tiger tail stars dont get consumed by the flame

[Scorpion812]

So i made my first stars two days ago, tiger tails, to be specific, and when i tested them today, they just didnt get consumed by the flame and didnt burn thaat well. I used the cutting method without priming them first. I used a mix of softwoods as charcoal.

 

is this normal?

if i wanna prime the stars, is this done when they are still wet or when they are already dry?

[OldMarine]

Charcoal stars can take a long time to dry. I dry my TT in the shade with a fan on them for a day then several days in the drying box.

We're you testing them from a star gun or mine? If you lit one on the ground all you'll see is a little red with a pile of black ash. They have to be moving to show any action.

[NeighborJ]

Agreed, they don't look dry enough. Can you break them apart? They should be like a stone. I've had batches take a few weeks to dry properly without a drying box.

[pyrokid]

Quality of cut stars increases with experience. In my opinion tiger tail stars are more pleasant when all the ingredients are fine powders. Charcoal firedust stars in general need to be moving through the air in order to display their effect properly. The stars are fuel rich, and bits of charcoal (the firedust) are cast off of the star during flight, where they react with atmospheric oxygen. Two days is on the quick side for charcoal stars to dry. As mentioned above a simple say to test dryness is to squeeze the star between your fingers. You shouldn't be able to break it.

 

A common step when cutting stars is the tumbling of the stars in prime after cutting. I have had success slurry priming cut stars that were already dried.

[OldMarine]

I thought my first batch of TT was dry until I opened the tub a week later to find them molding. I err on the side of caution now with at least 2 days of air drying and 3 days of heat. I apply prime as I cut them just to keep them from sticking to each other. Screen mixed BP liberally applied makes it nicer to work with.

Edited September 9, 2017 by OldMarine

[RiderX]

those look wierd from the ones ive been making soon as my phone charges back up ill take a picture.

 

it takes my TT stars atleast 3-4 days to dry if i just dry them out in the open and i live were humidity rarely goes above 3-5%

one thing i notices is on the 2nd or 3rd day the stars will feel rock hard but the next day they will crumble , and the day after that they will be rock hard again , at this point i usually consider them dry

[Arthur]

Tiger tail NEEDS to be tumbling through the air to work, the formula isn't balanced for complete burn without atmospheric oxygen. Charcoal stars NEED to be really dry to function. -Rock hard for a week is probably the minimum. You could dry to constant weight, weigh the stars until they weigh the same for several days 100g of stars can easily contain 10g of water which must all evaporate.

[Scorpion812]

I let them dry a bit and tested them with an improvised star gun, does this look good?

[RiderX]

looks like it fell apart

the first 2 shells in my vid are TT

1st shell is a std TT

2nd shell is a modified TT

 

this one has some n1 glitter mixed in it but u should get the idea

 

what formula are u using?

Edited September 11, 2017 by RiderX

[NeighborJ]

??? I'm not quite shure what I was watching there Scorpion. Did you put any lift charge in that tube?

[Scorpion812]

I put some leftover granulated bp in there but didn't really press it down and it was different particle sizes

[NeighborJ]

The stars need to make it out of the gun so we can see how they perform in the air. They seem to be burning now. A few days of drying helped.

[Svimmer]

I made a batch of tiger tails yesterday and this is how it works after 1 day of drying.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtSwTTmNP3s

[dynomike1]

Whats wrong with them?

Edited December 28, 2017 by dynomike1

[dagabu]

After only one day of drying? You need at least a week for those to dry out.