thechewy Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 ok well i dont remember if it was chrysanthemum of mystery or TTs but i didnt have much chemicles to play with. I dnt remember the formula i used but i ended up breaking the comp in half a fe timeeees and nded up with.... 11grams kno3,12.5 charcoal and 1.5dextrin... I milled it for a few hours in a rock tumbler with marbles,it was a fine powder..so i wet it with the 75% 25% water alcohol mix and pumped stars around 1-4th inches big,and for some reason they burned really white. But i tried to remake more of them because they were pretty nice for star mines but i cnt seem to get the white anymoe...just comes out like a tt star for some reason idk,anyone knows why r how i can make a white star from kno3 and charcoal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 what marbles do you use? Glass marble?There may be a possibility of mixing powder which comes from marbles if you are not using glass marble,this could be the reason of turning your star into white.I dont think using only kno3 and charcoal will give good white colour. You will get reddish yellow colour which again depends upon type of charcoal.For getting white you are supposed to use metal powder(Magnesium,Aluminium).But still in this forum meal powder based white star formulas are available which i havent tried yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 ok well i dont remember if it was chrysanthemum of mystery or TTs but i didnt have much chemicles to play with. I dnt remember the formula i used but i ended up breaking the comp in half a fe timeeees and nded up with.... 11grams kno3,12.5 charcoal and 1.5dextrin... I milled it for a few hours in a rock tumbler with marbles,it was a fine powder..so i wet it with the 75% 25% water alcohol mix and pumped stars around 1-4th inches big,and for some reason they burned really white. But i tried to remake more of them because they were pretty nice for star mines but i cnt seem to get the white anymoe...just comes out like a tt star for some reason idk,anyone knows why r how i can make a white star from kno3 and charcoal? Is there any chance that you used Sodium Nitrate instead of Potassium Nitrate? -dag 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechewy Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 what marbles do you use? Glass marble?There may be a possibility of mixing powder which comes from marbles if you are not using glass marble,this could be the reason of turning your star into white.I dont think using only kno3 and charcoal will give good white colour. You will get reddish yellow colour which again depends upon type of charcoal.For getting white you are supposed to use metal powder(Magnesium,Aluminium).But still in this forum meal powder based white star formulas are available which i havent tried yet.i used glass marbles.i been using them for a couple of years with no problems. I really dnt know why they were white lol,i used some random wood and branches from my yard. Not very sure what kinda mix i had going on there . All i know is whatever i did,it was an ok white. Not the best color but i never used any metals. I only have charcoal,kno3,dextrin and i been adding a little sugar like i normally do for sulfurless black powder. If i can find out how and what i done to get white,ill be sure to post it.. Also i tried the stars in the air and on ground,ithad a tiny yellow to it but mostly white. It kinda looked like a flare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcorso85 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I still think you cross contaminated some how. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechewy Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 all i ever had and used for my pyro was, charcoal kno3 and sugar someeetims lol. Hard to cross mix and get white from those ingredients:) i never had any metals or other chems to get white,it was kinda dull .it was kinda du white but i promise you it wasnt yellow or orange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcorso85 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 it was either still wet or, you used too much alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewychewy Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 This is thechewy,couldn't remember my password or anything and made this account awhile back. I seen this and wanted to say I've actually figured it out and have a decent white from the kno3,charcoal and sulfur I've been using. It's bright but not like a brilliant white with metals added.I'll put a video of it up later and show you how it looks and also I can put the comp I use.made a good bit of it last night and pressed some,needs to be milled a while or it'll be slow burning and kinda flash slow like it's about to go out.if milled long enough it's a steady and decent burn rate that I'm happy with. I use Meal-11gramsKno3-59gramsSulfur-3gramsDextrin-4r5grams,depending on how hard I want them I'll add more or less. Mill a few hours,doesn't have to be soaking wet but I mist it until it'll hold its shape when I squeeze it in my hand.if it falls apart and crumbles then wet it more. Usually air dries in around 24 hours or a little longer. I've been making small ones and hand rolling tigertail mis around them in a bowl.makes a pretty effect from the tt to white when u don't have metals.I'll post some vids soon,some one has to keep this site going.I learned so much here and don't want to see it go down,I just wish I wasn't fighting cancer and could afford to get some different chemickes to make colors and crackles.it's rough getting by and trying to still do things I love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 "i used glass marbles.i been using them for a couple of years with no problems." It is odd how we think a thing cannot happen... until it does. There is a reason why certain procedures, mixtures and chemicals are not used in pyrotechnics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 There is a "post Surgery" picture on this forum somewhere, of half a hand where the owner had been using marbles as mill media then the mill exploded when he opened it. Marbles lose tiny particles of glass as they wear in a mill and these sensitise any mixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 Sometimes "common sense" is my worst enemy. After tossing a coin and getting fifty heads in a row, my "common sense" tell me the next toss is more likely to be tails. Because I'm so smart. Our "commom sense" tells us that an inherently risky activity is "safe" because nothing bad has happened so far. Because we're so smart. It's hard to grasp that repeated risks are independent events. I have to remind myself that a thing is "safe" only if the risk is acceptable, and if the worst case is not acceptable, I should think about risk mitigation. Like listening to those with experience. Accidents due to ignorance and especially stupidity give amateur pyrotechnics a bad reputation. Darwin is brutal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewychewy Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Well haven't used marbles in a long time now. Didnt have anything else and was not really to smart about it it at the time. Also used to smoke weed almost constantly so wasn't the brightest choices. Since then I've had kids,stopped smoking and done lots of research and learning. I'd never use glass again. I make my own fish nets,crab,crawfish and cast nets. I took lead balls I got for the castnet weights and been using the lead for ball mill media for a few good years.works better and from my knowledge lead won't spark so alot safer. Wouldn't suggest anyone go my route when starting and us glass. It was a dumb idea and yes you guys are right.I've been making lots of fireworks since then and you can see so e of my rocketsmspinners and other on my youtube. Diet post any of my hummer/speed balls yet or my u.f.o./flying spinners yet but my youtube is " matthewpicou " just search on youtube and youll find me. Still don't have or use any metal powders. All my fuel and stars are from bp based comps and the crackle you'll see is from the green crackle balls from a firework stand I used. Im now 29,been amd curre tly fighting cancer for 4almpst 4 years and going through chemo at the moment,cant afford anty more stupir life choices so i am very careful about things now.Thank you for the input and suggestions everyone. I havent gotten to post any videos on youtube *** not diet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepakpyro Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Well haven't used marbles in a long time now. Didnt have anything else and was not really to smart about it it at the time. Also used to smoke weed almost constantly so wasn't the brightest choices. Since then I've had kids,stopped smoking and done lots of research and learning. I'd never use glass again. I make my own fish nets,crab,crawfish and cast nets. I took lead balls I got for the castnet weights and been using the lead for ball mill media for a few good years.works better and from my knowledge lead won't spark so alot safer. Wouldn't suggest anyone go my route when starting and us glass. It was a dumb idea and yes you guys are right.I've been making lots of fireworks since then and you can see so e of my rocketsmspinners and other on my youtube. Diet post any of my hummer/speed balls yet or my u.f.o./flying spinners yet but my youtube is " matthewpicou " just search on youtube and youll find me. Still don't have or use any metal powders. All my fuel and stars are from bp based comps and the crackle you'll see is from the green crackle balls from a firework stand I used. Im now 29,been amd curre tly fighting cancer for 4almpst 4 years and going through chemo at the moment,cant afford anty more stupir life choices so i am very careful about things now.Thank you for the input and suggestions everyone.I havent gotten to post any videos on youtube *** not diet...Get well soon..God be with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts