Mini Stars

[Arthur]

I want to make lots (say 5lbs ish) of assorted small stars say 3mm (1/8") to 6mm 1/4" diameter. WITHOUT a star roller what in your opinion is the best way? I have several months to complete the project so drying is no problem.

[Foguete]

19 minutes ago, Arthur said:

I want to make lots (say 5lbs ish) of assorted small stars say 3mm (1/8") to 6mm 1/4" diameter. WITHOUT a star roller what in your opinion is the best way? I have several months to complete the project so drying is no problem.

You can use a big pot like in the picture. It takes some time but it works.

Also you can start very small with rape seeds or micro cores made out from the same colour composition that you want to roll.

[Carbon796]

Simple cut star project. I would usually cut 9# per color/effect. For 3/16-1/4" stars. Broken up into 2 sessions at 4.5# each. Should only take you a couple hours per batch.

Pumped isn't out of the question either. When I had a 100 pin 1/4" star plate. I put 5# batches through it a few times. But, it wasn't what I would call fun . . .

Edited November 23, 2024 by Carbon796

[Zumber]

7 hours ago, Arthur said:

I want to make lots (say 5lbs ish) of assorted small stars say 3mm (1/8") to 6mm 1/4" diameter. WITHOUT a star roller what in your opinion is the best way? I have several months to complete the project so drying is no problem.

I would like to introduce two methods

First is like shown in video, you may need plastic sheet of rectangular shape say 2.5 by 5 feet or same diameter cloth to roll stars and proper mesh screens for forming stars also for sorting stars. This method produces 30 to 50 kg stars in a day by two persons I sometimes prefer this for large batches.

If you want 3 mm final stars you will need to pass (rub) damped mixture through 6 mm mesh screen and pour dry powder over it and roll over sheet with two persons ,once rolling operation is finished sort stars with 3 mm screen and again pass stars through 6 mm screen and break them which are larger than 3 mm or which rest during 3 mm sorting operation. Always keep half batch dry and only damped half batch with this method amount of water is the key and its judgement is gained by experience and it may vary for different stars. Though video seems ugly & lack of safety geras you must protect yourself with all safety gears.

Another method is same instead of plastic sheet or cloth sheet you may use plastic bowl of large diameter or aluminium bowl having round bottom or flat works sometimes but round bottom works great.

Steel bowl won't work and stars may slip instead of rolling.

Edited November 23, 2024 by Zumber

[Zumber]

7 hours ago, Foguete said:

You can use a big pot like in the picture. It takes some time but it works.

Also you can start very small with rape seeds or micro cores made out from the same colour composition that you want to roll.

Steel bowl is not useful as stars may slip instead of rolling.

[Foguete]

9 hours ago, Zumber said:

Steel bowl is not useful as stars may slip instead of rolling.

Yes they will slip, however using a large pot with the propper technique will work too, i use a plastic bowl but i know from other craftmans that use this method with steel.

 

[Arthur]

What is the optimum rotational speed for a star roller? Is it related to bowl diameter?

[Carbon796]

Yes, you'll want to calculate it out. Like you're building a ball mill.

Plenty of improvised star rollers. Have been built from SS cookware bowls, as shown above. 

[Arthur]

What's the chance that 33 or 45 will turn out to be a reaonable rpm?? For a Technics like solution!

[Carbon796]

I wouldn't be surprised. If there was a build based on that, in AFN at one time.

Also popular at one time, was using a windshield wiper motor. 

[FrankRizzo]

Coreless stars are an option as well. You sprinkle in the solvent with small drops into the bulk composition, and then sift out the little pearls formed.

Another route is "mouse turd" stars where the composition is wetted with solvent to the point that it can be extruded (granulated) by pushing and twisting a ball of comp against a screen with approximately the mesh size you're looking to have stars sized.

 

[DavidF]

I'd say the best way to make these tiny amounts of different stars (5 lbs total!) WITHOUT a star roller is the wet and dry bowl method. A bowl like the one in the picture would work well for hand rolling them, but it would be useless in a star roller project. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that show exactly how it's done. The biggest problem is comp sticking to the container and interfering with the process, which is why 2 bowls are used. For small amounts of stars, this is the best approach. Dave Bleser wrote a book 'Round stars and shells', which is still readily available. His book details the method and provides around 20 formulas that lend themselves well to that method.

The video Zumber posted looked like a great way for two people to make lots of round stars cheaply. I bet the 'roller' would make quite a fun whoomp on the burn pile when retired

Edited to add:

The hardest part is at the beginning, and this guy explains that part very well. 

Edited November 24, 2024 by DavidF