Making rolled stars fast, easily, safely.

[MinamotoKobayashi]

Instead to start to make rounded stars with small hunting pellets (with all the well-knowned troubles), I decided to try another way:

to make first the cyl stars with a star plate, and then put them in a star roller.

This save me a lot of time, about 2/3 of the time needed.

But I refined another procedure. There are two methods to flour the powder over a rolling stars: the dry powder and the Toro method.

Well, I saved some slightly wetted mix from the star plate procedure and I tried to flour as is over the rolling semi-cylindrical shaped stars.

So the full procedure is:

 

1. Slightly wet the mix and make a homogeneous compound;

2. Press the cyl stars;

3. Put the cyl stars inside the star roller and start it;

4. Spray the needed mix over the rolling stars to wet them enough;

5. Wait the needed time because the cyl shaped stars become semi-rounded stars;

6. Start to flour over the rolling stars the slighly wetted mix. Only little batches at a time. Doing so the resulting stars will be more homogeneous.

Doing this procedure it is needed very few sprayed water;

7. When the desidered diameter will be reached, remove the stars from the star roller at put it in ventilated open space for drying.

 

This procedure has a lot of advantages:

 

1. It drastically reduce the time to make the stars;

2. It avoid the use of lead hunting pellets;

3. There will be little diameter difference between the stars (usually, when the hunting pellets method is used, there can be big differences in diameter);

4. It need less water compared to the traditional method (less water= less issues about oxydization of metals and chain reactions);

5. It can be made indoor (the powder is wetted, so there is no danger that fly away);

6. Dust mask is no needed anymore.

 

Here is a shot of the Jason's Golden Glitters stars ready to be dried:

 

Suggestions and criticism well accepted

Edited December 3, 2018 by MinamotoKobayashi

[OldMarine]

Looks very good to me!

[redbullzuiper]

Could you make a video of it perhaps? Sounds like an interesting way of star rolling.

[JOPETES]

After the round stars is the best system to make stars with a good result. The success of this system is to round as much as possible the edges of the stars to ensure that the next layer adheres well and uniformly (priming, color, etc.).



Make sure the priming layers adhere well.



José

[Sulphurstan]

Jopetes, I tried this method once, and yes, it works good!

But I floured dry mix only and that's Leeds to the usual problems (sometimes raspberry, sometimes uneven diameter etc...). So I'm interested in this slightly wet method you describe.

 

When you write "6. Start to flour over the rolling stars the slighly wetted mix.". How wet is the composition? Is it just wetted and screened like for pressed stars? Or more wet?

Edited December 3, 2018 by Sulphurstan

[MinamotoKobayashi]

Hello.

P.S.: I'm not Jopetes but I would like to be LOL.

I wet the composition just enough to be nicely pressed with the star plate.

More or less, when You see that the mix start to make clumps it is ready, but I try to stop shortly before.

When You press the stars and You see little drops of water/alcohol splash out from the holes, the mix is too wetted.

This cause a lot of issues:

 

1. Oxydization of some kind of metals (especially aluminum);

2. Difficulty to pack well the stars (longer stars);

3. Increased drying times.

4. Wasted mix.

 

With my new variable speed star roller it is easy to create strong layer coating.

I start to use more sprayed water to ensure a grip on a viscous surface, but as I proceed I use it less and less.

It is important that the last layer will be more wrinkled as possible: if You leave that the star roller spin the stars for too

much time, You will obtain a smooth surface and it is no good, so the last layer must be floured over the rolling star and

after few seconds the star roller must be stopped immediately.

Usually when You hear "clack-clack" inside the star roller barrell, the stars have smooth surface and it is time to

flour some mix over.

It is a fool-proof try-and-error method, but it works.

 

x redbullzuiper: it is a simple procedure, no need tro make video: if You follow my steps You can not go wrong

 

I take this opportunity to thanks a lot of forum members for helping me on several occasions, especially NeighborJ, Jopetes and Oldmarine.

Edited December 4, 2018 by MinamotoKobayashi

[Sulphurstan]

Mina, thanks for the explanation, and sorry for the confusion about person 😌