Screening parlon

[ballmill]

I've found that some of the larger parlon particles will not pass through my 100 mesh screen. When mixing a star comp such as in my case Shimizu's B-70 is it critical for all parlon to pass 100 mesh? I first screen all through 100 mesh then do the rest of the screening through my 40 mesh.

[Ralph]

I've found that some of the larger parlon particles will not pass through my 100 mesh screen. When mixing a star comp such as in my case Shimizu's B-70 is it critical for all parlon to pass 100 mesh? I first screen all through 100 mesh then do the rest of the screening through my 40 mesh.

 

No ifact some people claim that some larger particle size parlon (or any chlorine donor) can be beneficial as it decomposes slightly later in the burn outputting chlorine directly into the flame not sure how true it is but Ive had great results with my parlon which has the larger particles but the same can be said for the other parlon too

[Mumbles]

I am not a fan of the parlon chunks. They can leave a trail behind the stars that are very distracting IMO. It might be worth a side by side experiment if you can spare the materials for a small batch using pre-screened parlon. There are people who will trade you for the coarse stuff as they can use them in parlon bound stars if you find any detrimental effect to including the chunks.

 

On the other hand, the granular stuff is reported to make the comp roll easier.

[ExplosiveCoek]

It's actually making rolling only worse, you'll get lots of junk that can't be picked up (especially with small cores). So you'll have to screen the stars from the 'debris' and trow it away.

 

That's why I'm always screening my parlon through a 120 mesh screen, and even after that I still have some relative coarse stuff that isn't picked up easily by my stars.

 

What Mumbles said is true to, it's really distracting from the core when you see some burning debris/fallout.

 

I always just screen my parlon through the 120 mesh screen and just throw away the stuff that doesn't pass. Unfortunetly it's quite a lot (my parlon came from a supplier called Heisse Eisse). I've some new stuff from Likurg to, hopefully that'll be better .

Edited April 5, 2011 by ExplosiveCoek

[WSM]

It's actually making rolling only worse, you'll get lots of junk that can't be picked up (especially with small cores). So you'll have to screen the stars from the 'debris' and trow it away.

 

That's why I'm always screening my parlon through a 120 mesh screen, and even after that I still have some relative coarse stuff that isn't picked up easily by my stars.

 

What Mumbles said is true to, it's really distracting from the core when you see some burning debris/fallout.

 

I always just screen my parlon through the 120 mesh screen and just throw away the stuff that doesn't pass. Unfortunetly it's quite a lot (my parlon came from a supplier called Heisse Eisse). I've some new stuff from Likurg to, hopefully that'll be better .

 

I always screened parlon through 60 mesh first and used what passed. The course material that didn't pass was saved and used for other projects (ground effects, etc.). My regular sieves are 40 and 20 mesh, for mixing. I try not to waste anything.

 

 

WSM

[dagabu]

I always screened parlon through 60 mesh first and used what passed. The course material that didn't pass was saved and used for other projects (ground effects, etc.). My regular sieves are 40 and 20 mesh, for mixing. I try not to waste anything.

 

 

WSM

 

Is there any reason that you dont grind the parlon that is too big?

[ExplosiveCoek]

It's a PITA.. ?

 

WSM, I don't like big orange/whitish debrish fall out of any of my projects.. So I just throw it away. I never use acetone on my stars either.

[WSM]

It's a PITA.. ?

 

WSM, I don't like big orange/whitish debrish fall out of any of my projects.. So I just throw it away. I never use acetone on my stars either.

 

True, grinding it is a pain; but if you can dissolve it in a solvent (I'm told xylene works; I'm not sure) and pour the solution slowly into a running blender full of water it would probably drop out as a fine powder .

 

I made round stars using parlon compositions. Even though the compositions had parlon and red gum, I didn't use acetone either (acetone in my star roller made a sticky, gooey mess of my parlon stars). I added dextrin to my composition and sprayed water to make my stars. When rolling round color stars, I used the colors after the core was made. Often a nitrate strobe core or a cut color core was used. When the round star reached over 1/4" (~6mm) things went a lot faster. If you are doing aerial effects, send them higher. If proximate effects, I agree; sift out the course material. Another option (if available to you) is to substitute saran resin for parlon. Let us know if this works for you.

 

WSM

[WSM]

I forgot to mention, I've used many different varieties of chlorinated rubber. Every one of them had larger chunks to one degree or another. Sifting them out was just part of the process. Super-Chlon from Japan was the best I used to use in the `80's. I used to buy it from a paint manufacturer supply company (who sold to paint manufacturers). Good luck.

 

WSM

[ExplosiveCoek]

Adding dextrin is what I do al the time to ! Works like a charm. Problem is that most of my cores are color stars (parlon based), so that's why it's quite hard to get started if I'm using coarser parlon. It's just like you said, screening of the parlon has become part of the progress.

 

Unfortunetly I can't get any Saran over here, so I'll have to stick to parlon . I never tried acetone/parlon in a star roller since I've heard multiple reports like yours, the stars tend to become one sticky mess. Cut stars aren't what I'm looking for either, it's quite hard to get a good color change/transition when using them.

 

Luckily I don't have to throw away *much* of the parlon I have, now my red gum that's a whole different story..

 

Nowadays I'm actually screening all my single chems through a 120 mesh sieve to get rid of the clumps and garbage.

 

Thanks for the help nevertheless !

[dagabu]

I screen my Parlon and then add .5% Cab-O-Sil then grind it in a blender using short pulses. Screen and grind, screen and grind.

[Algenco]

I was lucky enough to get a bunch of the "good" Parlon, super fine, no clumps.

The problem is I didn't get enough and am down to my last 5# bag

[hcefai]

Sry but I am new in this topic. I have a question regarding the powder colour of parlon. Usually the parlon I used to buy from pyrotechnic suppliers is yellowish white powder. Today I bought parlon from another supplier which they use it in paint manufacturing but both its colour and grain size is different. This is pure white colour and very fine seems like 200 mesh. Can someone let me know if you've ever encountered this fact? Thanks in advance

[Mumbles]

This can happen. There are different manufacturers of basically the same product who have all probably have slightly different actual offerings. It's all chlorinated rubber though. Parlon itself is a tradename for a product no longer manufactured by Hercules. There is also Pergut, Chloro-rub, and I believe one other. I have chloro-rub and it is light yellow and has some larger chunks. I've been told the authentic Hercules Parlon was a much finer powder, but I'm not sure of the color. Most of the stuff we and the coatings industry get now probably comes from China or India.

 

The real test will be in a star to make sure the color is still good. I wouldn't be too concerned yet though.