31 replies to this topic

[sasman]

I started rolling some stars today its the first time i have rolled some ..i have the video by david blesser on how to roll round stars and also the star rolling machine video with tom perigrin..but due to the fact i have just moved house and lots of things still packed away i cant find em ...

Now im trying to roll 2 red colored formulas 1 organic 1 magnalium..I started rolling using #6 lead shot i cleaned them with acetone to degrease them then rolled them in bentonite clay.. i was using 25% Alcohol(surgical spirit?? is this ok)
as solvent for the organic fueled stars ,rolling was done in a dog dish it was hard to shake the bowl and add the powder while keeping the stars moving...then spraying the solvent whilst still moving the bowl..
.
. .Now when i haved rolled them up to size how do i finish?.. do i add more powder until the stars wont take any more then stop rolling or do i stop them when still damp? or wet?..My first batch of red magnalium fueled stars i stopped when the were dry...the red organic fueled i have left wet..whats the best way to Finish?..
.

My intention is to make some nice ball shells and they consume vast amounts of stars so im just off down to the garage to Make a NASCAR tyre Star roller so i can increase my productivity .

[sasman]

Here are a few pics of my Tyre Star Roller so simple its Fantastic .. Tyre roller thanks to Passfire :-) ..As you can see its so simple ...but it makes rolling round stars so easy...Here it is rolling a few stars Cores and Larger Red Stars it spins at about 40 rpm the tyre was 195 X 17 ..the only problem i can see sofar is knowing when your stars are dry?.

The one's in the pics are redgum based and start of light brown but when wet they go very dark im not sure if i have to wait for them to go back to light brown in colour before i can build up the star size..

.Also i rolled some Red parlon magnalium stars and they are absolutly rock hard after only 1 day of drying i cannot crumble them between my finger and thumb even using both hands?..Yet i made some Blue colored redgum based stars and can easily crumble them even after a day drying hopefully they crumble because there stiill wet?..My next step is to make some star sizing screens so i can accuratley size the stars...simple matter of drilling holes in a plastic bucket Lid?...

[Rhodri]

Hi Sasman

You've got a great 'harvest' of round stars there - well done!

[The_Djinn]

Rhodri, you better put your wifes spare wheel back or you will be in trouble

Mark

[Rhodri]

Already done mate!

[Chaoticentity]

My next step is to make some star sizing screens so i can accuratley size the stars...simple matter of drilling holes in a plastic bucket Lid?...

easiest way I can think of is to use a piece of smooth plywood |/ <- kinda shaped like that, a backing and then a piece at an angle, then I would set one side at the largest size I would make and the other side at the smallest so the opening get larger as the stars roll down, then I would put a few bins underneath to catch stars of the same relative size, I know it's difficult to understand as I'm not very good with words on this subject PM me if you have any questions.

Edited by Chaoticentity, 27 July 2004 - 02:10 AM.

[Stuart]

Do you mean having a V shaped channel with holes drilled in the bottom of it? When put on an angle, the stars roll down it and fall through the holes drilled in the bottom.

[Chaoticentity]

either way, just some method of creating a channel that gets progressively larger so the stars fall through it and can be grouped to size. I used a straight backing, but I feel that a V shape may be easier to use (perhaps not easier to store though)

edit: forget drilling holes let the size of the channel determine where the stars fall \ / <- leave a gap in the middle that gets larger, thus allowing stars to pass through when there diamater is smaller then the channel gap. Basically you'll build a box with a V described above in it, then incline one end of the box so that the stars will roll from one side to the otherdrop a handful of stars and they'll roll down the channel till it's large enough for the star to drop through, have 4-5 containers underneath the V to group stars to size.

Edited by Chaoticentity, 28 July 2004 - 05:10 AM.

[Phoenix]

Having got the camera I mentioned a while back, I've taken a couple of photos of my machine, one of it set up as a NASCAR Roller and one as a ball mill. Trouble is, I've got nowhere to put them. I don't seem to be able to include them in a post, (I copy the image to my clipboard, but cannot paste it into the reply box) but plenty of other people post pictures. What am I doing wrong?

[Stuart]

Its because they upload them to the internet and then create a link to that picture. I have setup an account on my pictures site for you to upload pictures if you want. I will PM you with the details

Stuart

[Phoenix]

Right. Many thanks for the account Stuart - I have now uploaded the pictures onto it. They can be found here:

Star Roller

Ball Mill

I've included a short description of each with the picture, but if anyone wants anything clarifying, just ask. Thanks again, Stuart.

[Arthur Brown]

Seeing an open compound chamber above a motor worries me. A gentle accumulation of powder in or on the motor could be quite unfriendly. the whole rig going up in a cloud of smoke/stars etc.

Has anyone thought of a rotating shaft just above head height with a tyre hung on it. 1 inch shaft at 1440 rpm 16 inch tyre, tyre doing 1440/16 = 90 rpm. then put the motor and electrics in the next room.

[Phoenix]

Very little dust actually finds its way to the motor, as it has a shield above it, and the dust falls downwards. Furthermore, the motor is brushless, so there shouldn't be any way it can ignite a powder. It does warm up when it runs, of course, but it certainly doesn't get hot enough to ignite any sane composition. I have cleaned the motor several times, and there has never been enough dust to ignite. However, I think I will enclose the motor a little better than I have done, as you are right - it isn't great, and I suppose if the motor were to malfunction it could create sparks.

BTW, 90 RPM seems rather fast for a star roller - 30 or 40 is more usual.

Edited by Phoenix, 02 August 2004 - 08:04 AM.

[Dan]

Don't most car tires contain Sulfer? i thought they did. cant that react if u r rolling KClO3 stars?
i could also be wrong though.

[Phoenix]

That thought had occured to me too, but it would be chemically bound into the rubber of the tyre, so I think there would be almost no chance of contamination. I know there is at least one make of tumbler with a rubber barrel (Lortone, possibly?) and those have presumably been safely used to mill chlorates, and other ingredients of chlorate comps, without causing a problem, and milling would certainly cause more rubber to be incorporated into the composition than star rolling. On the other hand, it may be that the mill jars' rubber does not contain sulphur. Anyhow, I know that a "tiny" quantity of sulphur can sensitise chlorate comps, but probably not as tiny as the amount that might be accumulated in this way.