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#1 Dan

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 05:49 PM

i was driving to work the other day and was trying to think of an easy way to make a red star. then it dawned on me that road flares are red and they burn similar to a star but on the ground and bigger. i was wondering if i should try to make some red stars form road flares or is it to dangerous or something. what kind of binder should i use? dextrin?
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#2 Creepin_pyro

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 07:25 PM

You could try, if you really want... In general, it is not advisable, and possibly illegal to dismantle pyrotechnic devices! As far as I know, road flares are mainly Strontium Nitrate, and there are some superb Strontium Nitrate star formulas around.

#3 Dan

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 07:33 PM

i think i will carefully. i will post my results if i do.

#4 miniskinny

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 02:00 AM

Actually, I had a road flare awhile ago, and me and some boys lit it on fire, and soon got bored. So we poured out some of the powder and tried to ignite it by match. Didn't work. We tried many other ways, and I'll be the first to tell you; have a good primer for the powder, it's really hard to light.
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#5 The_Djinn

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 07:41 AM

Dan,

I would be very cautious when it comes to dismantling devices. If you want to experiment with colour, order some perchlorate from Skylighter and items such as strontium can be obtained from pottery suppliers. I know you said before you don?t like paying the shipping charges etc but you need to weigh up the costs against safety. Even if you order 1kg of perc, it will keep you going whilst you find a supplier more local to where you stay.

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#6 Phoenix

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 11:43 AM

It'll probably work out much more expensive to dig powder out of road flares than pay the shipping charges, and a lot more dangerous. Besides, it's cheating.

#7 Dan

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 01:42 PM

I figured it would be more expensive using road flares but i have one sitting outside in my shop and just wanted to see if it would work. i figured safety would be one of the issues and i was planning on being very very cautious.
i was thinking about ordering perclorate from pyrohobby.com. a pound is only like $8 and i could get like 2 or 3. i could also get a pound of barium carbonate, iron oxide red, red gum, strontium carbonate, and parlon. but the dont have pvc :( . what is the solvent for parlon again? acetone, mek?
btw i have heard that when u order knives, chemicals, etc on the net they put u on a government watch list in the US. does any one now this is true. i dont like the idea of being spied (watched) upon all the time it gives me the creeps.
thx
Dan

#8 miniskinny

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Posted 16 July 2004 - 04:36 AM

Dan,
It is true that the new Homeland Security crap puts you on a list when you order certain chemicals that could be used in es, but as long as you don't actually go around blowing up people or other things, you'll be fine.
When one plays with fire, one is bound to get burndt.

#9 Dan

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Posted 16 July 2004 - 03:33 PM

cool thank you miniskinny

#10 NUKE

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Posted 21 September 2004 - 11:14 AM

The_Djinn said that you can obtain chemicals from a pottery suppliers.But i cannot understand what is pottery suppliers.Can anyone tell me the products of these shop to understand what is it and find it?

#11 Phoenix

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Posted 21 September 2004 - 04:26 PM

OK, I'm not sure if any of this is correct, but it's what AltaVista came out with: Pottery suppliers = προμηθευτές αγγειοπλαστικής

"Pottery" is items like cups (φλυτζάνια) and bowls (κύπελλα) which are made from clay (άργιλος).

A pottery supplier will sell things like clay (άργιλος), kilns (κλίβανοι), tools (εργαλεία), and materials to make glaze (λούστρο) to people who wish to make their own pottery. Glaze is sometimes made from chemicals like copper oxide (οξείδιο χαλκού), barium carbonate (ανθρακικό άλας βάριου) and strontium carbonate (ανθρακικό άλας στροντίου) which are used in fireworks to make coloured flames.

#12 NUKE

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Posted 21 September 2004 - 04:39 PM

Thanks alot.Good info.

#13 BurlHorse

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Posted 26 October 2004 - 06:12 PM

Hey guys, Road Flares, Well at least on this side of the pond. Flares, Fussee's, or whatever you wish to call them, are fairly useless anyway for any kind of Star with out alot of Modification, They are chemically made up of mostly Strontium Nitrate, Sulfer, Wood Meal and Parrafin, maybe a buffer chem too, I don't know for sure. What I do know is, Since the Stuff is Soooo Hard to Light, Burns....sooooooo Slow, produce tons of Smoke and with the Parrafin and Woodmeal/Splinters, the comp is impossible to roll. Well, OK, I would not be Bear if I said Impossible, Yes, You "Could" probably do it, but whats the point if a 3/8'inch (Not including Prime) burns for 8 Seconds. 8 Second Stars are Used in 12's and 16" shells, not exactly beginner fare.

So My 2 Cents worth would be in line the the Djinn, Whats the Point of taking these things apart if the tresure inside is fools gold. as to dismantaling, the Primer/Striker Comp on the Top contains red Phosphorous, so the if you insist on this venture, use a hack saw and gently cut about 2"s off of the business end, that should clear the prime.

Mods: I would not recommend this, But I wanted to steer him Clear of the Prime, which I believe is the only real Danger involved here. The Comp itself will not Deflagrate, ignite, even spark when sawn in half.

That being said, I agree with the "Thats Cheating" statement someone made earlier also, There so Many Beautiful Reds Out there Why would you waste your time then take credit for "look what someone else did" Even if you modded it.

Since I have been gone for awhile I am just Catching up, seems like alot of posts regarding taking things apart, in general a bad idea as the Chinese and other production countries don't gerally give you an instruction sheet, formula list or construction details with each device, all of which would be needed to safely carry out some of these"Let see whats inside" posts/ideas.

Yes it can be Done, Heck I've done it.....A LONG time Ago. Allow me to reverse engineer a NIKE commercial Saying...."Just DON'T Do It".

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#14 paul

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Posted 06 January 2006 - 12:01 PM

Hey guys! Sorry for digging up such an old thread, but it is the only one regarding "red stars" and I don?t want to make a new thread for that!

Reading through rec.pyrotechnics I read an comment by Mike Swisher. He said that you can substitute the KClO3 in some formulas directly with KClO4. At least in those formulas with a somewhat lowder KClO3 content.


I really got no very convincing red star with a deep colour. Not with blesers KP or with shimizus formulas. Not at the ground, not in the air.

So I came across a Lancaster red:

KClO3 64%
Red Gum 13%
SrCO3 19%
Dextrin 4%

As I don?t like chlorate very much and don?t evenb have any I subst. it with an somewhat smaller ammount of KClO4 to balance the oxygen a bit. I used 60% instead.

I was amazed. This is a really deep, red colour with a somewhat light red tip. The color simply satisfies me and the formula works without every PVC or other clorine donor.

Please try it! I try to take a photo of that red today if it gets darker!

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#15 karlfoxman

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Posted 06 January 2006 - 01:25 PM

Very interesting Paul, i am going to give that a try when i can. Its nice to have a decent comp that does not require a chlorine donor as i am running low on this at the moment. Be nice to see a picture of it, bet the pic does not do it justice though. Have you tried it in the air?




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