pyrochris732 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 What do you guys think of using two different grades of charcoal mixed into tiger tail stars? What I mean is that I would like to try using a finely ground willow that has been coffee grinded and then ball milled for 24 hours. The other half would be charcoal that only has been coffee grinded so its particles are larger. Think the effect will be nice or not work at all? May throw in some titanium too to add some nice sparks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) That is what I do to make rockets, add 10% of coarse charcoal for larger sparks. I have not done TT yet, so I cant comment but I do like both Ti and C Edited June 22, 2010 by dagabu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Be forewarned that even decently fine granular charcoal will still burn quite some time. 80 mesh can hang and fall for several seconds easily. I wouldn't try this with too small of shells. If you want to extend your tail some, you may try a few things. The first of which is to use crappy charcoal. Commercial airfloat makes a nice tail, and you don't waste good lift charcoal. Ball milled charcoal briquettes are very nice to extend the tail without risking too much fall out. I saw a formula a few years ago for tiger tail that must have used a mixture of at least 4 charcoals. It had the hangtime of tigertail, but the brightness and creaminess of a spider star. No metal involved. I want to say it was a mixture of pine, commercial airfloat, BBQ briquettes, and lampblack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 All depends on the charcoal! Using pure willow charcoal a friend made Tiger Tail and found it far to fast with no tail because it was just too fast more like a charcoal white star. I used commercial BBQ charcoal which (in the UK) is incredibly hard, my TT burned so slowly that it fell glowing to the floor - not good. For the charcoal available to you, you will need to do some tests to see what mix gives a pleasant effect with a sensible hang time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50AE Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Mumbles, do you mind sharing this formula? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtreme Pyro Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) Not sure where you're located, but I have had great success with cowboy brand charcoal which is available at lowes for $6.97 for an 8lb bag, it is a mixture of different hardwood. It leaves nice tails, with a good hang time, that doesn't burn to the ground. Mumbles, I am also interested in seeing that formula. Edited June 22, 2010 by Xtreme Pyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I tried looking quickly last time, but couldn't find it. I'll give it a good faith effort this afternoon. Now that I think of it, it may have had cowboy charcoal in it too. I really like it for tails now that you mention it. I moved away from it, as it is a pain in the butt to powder without a meat grinder. I don't know how many coffee grinder blades I've broken on the stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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