a newbs progress and question thread

[RiderX]

Those numbers are percentages, because they add up to 100. Some formulas are in parts nt weight, and don't add up to 100, typically.

 

If cutting stars, I wouldn't roll them to make them round. They shouldn't really be dough-soft, and trying to roll them to make them rounder could undo the effects of consolidating the comp into a slab.

Water is a solvent, and in the case of the formula you posted, activates the dextrin.

 

EDIT: I put off signing up for FW for a long time, and was amazed at what I found when I finally did. I would do it NOW, and start using that resource immediately.

gotcha never thought of water as a solvent before , thanks im going to make a small batch tonight to try out

 

after i get a handle on theese glitter stars id like to do some color stars, can someone recomend a good color star to do for a beginner , i have to be able to cut it though. Atleast till my star plates get here

[Wiley]

All colors that I know of can be cut.

 

A few I use are:

 

Buell red

Yankies purple

Spanish blue #1

Spanish green #2

"Buell green" (simply replace strontium carbonate in the red with barium carbonate)

Mumbles' pink

Spanish white pearl

[RiderX]

All colors that I know of can be cut.

 

A few I use are:

 

Buell red

Yankies purple

Spanish blue #1

Spanish green #2

"Buell green" (simply replace strontium carbonate in the red with barium carbonate)

Mumbles' pink

Spanish white pearl

any of those colors will work , better question is cheapest in the form of chemicals needed ,or would i be better off just doing the veline stars

[Wiley]

I've never tried the veline system, since my preference is for richer colors.

 

All of those will need perc, parlon, red gum, and MgAl. The buell red and green derive their color from Sr or Ba carbonate, respectively. The Spanish green needs barium nitrate. The blue uses CuO hexamine. The white uses a weird coarse aluminum that I've always gotten from eBay.

 

Take a look at the formulas and see what works for you

[RiderX]

doing a small batch of the d1 posted a few posts up thread right now , im also going to do a burn test on the stars from that previous batch that i brought in sinc ethey were dry to see if the burn up in a flash as well

[RiderX]

made enough 1/4 inch stars to do 2 ish 3 inch shells with the other formula well see how they turn out when they dry . i lit one of the smaller stars form the other batch and it burned ok , so it has to be something to do with the humidity going way up getting those comets soft and then drying again

[RiderX]

the small 1/4 inch stars i made with new formula last night appear to be fully dry. going to stick them in a ziplock back before i go back to work after lunch break and see what they looklike tonight , id like to test fire a shell with that formula tonight

 

im going to do testing from now on with 2.5 inch ball shells since they use a bunch less materials

 

one thing i never did ask is when using homeade bp for burst is there an approximate amount for how much should be in the shell , i dont want to be using to much

 

to give u an idea on the power of it i was over lifting 160 gram 3 inch shells , with 30 grams of lift

 

thanks for the help guys, u guys are deffinatly lessening the learning curve glad i joined

Edited July 28, 2017 by RiderX

[PeteyPyro]

RiderX, glad that you got the stars dry and burning well. You could always test for dryness by putting that zip lock bag of stars outdoors for 20 minutes and look for any signs of condensation forming on the inside of it. That's a test I used to check for the dryness of my BP too.

[RiderX]

RiderX, glad that you got the stars dry and burning well. You could always test for dryness by putting that zip lock bag of stars outdoors for 20 minutes and look for any signs of condensation forming on the inside of it. That's a test I used to check for the dryness of my BP too.

i did that before i went back to work at 2:30 just got home and they are dry no condensation j slow day at work couldnt bail and haul the hay off the feild so i got home a few hours early yay

 

edited my post above since i forgot to include the amount of lift charge i was using

[RiderX]

9 layers non reinforced gum tape so far , im going to guess and say i need 4-5 more

this shell is filled on the bottom hemi with the last of the good batch of d1 i had , the top half has 2x 3 gram salutes in it as im trying to burn up the rest of my powder and tubes

http://i.imgur.com/2vXK0dX.jpg

 

what im hoping for is a nice dome on top or bottom ( prefferably top ) and the 2 salutes going off above or under the half dome depending on which way the shell is oriented when it bursts , with my luck its going to be left/right instead of up/down

 

 

edit

took me 6 mins to paste the next layer

 

shell is now 8 and 3/4 inch around the equator and started at 8 3/8's with just the raw hemi halves assembled around the equator

Edited July 28, 2017 by RiderX

[MrB]

what im hoping for is a nice dome on top or bottom ( prefferably top ) and the 2 salutes going off above or under the half dome depending on which way the shell is oriented when it bursts , with my luck its going to be left/right instead of up/down

 

Put a rope tail on it. It's never perfect, but over-lift it a bit, and have a length of rope securely attached to the "down" side, creating drag, and it should be pretty stable as soon as it turns around and starts dragging the rope after it, on the way up. If it starts dropping down again, it will have to re-stabilize with the rope above, so, over-lifting slightly, and having it break before it turns around to go back home, seams to work best.

[RiderX]

yeah i have read tha tbefore , i just dont have any to use , so it will have to be all upto chance tonight.

and i denfinatly need to buy 1 inch wide gum tape this is taking forever , still pasting that same shell

[RiderX]

got a 2.5 inch done as well tonight im going to do one more 3 inch tonight , and then call it a night , its already 10:30 pm , ill try to build 2 more tommorow between lunch break and when i get home before it gets dark

 

still need to finish pasting the shell labeled surprise

 

http://i.imgur.com/atlmWRX.jpg

[RiderX]

last shell of the night

 

2x ground flower spinners , 2x salutes , wish i was doing bigger shells so i could get a bunch of stars in it , i could get some stars in it but they would be really scattered

 

http://i.imgur.com/vg5Tii7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DAz4niZ.jpg

 

 

could only get 1 salute in it but that made room for stars yay

Edited July 29, 2017 by RiderX

[RiderX]

videos tonight 5 shells to light off in about 2 hours

[RiderX]

be shooting shortly ill put vids up in about 1.5 hours

[RiderX]

first shell is

half hemi filled with d1 with 2x ground blooms and a single salute in the other half 3 inch

 

 

second shell was a 2.5 inch full d1 adnd i shatered the stars again

 

third shell was a full d1 with single ground flower and single salut , the salute did not ignite

 

 

im done for now until i get a star plate cutting theese glitter stars is just not working for me

[Mumbles]

What are you using for a binder, and what sort of wetting agent are you using for the stars?

[RiderX]

What are you using for a binder, and what sort of wetting agent are you using for the stars?

dextrin and bottled distilled water

 

do love the new comp u or someoe else linked me to , the tails look awesome m but put the stars in a shell and all hell breaks loose

[Mumbles]

I'm at a loss then. There's something obviously going on. If made right, dextrin bound stars are extremely hard, and should be pretty difficult to shatter. I don't remember the last time I shattered stars.*

 

I know you mentioned the skylighter BP kit before. Is the dextrin also from them? If the dextrin is homemade, I wonder if there's something up with it.

 

Edit:

* - Take that back, I do remember the last time I shattered stars. It was in PGI competition of course. I made a new gang comet plate, and didn't get enough compaction on them when hammering the whole plate. I think my bench was bouncing a little. They worked fine out of a star gun, but the half ounce of flash I used to break the shell did them in.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxkueZREnWo

 

What it was supposed to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkUsDAIQdaA

Edited July 30, 2017 by Mumbles

[RiderX]

I'm at a loss then. There's something obviously going on. If made right, dextrin bound stars are extremely hard, and should be pretty difficult to shatter. I don't remember the last time I shattered stars.

 

I know you mentioned the skylighter BP kit before. Is the dextrin also from them? If the dextrin is homemade, I wonder if there's something up with it.

both my bp and d1 kits came from skylighter the tails/comets are staying together , the dextrin is also from skylighter.

im giving up for right now until i get a star plate , just gota find the 72 pin one i found for like 90$ so i can order it and get it here this week, i want one anyways so i can have stars all the same size

ill just spend the week making bp , until i get a starplate here , im always running out of bp anyways , i need to make some mcrh too.So i have enough to keep me busy for a while

[RiderX]

30 pin star plate for 99$

is this one a decent one or should i look elsewhere

https://www.cannonfuse.com/store/pc/1-4-quot-Star-Plate-30-Pin-4p12083.htm

 

 

edit

 

very nice mumbles

Edited July 30, 2017 by RiderX

[OldMarine]

Caleb's have Delrin pins which are handy for taking the damage when you screw up and use too coarse of a metal in a comp by taking up the metal rather than it digging into the bores.

http://www.woodysrocks.com/store/p198/Starter_Size_Star_Plates.html

[RiderX]

Caleb's have Delrin pins which are handy for taking the damage when you screw up and use too coarse of a metal in a comp by taking up the metal rather than it digging into the bores.

http://www.woodysrocks.com/store/p198/Starter_Size_Star_Plates.html

awesome thank you thats the one i will get . i could make my own i just dont feel like standing in front of the milling machine that long , specially with the average temp in the shop being about 107*

maybe this fall if im ready to move to bigger stuff ill make myself a 3/8's and 1/2 inch plates

Edited July 30, 2017 by RiderX

[greenlight]

I think it might be worth it getting a star plate for the smaller sizes but here's something ancient from this site I found for when you get up to needing 1/2 inch stars.

Just thought I would link it cause its a damn useful idea.

 

http://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/1932-cubic-stars-using-a-light-diffuser/

Edited July 30, 2017 by greenlight