Passfire

Volume 1, Issue
3

Technique... Page 1

Shell Spiking Basics

The process of strengthening a canister shell by wrapping it tightly in strong twine, known as "spiking", is the key to
achieving a good break. While ball shells are naturally strong walled in all directions due to the symmetry of their
spherical geometry, canister shells must be reinforced with twine to ensure comparable containment, symmetry and
spread. A pattern of both vertically and horizontally placed twine is used for this purpose.

Vertical Spiking
Canister shells have a natural weak spot where the flat ends connect with the cylindrical walls. Without reinforcement,
these ends would easily blow out one or both sides. Vertical spiking refers to the lengths of twine that run from top to
bottom around the shell, preventing the end disks from blowing out. Weak string or an inadequate number of vertical
strands will usually result in an undesirable dump break or bowtie break. In cases where these types of breaks are the
desired effect, the vertical spiking can be reduced to help achieve them. The following table shows the typical number of
vertical strands used for cotton twine. Verticals refers to the number of symmetrically spaced groupings of strands. When
flax twine is used instead of cotton, the number of strands shown here can be halved while keeping the number of
verticals the same.

Standard Spiking Patterns

Shell Size Verticals/Strands Material

3" 12 / 2 8-ply cotton
4" 16 / 2 8 or 10-ply cotton
5" 24 / 2 8 or 10-ply cotton
6" 32 / 2 8 or 10-ply cotton
8" 48 / 2 or 48 / 3 8 or 10-ply cotton

Source: Pyrotechnica IX

Horizontal Spiking
While vertical spiking secures the ends of the canister, horizontal spiking is used to strengthen the cylindrical walls of the
shell. Without horizontal spiking, the chipboard and casing would rupture too easily and the contents would pop out a
hole in the side, a defect known as a "hose break." The ideal break should shread the walls of the casing, leaving only
the end disks intact. To help achieve this, twine is wrapped around the diameter of the shell a number of times in a spiral
fashion, such that a grid is created with the intersections of the vertical spiking.

The distance between the turns of horizontal twine vary depending on what the contents of the shell are. For color breaks
of just plain stars, the spacing should be roughly equal to the size of the star used in the shell. If the shell contains inserts
of whistles, serpents or other shells that are to be blown out into a ring, then the spacing is widened considerably more.
In the case that the shell was rolled around a bottom shot which has already been spiked and pasted, then virtually no
horizontal spiking would be used for the part of the shell occupied by the salute, then finished with normal horizontal
spiking for the remainder of the shell. The following diagrams illustrate different horizontal spiking patterns for different
types of shells.

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Volume 1, Issue
3

Shell Spiking Basics... Page 2

Spiking Twine
The ideal spiking twine is very strong, absorbs paste, is not too thick and does not stretch
under tension. Flax twine is highly recommended over cotton twine due to the fact that it
doesn't stretch the way cotton does when tension is applied. However, the difficulty in
finding good flax twine, not to mention its steep price tag, often leaves the builder with no
choice but to use the cotton twine. Local industries that use flax twine can be a good
place to start when locating a supplier. These include shoe makers, book binders and
upholstery industries. The break strength and resistance to stretching should be tested
prior to investing any money in a large quantity of twine. Take a two foot length and wrap
each end around a piece of dowel rod to form T handles, then use these to try and pull
the twine apart. Good twine should be very difficult to break in this manner. A long piece
that is tied off to a solid object and spooled out should exhibit very little stretching when
pulled tight.

Hemp twine is another suitable spiking twine that is quite strong and does not stretch.
Jute twine is very weak even in thicker diameters, thus very poor for spiking. Most types
of synthetic twine should be avoided due to their elastic quality and inability to hold knots.
While polypropylene twine is very strong and does not stretch, it is not very cooperative in
laying flat, does not hold knots well, has a slick surface that does not bite into the case
and does not absorb paste at all.

The stretching that occurs with cotton twine can be greatly reduced by soaking it with
paste prior to spiking. Paste can even be worked into the twine after it has already been
spiked onto the shell prior to pasting it in. Another method some builders use is to pull the
twine through a bucket of paste as it is being spiked onto the shell. An eyelet in the
bottom of the bucket serves to pull the twine down into the paste as it moves from the
spiking horse into the bucket, then back out to the shell.

Spiking Procedure
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here is a step-by-step pictorial of spiking a
single break color shell:

Figure 1: A bead of white glue is Figure 2: Start with the verticals

run around the time fuse, then the first, keeping tension very tight.
twine is tied off with a clove hitch.

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Figure 3: Each new set of verticals Figure 4: When the proper number
should divide the space left by the of verticals have been completed, a
previous vertical in order to make diagonal is run down to the bottom
judging the spacing easier. of the shell.

Figure 5: The horizontal spiral Figure 6: When the top is reached,

begins at the bottom and works it's a loop is made in the twine and
way to the fuse end of the shell. slipped over the top of the shell.

Figure 7: The loop should create Figure 8: After cinching, the string
the cinch mechanism as shown is cut and passed under the closest
here. vertical to hold it in place. The
excess is cut short and the free end
is held down with a dab of white
glue.

The type of vertical spiking shown above is known as radial spiking, and has the
disadvantage of creating a pileup of string around the time fuse. For a cleaner method of
spiking, see the related article about off-center spiking.

Copyright © 2002-2005 Passfire Labs, LLC.

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