Plate. 1

When you load the heads of your rockets with stars, rains, serpents, crackers, scroles, or any thing else, according to your fancy; remember always to put one ladle-ful of meal powder, into each head, which will be enough to burst the head, and disperse the stars or whatever is contained therein: when the heads are loaded with any sort of cases, let their mouths be placed downwards; and after the heads are filled, paste on the top of them a piece of paper, before you put on the caps. As the size of stars often differ, it would be needless to give an exact number for each rocket, but this rule may be observed, that the heads may be nearly filled with whatever they are loaded.

Of the Decorations for Sky Rockets.

Sky rockets bearing the pre-eminence of all fireworks, it will not be improper to treat of their various kinds of decorations which are directed according to fancy; some are headed with stars of different sorts, such as tailed stars, brilliant stars, white stars, blue and yellow stars, &c. some with gold and silver rain; others with serpents, crackers, fire-scroles, marrons; and some with small rockets, and many other devices, as the maker pleases.

Dimensions and Poise of Rocket Sticks.

Weight
of the
rocket.		Length of
the stick.		Thickness
at top.		Breadth
at top.		Square at
bottom.		Poize
from the
point of
the cone.
lb.oz.ft.in.Inches.Inches.Inch.ft.in.
601401·51·850·7541·5
4012101·251·400·62539·
20941·1251·0·52529·
10820·7250·800·37521·
8660·50·700·25110·5
4530·37500·550·3518·5
2410·30·450·1513·
1360·250·350·10110·
½240·1250·200·1680·
¼110½0·10·150·550·5

The last column on the right in the above table, expresses the distance from the top of the cone, where the stick, when tied on, should ballance the rocket, so as to stand in an equilibrium on one’s finger or the edge of a knife. The best wood for the sticks is dry deal, made after the following manner; when you have cut and planed the sticks according to the dimensions given in the table, cut on one of the flat sides at top, a groove the length of the rocket, and as broad as the stick will allow; then on the opposite flat side, cut two notches for the cord, which ties on the rocket, to lay in; one of these notches must be near the top of the stick, and the other facing the neck of the rockets; the distance between these notches may easily be known, for the top of the stick should always touch the head of the rocket. When your rockets and sticks are ready, lay the rockets in the grooves in the sticks and tie them on. Those who, merely for curiosity, may chose to make rockets of different sizes, to what I have expressed in the table of dimensions, may find the length of their sticks, by making them for rockets, from half an ounce to one pounds sixty diameters of the rocket long; and for rockets above one pound, fifty or fifty-two diameters will be a good length; their thickness at top may be about half a diameter, and their breadth a very little more; their square at bottom is generally equal to half the thickness at top. But, although the dimensions of the sticks be very nicely observed, you must depend only on their ballance: for, without a proper counterpoise, your rockets, instead of mounting perpendicularly, will take an oblique direction, and fall to the ground before they are burnt out.

The Method of Boring Rockets which have been drove solid.

[Plate 2], Fig. 18, represents the plan of an apparatus, or lath, for boring of rockets; A the large wheel which turns the small one B, that works the reammer C: these reammers are of different sizes according to the rockets; they must be of the same diameter as the top of the bore intended, and continue that thickness a little longer than the depth of the bore required, and their points must be like that of an auger; the thick end of each reammer must be made square and all of the same size, so as to fit into one socket, wherein they are fastened by a screw D: E the guide for the reammer, which is made to move backwards and forwards; so that after you have marked the reammer three diameters and a half of the rocket from the point, set the guide, allowing for the thickness of the fronts of the rocket boxes, and the neck and mouth of the rocket, so that when the front of the large box is close to the guide, the reammer may not go too far up the charge; F, boxes for holding the rockets, which are made so as to fit one in another; their sides must be equal in thickness to the difference of the diameters of the rockets, and their interior diameters equal to the exterior diameters of the rockets. To prevent the rockets turning round while boring, a piece of wood must be placed against the end of the box in the inside, and pressed against the tail of the rocket; this will also hinder the reammer from forcing the rocket backwards. G, a rocket in the box. H, a box that hides under the rocket boxes to receive the borings from the rockets, which falls through holes made on purpose in the boxes; these holes must be just under the mouth of the rocket, one in each box, and all to correspond with each other.