Introduction
The “rainbow” of star colors I’ll be discussing here builds on the methods detailed in the How to Make Screen-Sliced Brilliant-Red Rubber Stars project to expand your color palette of star choices.
Note: Be sure you learn and are familiar with that new way of making and priming stars before starting on this project!
The screen-sliced rubber stars production method has significant advantages for the small-scale hobbyist:
- A full range of great colors with a small collection of chemicals
- Simple and fast star-making process
- Fast drying stars, which are great for on-site pyro-device manufacture
- Very specific quantities of stars can be made, minimizing storage of excess stars
- Matching-color rising tails for shells and rockets can be made at the same time as the stars
- Metal particles may be added to the stars to create spark-trails behind the color-star heads
The introductory project focused on one basic star formula for “brilliant red” stars. At some point most fireworkers start to yearn for a wider variety of color stars and effects. They want to fill out the palette of potential star effects they have to choose from when making fireworks devices. Multiple colors and effects used in the same device, as seen in the photo below, can really make for interesting and beautiful fireworks.
A Pair of Amateur-Built “Stained Glass” (or “Kaleidoscope”) Shells
Photo by Tom Handel
So how do you make a rainbow of color stars to go with those charcoal stars and glitter stars, silver-spark tailed stars, or a nice white star? At the same time, can we get around the problems of using chemicals that are hard to obtain or require special drying?
The purpose of this project is to answer these questions with a set of well-balanced color star formulas that use easily available and relatively non-hygroscopic chemicals. These formulas are designed to work well with the screen-slicing method described in How to Make Screen-Sliced Brilliant-Red Rubber Stars.
Now if I were you, I’d be clamoring to get my paws on those formulas and itching to start getting my hands dirty right away. So, I’m going to give you the table of new formulas right up front. Your job for this project is to use these new formulas along with the screen-slicing process you learned in the red rubber stars project to make some of these beautifully colored stars and try them out.
However, when you’ve worn out your hands (or exhausted your pyro budget), come on back in here and read the two sections of this project that come after the star formula table below.
In the first one, “Pyrotechnic Color,” I’ll explain how these (and other) formulas work to create colored flames and how you can mix and modify them to create even more colors for your pyro palette.
Finally, in “Developing a System of Bright Stars using Carbonates,” I will show you how to approach a major pyro research project by explaining how I went about developing this one. In doing so, I’ll include many more useful color star formulas for you to try and experiment with.
The rainbow colored stars and the directions are great. I had serious doubts about the black powder I made from the skylighter kit and my newbie skills with making stars. Much to my amazement the first shell I launched went sky high and every star ignighted. There is no feeling like it to see your first shell work perfectly. Highly recomend the rainbow rubber stars for beginers I can’t imagine any other star making process being easier.
No my blue stars do not burn any slower than any other color. What I found that does burn very slow is adding a factor of 5% with brake lathe turnings to the white formula. These stars made huge glowing yellow-orange sparks that did fall all of the way to the ground while ignited.
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The blue does burn slower and less energetically, but it has to- faster means hotter, and the temperature of the conflagration has to reamain low to stay within the blue spectrum.
I don’t think the lactose can be replaced by another fuel such as cane or beet sugar.
Your local brewshop should have lactose, if you are in a hurry to try it and can’t wait on delivery from Skylighter.
I just used the red and green with a little added flitter in some four-driver color changing/reversing saxons this weekend. They worked great, but you have to watch the nozzle size- it shoud be a 16th larger than for BP, or you may get blowups.
The blue simply does not have enough oomph to drive saxons made in 1 lb tubes, although the 3/8ths tubes can drive a wheel, but really don’t show much color…
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alex Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 2:07 AM
cool, that was kinda what i was thinking about the temperature change. I will hope to be getting lactose soon.
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anyone feel that the blue stars seemed to burn rather slow? I have only had experience building the brilliant red and brilliant green star comps, both did great but now that i made blue the blue seems to burn rather slow and almost wants to hit the ground from my star gun. I do not have mortars to fire from at the moment so i haven’t attempted it in a shell yet, they almost seem as they would hit the ground to me. also this is probably a little bit important, i used sugar to substitute the lactose since i do not have access to lactose at the moment. other than that though the star formulas i’ve tested work great, im happy to finally have my colored star compositions within reach.
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Hi Shaggyman
Thanks for the info. I use these stars a lot so it seemed like a good idea as i have the chemicals on hand, it saves buying something different. I did test the purple with some added coarse charcoal in a 3/4″ id tube/ 8mm nozzle, the result was a nice fountain but very negliable thrust. I guess i need to make the nozzle a lot smaller in a driver application
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Did you try it yet shaggyman?
I`d really like to put a blue gerb with ferrotitanium on a wheel as a garniture but i`m not sure if it would work using the star formula as it is.
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Shaggyman Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 7:06 PM
Yes I did, and it worked well, adding Ti and substituting 40% Flitter in the Mg/Al.
Worked fine.
I did a half dozen that started out blue, changed to green, then red, and finished with a big Ti spray. Very nice!
If you are pressing dry, why bother with this Parlon laden formula? Wouldn’t some thing else work better?
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Bob Damjanovich Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 8:10 PM
We got started from a couple of brilliant star comps, wondering if they’d be energetic enough to drive a wheel. When we found out that they were, we experimented further with added Ti and coarse charcoal to get the spark effects.
No other reason for using the “parlon-laden formula(e).
B
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Still wondering if anyone has tried confining these comps in a gerb, possibly adding some charcoal, Ti or Al flitter if they are (as I suspect) too hot.
I’ll probably try some soon, but if anyone has already been there….
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Bob Damjanovich Reply:
December 8th, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Shag:
We’ve used comps vey similar to these in gerbs. Two things:
1. press ‘em dry–don’t add any solvent
2. we’ve added spherical Ti and charcoal.
They do burn hot! We’ve used 5/8″ (ID) tubes with regular gerb tooling (Wolter and Majdali). They work well, and are easy to light.
Good luck, have fun
B
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At the Rocky Mountain Pyrotechnic Guild Labor Day event, we gave a workshop/seminar on the rainbow stars.
Because of a logistics failure (don’t ask) we ended up with none of our tools. We scrounged a 1/4″ drying screen, some stainless bowls, bought some spatulas at the local grocery store, and off we went.
Calculated the patty thickness for the wire clot to be about 5/32″. No dowels that size! But, we found some barbecue skewers that were 4 mm, just right. Followed the directions in the rubber star articles, with the exception that more (~10%) acetone was required to account for hot, dry and windy conditions at our 4800 ft elevation site.
We made all 7 rainbow colors, enough to make 2-3″ mines of each, plus some left over for the shell workshops. Everything worked great, the colors are bright and distinct–even the difference among blue-indigo-violet. The red and orange leftovers got used as pistil stars in 6″ firefly shells to great effect.
The unanimous opinion of the participants was:Great! we can make stars, build shells and mines and fire them all in one day. Perfect for a club event.
BTW, we fired the mines first in “reverse” color order–VIBGYOR, for fear that the bright magnalium fueled colors would fatigue our eyes. Worked great. Then again, in traditional order–ROYGBIV. Worked great, no worries about over saturation.
All said, a great technique. Thanks for the hard work and the great reports.
Bob and Margye
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ned Reply:
September 13th, 2010 at 7:39 PM
That’s just great, Bob and Margye.
I think one of the truly great things about this system is the “make em and shoot them the same day” aspect.
Sounds like you worked through some setbacks and had great success. True fireworking.
I’ll look forward to seein’ the two of you next summer in Fargo.
ned
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Bob Damjanovich Reply:
September 14th, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Looking forward to seeing you, too, Ned.
We originally feared the stars cut thru 1/4 hardware cloth would be to small for practical use, but wanted to do the demos anyway. With the stars primed and rolled up to ~5/16 diameter, they worked just fine as described above.
Thanks again
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Your Star slicing method is the best thing since Sliced Bread…… You recently had 2 mesh and 4 mesh screens. Are these still available or will they be available for the Crackerjack Meet in October?
Thanks for these quick to make brilliant Colored Stars. I’ll be trying Tailed Colored Comets at our next Club meet.
Nick
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I was just looking at the table for ‘Bright Star Compositions with High Magnalium Content (HWW)’ and noticed either a glaring bunch of typos or a complete failure of cognizance on my part. The Perchlorate and Magnalium at 0.03 contrasts a bit with the Rainbow formula’s 0.3 in the Red, for example. The Parlon is the same in both formulae, as is the Strontium Carbonate and Red Gum.
Is HWW’s table grossly out of whack? I can’t imagine a star comp with five times as much Parlon as Perchlorate, but it sure gets me scratching my (nearly hairless at this point) head….
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ned Reply:
July 24th, 2010 at 9:18 AM
Mmmmm,,you’re sure right on that one, Shag..
Somehow in the editing and formatting process..the formulas in that table had some numbers messed up..
All of those formulas should have the parts add up to 1.
The perc is 0.30 in all of them,except for the 0.40 in the white.
The red gum i 0.05 in all of them.
Theparlon is 0.15 in all of them.
The MgAl is 0.30 in all of them, except for the 0.40 in the white.
And the carbonate total is 0.20 in all of them, with the SrCarb being 0.05, and the BaCarb being 0.15, in the Exp Yellow.
Thanks for catching all of that.
ned
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I am getting ready to build a waterfall display using 25mm gerbs for a shoot in August.
Has anyone tried modifying the blue star comp by adding some coarser MgAL or some Ti? Seems to me they might be just the bee’s knees if they don’t explode….
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Hey there Ned,
WOW, these are great!! You truly gave away the farm with these, bravo my friend !! I am constantly amazed at we the hobbyists, who are the true innovators. You’ve certainly taken a commanding lead with your research. I AM indeed humbled. I Have tried nearly every formula here, with comparable, repeatable results. I would like to try and adapt some of these to rolled stars, and I do see some room for the development of a dark relay comp. I’ll work on on that and report in July, hope to see you there.
Thanks,
Tony
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Mixed up 10G batches of Blue, Red & Green, and tested them last night by in 3/8″ x 3″ paper tubes. The red and green burned for about two seconds, and the blue for about 15 seconds. I’m concerned about the burn times- if the tube confined the comp and made it burn faster, I’d be okay, except for the blue. Is 5% Lactose enough fuel?
Even with 5% of red gum and 15% parlon being used as fuel, It seems like 63% perc and 25% fuel is a little lean. What gives with the long burn time compared to the red & green?
Should I cut back on the magnalium in the red and green for a longer burn?
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ned Reply:
June 26th, 2010 at 12:55 PM
These stars are typically fast burning, Shag, so I’m not surprised by the red and green burn times. Coarser MgAl will slow the burn time.
I am very surprised by the blue burn time, though.
I’ve made a lot of that blue, and have never had long burn times with it.
Different batches of chemicals can make a difference, though.
If you weighed the individual chems for the formula correctly, and are sure of that, then I’d have to suspect one of your chems,,perhaps the copper carbonate.
The only suggestion I’d have is to try different lactose and/or copper carbonate to see if it makes a difference, since those are the two chems which are different in that particular formula, as opposed to the red or green.
ned
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RedDog Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 11:56 PM
Shaggyman and Ned-
I just made a batch of the Red-Orange and the Blue stars today and tested them out. They were very easy to make, especially for a beginner! I had the same issue though with the Blue stars (8-15sec burn) and was wondering if you had found a solution? I also was having issues with getting all of my stars to ignite when the shell broke. I think it may have been a priming issue although they didn’t break very hard.
Thanks for the project!
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ned Reply:
July 13th, 2010 at 9:38 AM
The step priming from the star comp, to the igniter comp, to the BP prime, really ensures good star-ignition, Dawg,,,so if I was having star ignition problems, I’d focus on the priming process and doing it really well, per the specs.
On the blue-star burn-time problem, I’ve not had the issue come up for me,,and I’d have to guess that some difference between the chemicals I’m using, and the chemicals y’all are using, is accounting for that situation, especially if it’s cropping up for more than one person.
ned
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Shaggyman Reply:
July 13th, 2010 at 12:24 PM
I made a pound of really anemic lift powder, and wound up spending many hours making and powdering another batch of charcoal, only to wind up with two pounds of really anemic lift. (FYI: toilet paper makes a wonderfully fine and fluffy charcoal, totally useless for BP. Pine shavings are almost as bad. Stick with willow…) Wound up mixing up some whistle with the crummy BP and using BenzoLift just to get stuff out of the tube.
Net result (whine) is that I didn’t have enough time to make all the shells, etc. for the 4th, and had to settle for mostly mines, and even those were loaded on site, using the paper cup piston method.
These worked great, and the slower burn on the blue was not noticed at all. A 1/2″ x 2″ strip of blue comp ignited at one end burned at less than half the speed of the colors with MgAl as fuel, but the blue stars shot from a mine seemed to burn about as long as the other colors. (Perhaps because of the stars being ignited on all surfaces at the same time by the priming, or the ignition temperature from the hot prime?).
Another FYI: Those really thick, dense strong-looking 4″ carpet tubes are NOT suitable for mortars- not even for a good creampot. Just sayin’….
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West Bengal is a state of india, and here are many fireworker is attached in this industry like me.many other type of firepot are available here in soil pot.when this soil pot is burn then its sparkels hight is above 100feet in 4inch pot.
So Harry, I need to publish this technic where the firepot is above 100feet height.
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In India not available RedGum or perlon,But I make this type of dark red with the help of STRONTIUM NITRATE,PVC,RESIN (which is extract from Pine tree),MAGNOLIUM and ACETON AS BINDER.Really its working and when it burn then emmit dark red color.
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Subject: RE: Could fireworks plug the oil leak?
Harry,
OK, OK, OK. Enough with the rubber stars already!
I have been working with them off and on for about five years now.
I always had so-so results, but that’s because I didn’t experiment with them enough.
I actually LOVE parlon-bound stars when they’re right.
But, I have had some notable disasters with them too. Right now I have a gallon jug of ¾” blue pumped stars that burn for ~32 seconds! And green ones that fade to yellow. ¼ purple cut stars that burn 8-12 seconds!
For all that, I love the colors and the disproportionately large flame envelope that the parlon- bound stars deliver.
I discussed this with Ned via e-mail 3+ years ago, because I thought that the quick dry properties of the parlon-bound stars would offer a chance to make the stars and actually build shells, mines, ect. at a 2-3 day venue like the FPAG Fall Festival or a PGI Convention for the folks that don’t have a place to do it or a way to legally transport the finished product.
That **** legal transport business nearly shut down my pyro activities at club meets, etc.
Well, my parlon adventures were about like making love in a flight suit…unsatisfactory.
But, leave it to Gorski- he came up with a procedure to make parlon-bound stars that are 1) BEAUTIFUL & Bright 2) Simple to make 3) dry quickly (!) 4) very consistent in size and performance 5) require a limited number of ingredients 6) materials are generally low hazard and toxicity.
I know he expanded on the work Gary Smith did , and refined it to the present state of the art, adapting Veline’s color system concept into a workable process for making parlon-bound stars a useful addition to a pyro’s repertoire instead of a nuisance! I used the system (and my WASP ) at the FPAG Founder’s Festival and made 1) tsars, rice krispies coated hulls, 4 ” mines and 4″ ball shells literally in ONE DAY, and shot them that evening, 4-5 hours later.
Big, BEAUTIFUL, BRIGHT breaks-very even. I was really proud of the way everything came out (well, except for a flowerpot, but I should have disassembled that one and re-pasted it anyway
Well done, Ned!
Now, if will just get offa the sofa and make screen-cut stars from all the parlon comps that have been languishing in my magazine, I should have a BUNCHA stuff to shoot at 4F. Maybe even some for the 4th
And hats off to you, too, Harry for funding the research and advancing the hobbyist’s pursuit of more accessible, bigger and better pyro!
So, OK Harry, I get the rubber star message… Now, go light something!!!
AEJ
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Ned,
Well I made my first batch, they are some f’in bright even more than a road flare.
They were easy to make, didn’t come out quite but the break was perfect and the stars were spectacular !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
now I want multi colors, I made the 1/4″ stars and I think i’ll try some 1/2″ too for my 6″ers
thanks a lot all of you mentors
tom herrick, Vermont
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ned Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 7:43 AM
Thanks Tom,,
and Tony..
When you mention Bright,
I made an 8″ ballshell with Red Rubber stars in it, sliced through a 2×2 screen.
I shot it at a club event,
and it’s not often you get Ol’ Hands saying “WoW” at a shell.
“Think those are bright enough, ned,,, I can still feel the ‘heat’ of that baby..”
Have fun,
and I’ll see ya in the Fall, Tony,
ned
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Doesn’t sodium make a yellow flame?
This might be something better to do with that old box of Arm and Hammer baking soda in the refrigerator than just pour it down the drain.
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ned Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 9:10 AM
That’s an interesting point, Jim.
In all the experimenting and test batches I went through as I focused in on the formulas presented in this instructional, I can’t recall if I tried sodium bicarbonate to produce a yellow…
Something in the back of my mind tells me I did,,,but I can’t be certain..
So many experiments,,,so little time..
Some folks don’t care for sodium yellow comps..complaining that the yellow looks orangish to them. I’ve never particularly objected to the sodium yellows, but I do know that the yellows thar are produced by mixing red and green comps look much different than the yellows produced with sodium. More of a lemony, citron yellow without any orange in it.. Some folks complain that they see a greenish tint in those mixed-comp yellows,,but in that case maybe the color just needs to be tweaked toward the red a bit more..
Let us know if you do any ‘sperimenting with the sod-bicarb..
ned
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My most recent experiment with this system — seeing that a copper colorant makes a nice star? Hmm, what copper do I have around the house?
Now, I do NOT recommend this, and it needs to stay in the “experimental and unproven” formulary until its safety has been established. But it at least seems to be safer than making salutes.
We know that sulfates are a big “no-no” with most oxidizers, but the literature indicates that sulfates are OK with perchlorates. Which is the oxidizer in this system.
The most commonly available copper colorant is, of course, copper sulfate pentahydrate, those blue crystals from the hardware store and 9th grade science class.
But — to be usable for pyro, you first need to knock off the five water molecules per each CuSO4 molecule. Otherwise — CuSO4*(5H2O) won’t grind, won’t ball-mill. won’t burn, won’t do ANYTHING except kill the roots in your septic tank or coat itself all over the inside of your ball mill like spilled epoxy (trust me and don’t try that at home or even at work).
So first you have to cook off the extra water by heating the pentahydrate form to hotter than 220C. I won’t discuss any safety issues for this other than the obvious fact that you’re turning a relatively toxic solid into another relatively toxic solid. As the CuSO4*(5H2O) heats and decomposes into free gaseous H2O and straight CuSO4, it changes from those pretty blue crystals to a layered-looking powdery stratum of decreasingly blue and increasingly gray “stuff.”
It’s finished when your temperature indicator says higher than 220C and you observe no more physical changes. Once cooled, the CuSO4 powder can easily be screened into your mixture but the pure CuSO4 will swiftly absorb atmospheric water and return to its CuSO4*(5H2O) blue crystalline form, so you need to store it in an airtight container within an hour or so of manufacture.
A previous experiment of mine suggested that it will last indefinitely if closed off, and is about as inert as a lump of granite in this form.
How much to use?
I started with the previously published copper carbonate formula. Since I’ve forgotten all my highschool chemistry except how to make meal powder, I wrote down the sum atomic weights of CuCO3(II) and CuSO4 and figured out what I’d need to add to get the same number of copper atoms. This is ONLY a starting point, and the actual optimal amount will be different. My back-yard arithmetic suggested using 1.5X CuSO4 in place of 1X CuCO3(II).
And it worked! Because the prime is K-heavy, the test star showed a variegated lavender and blue hue. I think that more CuSO4 and more Parlon would push it more to a uniform blue or blue-green color.
But I got a good uniform burn on the test star, and just over a second on a poorly-primed 1/4″ star. So this size and color, without any change, might be delightful in a 3″ ball shell, since it should pop out like a variegated lavender and blue marble, more lavender at first as the prime burns off and more blue later until it’s gone.
My people are easily enough impressed that they’ll “oooo-” and “ahhh-” over that effect.
How ’bout yours?
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Lonny Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 10:43 PM
Jim,
I’ve tried tried two blue formula, one out of introductory practical pyrotechnics, which used potassium perchlorate and cupric oxide(copper II). This blue was pretty washed out. The other came from the web somewhere I can’t remember. It uses ammonium perchlorate and copper benzoate which skylighter has both. This blue is not as deep as I would like but it is still pretty good. I have;nt tried the blue in Neds screen slicing system yet but I expect it will be good.
My people are impressed easily as well, thankfully for my sake, although my wife is my biggest critic ” is that all it does?” oh well
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Lonny Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 10:52 PM
Hey Jim,
I found that formula, it’s called AP Blue, it’s on Skylighter’s web site. On a side note when this star burns it leaves no dross behind.
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ned Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 10:18 AM
“We know that sulfates are a big “no-no” with most oxidizers, but the literature indicates that sulfates are OK with perchlorates. Which is the oxidizer in this system.”
I don’t pretend to be much of a chemist, Jim,,(but I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express last night..),, So, your statement above got me curious.
I got to thinking “Aren’t the sulfates oxidizers? Why can’t they be mixed wtih most oxidizers? I know that mixing sulfur, sulfates, or other sulfur-containing compounds, with barium chlorate or potassium chlorate, is surely a No-No due to the chlorate-sulfur incompatibilities and dangers.”
Typically strobe fuels/stars/pots are made with ammonium perchlorate and a sulfate.
I’m just wondering if your statement is simply referring to the problems of sulfurs and chlorates.
And, I got to wondering if blue strobe fuels/stars/pots could be made with your dried copper sulfate in the traditional AP strobe comps.
I’d want to check this out with buddies who Are chemists before doing much experimenting with it.. I don’t like to embark into unknown chemistry, where I’m no expert, without some expert guidance.
But, thanks for sharing your R&D… Interesting.
And, as you mentioned, for anyone embarking with untried/untested formulae, “Be careful out there..”
ned
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After I read the procedure from last week, I bought some 1/4″ and 1/2″ hardware cloth and made some screens by epoxying the hardware cloth between some 1X2 and 2X2 lumber. The frames look a little crude but sure are sturdy. I just tried the 1/4″ screen and I _CANNOT BELIEVE_ how easy this system is to make small stars!! I am going to finish priming the stars before I test them, but for small batches, this has to be the best method ever.
I also have a small-batch home-made star roller that gives disappointing (and tedious) results for making rolled stars, and I have also made cut stars — neither come close to the ease of use as this. Also, the parlon/acetone binder is a joy for its rapid drying, compared to dextrine/alcohol.
Add to that — the carbonate-based coloring agents are a lot more available than nitrate-based colorants, probably safer too, so I expect that I’ll do a lot more experimenting and constructing in the near future.
Jim
–a happy Turbo Pyro buyer, by the way
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ned Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 7:46 PM
I’m glad you’re having the sort of experiences I had when I first started exploring this method, Jim..
It was quick,
It was simple,
The stars were primed and dry in a couple hours when sliced through the 3×3 screen,and I loved the colors..
I could make the right size batch for the projects I was working on,,and didn’t have those excess stars that seem to accumulate, requiring safe storage and eventually safe disposal.
I was sold.
Some stars, like charcoal and glitter stars are still better cut in the traditional way, or pumped,
and some stars that I want larger batches of, or color changes with, are still rolled..
But, most of my stars nowadays are made with this screen-slicing method.
Have fun,
ned
(if you have any probs with that relatively rough, galvanized hardware cloth hanging onto bits of stars, or not slicing them cleanly, the screens that are spec’d, or supplied by Skylighter, are welded-wire stainless-steel screens, which are nice and smooth, and which have all the wires running one direction on one side of the screen, and all the wires running the other direction on the other side. This makes the ideal screen for this star-slicing.)
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Lonny Reply:
June 6th, 2010 at 12:53 AM
Hey Ned,
I made my first batch of pine charcoal today, be ball milling it tomorrow hope it works good for bp. I was wondering, like I said before I want to use some of these screen cut stars for color cores for willow stars. What metal do ya think would make a brighter blond streamer type of willow? I have Flitter al, 12 mic spheroidal al, -200 mesh mg/al, titanium sponge, and granulated iron. I love the willow stars that are brighter with that blond color but the formula I have uses ferro titanium which I do not have. By the way, I’m quickly getting addicted to the screen, have’nt turned my star roller on since I tried it. Love it !!!!
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ned Reply:
June 6th, 2010 at 9:40 AM
If you used a white-pine, that charcoal ought to be very good for hot BP, Lonny.
If I understand it, you’re wanting to lighten the overall color of our willow stars, and not really produce the kind of sparks that Ti or FeTi will produce in a star like Willow-Diadem.
I’ve never really attempted that, since I’m typically pretty happy with the orange-charcoal-spark of the charcoal-only comp, or the brighter-orange longer-hanging sparks that come from replacing some of the charcoal in such comps with lampblack.
But, there has been some discussion of replacing 5 of the charcoal percent with a pyro-grade aluminum in order to brighten the star, without producing metal sparks.
So, you might try taking 5 of your charcoal percent and substituting a dark pyro al, or a 325-mesh brighter al.
That might accomplish what you’re trying to achieve.
Looking at your list of metals, I suppose the 12 mic spheroidal would be the closest to that kind of fine al,,,or maybe even the MgAl would accomplish it..
It’ll take some experimenting to get where you want to go with those stars, I’m sure.
ned
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Lonny Reply:
June 6th, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Thanks Ned,
It’s deffinately pine but I’m not sure if it’s the white variety. The charcoal turned out perfect though, not a hint of ash and the kids and I roasted all the hot dogs and marshmellows we could eat while it cooked(win, win).I’ll try the al. I love a good willow shell, I’ve seen some and maybe they were’nt willow stars at all but they looked just like a bright blond version of them. Hard to catch up with hundereds of years of pyro,(my vast three years of knowledge and all). Any who, thanks Ned I will start tinkering with this formula.
[Reply]
ned Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Lonny, if you go into the Skylighter Newsletter Archives, newsletters #90-94, I recount a project where I made a couple 8″ willow shells, with the lampblack-modification, completely from scratch including BP and match, in 2.5 days, to show it could be done at a pyro event, arriving with absolutely no pyrotechnic materials.
Those stars were nice, bright and long-hanging, with the traditional charcoal-star willow effect.
Adding some FeTi and/or Ti (or FeAl or other metals with experimentation) produces the Willow Diadem effect, which is a wonderful star with it’s long charcoal spark trails, and sparkling metal-spark “jewels”.
Have fun,
ned
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Lonny Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 10:12 PM
Ned,
Hey thanks again I will deffinately check it out. I remember that project putting red and green dye in the wheat paste was a pretty trick idea for some ground effect !
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Wow! I wasn’t just a woofin’ when I said I thought we would run outa screens by noon on Saturday. No doubt about it!
And most people are ordering more than one size of star slicing screen, which just makes sense when you think about it.
A question came up: “Is there a problem ordering the kits when they contain potassium perchlorate?
The answer is “No Problem.”
-Harry Gilliam
Chief Cook & Bottlewasher
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