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West System aluminum powder


BPinthemorning

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Dose anyone know what micron or mesh size west system aluminum powder is, and what type of pyro aplications it could be used in? (sparkalers, stars, flash?)
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I'm not sure about West System's specifically, but some aluminum I got under the guise of epoxy gel-coat additive looked and felt like painter's aluminum, i.e. "bright" flake or -325 or -350 mesh coated.
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No, it's atomized. You need flake Al for flash.

 

Someone wanting to be a boomer?

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no, i just have started making much bigger shells, and i need a better break than bp.

That's actually kind of backwards. Larger shells tend to use BP break, while smaller shells need a hard kick to get a wide enough break, thus using flash and whistle to enhance it. Really big shells use BP on hulls/cottonseed/rice puffs for break.

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You need flake Al for flash

 

The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels.

 

Never would have guessed.

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You need flake Al for flash

 

The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels.

 

Never would have guessed.

why is that surprising i would assume flake has more surface area.

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You need flake Al for flash

 

The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels.

 

Never would have guessed.

why is that surprising i would assume flake has more surface area.

emm..spherical was better than flake, according to the bulletin.

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Suprised the heck out of me too. Then again the Kosanke's science is often disguised as something legitimate, while is rather skewed. I still find it odd they testify for the government against hobbiests, but they publish articles on which Al makes the best M-80.

 

Anyway, I think you're full of shit. Hemi thickness is really not a factor, it's all about pasting. I find thicker hemis give better more symetrical breaks for me anyway. What do you consider to be "bigger" shells anyway?

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6" and a few 4s. i was also going to make a few areal salutes. i still cant get my hemis to break well at all. dont belive me? ill post some vidios on youtube and make a link.
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I saw on united nuclear the guy put flash powder at the center of his rice hulls, and I was gonna try that. Bottem line is if I can't get these shells to break I have tons of hemis I waisted my time on. If there is some way to exelerate my bp to break the shells better, what is it? Flash powder is a last resort for me. I've avoided it my whole hobby carreer because I know how dangerouse it is. I'm no kewl, and I don't apreciate being called one.
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My guess is during their testing they used heavily spiked and pasted maroons. It will give you more bang for your buck (or volume) just because of the nature of the particles.

 

Still, in small salutes, a flake material is almost always used or needed because the particles burn much faster and thus may rupture the tubes in the blink of an eye.

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Ok, I'm buying 1 lb of german blackhead 2 micron flake. Befor i do this, is there anyway to get my bp to work. I don't wanna make it or spend money on it if i don't have to. Way to many horror stories.
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Coated rice hulls or rice crispies should do you well.

 

You might want to look into benzolift as well. I use it for lift but it can be used if your BP is slow (or straight whistle proves too fast.)

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I'm gonna give my wistle a swing for one of the shells tonight. I already did the rice crispies. And my gunpowder is VERY fast. I use balsa charcoal because i have free access to it.
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Since you have perc, might I suggest giving KP on hulls a try. It makes big symetrical bursts for me. I will advise that some think it's too strong for 6" single petals, but I like nice big breaks. Cutting it 1:1 with BP on hulls will give a slightly slower powder, but still a nice big full break.

 

More pasting may be in order as well. Using KP in double petal shells gives me good results at 15-17 layers of gummed tape. If traditionally pasting, at least this many should be used as well.

 

I just want to let you know that it is completely possible to make good breaks without resorting to flash. Whistle will probably be a good bet. It's not quite as strong as flash, but it's damn close.

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I used wistle with magnesium flakes added in in the center of my rice hulls on my 6 inch. I got what might have been my best break ever. Looks like I'm safe and I don't have to go threw the mess of flash powder. Flash free pyro for 2 years!
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Well that looks like a bitch of a container to put fine Al in. What was that company thinking?

 

Anyways....What would happen if you made D1 Glitter with flake Al?

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I believe the company was thinking that since it is an epoxy additive that a paint can will look more appealing to customers. You wouldn't buy something you're going to keep in your garage if it came in a plastic baggy, right? Also the airtight seal keeps the aluminum dust from floating out everytime the container gets shaken.

 

Since it is most likely the same kind of aluminum in silver paints it is probably about 325 mesh and looks similiar to mine, but I really can't tell from a picture. If you have a top notch micrometer lying around you could always figure out the exact particle size. It will work in D1 though, don't worry.

 

If you use flake in D1 it is going to have a match faster effect and won't be quite as glittery as it is flashy. It's still not a bad looking star, but not quite as good as atomized (IMHO).

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