15 replies to this topic

[popi1955]

name: Popi's Aluminum (simple) (bright) Silver Tail star

type:white/silver star with flashing tail

creator: popi1955

composition:
Parts by wight only!
KNO3 - 5
Aluminum 400+ mesh (realy fine powder) - 4
Aluminum flakes 10-16 mesh - 2
Dextrin (or some other binder) - 0.5 - 1 (i use about 0.7)

getting these stars well is a bit hard
the method is to take 1\10 of all the amount u wone make and mix it in a separate cup
then adding the rest of the mixture untill getting the thickness that is needed

here is a link to a video of the stars (sorry about the lame camera and my english)

[Ventsi]

Very cool formula!
It seems that the tail gets richer towards the end


Do you think i could sub the -400 mesh with 100-325 Al its all ive got right now.
Or maybe put in some Charcoal to sub the fine Al.

[pyrogeorge]

very nice and i have the same question for al

[swervedriver]

wow, that's a ton of dextrin! They look great! I'll try a batch, I'll be adding some boric acid too.

[popi1955]

thx : )
first, yea i think 100-325 will work, i havent tryed, i gut aluminum at 5-15 micron, it sounds good but dam its not, its horrible! dirty like potassium permanganate (less then him, but yet its a mess)
now, i havent tryed it with smaller amounts of dextrin since my suckish scale is at 1 gram accuracy, and i dident wone make amount of 100 gram (waste of aluminum)
and about the boric acid, i dont thing u need it, this mixture has no sulfur, and it had lot more fuel then the oxidizer so i dont think its senetive one, but why taking risks?? try it, tell me if its having any influence on the stars

Edited by popi1955, 14 April 2009 - 05:36 PM.

[50AE]

Nice looking ! What should be the kind of aluminium ? Spherical, flake or granular ?

[Ericz]

I think that flake alu wil burn lots of faster then spherial. Well thats what i find out last week.

[50AE]

Because my spherical -400 mesh will hardly light even with KClO4. That's why I think it's flake.

[popi1955]

i dont know what aluminum i have : ( i bought it from a paint store for the name "Aluminum 1200" 1200 isent the mesh number, its the color, but exept my aluminum gets everything dirty it works great, my stars light realy easily

[Yankie]

i dont know what aluminum i have : ( i bought it from a paint store for the name "Aluminum 1200" 1200 isent the mesh number, its the color, but exept my aluminum gets everything dirty it works great, my stars light realy easily

It would probably be 325 mesh bright flake Al... Is it a brilliant bright silver, especially when it gets on things?

[popi1955]

yea
it dyes everything in silver, but iv seen 300 mesh (school laboratory) my aluminum is finer

Edited by popi1955, 18 April 2009 - 01:03 PM.

[pyrogeorge]

It would probably be 325 mesh bright flake Al... Is it a brilliant bright silver, especially when it gets on things?

99% is 325 mesh flake al.Also I bought it from art store and the mesh is 325.it is bright al,like a pigment.

[Seymour]

Because my spherical -400 mesh will hardly light even with KClO4. That's why I think it's flake.

I'm a bit confused. Flake is the easiest to light, next is granular, and the hardest to light is spherical. While Flash Aluminium (nano sized atomised, dark flake ect) ignite easily with Potassium perchlorate, and some of the less fine flakes like bright flake light fairly easily, all other Aluminiums will be very hard to light mixed with just Potassium perchlorate. The addition of some Black powder, or an organic fuel like Red gum will make it much easier to light.

So, while -400 mesh is quite fine, if it is spherical, I am not even slightly surprised that you find it hard to light with Potassium perchlorate. What you are experiencing is normal, and I see no reason that it would be flake.

and about the boric acid, i dont thing u need it, this mixture has no sulfur, and it had lot more fuel then the oxidizer so i dont think its senetive one, but why taking risks?? try it, tell me if its having any influence on the stars

Boric acid is to prevent or reduce the corrosion of Aluminium by nitrates. However as your experience shows, it does not always react without boric acid. However if the mix heats up and smells of Ammonia, this is when you know that you should have added the Boric acid!

How fast do your stars burn?

[popi1955]

they burrn great. not too fast and not too slow

[50AE]

I'm a bit confused. Flake is the easiest to light, next is granular, and the hardest to light is spherical. While Flash Aluminium (nano sized atomised, dark flake ect) ignite easily with Potassium perchlorate, and some of the less fine flakes like bright flake light fairly easily, all other Aluminiums will be very hard to light mixed with just Potassium perchlorate. The addition of some Black powder, or an organic fuel like Red gum will make it much easier to light.

So, while -400 mesh is quite fine, if it is spherical, I am not even slightly surprised that you find it hard to light with Potassium perchlorate. What you are experiencing is normal, and I see no reason that it would be flake.

Because my spherical -400 mesh will hardly light even with KClO4. That's why I think it's flake.

The mistake is mine, the underlined sentence speaks about the aluminium of the star comp, not mine. Mine is spherical.

Edited by 50AE, 20 April 2009 - 04:20 AM.

[Ralph]

hi
sorry for bringing up an old topic but could you repost the video (youtube says it has been removed by user)

thanks