Uarbor Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Okay rather than necromance a thread from 2009 I'm just going to ask now. I've been making dragon eggs of various sizes for the past year or two and they never really performed very well unless they're in a comet Matrix or a fountain or something like that where they're pressed with black powder. I usually granulate them through a screen directly into a black powder Prime which has some silicon in it. I've been reading some old old threads regarding using perc and magnalium 325 mesh in a 70/30 mix I believe respectively as a prime. It doesn't specifically mention it but do you need another easier to light Prime over top of that? Or is that enough to use them in a burst of a shell? Seems like they just don't want to light in the air with any amount of burst with my black powder based Prime. So far I've only used black powder based Prime Thanks in advance for any help.
Zumber Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Can you post your formula for crackling mixture you are presently using? What mesh magnelium are you using for crackling microstars? It is also very important what kind of NC commercial or homemade and it's consistency plays very important role in star performance. Crackling microstars easily ignites in fountain mixture without any prime. To use it in a star you may use hot prime followed by charcoal streamer mixture and scratch bp at the end. I use around 1 mm granules and avoid bigger granules also I only use streamer mixture and bp at the final stage of prime without having a problem getting stars unignited.
johnnypyro Posted June 24 Posted June 24 I use monocapa (a perc + MgAl prime) which works on crackle just fine for me. I also prime crackle used in fountains as it gives a bit of delay that allows for a higher ejection before the effect. I mill the prime without the red gum and MgAl (#400) which is screened in afterwards. I find this gives a cleaner burn when viewed close up (5-8m).
Uarbor Posted June 24 Author Posted June 24 (edited) 37.5% bismuth trioxide the same amount of black iron oxide and 25% 200 /350 mesh MG/AL. Pound with homemade nitrous cellulose lacquer made with shotgun powder. I don't really measure the smokeless I just make it like a thick somewhere between cream and syrup. I had all my problems two years ago when I made it the grains with courser metal. But back then I wasted a lot of granules when they wouldn't light in a mine or a shell. Then I just went ahead and put them all in comets and they worked great. One thing that was mentioned was granule size a great them through a four-mesh screen and then I classify them using various screens. The big ones are like 3/16 in those are the ones I want to be in a shell. I do believe I'll try that hot Prime. I plan on using 90% isopropyl alcohol because I'm binding the primer with red gum Edited June 24 by Uarbor
Peter Posted July 12 Posted July 12 On 6/24/2025 at 6:20 PM, Uarbor said: Pound with homemade nitrous cellulose lacquer made with shotgun powder. I don't really measure the smokeless I just make it like a thick somewhere between cream and syrup. I don't know about your bismuth trioxide composition, its easy or difficult to light properties (there are so many around), but I know 'from others', who are not rookies, which I am, that they use a 10% NC solution. On 6/24/2025 at 3:57 AM, Uarbor said: I've been making dragon eggs of various sizes for the past year or two and they never really performed very well unless they're in a comet Matrix or a fountain or something like that where they're pressed with black powder. I usually granulate them through a screen directly into a black powder Prime which has some silicon in it. Your crackle works in a matrix (having lots of 'prime' around it). While granulating them directly into a BP prime they don't work: a problem might be your prime layer is not thick enough. Going from the fact a BP prime burns hot enough to ignite your specific composition, it is advised to use a green/home/rough mix for the priming: screen mixed, not ball milled. Use as much prime powder that in the end granules look 'dusty', if you haven't done that already. If this doesn't work a conclusion might be that a (hand sieved) BP prime does not burn hot enough for your specific crackle composition, if the layer is thick enough. In that case use a hot prime (like the Monocapa mentioned above, or Fence Post for people not having KClO4), and a final layer of hand sieved 75:15:10, using a mediocre/not hot charcoal.
snapper Posted July 23 Posted July 23 I put the crackle into a bowl, spritz with acetone lightly over and over rolling it until barely scummy then coat with a layer of hot prime using schellac or red gum as the binder. once allowed to harden spritz with 50% iso and roll again until barely scummy then coat with bp prime. I made a bunch of 2" crackle mines with about 1/4 cup in each, very impressive 30 foot high by 8 foot wide show. I sometimes add a teaspoon to lift for some extra pizzaz
Uarbor Posted July 30 Author Posted July 30 On 7/12/2025 at 7:33 AM, Peter said: I don't know about your bismuth trioxide composition, its easy or difficult to light properties (there are so many around), but I know 'from others', who are not rookies, which I am, that they use a 10% NC solution. Your crackle works in a matrix (having lots of 'prime' around it). While granulating them directly into a BP prime they don't work: a problem might be your prime layer is not thick enough. Going from the fact a BP prime burns hot enough to ignite your specific composition, it is advised to use a green/home/rough mix for the priming: screen mixed, not ball milled. Use as much prime powder that in the end granules look 'dusty', if you haven't done that already. If this doesn't work a conclusion might be that a (hand sieved) BP prime does not burn hot enough for your specific crackle composition, if the layer is thick enough. In that case use a hot prime (like the Monocapa mentioned above, or Fence Post for people not having KClO4), and a final layer of hand sieved 75:15:10, using a mediocre/not hot charcoal. I do believe that you hit the nail on the head. Even with monocopa Prime I was still having issues in an aerial shell all of my male dust is very well milled it's probably burning too fast I coated them with a nice thick coat of Tiger Tail composition and they work great now plus they look pretty for a second before they crackle LOL
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