35 replies to this topic

[sizzle]

For this event I have been talking about at christmas I am obviously going to be making stars, up untill now the only pyro comps I have made are Black Powder, Mg/KNO3 flash powder, Cu Sulphate/K Chlorate Star mix and KNO3/Sugar/Sulphur rocket propellant, I need to know how to make my own stars, I don't have any special equipment available to me and so far I have used a biro pen lid to stamp some black powder/water paste to make stars. Is this going to be all right for other stars or is there a better method not requiring new equipment?

EDIT: Sorry if this information is already here somewhere, I had a look but wasn't too sure wether stamping could be done to all star mixes.

Edited by sizzle, 09 October 2005 - 06:47 PM.

[karlfoxman]

Some beautiful stars can be mae with modified BP formulas, Tiger tail and willow are very nice. Firstly you need a binder, this can be dextrin. Its very very easy to make, if you search you will find. As for pumps and tools, try using a syringe with the nozzle choped off as this makes a great cheap if not free pump. Almost all your questions will have been already answered in this forum so search first before starting new topics. Other than that have fun and as always be safe Also if your new to pyro try to stay away from chlorates as they require sepearate everythings, if you dont you will not be doing pyro for long.


Edit : Your 'stamping' is more commonly know in the pyrotechnic world as 'pumping' this method and cutting stars is where to start with stars. Rolling stars can be quite tricky.

Edited by karlfoxman, 09 October 2005 - 06:55 PM.

[The_Djinn]

Sizzle,

As you are new to pyro, do you have any books etc ?.. there is information on the forum about recomended books etc as well as a wealth of information.. use the search engine as mentioned in previous posts.. some times you have to play around with the words you are searching for but you will get the hang of it.

Mark

[sizzle]

I know now about the dangerous of Chlorates but I would like to start using them otherwise i'll never really learn more about them, besides from what I have read all the brighter colours use chlorates and I am hoping to go for reds/blues/greens/golds/whites as this event will be christmas themed. Thanks karlfoxman for the syringe suggestion, just tried it and it seems to work well.

EDIT: The Djinn: I don't have any books at the moment no, but I am not sure what to get yet, I have seen "A Professional's Guide to Pyrotechnics: Understanding and Making Exploding Fireworks" by John Donner on Amazon.co.uk but I seem to remeber reading somewhere that it simply tells you how to make firecrackers and nothing else, wether this is true or not I don't know but It certainly puts me off paying ?15 for it. Any suggestions as to good book would be great

Edited by sizzle, 09 October 2005 - 07:15 PM.

[karlfoxman]

I have made some wonderful colours using Perchlorate's, very simple to make. The best way to learn about chlorates is to read about them, trying to find out for yourself is not wise. Chlorate is a very senseative issue here on this forum. Books are the best way to learn safely, also Richards forum is a very good place to read up stuff.

[sizzle]

Unfortunately it's ?30 for me to get 500g of Potassium Perchlorate. So It looks like I won't be making anything too bright at the moments, but some nice gold and silver fountains and glitter fountains should go down well aswell as a couple of saxons, star mines and wheels. Thanks for the help guys. I'll film it and host the video of how my display goes so you can all see.

[JamesH]

For this event I have been talking about at christmas I am obviously going to be making stars, up untill now the only pyro comps I have made are Black Powder, Mg/KNO3 flash powder, Cu Sulphate/K Chlorate Star mix and KNO3/Sugar/Sulphur rocket propellant, I need to know how to make my own stars, I don't have any special equipment available to me and so far I have used a biro pen lid to stamp some black powder/water paste to make stars. Is this going to be all right for other stars or is there a better method not requiring new equipment?

EDIT: Sorry if this information is already here somewhere, I had a look but wasn't too sure wether stamping could be done to all star mixes.

Are you aware that copper sulphate and potassium chlorate are incompatible?

[sizzle]

I am now. This incompatability was mentioned to me a while ago. I no longer use that composition.

Edited by sizzle, 20 October 2005 - 11:28 AM.

[JamesH]

I'm glad to hear it mate! A good reference to read up on chlorate incompatibilities, and there are a lot of them, is Bill Ofca's Technique in fire, Volume 10, working safely with chlorate.
But as Karl says, it's better for you stay away from chlorates if your relatively new to pyrotechnics, and i can't agree with that enough! So read up all you can before even thinking about mixing chlorate with anything!

[al93535]

Ok I have a chlorate star, and I primed it with 3 layers of perchlorate prime. I want to add one layer of BP to ease the ignition. Will this be a problem with the sulfur in the BP even though the star has three layers of perc prime first?

Also, what does potassium dichromate do in a prime? What effect does it have?

Thanks guys,

[Mumbles]

I thought of something else, so I won't give you the exact same reply as from APC. The dichromate acts as a catalyst in the decomposition of Perchlorate. It allows it to light easier, about the ease of BP primes I believe. The dichromate may also add a bit of chromium based slag to help ignite better.

With 3 layers of Perchlorate prime, I think you would be alright. You might want to try out the perchlorate prime by itself first though. If it works acceptable, there is no reason to take the risk. Perchlorate and sulfur does have a reaction too. It won't self-ignite from creating it's own heat, but it is much more prone to ignition from friction and/or shock.

[al93535]

Ok Thanks alot Mumbles! I posted on APC and here so I could prime these things and test them so I can use them in my inserts.

That gets me to thinking, so then for a chlorate zinc spreader star the dichromate isn't just really an additional oxidizer, but it acts as a catalyst in the decomposition of the chlorate making it even more violent!

New years is fast approaching and I need to get these inserts done! Thanks again!!!

[sizzle]

Well, I just got AFN IV as a Christmas Present off my mum, thanks for reccomending it whoever it was! I shall be reading through over Christmas. When I'm done reading it it'll be up for borrowsies!

[they say im crazy]

as this is a star post do you have to mill the star mixture (non sensitive stars) as i have never made stars before

[karlfoxman]

as this is a star post do you have to mill the star mixture (non sensitive stars) as i have never made stars before

You only should ball mill modified blackpowder stars as the spark duration is dependant on the milling time, if you want a short dense tail ball mill the mixture for longer or if you want longer lasting sparks ball mill for less time. I would never mill any other type of star mixture because 1. Its dangerous to mill some compositions 2. You risk contamination of media and mill 3. Its not required to get a good star, all you need is to screen it a few times. Hope this helps, feel free to ask anymore questions.