one in each envelope, so that it projects an inch at each end. Put the leader pipe in, and tie it with a piece of carpet thread, thin twine, or waxed yellow flax or hemp, as at fig. 83. To join one pipe to another, to lengthen it; suppose you have a piece of match 40 inches, long, and two pipes of 20 inches each. Slip both the pipes on the match, so that they touch in the middle; take the end of one, sotouching, gather it round the match; pinch the end of the pipe tapering, push it into the other, and bind a piece of pasted paper round, to secure the joint. In cutting a matched pipe straight across, of course the match inside gets cut flush; do not leave it so, but, with a pair of pointed scissors, cut away a quarter of an inch of the pipe all round, and bend the exposed match, as at c, fig. 80, before putting it into the envelope of the case. Besides a strong pair of pointed scissors, a small pair, 3 inches long, with rounded ends, to carry constantly in the waistcoat pocket, will be found convenient for many purposes.
Take 3 inches of a6⁄8or3⁄8rocket case. Fix, in one end, a cork, half an inch long; put in 2 inches of F grain powder; on this, another cork. Wind string tightly round it, lengthwise, 6 or 8 folds, side by side; bend it to a right angle, and wind 6 or 8 more folds; and so on, till covered; then wind crosswise; and again, at right angles, as in fig. 74. Dip it into melted glue, and put by to dry. Whendry, make a bradawl hole through one part, to reach the powder. Make sure of this, by inverting it, and letting a little drop out. Insert a short port-fire, having a piece of match at the bottom, and touch-papered at the top.
Take a rocket case, 5 inches long, and unchoked. Put in one solid inch of plaster of paris. When this is dry, pour in 3 inches of F grain-powder; on this put another solid inch of plaster of paris. When dry, wind string tightly round it, up and down the cylindrical part, not the ends, till of two thicknesses. Paint the string over with melted glue. Make a bradawl hole in the middle of one side; fasten to it a squib, without a bang, having a piece of quickmatch at the end, to enter the hole. Cover the joining with two layers of pasted paper. On the other side, below, fasten a short piece of deal, like a rocket stick, with a point, to put into the ground, fig. 72. After lighting the touchpaper, remove to a distance; as bits of string are likely to get driven into the face, on the explosion.
To fire a salute with maroons, at regular intervals of time. Charge a port-fire, and saw it into inch lengths; envelope each in a piece of double-crown, 3 inches broad, and long enough to go thrice round the port-fire. Hang the maroons to hooks, or otherwise suspend them, on a frame, a foot distance from each other, as a, b, c, fig. 75. Underneath them fasten, with binding screws, or tie to nails, the port-fires x, y. Connect the port-fires with one another, and with the maroons, by leaders, in the usual way. On lighting at w, the first maroon explodes, and the first port-fire catches; this, having burnt, lights the second maroon and the second port-fire; and the port-fires being of the same length, the intervals of time between the explosions of the maroons will be the same.
These are little cases, 21⁄2inches long, rolled on a1⁄4-inch former, and filled with the funnel and wire. They may be primed like fig. 29 or 30, or like squibs. Put them, mouth downwards, into rocket heads.
These are a combination of rain and star. Roll them like pill-box cases, on a3⁄8inch former, about 13⁄4inches long; charge one end,3⁄8of an inch deep, with coloured fire, driven in dry; fill up with gold, or silver rain, with a film of shell fuse at the top, to bind. Cut a bit of match, 21⁄4inches long, lay it outside the case, so that it projects3⁄8of an inch at one end; envelope it in a piece of double-crown, fig. 90; tuck in the paper, to press the match, at one end, on the colour; twist the other to a point. Both ends thus light at once; and the rain appears, like a coloured star, with a tail.
To prime a case with match laid flat on the mouth. Take a piece of thread, or fine string, and fold, or bend it, in the middle, as at fig. 76. Tie a knot near the bent end, as at a, fig. 77. Bring the knot, a, up to the side of the case, as at fig. 78; pass the loose ends round, and tie in a knot, at b. Lay the bits of match flat across, as at e, fig. 79; bring the threads together, and tie them at c. Or bend tape match across, and tie, as at d.
To get a fine thread through a long pipe, or the hem of a bag. Take a piece of copper wire, and bend it round at one end, as z, fig. 88. Pass the end, z, forward, and push it through to the other end of the bag, &c., then bend it to the form of x, fig. 89; pass the string through the loop x, and pull the wire back.
These are a large kind of serpent, charged on a nipple, like a wheel case, with solid drift and mallet. They may be5⁄8or6⁄8or larger; about 31⁄2inches long. Drive in brilliant fire, or gerbe, fig. 84, 11⁄2inch; fill up to within1⁄2an inch of the top with F grain powder; and plug the end with plaster of paris, or a bit of wood, fastened with a tack or two. Press a piece of touch-paper, or double-crown, into the shape of a deep pill-box; fill it with F grain powder; fit it to the mouth of the saucisson; tie round the choke; brush, with meal paste, the outside, at bottom, and dip into dry meal. These saucissons are to be fired in a volley. Procure, say 2 dozen, iron tubes, a, b, c, &c., each a foot long; fit themwith a wooden bottom, fig. 92, having a tenon, t, an inch long; let it be fastened with a screw on each side. Bore a hole through, to make a communication with the mortar formed by the tube. Take a board, an inch thick, of suitable length and breadth; bore in it 2 dozen holes, of a size to fit the tenons; glue these in, so that the tubes, or mortars, stand upright, in rows, side by side, like the pieces on a chess-board. Invert it. Nail a rim all round, so as to make a box, 2 or 3 inches deep. Cut a groove from hole to hole of the tenons; connect all the holes with naked match, also push a bit of match up all the holes in the tenons; now fill the box with sawdust, and nail a board on, to serve for a bottom, and to keep the sawdust in. Invert it; and put a saucisson, mouth downwards, into each mortar. Fig. 84 represents a single saucisson; w, w, w, fig. 85, saucissons in the mortars. On firing the match at s, it is evident the cases will be driven out rapidly, one after the other. The sawdust prevents the flash igniting the whole at once.
Paste brown paper all over, and roll up a case, of four or five thicknesses, on an inch and a quarter, or an inch and a half former, like a rocket or other case; when dry, cut it in the lathe (see fig. 27) into inch lengths—inch-deep bottomless pill-boxes. Set one on a foot, fig. 9, to enter about1⁄8of an inch; mallet in the pearl streamer fuse, till nearly full, then a little meal powder; remove it from the foot, and press in flat, with a knife, a little plaster of paris, to form a bottom. They will have the appearance of bungs; fire them in volleys, like saucissons, from suitable-sized mortars. Primed end downwards, of course. Match may be tied on, as in figs. 78 and 79.
These are little cases, charged with the funnel and wire; the latter are filled with spur fire.
These are simply pinwheel pipes, usually of coloured double-crown, charged with pinwheel fuse, and not wound on a block, but kept straight.
These are little cases charged with white or coloured star composition. They should be of white or coloured double-crown paper, rolled dry on the squib former, and secured at the edge with paste in the usual way. They may be from 21⁄2to 4 inches long, as may be required; press in one end to make a bottom. To do this, bore a hole through a piece of cork or a small bung, and through it push a piece of brass wire or stair-rod, fig. 81, of a suitable diameter. It can then be set to any distance, like a cutting gauge. If the lance case is 21⁄2inches long, set the bung at rather more than 21⁄4inches from the end. Put it up the case, and, holding it with the left hand, with the right, with a piece of wire push in the end to make a flat bottom.Charge with the squib funnel and wire; and prime the mouth with very slightly damped meal. Lances are used for forming letters and designs, similar to gas jets. Frames for letters and devices are made with pieces of thin wood and cane, or hooping, for straight lines and curves. A number of wires, 3 inches apart, are driven into the frames so as to stand forward, at right angles, and the lances are fixed on them. The following is the way of proceeding. Procure some inch French nails, or inch rivets; the former at the ironmonger's; the latter at the grindery shops. Drive them in, at the proper distances; then, with a pair of cutting pliers or nippers, cut off their heads. Drive a piece of wire, the same thickness as the nails, into a bradawl handle, and leave it projecting3⁄8of an inch; file this triangular, or three-sided, and pointed. Push this triangular bradawl up the bottom of the lance, then fix the lance on the wire destined to receive it; it will be more secure if the wire is touched with a dip of glue before pressing the lance on. Having completed the letter or device, proceed to leader it. For this purpose have a supply of1⁄2-inch rivets; theymay be purchased at the grindery shops for about 5d.per lb. Take a length of leadered or piped quickmatch; lay one end of it on the mouth of a lance; push the triangular bradawl through the match and down into the lance; turn the bradawl round, which will insure the breaking of the match and of the priming; withdraw the bradawl, and push in a rivet; and so proceed. Take a strip of flannel 3 inches broad, roll it into the shape of a cork, and secure it from untwisting with a bit of string. Dip this into a solution of gum arabic or thick dextrine, and rub it over a sheet of double-crown. When dry, cut the sheet into pieces about half an inch broad and an inch and a half long, something like postage stamps. Take one of these, damp it like a postage stamp, and press it over the joining, and smooth it round the lance. Or a strip of paper may be pasted, and pressed round. The match will thus be nailed, as it were, to the lances; and prevented from slipping off by the gummed or pasted strip of paper. A common bradawl will not answer the purpose so well as a triangular one, as the sharp edges of the latterbreak the match and priming, and insure the ignition.
Take a sheet of paper, and draw upon it a representation of whatever is intended, as a temple, a mosque, a ship, a horse, George and the dragon, &c.; then cross the design with lines, at regular distances, and at right angles, so as to cover it with squares, as fig. 86. It is now requisite to have a floor, of a considerable size; but not necessarily so large as the design intended to be fired, as a part can be done at a time; this floor must be divided into large squares, and the device from the small pattern, fig. 86, transferred to it, and the outlines chalked on the floor, fig. 87. After this a number of frames are to be made, of deal, or other wood, like square lattice-work, as fig. 91. A frame is then to be laid on the floor, so as to covera portionof the design; and the French nails, or inch rivets, before mentioned, driven in, at distances of 3 inches, to receive the lances. Every frame must be numbered, and a copy kept in miniature, so that they may be correctly fitted together, to form the figure, without delay or error. To distribute the fire rapidly, over an extensive piece, it is necessary, at points, to make one leader light several, simultaneously. Suppose 10 are to be lighted at once: bring the 10 ends together and tie them; envelope them with a piece of double-crown, projecting a couple of inches; in the void put a scoop of meal; bring in the single match that is to light them, and tie as usual. Paste a piece of paper over all, to make secure.
Put 1 lb. into a frying-pan, or iron ladle, with 3 ounces of marine glue; set it over the fire; and, as the glue melts, stir it about till thoroughly incorporated with the filings, or borings. When cold, bottle them, and cork. Marine glue may be obtained at Pattrick and Sons, 51, High Street, Whitechapel. It is 1s.per lb., which is the smallest quantity sold. Marine glue is made by putting pieces of india-rubber into mineral naphtha; the caoutchouc swells up; it is then to be triturated into a uniform mass, mixed with shellac, andmelted. Wax solution, or stearine solution, rubbed up in a mortar, with steel filings, or cast-iron borings, also preserves them. The nitre of the gunpowder, however, attacks them, and ultimately rusts them; so that fireworks are never so brilliant as when recently charged.
Shells are hollow paper globes, fired vertically, from mortars, or iron tubes. They are made of various sizes, from 3 inches in diameter to 16 inches. To make a 3-inch shell. Turn a wooden ball, 3 inches diameter; and, round the middle, that is, the equatorial circumference, cut a V groove, or triangular channel, deep enough to receive a piece of raw or naked match. Remove it from the lathe, and cut it into two halves at right angles to the groove, that is, round a meridional circumference. Construct a deal box, 4 inches square, 2 inches deep. Place one of the half globes, flat surface downwards, on the middle of the bottom of the box, and secure it with screws from underneath. Brush it, and theinside of the box, all over, with sweet oil, with a camel's-hair pencil. Put some water into a basin; sprinkle into it as much plaster of paris as judged necessary; about 4 tablespoonfuls; pour off the water which floats above; stir up the plaster till homogeneous; pour it into the box; and, with a sash-tool held upright, beat the plaster in with the points of the bristles. Leave it to set.
Instead of having a wooden ball turned, a hemispherical concavity may be made by pressing, half way, into sand, one of the painted india-rubber balls sold at the toyshops; and pouring plaster over it. Or, a basin, an inch diameter larger than the intended shell, can have the plaster mixed up in it, till about three-parts full; and then the bottom of an oil flask can be pressed into it. A narrow strip of blue paper should be previously pasted round the oil flask, at the proper height, as a guide to know the proper depth to which it may be pressed. The plaster, when partly dry, must be neatly trimmed; and may be left, permanently, in the basin. Or, a stiff paper cylinder, or a tin cylinder, may be made, an inch larger in diameter than the diameter of the intendedshell: put the oil flask into this, neck downwards, and pour in dry sand, till only the hemispherical bottom of the flask is left exposed; level the sand; oil the flask; and pour in plaster, as before. Be careful that the mould is not less than half-an-inch thick in any part. Or, one or two, or more halves of the zinc, or copper globes, used for ball-taps, may be obtained of the plumber, and used for moulds, without further preparation.
Procure two kinds of paper; one imperial brown; the other sugar paper, printed paper, paper hangings, or any paper of a different colour from brown. The shell is supposed to be 3 inches; half as much again is 41⁄2; add to this 11⁄2for a flange, gives 6. Cut out a circular piece of the brown paper, 6 inches in diameter. Snip it all round with the scissors, in slits, reaching from the circumference, half way towards the centre; soak it in water, and lay it on a towel to drain. Have a piece of sponge, about the size of an orange; soak it also, and wring it. Place the piece of brown paper in the plaster concavity,and press it in neatly with the sponge, in all directions; it will fill up the mould, and overhang all round; press the overhanging part flat, so that it forms a flange. Cut a piece of another coloured paper, into a strip, about 2 inches broad, and paste it well; then cut it across, backward and forward, like the letter W, which will reduce it to V-shaped triangles. Take these up, one by one; lay them in the brown paper, pasted side downwards, and press them neatly in with the sponge, making each slightly overlap the other. Let these also overhang to thicken the flange. This being done, proceed with a layer of brown; and so on, alternately, till it gauges about 23⁄4inches across. The shell will, then, be about1⁄8of an inch thick. Remove it, and proceed with others. The different-coloured papers enable the eye to detect, in a moment, whether any part is left uncovered. When dry, cut off the flange; make the edge straight: rub it on a sheet of glass paper, spread flat on a board. With a9⁄16inch punch, cut a hole in the middle of one hemisphere; to it, glue another hemisphere: and cover with two more layers of paper, or pieces of calico. The shell may, then,when dry, be filled with any kind of stars, or rains, that can be got through the hole. Along with the stars put1⁄16of their weight of meal powder for a bursting charge: that is, if the stars weigh 4 ounces, as they probably will, put 4 drams of mealpowder. Charge a roman candle case,3⁄8inch internal, 41⁄2/8 external diameter, with shell fuse (see fig. 59); saw it into inch lengths. Cut a piece of calico, 2 inches broad, and long enough to go twice round the fuse: paste the calico all over, and roll the fuse in it, so that the envelope is flush at one end, and overhangs one inch at the other. Glue this in the hole of the shell, the flush end, a, fig. 93, of course, inward: the enveloped end, b, being to receive the match,3⁄4of the fuse may be pushed in,1⁄4of an inch left to project. With a printer's bodkin, or a stiletto, make a hole through both sides of the envelope, as at c and d; these holes are to be in a line with the groove; put through them a piece of raw match, in such a manner that it shall lie across the mouth of the fuse, and go, in the groove, round the shell underneath, and reach to e and f. Paste strips of paper over thematch, the same as with tourbillions and saxons; or, the part of the match lying in the groove, may be in a leader pipe. Weigh the shell, and take about1⁄5of its weight of coarse grain powder, for a blowing charge. Make a cone of two or three thicknesses of paper; put the blowing charge into it; stick the cone on the bottom of the shell, and set by to dry. In the calico mouth of the fuse, tie a long piece of leadered match, and paste a strip of paper round, to make secure. If the mould has been made with the indentation of an oil flask, or with the globe of a ball-tap, it will, of course, not have a groove to receive the match; but this is of little consequence; the match can be drawn round outside, and covered, so as to appear as it does on tourbillions and saxons, like a vein on the back of the hand, when the fingers are held downwards.
Formerly mortars were made of sheet iron, riveted and bound round with cord, which latter would not prevent them cracking, if they were not thick enough: they are now made on an improved principle: the iron is rolled, by powerful machinery, of three thicknesses, exactly like a squib case; it is, then, made white-hot, and the three are welded together, with a steam hammer. Large mortars, also, have an iron bottom, or breech fixed in them, and are farther strengthened with a couple of rings, put on hot, and shrunk by cold, like tires on wheels; a third ring is put over the other two, as in the Armstrong guns. The mortar is placed in a hole, dug in the ground, a few inches left standing out; the earth is shovelled in, and driven down firm; a penthouse lid, to keep out rain, dirt, and insects, renders it complete. Amateurs require nothing of this kind. A small mortar may be a tube, open at both ends, and fitted with a wooden bottom, to which it is to be firmly screwed. Fig. 94 represents such mortar: it may be 4 diameters high; and the foot should have a conical hole turned in it to receive the cone fastened to the shell. The match is lit at t; but this may have a long bit of touch-paper attached to it, if preferred.
Instead of making a plaster mould, to form the shells in, the shells may be made by covering a wooden sphere, with paper, on the outside; when dry, they may be cut round inthe lathe (a cross mark, with a pencil, having previously been made, as a guide to bring the same parts together again); the wooden mould removed; the cut edges glued; and the shell fitted up, in the usual way. Clean oil flasks may be covered with six or eight thicknesses of paper: paste an inch, or two, round the neck; when dry, cut through the cover, near the spherical part; file a notch all round, and snap it off. I have made excellent shells this way; the chief objection against them is their limited size. Glass globes might be blown, of uniform size, in moulds, like bottles. Another ready way of making shells, is to cover the india-rubber air-balls, of the toyshops, almost as thin as soap-bubbles; when the cover is dry, a hole may be cut, for the fuse, with a penknife, and they are ready, at once, to receive the stars. Their shape is that of a prolate spheroid, fig. 106. After eight thicknesses, or more, of paper have been pasted on, measure, with a tape, round the equatorial circumference, b e d, which suppose 17 inches; add 1 to this=18 inches. Measure from the pole, a, down the meridian by e to the opposite pole c, suppose 11 inches. Cuta piece of double-crown, 18 by 11; fold it down the middle, to a double thickness of 9 by 11; fold-again to 41⁄2by 11; again to 21⁄4by 11; there will, now, be eight thicknesses. Pencil the shape fig. 107 upon the top, and cut through the whole. Paste the eight gores on, as in fig. 106; for ornament, half may be pink; half, green. If these air-balls could be blown in a spherical mould, of uniform size, they would obviate the gluing process, which is, at present, a tedious and necessary evil; they would, also, be much cheaper, as they could be supplied for about 4d.per dozen, and save the cost of a great deal of needless labour.
A sphere is, by no means, the best shape for a projectile; no one would think of making a roman candle star like a marble; the Minie bullets and the bolt-shot for our great guns are cylindrical, and far better fitted than globes for straight and rapid flight. Why not adopt the same shape for shells? I find cylindrical shells answer excellently. Havea former, for a small one, 21⁄2inches diameter, and about 6 inches long, and with a handle like fig. 25. Roll a case upon it, 5 inches long, till the outside gauges 23⁄4inches, or a trifle more. Turn a wooden bottom,3⁄4of an inch thick; half of it a tenon to fit the inside of the case, and half of it a flange, equal to the external diameter, a, fig. 95. Glue this firmly in, and farther secure it with 4 inch French nails; though, perhaps, this is not necessary. The top may be of the same shape; half-an-inch thickness will be sufficient. A hole, an inch in diameter, may be bored in it, with a centre-bit, to receive the fuse. This fuse may be a cotton reel, with one of the flanges sawed off, and the end filed slightly tapering, as fig. 105; the enveloping piece of calico, or glazed lining, can then be passed to the bottom, as indicated by the dotted lines; but a better way is to turn a piece of beech of the shape of fig. 96, with a collar, to prevent its being blown through, and a groove, by which the calico envelope can be tied. The length of the fuse may be about 11⁄4inch; charge it by putting in very little at a time, and well mallet it. Pass apiece of naked match over the mouth of the fuse, and down the sides of the cylinder, as indicated by the dotted lines, fig. 95, having previously cut out a notch, at each corner, top and bottom, e, e, e, e, to guide it in a straight line. Take a piece of double-crown, about 20 inches long, and 7 broad; paste it all over, and roll the cylinder in it, in such a way that it shall be flush at top, and project at the bottom; press it round smooth with a cloth, or sponge, till the leaders form a vein on each side. When dry, invert it; put in the blowing powder; press the ends over, neatly, to form a bottom; and cover the whole with a circular piece of pasted paper. A shell of this size will hold forty gold rains, and a score or more blue stars, which have a very pretty effect. The head and the fuse may be in one solid piece, if preferred, as fig. 104; if the hole is longer than 11⁄4inch, only 11⁄4inch of it must be filled with fuse; a piece or two of match may fill up the rest. The mortar for this shell should be 18 or 20 inches high, and 3 inches internal diameter. The shell, when fitted up, will probably weigh about 14 or 15 ounces. The blowing powdermay be 2 or 21⁄2ounces of F grain, according to the fit in the mortar. The hole, in the wooden fuse, should be3⁄8of an inch diameter. See that the match is everywhere carefully covered. A shell of this size will be amply sufficient for amateur purposes. Perhaps it will be advisable to try a fuse an inch long the first time; it will be better that the shell should burst, while still ascending, than that it should pitch. One or two trials are, in all cases, necessary; but as these shells go a great height, they will bear a little longer fuse.
A cylinder holds half as much again as a shell of equal diameter; consequently, when the depth is twice the diameter, which is the best proportion, it holds three times as much as the spherical shell. If the latter be 3 inches diameter, it may be represented by the numbers 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. If the cylinder be 3 inches diameter, and 6 inches deep, it will be as 3 × 3 × 6 × 11⁄2= 81. Practically, it will hold more, especially of rains, or serpents, as they pack better in a cylinder.
The spheroidal shell, like the spherical, is, also,2⁄3of its circumscribing cylinder.
Putting D, the diameter of a spherical; andd, that of a cylindrical shell, the length being always double the diameter; then D3= 3 d3. Required the diameter of a cylindrical shell, that shall be of equal capacity with a spherical shell, of 12 inches diameter.
123= 1728; 1728 ÷ 3 = 576 = d3, and
∛576 = 8·3 = d.
so the cylindrical shell will be 83⁄10inches diameter, and 163⁄5inches long.
The same computation is more readily effected by multiplying the diameter by ∛(1/3);
∛(1/3) = ∛(9/27) =1⁄3∛9 = ·693.
Then ·693 × 12 = 8·3, as before.
Shells, for war purposes, are both spherical and cylindrical; the latter are, sometimes, built up in pieces, which dovetail into each other; they are, then, set in a cylinder, and melted lead is poured round to bind the pieces together. For lighting up the country, to discover the movements of the enemy on a dark night, shells are fired, containing strong calico parachutes, carrying blue lights. Magnesium lights are, of course, more effective.
The bottoms and tops of the cylindricalshells, previously described, may be turned out of a plank of wood: elm, ash, common mahogany, or good yellow deal; and, as many amateurs who possess a lathe, know of no contrivance for holding flat pieces of board without making a hole through them, the following plan may be adopted. On the screw-chuck, fig. 102, screw a piece of deal board, previously sawn nearly circular, and as large as the lathe will take: let it be of a thickness to entirely hide the point of the screw; turn it to a circle; and over the face of it, with a blacklead pencil, while it is revolving, make a number of concentric circles, as in fig. 103. Also, cross it with two straight lines, passing through the centre, at right angles to each other. Cut the wood, intended for the bottom of the shell, into a square; make a hole at each corner, and with 4 screws, or 4 French nails, screw or nail it on the face: the concentric circles, and the two diametrical lines crossing them, will act as guides to centre it. I have thus been able to cut into a circle, in the lathe, so thin a substance as a piece of writing paper. It may be held on with 4 tin-tacks, or a touch of gum.
A nest of 6 or 9 little shells, each containing a separate colour, rains, serpents, crackers, &c., may be enclosed in a large shell: the fuse of these may be a very short piece of a squib-case, with the string wound 7 or 8 times round the choke, to form a flange, to prevent its blowing through.
Cylindrical shells should, of course, be filled before the head is glued in; this can have the fuse previously fixed in, and ready.