braddsn Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Just curious.. but how many of you ball mill colored star comp? For example.. i have a pink formula (thanks mumbles) that calls for some KNO3. My KNO3 is granulated like sugar. So would it be beneficial to mill it for an hour or so? Obviously without any metals. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtreme Pyro Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) I would not mill ANY color comp, my advice is to get yourself a coffee grinder (Magic bullet works well), to reduce your KNO3 to airfloat. Edited November 10, 2014 by Xtreme Pyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schroedinger Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 If you mill the comp, mill everything without any metals added and screen them in later. Sugar like kno3 will be way to corse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braddsn Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Thats kinda what i thought. Thanks fellas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I rarely ball mill any star comps. I would not mill ANY composition except the 3 components of BP and a binder. Mill your KNO3 by itself and screen the rest of the comp together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyroMIKE Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I ball mill some comps.Especially bp based comps.I do not mill metals obviously,or delay agents or binders.I screen in everything not milled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 So, knowing what else is in there, I'd suggest against ball milling a majority of it together. I generally just blade mill my nitrate for compositions like this to -60 mesh. I'd go finer if I was more patient. Â If you want to mill it with something, I'd suggest milling the oxidizers together or milling the nitrate with the colorants. Fair warning, this might increase the burn rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enanthate Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Be careful with milling "everything except metals". Get a coffee grinder, you will probably need it at some point anyway..Personally i put kclo4, barium\strontium nitrate, etc in coffegrinder. Only bpcomps is milled, plus sodium bicarbonate and maybe one more chemical that i dont recall at the moment. Saves me from cleaning my mill, and never have to worry when milling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 (edited) I use different mill jars and media for barium and strontium nitrates, benz, sali and various others, zero cross contamination risk and cheaper than buying half a dozen coffee grinders. Edited November 23, 2014 by Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LambentPyro Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 The only chems that'll ever see my mill jar are BP components (mixed or individual) and Dextrin if it's a willow comp. I wouldn't want to contaminate my color comp with some BP left in the jar from milling the KNO3. So I use a coffee mill to grind up the KNO3 by itself outside and mix it in right away so it's still fluffy for screening and mixing. Â I don't usually grind up any chems to powder if they are not the right size until I need them for a comp. Especially most of my oxidizers because they usually clump and it takes longer to screen and trying to break them up which keeps me exposed to the dust longer. Sometimes the clumps form very solid and become difficult to break apart. Also, formulas may call for a larger mesh than others too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peret Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 The point of ball milling for BP is incorporation, not fineness. I can't see the point of ball milling a star compound, since stars burn, not explode. Tailed stars should in no circumstances be milled because incorporation destroys the effect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schroedinger Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 The point of ball milling for BP is incorporation, not fineness. I can't see the point of ball milling a star compound, since stars burn, not explode. Tailed stars should in no circumstances be milled because incorporation destroys the effect.Reasons for ball milling star comps are speeding up the burn rate or simply laziness/skip airborne dust during sieving.If you mill a comp only for 10-30 minutes (depending on the mill) you will get a mixing comparable to sieving, but you have to test which of you comp are able to work with that. Also like always screen metals in later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enanthate Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Coffee-grinding gives a particlesize that is more than good enough for stars. Mixing is quite important to get a clean color. You should get a whisk, it's perfect for mixing chemicals after sieving a couple of times, leaving you with a clean mix.This said, there is no need to put any colorcomp in your mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 See what particle size is recommended for your comp, and the size of the stars (small stars need finer powders) Prepare in advance enough of each ingredient at the suggested size. Preparing individual components is one way to avoid hazards of milling mixes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LambentPyro Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 The point of ball milling for BP is incorporation, not fineness. I can't see the point of ball milling a star compound, since stars burn, not explode. Tailed stars should in no circumstances be milled because incorporation destroys the effect.My ball-milled Willow comps end up very nice after being made into stars. It's less dust I'm exposed to and a lot less messier too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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