"Parlon stars suck!"

[dagabu]

Californiapyro stated that, "Parlon stars suck!" today in the recent status section and I thought that an open discussion as to what the difficulties in making cut parlon bound stars are and the fixes we have found that help make making them fun!

CP: good on color, nearly knocked me out from fumes and took 1/2 hour to clean my plate afterwards. and stick like crazy to everything

I had the same experience the first time I made them but a $20.00 respirator from The Home Depot and a disposable cutting mat from Walmart solved the smell issue and the cleanup issue. The sticky issue took a little more time to solve for me. I now reserve 10% of my dry comp and divide it into to tubs, 66% into one and 33% into another which I then add the same weight of Meal-D into. I use plastic wrap over the comp and roll it down to the thickness I want, pull the wrap off and cover the patty with the tub of comp (66%) and spread it out evenly. I then cut all my rows with a sharp clean knife and keep a small bottle of acetone and and old rag nearby to clean the blade quickly.

I then cut the rows into squares. I then let then dry a bit, for just a few minutes and then scrape them all of into a bucket and tumble them for 30 seconds in the dry comp. Once they are coated, I carefully pour them out onto a 20 mesh screen and let all the loose comp fall off. Once clean, I put the cut stars back into the bucket and spray them with a couple pumps of acetone, tumble them for a second and then ad the 50/50 mix of BP and comp to the stars and lightly tumble until all the comp is taken up.

The stars are then left to dry in open air for an hour then are transferred to to the dehydrator overnight.

The only cleanup is the cutting mat and that is solved quickly with a spritz of acetone and an old rag.

-dag

 

[optimus]

Good tips. I always dumped straight into prime which doesn't help with sticky issues, I'll be sure to give this workflow a go.

 

The rag is essential, I find having it wetted with alcohol helps.

 

What sort of dehumidifier are you using?

[Potassiumchlorate]

With high metal content they are easier to consolidate, unlike dextrin/SGRS bound stars, that are harder to consolidate with lots of metal. In my humble opinion they become less sticky without red gum, like Bleser's Red and White Mg.

[dagabu]

Good tips. I always dumped straight into prime which doesn't help with sticky issues, I'll be sure to give this workflow a go.

 

The rag is essential, I find having it wetted with alcohol helps.

 

What sort of dehumidifier are you using?

 

I use a dehydrator, the kind for food that has stacked trays.

 

-dag

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

Here is my statement; parlon stars are for people for who do not have patience. hehe.

[californiapyro]

good method. my big mistake was using a star plate, which i won't do again. the think I like about them is it keeps the water out of hygroscopic comps.

 

what percent acetone by weight do you use in the star comp? i tried 10% and i think it is a bit low...

 

also is step prime necessary, or will a good layer of fencepost do the job?

[Potassiumchlorate]

Dan uses 35 ml to 100 grams. I think that is the correct amount for parlon stars with barium and strontium salts as oxidizers.

[warthog]

Parlon stars are for Winter when I can't get dextrin stars to dry.

 

While I don't feel they suck, I am far more able to get nicer colors with the stars formulae I have to be bound by dextrin.

Edited February 20, 2012 by warthog

[Potassiumchlorate]

Hm, Bleser Red Mg is pretty amazing:

 

Strontium nitrate 55

Magnesium <74µm/-100mesh 28

Parlon 10

PVC 7

 

And this one. I think my hexamine is dry; it's simply harder to consolidate parlon stars without metal fuels and without barium or strontium salts:

 

Potassium perchlorate 62

Copper(II)oxide 13

Hexamine 10

Parlon 15

[Mumbles]

Let me know when you figure out a way to get rid of the incandescent tail parlon bound stars always seem to leave. You see it in water bound stars too if you don't remove the coarse Parlon particles you occasionally get from the mix.

[Algenco]

I roll the patty between 2 sheets of "non stick aluminum foil", dust it heavily with prime and cut Edited February 21, 2012 by Algenco

[pyrojig]

There is a screen cutting method that I use with ease . Skylighter did a section on rubber stars, and how to screen cut, prime and dry them.

It seems like a really fast way to make a ton of colored stars. I like parlon bound stars myself. The fast dry time makes the stars very attractive, especially when you want nice looking color stars quick.

I have luck with the step prime method they show. But the second layer I use silicon added with the bp meal and magnal. This seems to take fire better . Improper priming will frustrate you to no end, as many blow blind if you dont.

 

He Is correct about the vapor being intense at times.Outdoors or next to a fan helps with this.

 

BTW Thank you for opening the thread on this Dag.

[allrocketspsl]

wow they are some if not the easiest to make but one cant use a star plate.GS screen slicing is easy guys do it over a bowl of prime as they drop evry so often shake a little then press more thru.Pat the patty out the thickness then when its puxhed thru the screen the size is determined.I always used FP prime and they all lite.ALL

[Arthur]

IMO Parlon stars work but the amount of acetone needed to keep them usably soft while cutting is expensive and getting harder to obtain. it comes in 50ml bottles here and buy two and you get noticed. All due to the ease of making HE with it.

 

Use disposible cutting media, though the arrival of silicone cooking mats may help.

 

It's another method of saving time at expense of materials.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Let me know when you figure out a way to get rid of the incandescent tail parlon bound stars always seem to leave. You see it in water bound stars too if you don't remove the coarse Parlon particles you occasionally get from the mix.

 

That's a problem, yes.

[jimbo]

my parlon/acetone bound stars always tend to leave an orb of ash which the colour burns under dimming it and then turns orange at the end,it doesn't seem to strip off when flying through the air.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Maybe MgAl+chlorowax would be an alternative. I haven't tested anything with more than 2% chlorowax in it yet, but I think it burns clearer than parlon, and it has the same chlorine content, if it's of good quality.

[dan999ification]

i cut mine with 35ml acetone per 100g comp, prime the pattie leave it for a mo then cut when it stiffens up a bit, break them up put them in a bowl drizzle/spray some acetone on while shaking and add some more prime= finished stars.

i have even made veline with ti into a liquid with too much acetone on purpose to pour into bombette casings works fine, should do for cavity stars.

i find when i make veline that you do need enough acetone to properly dissolve the parlon and red gum, i like it a little too wet to work with to start because it dries so fast.

i can only imagine the mess on your plate, if you must use a plate veline stars bound with water are the way to go, smell of chlorine a bit though and take a while to dry.

to cut down on the mess when cutting i use a newspaper, greaseproof paper and then kitchen foil stacked up dont drag the knife or you cut the foil i just press the blade into the pattie, throw the paper away after.

 

 

dan.

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

my parlon/acetone bound stars always tend to leave an orb of ash which the colour burns under dimming it and then turns orange at the end,it doesn't seem to strip off when flying through the air.

 

Is this because you burn them before they are completely dry? I notice the same effect when I don't let my stars dry completely before ground lighting.

[Potassiumchlorate]

I don't see my parlon stars getting orange, though they do leave lots of ash. Pumped organic blue parlon stars burned on the ground even remain as "skeletons" of parlon with the cylinder shape still intact.

[dagabu]

my parlon/acetone bound stars always tend to leave an orb of ash which the colour burns under dimming it and then turns orange at the end,it doesn't seem to strip off when flying through the air.

 

True Blue Pyro has a comp that I use a lot, it is "True Red" and is very bright and long burning. Deep, deep blood red, beautiful. I have had no issues with ash on anything but a green comp that I abandoned because of the slowness of the burn.

 

-dag

[Potassiumchlorate]

Do you mind sharing? I got obsessed with the idea of strontium bromate, that 50AE mentioned, but more conventional compositions are always welcome.

[dagabu]

TBP has the comp in Passfires formulary database under True Red.

 

-dag

[TheArchitect23]

I personally dont mind parlon stars, there is a bit of learning curve and it does indeed damn near knock you out unless your outside.

I have tried to cut them, roll them, and screen slice them. Rolling was a joke... I ended up with a mess. Cutting took to much acetone for my opinion to stay useable, And screen slicing was the most rewarding.

However you do need alot of prime on everything as they fall or 1/4 of your stars will be stuck to a 2nd. My favorite way to screen slice is with a "Home Depot" Light Defuser panel. My local HD has 1/2'' and slightly less than 3/4'' square panels. Take a square of this panel and cut it to a usable size, eaither frame it or put 2 thin dowels under the edges ( a diameter dowel that is 1/2 the finished diameter of your stars ). Place a layer of prime on everything then place your primed patty on top, use a square of plywood ( i use a maple square with a t handle sanded to 16,000 grit and sealed with shellac ) press the patty down into the square of the pannel until no more comp is above the panel. sprinkle prime on top once more, and let dry. once dry gently tap out the finished stars from the squares and if you desire more prime, either place in your star roller or large popcorn bowl. spray with acetone and re-prime while swirling.

 

I now only roll my parlon stars ( +5% Dextrin ) Water And Alcohol, its just more simple and faster for me.

[Potassiumchlorate]

I have rolled Bleser's White Mg, like I told before. I rolled them on relatively big lead shots (3.5mm). It was very time-consuming, but the result was good.

 

Pumping isn't much of a problem either, if you just dip the pump in acetone for every 10th or 15th star or so.