Micro Mines

This idea comes from an article in the Best of AFN III. The article talks cryptically about a vague folding process of a paper nose. In this section I will illustrate a working method of making these devices. These are great when used concurrently with other devices. I like them in sequence with fountains or other ground effects. My micro mines use my mini-stars, but you can use microstars if you wish. I will demonstrate both mini and microstars.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

A Tube - To act as a mortar. These can be reused until they catch fire or are destroyed. In the demonstration I am using a 1/8" wall, 1" ID, 2.5" long tube that I purchased from Pyro Creations.

Some Lift Powder - You can make your own or buy black powder. Cannon grade or FG should be good. I am using 2fg in these because I cannot get FG or cannon grade in my area. I used about 1.25 grams in the demonstration, but I measure it by mass with a scoop rather than by weight. You might need to experiment different amounts for different size mines.

Little Stars - You can use the traditional microstars, or my mini-stars. In the demonstration I am using a metallic barium carbonate green micro, and a Bleser organic red mini.

Greenmix/bp - Needed to aid the ignition of the stars. You may leave this out if your stars are primed very well.

Tissue/Toilet Paper - Any thin paper will work well, as long as it is sturdy enough to withstand the manufacturing process. You may need to use two layers of toilet paper (as in the demonstration).

Visco Fuse - From what I hear these need to be made with a piece of fuse running from top to bottom, igniting the stars before igniting the lift. Electric igniters might not work.

MANUFACTURE:

1) First you will need to manufacture the reusable mortar. Start by Gluing the tube to the base. The picture illustrates me accidentally using too much glue. (-:

2) Measure out the right amount of lift powder (I used 1.25g in demonstration) and pour it in the tube. Look how Tijana caught the FFG powder in mid-air, great shot Tija!

3) Measure a piece of paper to hold the stars. I use a sheet of toilet paper two squares long for these tubes.

4) Measure out some stars and pour them in the paper. If your stars aren't heavily primed, you should scoop a little bit of flammable powder (I used greenmix in the demo) and evenly distribute it around the stars.

Here is a picture of the stars with a little bit of greenmix sprinkled on them. Make sure to mix the powder in very well.

Pour the stars to the left or right of an imaginary line in the middle of the paper.

5) Fold up the paper with the stars in the middle with a piece of Visco fuse sticking out the top (see picture). Insert this wadding into the tube.

Here they are wrapped up before putting the fuse in them. You will want to fold the paper in half lengthwise over the stars, then fold lengthwise so that they look like the above picture. If there is excess paper preventing the packages from fitting into the mine, cut a little bit off before sticking the fuse in.

If you wish to store the bag without putting in the mortar, you can tape it at the neck. Just make sure you remove the tape before inserting into the mortar.

6) Finally, after the wadding is in the tube push the fuse through the bottom of the paper pouch so that it is making contact with the lift powder. The stars igniting should light the lift powder, but the fuse aids in reliability and quickness. Now press the paper into the tube firmly, if the paper isn't pushed firmly enough the gasses released from the stars' ignition may nudge them out of the tube before the lift charge deflagrates. You may wish to tear off some excess paper to get the pouch to fit in the tube.

Here are the finished mines! Label em if you aren't going to use them immediately so that you don't have to dissect them later (-:

Green Micro Mine Video - What a cool effect. These microstars are the wonderful performers in micromines, if only the color was a little nicer.

Red Mini Mine Video - Unfortunately I took this video from too far back and Kyle loosened the paper while lighting it so the charge didn't go very high. No problem though because the other one turned out great.