TT Star Recipe

[DaMounty]

Hi below was copied from another thread. My question is when stated to add meal powder. Am I to just add my regular meal right out of the mill? Also any ideas on how long to mill this composition?

Thanks,

DaM

"Name of composition: Golden Tiger Tail
Composition Type: Charcoal streamer
Creator: Justanotherpyro
Color/Effect: Gold Tigertail
The Composition:
15 white mix( 57 KNO3, 27 Sulfur, 20 Meal powder : Submitted by al93535)
10 Charcoal ( pine )
7.5 Meal black powder
5% Dextrin
Any Precautions/Incompatabilities: Contains sulfur. Don't add Chlorate.
Precedure/Preparation: Screen chemicals well then thoroughly ball mill the contents. Wet and Cut. May possibly be rolled or pumped.

These stars are a nice new touch to the orange TT. They can sort of flash in and out from orange to gold. This was only noticeable on the video however."

http://www.apcforum....ldenTTshell.wmv

[GMetcalf]

I would assume that in answer to your first question, yes just add it straight out of the mill.

In answer to the second question, depends what sort of a tail you're after you'll mill it more or less. Assuming the Pine Charcoal that's added is coarse (60 mesh is coarse to me) then you'll have large, long lasting orange sparks but these will become finer, more numerous and shorter lasting the longer you mill it. Try 30 minutes and see how it comes out would be my thoughts.

[MWJ]

This is the formula I use for T.T. Everyone seems to like these more then my colored stars.

 

Kno3 44%

Charcoal 44%

Sulfur 6%

Dextrin 6%

Al. 20% (optional)

[braddsn]

MWJ you are not alone! Every time I shoot a TT shell people always say thats their favorite. I have said it before, TT is a winner. Its cheap, easy, and people love it!

[DaMounty]

Going to pump a few tonight.

 

Just not sure weather to wet them to 10% or 20%.

 

DaM

[insutama]

I think 20% is the standard for tt stars

[OblivionFall]

How long should I mill the ingredients together for?

 

How do I know if they're 20% wet?

[Mumbles]

The effect is different depending on the charcoal, and how long you mill it. It's sort of whispy but long lasting with no milling to fine grained and "soft" with BP level milling. If your materials aren't finely ground already, I'd suggest at least 30 minutes or so to integrate and crush everything. I'd say more people mill it than don't but it's difficult to really say.

 

If you're going to pump 20% is way too much water. If you have a hydraulic press you can get pretty low in water, 4-6% probably. If you're hand ramming or using something like an arbor press, I'd start around 10-12%. This is by weight. If you have 100g of composition, you'll need to add 10-12g of water. A little bit of alcohol can help break the surface tension and wet the charcoal composition better. Add your water, and mix it with your hands until it's roughly evenly distributed. It wont feel very wet at this point, maybe like damp sand or brown sugar. I would suggest covering the container and letting it rest for at least 30 minutes, though some go as long as overnight. This allows the water to fully diffuse evenly to all parts of the composition, and the dextrin to fully activate. Charcoal compositions can be tricky at times, and this resting or tempering phase really helps out. I like to compress everything into a ball or a cake in the bottom of the bowl while it's resting, but that is personal preference. Before you pump, I'd run the mixture through a relatively coarse screen like a kitchen strainer or a window screen to help break up lumps. This can also help to get the water better distributed while wetting.

 

You'll want to press a few test comets. They should come out firm and smooth with crisp corners, but they will still relatively fragile. If they come out crumbly you probably need to add a few sprays of water. Mix it in well, but you don't need to temper again usually. If they come out shiny, it means there is too much water, but it'll still be okay as long as they're not drooping. If they come out with patchy color, it means it's not evenly wet. I'd screen the mixture and let it rest longer.

[insutama]

How about cut stars is it 20% water then? I thought I read that somewere

[nater]

20% water for cut stars can be a rough guideline. When cutting charcoal stars, you can quickly go from too dry to soup. You will want to develop a feel for how damp comps should be for whatever process you are using. A lot of factors affect how much water you need. The humidity, moisture content in your chems and the comp itself all make it hard to recommend firm percentages of the amount of solvent.

[insutama]

Ah I c okay thanks for clearing that up

[insutama]

im trying my first batch of stars as we speak i mixed all the chems together screened them threw a 40 mesh screen 4 times then added just over 10% water as i am planning on pumping them. I now am just letting the comp sit for a hr or so to activate the dextrin.

50

Potassium nitrate

20

Sulfur

10

Charcoal (airfloat)

10

Magnalium (Granular -200 mesh)

6

Sodium bicarbonate

4

Dextrin

thats the stars im trying i hope it all works out im only doing a small 10 gram batch but after there all done ill post my results on here thanks for all the help everyone. For drying the pumped stars would it be okay if i put on a piece of paper towel and had a fan blowing on them ? or do i need to make a drying chamber ?

[insutama]

im not sure my screen is fine enough because i can see little chunks of sulphur is this okay ? ill post picture of what it looks like

 

 

[insutama]

i just finished pumping the 10 grams of comp they turned out beautiful only made 25 stars but still they seem perfect as far as moisture goes anyway now i have them on a screen with a fan blowing on them to dry how do you know when there completely dry because i cant see it taking long because they almost seem dry as is

[gregh]

What size of pump do you have that you got twenty five stars from ten grams of comp?

[nater]

There is a few ways to tell of they are dry. Weigh the stars after your pump them and then every day while they are drying. When they don't loose any more weight for a few days, they are dry. You can also seal a few in a plastic bag and stick it in the Sun. If you get condensation forming on the inside of the bag, they are not dry yet.

 

Depending on the size of the stars, I would expect them to take at least 3 or 4 days to be totally dry maybe even a week or two. (Can be much longer for larger stars.) They burn before then, but they may burn all the way to the ground. I don't use a drying box either. I fill a cardboard tray with stars and have them in a safe place with a fan for a few days. If the weather is dry, I place them in the shade in a breezy place too. I don't run the fan on them for weeks on end, but I do make sure they are bone dry before storing or using to build.

[insutama]

i used a 1/4" pump.

i just weighed a star it was .6 so ill check it again tomorrow.

Do i need to keep a fan on them or would they be okay just sitting on a screen ? also what about putting them in a container with a little calcium chloride would that work ?

[nater]

I don't usually keep a fan on them 24/7. A screen or tray in a safe place is fine. I have used a box with a tub of desiccant to dry stars, I prefer to let then air dry so they don't get the moisture driven in.

 

This takes time though, if you need dry stars fast, read the rubber stars articles on Skylighter. Those can be cut, dried and ready to fire in one day.

[insutama]

naw im not in a rush just want to make sure its done right im gonna turn fan off then if they dont need it maybe i should put them outside in the sun that would probally work good. i've read some guys use food dehydrators is this safe ?

[DaMounty]

Cutting stars

 

My plastic pump (using my child's medicine dropper) broke. So I went to cutting.

 

I wet the comp. to 20% mixed it well and let it rest for 1/2 hr. Like my first batch it was sticky as all hell. Extremely difficult to cut (1/4"), using a kitchen knife. Both sides of the patty were liberally dusted with prime.

But the comp was sticking to the knife. Then I tried to press cut them through a 1/4" mesh cloth. Came out like a jumbled mass of sticky comp.

 

Ended up marking the patty with the mesh cloth then cutting the stars out individually. Pain in the arse!

 

Not wet enough? Knife not the best choice?

 

Sore back today

 

DaM

[schroedinger]

Sounds like you used too much water. If they stick to the surface use more prime.

[DaMounty]

K thanks for the input. I figured that was the case. I will try about 15% straight water and see where that gets me.

[schroedinger]

For TT and other charcoal comps it is good to start off with an ammount of water that is a little to less and the slowly work your way up. With TT sometimes the difference between a good state and overwetted is in a 1-2 % range. Just keep about 5-10% of dry comp , in case you overwet. If all is fine use the dry comp as a prime.

[DaMounty]

So much nicer cutting stars when the have just the right amount of water.

 

Can't wait for em to dry.

[Mumbles]

I will admit, I'm somewhat surprised by your experience. I tend to start with 20% and go from there. I suppose later on, I was using mostly soluble glutinous rice starch (SGRS), which is noted to be "thirstier"