35 replies to this topic

[sizzle]

Really the only things you should ball mill are Potassium Nitrate, Sulphur and Charcoal. All the stars I have made have just been screened together well, this seems to work very well for me, I don't think it'd be worth the time/electricity of milling for the small amount of improvement you may get.

[Yugen-biki]

The chemicals used in the star needs to be finely milled. They allways do unless something else is written.
I usually mill the oxidizers (if there are more then one) and the fuel sepparatly. Extra attention has to be payed to se what chemicals can be milled together!
Sepparate milling is adviced.

[Pieman]

Can you mill the ingredients seperatly then put the composition in a mill jar to mix them together without any media? Or is this a complete waste of time when screening will give equally acceptable results?

[Richard H]

It is safer to screen the chemicals together, and for flash powder or whistle type compositions it is most advisable to mix them on a large sheet of paper, folding opposing corners to mix the chemicals.

Some factories do mix energetic compositions in specially designed powered mixers or tumblers, but these are operated remotely in an isolated part of the factory site.

[adamw]

Why would you need to mill the 'ingredients' together if they are already in the powder state? OK, certain things need to be reduced down, but if you have the chemicals in their powder form then only a few passes of screening are required.

[Jerronimo]

I'm planning on making a batch of Bleser white flitter.

Formula:

Aluminium fine flake--- 61
Potassium perchlorate- 33
Dextrin------------------ 6

Has anybody got any experience with rolling this kind of star?
Should be difficult with such a high Al content, any tips maybe?

[Yugen-biki]

It is a really good ground pillar for white comets. I have not tested this one but a similar. I pumped mine. I don't think it will be very hard to roll them if you have some skills in rolling.

[GBthriller]

I'm planning on making a batch of Bleser white flitter.

Formula:

Aluminium fine flake--- 61
Potassium perchlorate- 33
Dextrin------------------ 6

Has anybody got any experience with rolling this kind of star?
Should be difficult with such a high Al content, any tips maybe?

This formula appears in IPP under flitter, but it shows the Alum as "Dark Al". But because I have a few kilo's of the fine flake I tried this:

Potassium perchlorate-- 33
Dark Al 3 micron-------- 10
Fine flake aluminum---- 51
Starpol------------------- 5

All I can tell you at this point is that I dont see how you would roll this if your flake Al is anything like mine. The flake swallowed up everything and just looks like a fluffy mass of flakes.

Lighting this will certainly be more difficult than most. A loose pile just would not ignite until I added (some) BP meal, even then I still had to lean a lance type fuse into it for a two count. Then a blinding flash as expected. This has the potential to be a beautiful star or comet. However, I have grown more fond of things that light easily.

Not that experienced at rolling, I'll pump some and let you know how they turn out after we prime them.

GB

[Jerronimo]

Yes I know they are hard to light, you'll need a step prime to ignite these.
Bleser recommends a 2:1 flitter/BP intermediate layer for reliable ignition, he also states that bright fine flake Al can be used as a substitute for german dark(I'll be getting about 400 mesh) so this would be good I think.

I'm pretty experienced in rolling stars, so I'll have a go at it.

[sizzle]

I've just made a nice batch of lift thanks to Regi and have granulated it through a sieve nicely and let it dry, upon trying it in a stargun the star did not ignite and it nowhere to be found, from what I can tell the star lifted into the air and must have landed somewhere. How do I stop this happening, I've tried it three times now and each time the star doesn't ignite.

I'm using Blesser #1 and Lancaster #1 (Potassium Perchlorate Red) stars primed with 6:3:1 powder.

[Maineiac]

Both of those formulas should take fire quite easily. I prime them only lightly with meal and have good success with them. To sort out the problems you are having out of the gun try the following:

A) Less lift powder. It really only takes a small pinch to loft even a moderate sized star.

B) A larger mesh size powder from your sieving. This will soften the lift out of the gun giving the star a better chance at ignition.

I've had troubles in the past with glitter stars (pressed) not taking fire out of a test gun. While these never need priming the issues are the same. It always comes down to being a bit heavy handed on the lift or trying to use 2F when I should be using 1F. My experiences anyway...

[sizzle]

Ok, well hopefully I should be recieving some mesh from Inoxia any time soon now from 10 to 100 I think so I'll try some lower sizes. How much lift do you reccomed I use, I've tried 2g and 1.5g, I'll have a go with just 1g tommorow.

[Frozentech]

Both of those formulas should take fire quite easily. I prime them only lightly with meal and have good success with them. To sort out the problems you are having out of the gun try the following:

A) Less lift powder. It really only takes a small pinch to loft even a moderate sized star.

A larger mesh size powder from your sieving. This will soften the lift out of the gun giving the star a better chance at ignition.

I've had troubles in the past with glitter stars (pressed) not taking fire out of a test gun. While these never need priming the issues are the same. It always comes down to being a bit heavy handed on the lift or trying to use 2F when I should be using 1F. My experiences anyway...

I agree with both possibilities Maineiac. Sizzle, what does the lift sound like when you use your star gun ? I was having 50% at most success with my star testing guns ( I just use regular tube with a bottom fuse ) until I cut *way* back on the lift powder. Before it nearly sounded like a salute, and stars blew blind. Now I use about 1/8 teaspoon of powder and if the tube diameter is a close enough fit to the star, it's a quiet whoomp and not a bang, and most stars take fire. I haven't tried a larger grain size for gentler lift, but that sounds like a good idea too !

I was having the same problem with roman candles too until I really reduced the lift for the bottom stars. They would take fire, but blow out in pieces.

[adamw]

Yes, using too much lift can have the effect of blowing them blind. To check that the prime is doing it's job, try lighting a stat with a piece of blackmatch taped to it. If it doesn't light from that then there is no way it will get going in a star gun.

Things with aluminium for example might need something to create a dross or hot spots, such as an excess of KNO3 or S, some MgAl, Ferrosilicon etc.

[Jerronimo]

All I can tell you at this point is that I dont see how you would roll this if your flake Al is anything like mine. The flake swallowed up everything and just looks like a fluffy mass of flakes.

Well, I started rolling a batch of Bleser white flitter.
I use 400 mesh bright flake, and they are realy very difficult to roll, a real challenge.
The stars need to be very wet before they will take up any comp.
I use a old plastic candy container with a snapp-on lid (about 25 cm wide and 15cm high) to roll them in, otherwise the flake floats everywhere,it's realy quite handy.
I managed to roll them to 6 mm and just finished the second layer to 8mm with 2:1 white flitter/Bp wich went alot easier.
Now I only need to apply a layer of 1:2 flitter/BP (10mm) and a thin layer of BP prime(11mm).
I hope that will be sufficient priming.