Magnalium uses

[AdmiralDonSnider]

Like many others I´ve recently started to make my own magnalium, and now enjoy having

a lot more different fractions at hand than usually available in commerce.

 

I wondered which fraction is optimal for which application, and decided to ask you

about your experiences. Where I live a grade finer than 200 mesh is ubiquitous but the only

one available; it´s fine for metal fuelled stars as well as flash, and makes working (even if suboptimal?) crackling stars,

but that is where its possible uses seem to end...

 

Rev.Lancaster has some interesting lines on the topic (Pr.and pr. p.114):

 

"Magnalium is used in fireworks for a variety of purposes:

 

1. In coarse powder of about 30-50 mesh the metal produces a sharp crackling

noise in colored flame fountains. The presence of cryolite seems to enhance this

effect. (anyone knows such a fountain formula?)

2. Dust free coarse powders produce pleasant sizzling effects in some stars.

3. The finer powders from 120 mesh onwards are used to enhance colored flames,

produce some silver effects and to produce the newer blinker/strobe effects. (...)"

 

On crackling microstars he states that "magnalium of something between 60 and 200 mesh" is the suggested

choice (p.208f), suggesting that most of us are usually left with suboptimal grades here.

 

I already love the variety of magnalium fractions now at my disposal, and - given the low price the metal can be

produced for at home - the possible effects are almost endless.

I can´t wait to test coarse grades in foutains and comets, mid grades in eggs, homemade MgAl in strobes stars etc.

 

I´d really love to learn about peculiar effects possible using peculiar fractions. Which ones did you like best? Which ones would be

worth a try?

 

 

[Arthur]

IMO the particle size needed also depends on the star size a 3 - 6mm star needs finer ingredients than a 19 - 25mm star.

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

For dragon egg you can also use -200 mesh.

In what year is that book written?

[Mumbles]

The coarser stuff makes some very cool comets and glitters. The delay -60+100mesh offers is quite impressive, especially when combined with the lacy effect of MgAl. I've been looking for a cheaper source of the stuff myself.

 

Sure, you can make dragon eggs from -200 mesh, but it depends what you want to do with them. If you want to make sizzling matrix comets or fountains I am sure it works great. Ones made with 60 mesh are louder and easier to get one distinct snap from, which is the effect I desire. I am sure -200 mesh can be made to do the same things though with enough work.

 

As far as when it was written, late 1970's I believe was the original draft, but there has been a new edition put out within the last few years. As for what was updated, you'd have to ask the good Reverend, as I only have a third edition, not 4th.

[gordohigh]

I love the effects rendered from magnalium both in stars and dragons eggs and the coarse grade does work well in fountains. If you screen it you will end up with a nice variety of mesh sizes suitable for a lot of things.

 

I have a good source for straight magnesium curlings from milling too which are great for fountains and rocket tails. Haven't done much with the rockets yet but hope to soon.

 

The waste from making magnalium that breaks away from the top is still good for fountains also so save that stuff in a seperate ziplock and container for that purpose.

 

The best dragons eggs I've made so far was from about a 80~120 mesh and have quite a loud snap with a nice flash of bright light, very nice!

 

The green and red metal fueled stars are the best green/red I have produced yet and use the same comp for colored fountains, just be careful to not make the nozzle too small or it will clog up and blow a hole in the side. If you have a seperat ball mill jar with SS media you can mill it down a bit but keep a close watch and don't try to get it to too small of a particle size and only do this if you have researched the safe aspects of doing this.

 

Let us know how its working out for ya.

[Goofy]

I´d really love to learn about peculiar effects possible using peculiar fractions. Which ones did you like best? Which ones would be

worth a try?

 

 

Admiral,

 

I've also had great success, just as Mumbles noted, with large particle size Mg/Al in comets. (Mine are 3" & 4") It's hard to describe the difference. Simply stunning. Noisy too! Blends of coarse and fine Mg/Al also produce quite different "looks."

 

Goofy

[AdmiralDonSnider]

Thanks guys, love it!

 

Keep the thread going!

[swervedriver]

There's a composition called flaming shit that uses large mesh MgAl. I think Frank Rizzo (lol at the name "that's right sizzle-chest") or Tentacles recommended it a while back. It really is a nice loooong hangtime firefly effect. The batch I made used 40 mesh MgAl and cowboy-type hardwood charcoal. It's a beautiful and fairly easy star comp worth trying.

 

copy/pasted-

 

Fireflies on Cocaine

(or Flaming Shit Falls on You)

by Bill Kimbrough

 

Potassium Nitrate 46

Pine Charcoal 44

Sulphur 6

Magnalium, 30 mesh 10

Barium Carbonate 6

Starpol 4.5 (subbed 5 Dextrin)

 

"I like to take the pine charcoal as it comes out of the yard grinder, and put it in the ball mill for 10 minutes. Sift out (remove) what doesn't fall through a window screen, and just use the mixed granulation of the charcoal--Better charcoal effect. I mostly roll mine with starpol as a binder, but I have made the formula into comets, firework stars, and even tried it in lances. Pump, cut or rolled firework stars, worked good for me, but never use starpol as the binder if it is to be the outside of a color change firework star, as it will surely cause a moisture problem." -Bill

[dagabu]

Look for the thread on Passfire about this earlier this year, the Barium Carbonate was subbed with another delay agent to make it non-poisonous.

[swervedriver]

Dag, I tried to find it with the search on passfire, but no luck. Was it sodium bicarbonate? Iron Oxide? Strontium carbonate?

 

It probably looks better when using the pine charcoal, but 40 mesh and down hardwood HANGS a long time

[dagabu]

Swerve,

 

Try this or just look for flaming in chemistry.

 

http://www.passfire.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10741&posts=19&highlight=flaming&highlightmode=1#M94595

[swervedriver]

Ah,thanks for that dagabu. The notes and glitter comps using magnesium carbonate sound interesting.

[dagabu]

I just wasnt brave enough to shoot a rocket with it at the spring shoot, I may do one at PGI though.

[Arthur]

OK what's "Starpol" would it be available in the UK or would dextrin simply be a substitute?

[dagabu]

Starpol was a binder that was used often but as has happened to a lot of common chemicals, it fell out of favor and synthetic chemicals took over. Go ahead and use Dex, it will work fine.

 

Starpol

http://www.passfire.com/images/black.gif

 

Abbreviation: C6 H10 O5

 

Description:

A light yellow, starch based powder used as a water soluble binder. Has the advantages of being stronger and less hygroscopic than dextrin.

 

 

[AdmiralDonSnider]

Ok, back to the topic.

 

I´m currently making a batch of Winokur 39J to get an impression of MgAl additions serving as spritzel nuclei in glitter stars. I also wonder how coarse you can go; Oglesby seems to suggest even something like 16 mesh for twinkler effects (long-tailed glitters). Any experiences with that? How many % of the coarse stuff should be added - something like the 2,5% of 39J?

[dagabu]

I just use what I have on hand which is 325 mesh. I also add some very coarse Ti turnings for long sparks. It is all in the delay section of rockets so the effect is more about tracing the rocket to its final destination.

[madmax247]

Has anyone tried to use magnalium in a sparkler composition? I recently made one and am waiting for it to dry... the powder itself burnt perfectly slowly with nice bright sparks from a variety of different metal fuels that i used. I made it using this formula:

 

Potassium perchlorate.............................40

Mixed titanium fines..............................40

Dextrin...........................................18

Propyl guar.......................................2

I used 5 of titanium sponge, 5 of magnalium and 10 of aluminium 250# instead of just the titanium fines.

[pyrochris732]

im ordering some 30-60 mesh in the mail now. What do you think I can use it for besides dragon eggs?

[Bonny]

im ordering some 30-60 mesh in the mail now. What do you think I can use it for besides dragon eggs?

 

60 mesh is about the max and 30 mesh is too big for dragon eggs. You can add the 30 mesh to fountains or comets for some crackling flashes.

[AdmiralDonSnider]

Besides the things Bonny mentioned, you can add some percent to glitter stars in order to lenghten the tail.

 

 

[pyrochris732]

60 mesh is about the max and 30 mesh is too big for dragon eggs. You can add the 30 mesh to fountains or comets for some crackling flashes.

 

 

so this stuff will actually crackle without it actually being in a dragon egg formula?

[AdmiralDonSnider]

so this stuff will actually crackle without it actually being in a dragon egg formula?

 

That´s right. It´s not as loud as dragons eggs, but still very pleasing.

[pyrochris732]

awesome. Could you suggest a star formula to mix this into? Tiger tail?

 

Thanks

[AdmiralDonSnider]

I must say that I didn´t test a lot of formulas with the coarse MgAl yet, but you´ll probably want a mix lower on fuel and burning faster, e.g. C6. This will end in a comp comparable to Blesers "Blonde streamer" with FeTi, if you know that (he adds 15% IIRC).

 

I would pump comets with TT, C8, C6 etc. and do side by side comparisions. Fuel rich comps with added MgAl will probably make a pleasing "brocade" like effect in the air, but on the ground they tend to burn into a heap of red hot ash.

 

Make sure you share the results!