matchstick Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 i want to make a simple 1 star pump for messing around with, before i eventually get around to doing proper shells. actually atm im pretty content making setups that just propell a single burning star.Anyway, i dont know how any of it works yet, but i was wondering, can the stars explode under the pressure, and if so, what happens? but i mean normally with a proper pump?would they just burn and vent out the gaps? or blow it up? break the press?im a little concerned about accidentally applying too much pressure, my press is way overkill for any kind of stars, its meant for pushing bushings or bearings apart/in each other, in short, an all rounder mechanic workshop press. so what would/could/might happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I guess that with all the right conditions, extreme pressures could ignite a star but I have put 50,000 pounds on 1/2" cylinder before with no noticeable heat on the comet when it was removed from the pump. In my case, it was a high charcoal comp that just would not stay compressed and would fall apart after being pressed. I found that these were really good candidates for hand pressing (20-50 pounds of force) and resin binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'm not aware of any issues with over pressing using a strong press, but ramming using a mallet is for smooth compositions only certainly no metal powders. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) I'm not aware of any issues with over pressing using a strong press, but ramming using a mallet is for smooth compositions only certainly no metal powders. I agree to that. Well, I do not have any bad experience with ramming metal-powders - on the contrary, out of lack of equipment, I have been hand-ramming BP and Alu (flitter and "blue"), to make fountains. (After watching Ned Gorski do the same)Obviously, I protected myself as much as possible, but never had any experiences. I must add, that I never mixed those 2 types of Alu. And only used BP and 1 metal, at a time.I don't know if this would make any difference, or if I had just been lucky. For the record, I would not endorce ANYONE to do this. I am very aware of the fact that I'm an idiot while doing so.I have made tests with just BP and Alu, where I made it ignite in a controlled manner; to see what would happen if it went off.And it EXPLODES!!! Be warned. Edited January 9, 2015 by Ubehage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matchstick Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Great, I look forward to making single shot stars for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GalFisk Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I'm aware of one explosion incident during pressing. That was the pressing of a whistle rocket, where fragments from a previous, unsuccessful pressing (split casing, iirc) were included in the composition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddewees Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I'm aware of one explosion incident during pressing. That was the pressing of a whistle rocket, where fragments from a previous, unsuccessful pressing (split casing, iirc) were included in the composition.Yikes, I did that once with mixed sali and benny whistle from split motors... just broke up the chunks and pressed it all mixed together into a 3" diameter tube. Glad that didn't blow up until I tried to light it... still got the dents in my truck to remind me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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