dynomike1 Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I saw the Blue star comp on here and decided to try them, so i mixed up an 8oz. batch. After talking to Chris D about granulating some ERC. BP, i noticed i had 2 bottles of 70% alcohol sitting there and i thought, i have Red gum, Parlon, and Dextrin in this comp, so i poured just enough in to where it would stick together when squeezed. I have only a 1/2in. 12pin star plate, so i started pumping, well about halfway through i noticed my comp getting dry, so i added some more 70%. alcohol. When i got through i was looking at my stars and i noticed the first ones that i did were hard, so i took one outside and lit it. It burnt all the way through. I am not saying this would be unusual, but every since i have been doing Fireworks all i remember hearing is 70/30 water alcohol unless it doesn't have Dextrin. Now i don't have to wait several days to dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schroedinger Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 But the 70% red gum should be a high enough concentratio to activate the red gum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I've done this before, but never really have had a good explanation for it. A friend told me that wetting Buell Red with 70% isopropanol gives rock hard stars basically overnight. The parlon is not involved. 70% should be high enough to activate red gum, but the 7% red gum in Buell red is on the low side, and on it's own is not the greatest binder. I've always wondered if the alcohol leaves enough water behind to activate the dextrin, at least partially as it's evaporating. Mixing 70% isopropanol with dextrin on it's own didn't seem to have any effect, though I didn't let it evaporate. That'd be the quickest test I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynomike1 Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 I did Independance red and Bright white to, and they both worked. I guess 30% water and 70% alcohol is enough to work with with 5% Dex and or 10% Red gum. The Blue was from shmizu #49 or #70. I am not a chemist i just know it worked. Now as far as rolling stars i don't know, not sure i could do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiesDONTwipe Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I usually use 70/30 alcohol to water and the stars always dry very quickly. I can vouch for the claims of stars made with 70/30 dry overnight or even in a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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