19 replies to this topic

[Pyromaster2003]

can anyone tell me which chemicals i will need, to make blue stars?and where to get the chemicals needed, in the UK?

[brocade]

here's the blue I use which will give you a really deep blue in the sky.

Potassium Chlorate 65%
Red gum 6%
Copper carbonate 14%
Parlon 10 %
Dextrin 5%

Bind with 75%water 25%alchole(methanol or dentuared alchole)

These will roll up in to very nice round stars and for example if using in a 5" shell roll to 9mm leave for 1 day to dry then following day size to 14mm and prime to 15mm with H3 (H3 being the prefered prime to avoid cross contamination of the strar mix i.e don't use bp because of its sulphur content) then leave for 3 days to completely dry.

[Pyromaster2003]

thanks alot thats what i was looking for. except im kinda new to stars and shells and things like that. where would i be able to get all those chemicals in the UK?Iv got potassium Chlorate and Dextrin and thats about it out of that list.

[nickpatts]

Hi, on that blue star above would i be able to substitute the parlon for pvc?,most likey possible but it wont be a straight swap im sure,any tips on how to chop and change formulars around?.

any help a be great

Nick

[nickpatts]

just a quicky to pyromasters question,you can get most carbonates at clay and ceramics shops such as http://www.brickhouseceramics.co.uk/ .

they sell,
copper carbonate(blue)
strontium carbonate(red)
barium carbonate(green)

they alo stock grog and bentonite 50/50 mix for making plugs and chokes.

[Pyromaster2003]

thanks alot for that source nick. il check it out now. cheers.

[robert johnson]

Yes nick.
You are able to a degree to substitute the parlon to pvc. However Stars bound with pvc to tend to be a little on the brittle side,also if you go to far with the pvc you can end up with the colour being washed out with the ash that pvc uses.
I have used the above formula but modified as I think Mr Brocade has made a mistake writing down copper carbonate. Looking at the formula as written it would not work,due to using the carbonate. I think that it should be an oxide if I am correct
The Best Blue available [which is used by several american pyro clubs] uses :
Potassium perchlorate
Ammonium Perchlorate
Copper carbonate
Red gum
Dextrin
This will give you a high density Blue with good fullness of colour. this formula will only work with Ammonium Perchlorate due to the compound of Copper Carbonate. What ever you do you will have little success if you use a fuel that is hot burning. It must use a cool fuel such as Red gum or Lactose. It is also worth noting all though Parlon is not available in the uk, It is a far superior Chlorine donor than pvc. I have tried pvc that you can get in the uk and it is not the same as the correct pvc that is available from other sources.this is very noticable in the finished stars.

[brocade]

Rob thanks for pointing out my mistake this was due to being in a hurry you know places to go people to see pyro to do some R&D on. correct formula as follows

Potassium chlorate 65%
Copper Oxide 14%
Red Gum 7%
Parlon 9%
Dextrin 5%

Rob although I generally agree with what your saying about blue star formulas I do not agree Copper carbonate cannot be used to produce a reasonable blue copper carbonate used with perchlorate as the oxidizer will give an acceptable blue please note this blue will not be as rich a blue as the formula presented above. Copper carbonate formula as follows.

Pottasium perchlorate 65%
Red gum 6%
Copper carbonate 14%
Parlon 10 %
Dextrin 5 %

Both formulas as presented bind with 25% alchole 75% water.

Parlon and pvc I get from the USA as I have tried pvc from a source in the UK this pvc proved to be of dubious quality and would not work in any of the formulas I use I therefore found a source in the USA and this has proved to be good quality pvc & parlon.

[robert johnson]

Yes so do I. Although it is expensive to ship, the finished pyro is able to surpass the majority of pyro that can be bought{cat 4].
We will have to meet up some time and have a competion. Its sound like you really know what your doing, and to a high standard from the way that you write. Its so good to be able to discuss pyro on this level.

[brocade]

Yeah Rob will have to get together and shoot some shells, rockets, candles comets & anything else pyro wise should be a hoot.

[Pyromaster2003]

i think someone should set up a private pyrotechnics convention of some sort every year or something. where the pyros of this site have a sort of gathering at some private destination, like a deserted beach, to put on their own pyrotechnic shows. obviously this will be a bit hard since its illegal to manufacture pyrotechnics without the papers and stuff. but it would be cool anyway.

[robert johnson]

Sounds like a good idea, it should start with an 8" maroon. One of these was an opener for a very public display that was seen in it entirety on national tv. I also in some of my spare time work for a very large firework display company. That is probally one of the best in the country. I dare not tell you what I do for a job. How about we meet up some time in the year and shoot some pyro. the site I use is very large and safe.

[Pyromaster2003]

sounds great, but the problem still remains about it all being very illegal?is your site like far away from people and their houses?

[robert johnson]

Mr Brocade have you ever tried one of these with good qulity materials made with one kg. I have a very large area where I fired one about 4 months ago. I can only say watch it sitting down from about 200 feet away!

[brocade]

I have to admit ive heard of these but never had the room, bottle or understanding enough neighbours to try one. I understand that even standing a good 200 meters away this thing will still wallop you in the chess with a massive cocussion wave and when sufficient room is availible to use in front of a crowd is said to bring them to there feet in ruptures applause.
Maybe we can try one of these when we shoot some pyro at your site in the comming weeks