moonshot Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 OK! OK! I can't take it anymore! If it's good enough for Al it's good enough for me. I will switch to Fresh Step even if it kills me . I'm running low on nozzle mix anyway so I will try it. I'm ramping up production for New years and hope to have a few cannister shell rockets loaded up. Just wish I could order some sweet color stars from Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 I actually just bought a 38 lb. tub of "Tidy Cats" Multicat and this stuff works insanely good also... It's has to be the same stuff as Fresh step lol... looks exactly same, and smells the same... Taste the same too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmarley5780 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Well,  I sent my wife out to get me some "Fresh Step" Didn't happen - she got Food Lion brand litter. No smell, gray in color. Rammed some into a 1" ID tube. Then proceded to try and get the plug out.... Could not get it out by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankRizzo Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Heh, I have tried lots of clays and kitty litters. I must say, that even over pure bentonite clay made for pyro purposes I prefer kitty litter. Not just any kitty litter mind you, cheap shit crumbles when you try to drill it. What you want is Fresh Step scoopable kitty litter. It has to be the scoopable kind. This makes plugs, and nozzles like no other material I have ever used. It makes an easily pressable, very hard, and easy to drill plug. Do NOT make a super fine powder either, this stuff can be used right out of the box. However, I prefer to run it through a coffee grinder one time to reduce the particle size a little bit.  If you use Fresh Step, you will never try anything else! Al,  A quick glance at WalMart showed two different scoopable FreshStep products. The one in the resealable plastic bucket advertises an activated charcoal additive, whereas the scoopable clay FreshStep in the large bag did not. Which one of these are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I'm not sure which one Al has, but I have both Tidy Cat and Fresh step in 25 lb. and 38 lb. resealable buckets respectively and both work great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al93535 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Here is the stuff I have, I got this a year ago before they started adding the odor eliminating carbon to the mix. The carbon one is the same stuff though, and works equally well! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/al93535/freshstep.jpg I am glad to see others using this great stuff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hst45 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I'm bumping a sort of old thread, but I want to go out of my way to thank you al93535 for the Fresh-Step tip. I've used bentoite clay, bentonite and grog, store-brand cat litter, and it worked, for better or worse, but I always had problems with core erosion. I only do small rockets, mostly 4 oz. core burners, and I always suffered from loss of propulsion. I took your advice and tried Fresh-Step and have been thrilled with the results. I've been using it exclusively for a couple of months and it's preformed flawlessly. I used to have to limit my headers to 15 gms., but with better nozzles my core burners easily lift a 35 to 40 gm. ball shell header to about 200 feet and suffer NO, repeat NO nozzle erosion. Thanks again for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplmac Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Agreed, I picked up a tub of generic litter and it worked very well. I didn't grind it or anything, just right out of the tub. I have noticed that with the straight from container stuff with no grinding you have to use less of it or it doesn't compress well enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jleidenfrost Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I actually just bought a 38 lb. tub of "Tidy Cats" Multicat and this stuff works insanely good also... It's has to be the same stuff as Fresh step lol... looks exactly same, and smells the same... Taste the same too Tasting it?I wouldn't do that. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I actually just bought a 38 lb. tub of "Tidy Cats" Multicat and this stuff works insanely good also... It's has to be the same stuff as Fresh step lol... looks exactly same, and smells the same... Taste the same too Tasting it?I wouldn't do that. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?c...pt=AbstractPlus I'd have to say that nearly every type of cat liter contains bentonite as its main ingredient... I don't know why they say bentonite-containing kitty litter (well other than the fact that it contains bentonite) because I'd assume you'd have to look specifically for non-bentonite kitty litter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecko Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I'm definitely going to have to try this. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPork Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I've always used cheap, generic kittty litter for my rocket nozzles/plugs, works great for me. I always hated grinding it, partucularly with a mortar and pestle. The sound and feel of it squeeking drives me nuts! Aswell as that, it's such a pain in the ass to clean afterwards. l3est way to get nicely powdered stuff from cat litter is l3y simply pouring the contents of a l3ag onto a seive and collecting whatever falls through. Works for me. (Yes, my "l3" key is l3roken..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudidotdk Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I use kitty litter from the bag, coating in waterglass and mixing with red fire clay. Simply because that is what I have, and it seems to make much stonger plugs than just kitty litter. Also the nozzles are intact when autopsying, unlike just kitty litter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarius Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I use cheap kitty litter from a 10 kg bag, run it thru a sieve and use what I need. The stuff is so cheap anyway, I don't bother grinding it. Tried the waterglass method as well, but it didn't store well, seems like the waterclass crystalize in the nozzle over time. And I will try adding 25% of grog to the plain kitty litter, in order to make it stick better to the walls. What I have found, is that one can use almost any kind or type of fine claypowder. The "secret" is ramming/pressing the clay hard enough. The harder the better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActiveA Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Another thing I've used in the past besides kitty Litter is smash up clay garden pots, you know; the red ones.  It works pretty well and its slightly less crumbly. I ran out though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millhouse Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 used simple catty litter many times... works pretty will. but i am willing to try that scoopable catty litter,found it here,in lithuania,but i am not sure is it exactly what i am thinking of. i've also found "silicone"catty litter anyone tryed that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBluePyro Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 I just use simple "Home Brand" kitty litter, it will be mostly bentonite clay becuae it is cheap and they dont ad anything else to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firetech Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 If it grinds up easily in a mortar and pestle then its good KL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50AE Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Mine has always been a crap, it crumbles while I drill it. Is there something that I can add to increase its strength ? Once I read an article about someone adding wax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireworks Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Heh, I have tried lots of clays and kitty litters. I must say, that even over pure bentonite clay made for pyro purposes I prefer kitty litter. Not just any kitty litter mind you, cheap shit crumbles when you try to drill it. What you want is Fresh Step scoopable kitty litter. It has to be the scoopable kind. This makes plugs, and nozzles like no other material I have ever used. It makes an easily pressable, very hard, and easy to drill plug. Do NOT make a super fine powder either, this stuff can be used right out of the box. However, I prefer to run it through a coffee grinder one time to reduce the particle size a little bit.  If you use Fresh Step, you will never try anything else! Will the odor eliminating blue chunks affect the nozzle's performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I've used bentonite clay, wax, and grog since I started. Kyanite is a grog substitute. I'm no rocket expert, but my nozzles at least have never failed me. 8:4:1 clay, grog, and paraffin wax. I've use toilet ring wax as a substitute with no problems. What you do is dry mix the grog and clay, then put this dry mix in an oven (a metal coffee can is good) and heat to about 150 degrees C. Carefully melt the wax while the dry mix is heating. When the wax is molten and the mix is hot, Combine the two; drizzle the wax all about, then stir and shake to distribute. The end result is "nozzle mix" and it remains a powder for scooping and measuring, but under pressure, it solidifies. http://www.5bears.com/firew/ur14.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al93535 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 50AE I refer you to post #3 of this very thread. Cheap litter crumbles and I had this problem too, until I tried freshstep. 2nd post with pic: http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?s...ost&p=22482 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I'm with Swede on this. I use the same formula as he does. And it works beautifully. Yes, a little more expensive than plain kitty litter. But it works better. Dave Sleeter's book contains the Bentonite-Grog-Wax formula, and its preparation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50AE Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I'll check out if Fresh Step exports to my country. Does adding wax to cheap litter improve it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBluePyro Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 (edited) http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_...sp?Item=107#mix check it out if you want to go to the effort. Edited April 13, 2009 by TrueBluePyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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