shuggins Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Hey all, newbie here. I am looking to create some basic colored stars with a small number of chemicals. Basically, do you have recommendations for okay colors with only 3-5 ingredients each? For example I have strontium carbonate and nitrate, potassium chlorate, dextrin, sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate. Can I make an okay red with that? I also have barium carbonate and sodium nitrate. Can I substitute dextrin for red gum or shellac? Just some tips on how to use what I have till I want better colors. Also, any suggestions for what to look for when testing out the color? Is the only valid test at night, or is there a good way to test during light hours? Before I create 50 stars and put it in a shell, I would like to know it works okay. 😁 Thanks for the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachinagg Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 U need some more like MgAl alloys powder, parlon, barium nitrate and not to use potassium chlorate. Red gum and shellac are same working in composition.In Water bass composition use dextrin- substitute according composition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Just like you are having oxidzers you must need fuels. Colour star may need Oxidizer, fuel, chlorine donor ,binder these are basic material you must have in hands. Magnelium works as a great fuel in case of metallic star for organic star you may need red gum or shellac as a fuel. Sometimes metallic plus organic fuels are used together for ease of ignition plus colour intensity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All10Fingers Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Look up Lancaster green #2. I believe you have the necessary ingredients Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuggins Posted May 19 Author Share Posted May 19 Thanks for the input guys. I know I need more. But here is a list of what I have today: Potassium nitrate Strontium nitrate Sodium nitrate Potassium chlorate Strontium carbonate Barium carbonate Sulfur Black Willow Charcoal (homemade) Aluminum various meshes Potassium Chloride Sodium hydroxide Copper sulfate Dextrin Sulfuric acid Nitric acid That's about everything that I have. I will be ordering: Red gum, Parlon, Shellac and Magnalium. Any suggestions on making something with what I already have before I order the others? I think I should be able to get a good red. A lot of the chemicals that I have are for making gun and primer powders, but there is some overlap. My lift powder works great. Now I'm just trying to add some color. I really only make tiger tails right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 You really dont have fuels in hand right now, though you have aluminium may be coarser grades you wont be able to make stars out if it. You will need extremely fine aluminium 400 mesh pls finer for stars but still I dont recommend to make aluminium based stars. You dont need to mix chlorate and aluminium together plus nitrate and aluminium together both are problematic. For good colour stars you must need shellac or red gum or magnelium in hand....just wait till you get fuels in hand....meanwhile search for colour stars and safety measures here in this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All10Fingers Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Get some parlon. It's it's a chorine donor and makes an excellent binder with a little acetone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Yeah chlorine donors too....I missed to mention that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All10Fingers Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Fireworks cookbook. Com has an option where you can enter the ingredients you have and it will search out formula you can make with them. It's under the recipe tab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuggins Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 Thanks again. I'll check out the fireworkscookbook.com site too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 3 hours ago, shuggins said: Thanks again. I'll check out the fireworkscookbook.com site too. 9 hours ago, All10Fingers said: Fireworks cookbook. Com has an option where you can enter the ingredients you have and it will search out formula you can make with them. It's under the recipe tab. Just be sure not to attempt Chlorate based colour star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuggins Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 3 hours ago, Zumber said: Just be sure not to attempt Chlorate based colour star. Why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 You dont have right fuel in hand. For organic colour stars you will need shellac or red gum atleast in hand. Mixing of chlorate and aluminium could be risky in presence of nitrate due to nitrate aluminium reaction and chlorate aluminium mixture makes sensitive combination too also your prime must not contain sulphur if you are aware of chlorate sulphur incompatibility. You also have not mentioned aluminium type and its mesh size. If you are not skilled and experienced its better to stay away. You can attempt organic chlorate stars without touching sulphur every in formulation and prime but still you dont have organic fuel in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMat Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 (edited) As far as testing the colors of your stars: It's a given that you need to test fire a star at night or the dark. Also, setting a star on a surface and igniting it, will give you only an idea of how its color is going to look. To see how the star is actually going to look it truly needs to be in flight, in the dark. Your best bet is to use a "star gun" and fire off a single star, at night. A star gun is simply a tube that a star will fit in somewhat snugly. It needs to be able to slide easily though. the tube itself could be cardboard or even plastic tubing (PEX). Don't use PVC for this! It is a safety concern. As a matter of fact don't use PVC for a mortar tube either! PVC can shatter and spread sharp edged shrapnel flying!! Cap off one end of the tube and make a small hole for a fuse. then a small amount of BP, a fuse and the star and your ready to fire. If you use Pex for your star gun, you can also use a short section of another piece of PEX with a snug fitting dowel or bolt to make a star pump for your test stars. A star bound with dextrin and water will shrink slightly after drying and this should give a perfect fit for the star gun. Not only will this give you an exact idea of what your stars will look like when fired in a shell, but a star gun is also kind of fun! Edited May 21 by MadMat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuggins Posted May 21 Author Share Posted May 21 8 hours ago, MadMat said: Your best bet is to use a "star gun" and fire off a single star, at night Basically a single shot roman candle. Good idea, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMat Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 Looking over your chemical list, you have some chemicals commonly used in stars and some chemicals useless for star making (copper sulfate being one of them). Try researching the Veline system for colored stars. The draw back of the Veline system? The colors aren't the greatest. The advantages of the Veline system? Bare minimum chemicals needed to make all of them. There are no chemical incompatibility problems from star to star. this means you can put more than one color in a shell without worry. lastly, even though the colors aren't the greatest, they are similar in intensity and color purity, which means if you put multiple colors in a shell you won't have one color wash out the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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