High speed pics of round ball

[Larry Pletcher]

Here are two more shots of the patch and ball:

This was taken 30" from the muzzle.



This was taken 28" from the muzzle.


The picture from the first post was 24" from the muzzle. Rather than change the set-up , we moved the bench rest and the gun. That's much easier than moving and recalibrating the beam and flash.
Regards,
Pletch

 

[Alden]

Woah! You actually believe the ball becomes molten as it's fired? Radical. I only know of one thing which could cause such a severe case of mental constipation, and that's the end stage of a total grits deficiency. Of course, that's well known to rot your brains. :haha: :haha:

Spence

Yes, Spense, I believe bullets melt when fired and reform back to their orignal shape downrange, and jacketed ones do it faster because the copper is less dense and so cools back down quicker...

:shake:

This is what the first photo "deformation" kinda looked like to me...

 

[Spikebuck]

Thanks for the pictures. :hatsoff:

Glad you posted the second set as I was interested in seeing the patch complete the cycle of peeling away from the ball.

Do you have any right at the muzzle?

 

[robinghewitt]

It's like those stroboscopic things where you have to remember that it isn't safe to put your fingers in the mechanism, it just looks like it is.

Seriously good stuff, I am most impressed :thumbsup:

 

[satx78247]

WOW! Just WOW!
(I'm impressed at your obvious skills.)

yours, satx

 

[cynthialee]

:bow:

wow

just wow!

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Thanks you guys. The pioneer of this technique was Harold Edgerton at MIT who invented the air-gap flash. With a duration of 1/10,000,000 of a second, he could stop a modern center fire bullet.
One of his famous photos was a center fire bullet going through a apple. A lecture went with it entitled " How we make applesauce at MIT". My garage has some "apple snot" on the ceiling from an inflated attempt to duplicate his work.

regards,
Pletch

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Absolutely great! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[jjackson]

2 cool! :thumbsup:

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

To me it looks like a reflection of the ticking stripe on a flat & freshly cut sprue ...

Looks that way to me too!

 

[Spikebuck]

One of his famous photos was a center fire bullet going through a apple. A lecture went with it entitled " How we make applesauce at MIT".

For anyone interested, here are some iconic Edgerton pictures, including several of the Bullet through the apple and a bullet cutting a card in 1/2. Many other photos too:
http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/galleries/iconic

 

[410-er]

GREAT PICS! :thumbsup:
Would be great to see the pics of a fowler/shotgun and what wads and cards do to shot patterns.

 

[roundball]

Don't want to hijack this thread, so I opened a thread in the Smoothbore Section with a brief video of shot & wads that I found.
The site name is also displayed if you'd like to pursue it further.

 

[Alden]

The pioneer of this technique was Harold Edgerton at MIT who invented the air-gap flash. With a duration of 1/10,000,000 of a second, he could stop a modern center fire bullet...
regards,
Pletch

Cool stuff!

"At the heart of the microflash is a quart or Pyrex tube, around which are wrapped two electrodes coming from from the capacitor. Through the process of conduction, a high voltage spark sent into this tube causes an arc of electricity to jump between the electrodes on the outside, resulting in a bright flash. Unlike most electronic flash lamps, which are filled with xenon, the microflash uses plain air. This choice produces a much shorter afterglow from the flash than a xenon lamp. When this flash is triggered, the arc displaces the air around it, much like lightning in a summer storm. And the microflash produces its own thunder, too, like a gun shot. To quiet the noice, a glass tube, sealed with a rubber cork at the open end, encloses the quartz tube. For bullet photography, a reflector is placed around the assembled lamp to concentrate the light in on spot. The exposure is made in total darkness. To trigger the flash at the proper moment, a microphone picks up the sound from the gunshot to fire the microflash."

 

[Larry Pletcher]

I like your explanation. There are two vendors currently making air-gap flashes. Both cost $2000 +. It's also possible to DIY one, but I'm not ready for that. The size of the capacitors make them insanely dangerous. I'm talking with both vendors hoping for a special deal or a rental.

As you suggested, a microphone is often used as a trigger. I have done this, as the Shutter Beam is able to use sound as well as the infrared beam.

As far as muzzleloaders are concerned, an air-gap flash allows a full power load. In my .54 Lancaster, I can used 90 gr Swiss and still stop the ball well enough to examine cloth marks.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[Wes/Tex]

Have to offer my congratulations on really excellent work. What we did back in the early 70's was light-years behind the technology available today. Our whole test was purely to figure out if you could see any blast pulse or smoke prior to the ball's exit from the muzzle. Even so, we couldn't hope to get the detail and visual clarity you've accomplished here. Well done and thanks for sharing such great photos! :thumbsup:

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Do you have alot of holes in the back of your garage by now?

Not so far. We would like to do pics of a 540 grain paper-patch bullet. That will take more of a stop than magazines duct-taped together. BTW a .530 ball in front to 25 gr ffg shot into a years worth of "Guns and Ammo" stops at about the July issue.

Regards,
Pletch

Really disappointed Pletch, never liked the August issue of "Guns and Ammo" :wink:

Thank you for those photographs and all the testing you have done, past, present, and future! :hatsoff:

That picture of the ball & balloon is fantastic...isn't it nice having digital to see instant results...would have liked to see an high speed photo of your face when you first saw it! :shocked2: Thanks again!

 

[Alden]

Pletch;
I cannot take credit -- I found flash description buried under a picture of Edgerton's at MIT. I put it in quotes but didn't give full attribution, till now.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

To me it looks like a reflection of the ticking stripe on a flat & freshly cut sprue .......... :idunno:

Great photo :hatsoff:

:thumbsup: That is what I was thinking, except I at first thought the shine was from the rod pushing the ball, but yours seems MUCH more likely. I just don't make my own, so I forgot the freshly cut sprue.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

snipped. . . . .
That picture of the ball & balloon is fantastic...isn't it nice having digital to see instant results...would have liked to see an high speed photo of your face when you first saw it! :shocked2: Thanks again!

Yah, we were pretty pleased. We had a tv hooked up to the Canon so we could evaluate better.

And yes, digital is vital to this stuff. In the '80s I did pics like this of a Siler for a MB article. At that time is was with film. You'd take a roll and then send it out. Hopefully your notes were consistent with the photos. That is - if didn't get back 24 photos that were all blank.
Regards,
Pletch