Red gum and dextrin
#1
Posted 01 April 2009 - 06:08 PM
Also, if alcohol is being used and as such causing the red gum to act as a binder, can dextrin be omitted from the mix as the red gum is serving the purpose in itself?
Finally, does activating the red gum as a binder have any effect on the function of the stars in the form of their burn rate, or anything else?
Sorry for all the questions
#2
Posted 01 April 2009 - 06:29 PM
NO you cannot reliably omit bits from a formula. dextrin is a binder and fuel, take the fuel away and the flame will change.Dextrin, red gum and shellac all have different burning properties so there is a chance that formulae need the components specified.
If you need to make changes then try really TINY tests first.
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#3
Posted 01 April 2009 - 07:08 PM
#4
Posted 01 April 2009 - 07:34 PM
#5
Posted 02 April 2009 - 03:41 AM
It seems that in this case, at least, two negatives do indeed make a positive!
#6
Posted 02 April 2009 - 08:43 PM
Just to expand a little on binders
NO you cannot reliably omit bits from a formula. dextrin is a binder and fuel, take the fuel away and the flame will change.
The formula is: Shimizu Blue star 70
Potassium Perchlorate 63.8
Parlon 13.8
Copper(II) Oxide, black 12.9
Red Gum 9.5
Dextrin 4
Total: 104
Seeing as the dextrin is added to the 100% I was under the assumption that the dextrin was solely for binding
I have of late switched from dextrin to SGRS as a binder which I have used for most of my formulas. From my limited experience SGRS does alter the burn compared to dextrin: it seems that the flame consumes the star in a different manner compared to dextrin. Has anyone else had experience of this?
#7
Posted 03 April 2009 - 02:00 AM
Ill keep you posted and would love to hear from anyone else who has tried it (or wants to)
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#8
Posted 03 April 2009 - 05:55 AM
To add to this discussion Ive just obtained a large sample of cellulose adhesive which is reported from a good source as a better, basic, water soluble binder to be used instead of Dextrin. I use 2% Dextrin currently in my BP and mathematically cellulose is 4 times stronger so .5% should give simalar results.
Ill keep you posted and would love to hear from anyone else who has tried it (or wants to)
Is that CMC (carboxy methyl cellulose)?
#9
Posted 03 April 2009 - 09:54 AM
#10
Posted 03 April 2009 - 04:12 PM
If it is CMC, apparently it's used in certain kinds of blackmatch. Certainly seems to give a lot more flexibility in the finished match and doesn't flake easily. Sounds promising.
I have some CMC, it is very interesting stuff. It makes your BP soup completely homogeneous so it does not settle out, smashing stuff.
#11
Posted 03 April 2009 - 04:57 PM
#12
Posted 03 April 2009 - 06:30 PM
Where do you buy CMC from? Just tried looking on google for a source but found nothing valuable.
There are a few sources. It is used pure as an adhesive for wallpaper in libraries for old books (I can't remember off hand the name of the company I used for mine). The other source (more expensive) is TYLO powder this is used for cake decorating and is again 100% CMC. However you only need less than 1% along with the dextrin so even a 100 gram tub of TYLO goes a very long way.
Hope this helps.
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