Titanium sponge vs. flakes

[dangerousamateur]

Hi,

 

I never had flakes, just sponge.

 

What is better suited, flakes or sponge, for

 

 

adding tails to stars and comets ?

 

adding tails to rockets?

 

Ti salutes?

 

 

What are your preferences?

And what is more prone to accidental ignition in case of ramming?

Edited February 5, 2013 by dangerousamateur

[pyrojig]

You can interchange them . The rocket should have flake or finer spherical Ti ( because it may cause a cato if too course. It all depends on the spark trail your after, A thick short lived one(flake) , or a long but more sparse ( sponge). A lot is dependent on the size and shape of the metal on how it performs in the sky. So either type will work for these applications .

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

Flakes for salutes

Sponge for stars/comets/rockets

 

Flakes are less dense, so it's cheaper for salutes.

Edited February 7, 2013 by FREAKYDUTCHMEN

[ACLIGHTADDICTED]

I use sponge in my rockets without any problems.

[kleberrios]

Ti Sponge is more prone to accidental ignition in case of ramming than Ti flake. Flake Ti burns better than granular Ti in indoor waterfalls made con NC + Flake Ti 18/ 30 mesh + Ti 400 mesh. This is a true indoor waterfall. No smoke or smell.

[dangerousamateur]

Hi,

 

I have only experience with sponge.

 

If I use flakes, how do they compare with similar sized sponge parts?

I guess flakes will make much shorter tails?

[dan999ification]

in the same mesh size sponge will give denser tails, flakes longer but less dense.

 

Dan.

Edited February 27, 2013 by dan999ification

[dangerousamateur]

same mesh size sponge will give denser tails, flakes longer but less dense

Are you sure?

 

Flakes have a much greater surface than sponge. Does the inner surface of the sponge play such a big role?

[Col]

I`d say flakes will burn inward from the exposed surfaces/edges (longer lived, less bright), sponge inside and out all at once (shorter lived but brighter). Spherical Ti may be somewhere between the two.

[psyco_1322]

You guys are dreaming up a form of Ti that doesn't really exist. You don't find "flake" Ti, like you do with Al. Titanium comes either spherical or sponge. There are a few really fine granular grades, but they are not too common and really could be considered "sponge" also. The closest to flake you will find will be lathe turnings, basically Ti wool. If it's busted up you get little chips that could be mislabeled as flakes.

[californiapyro]

OK, so I'm not crazy! I've never seen flake, either.

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

You guys are dreaming up a form of Ti that doesn't really exist. You don't find "flake" Ti, like you do with Al. Titanium comes either spherical or sponge. There are a few really fine granular grades, but they are not too common and really could be considered "sponge" also. The closest to flake you will find will be lathe turnings, basically Ti wool. If it's busted up you get little chips that could be mislabeled as flakes.

 

 

We call it flake, not lathe turnings, although it could be some kind of turnings, but it doesn't matter that much. "lathe turnings" sounds like cheap waste, which it certainly isn't. It has other kinds of purposes than the sponge or granular titanium has. It comes in different sizes and it has a very consistent effect.

[dangerousamateur]

Frankly I dont care how you call it if it looks good

 

@Dutchman:

You offer "Flake Titanium 450-1000µm" and Titanium (sponge) 450-1000µm.

 

Which one burns longer/has a longer tail?

Edited February 28, 2013 by dangerousamateur

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

I've only checked the flake 450-1000 in salutes, can't tell you about the burn time in stars yet. I hope to do some tests soon.

I think the sponge lights up with some delay in the tail, here are some shells with the 250-425 sponge, the 250-425 and 450-1000 micron are quite close to size if you compare with the eye.

In salutes the flake 450-1000 works really nice, I prefer it above the sponge because of it's lower density (so you can put more in it and get a nice round cloud of sparks). And I have seen a factory in spain using this flake stuff, so that's why I started using it in salutes.

 

Here is an example of the titanium sponge 250-425mu in stars. Brocade stars with 5% titanium and strobe tips and pistils.

http://youtu.be/dMjr0vWzpEY

Edited February 28, 2013 by FREAKYDUTCHMEN

[fredhappy]

#freakydutchman: Nice shells, I really like sponge titanium in brocade stars.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB0u2Wc40as

 

I've used pyro stuff's 450-1000 flake titanium in the salute inserts for my salute s.o.s shells in the clip. It worked very well, and gave a nice snowball effect. I liked it a lot. I also feel that flake titanium is a more "safer"option to add to salutes . I would not feel very comfortable adding relatively coarse sponge titanium to salute inserts.

Edited March 2, 2013 by fredhappy

[kleberrios]

The flake Titanium it is not a dream, I make it several years ago guys.

 

One grain of the others titanium make three grais of Flake Titanium at same mesh.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxbbaX6W9Sc

[snapper]

kleberrios will you share what you used to grind the flakes,also will you be making anymore to put on ebay in the near future?

[dynomike1]

I wonder if firefly aluminum will work. I was going to make firefly stars. but i dont have enough time right now.

Edited November 3, 2018 by dynomike1

[kleberrios]

kleberrios will you share what you used to grind the flakes,also will you be making anymore to put on ebay in the near future?

 

Yes, I will make more soon to sell on ebay.