braddsn Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 As I posted here many months back, I no longer keep red gum in my chemical arsenal, I have replaced it with phenolic resin. I roll all of my colors with it, and feel it is the superior way to roll/bind stars. Last night I successfully pumped color comets using phenolic as the binder. I pumped the comets with the same amount of moisture as usual (except using alcohol instead of water), they were 3/4" comets, (pink in this case) and they were rock hard and dry in 3 hours. The phenolic has made everything easier in my manufacturing processes, and is half the price of red gum to boot! If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do so.
chuckufarley Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 I need to. I have 5lbs of milled resin from Jim at ctpyro that I haven't tried yet. Thanks for the update on your success.
braddsn Posted April 2, 2017 Author Posted April 2, 2017 Chuck, that's where I get my phenolic as well. It is amazing stuff.
chuckufarley Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 Yeah that's what I hear! Im still working my way up to colored stars. Started my first 4" cylinder shells this weekend but only made tigertail and some timed reports. I have some spolettes left though so I might try making up some colors. What do you recommend for a good, easy first color star with phenolic?
braddsn Posted April 2, 2017 Author Posted April 2, 2017 Try spanish red: KCLO4 - 48, Strontium Carbonate - 17, Phenolic Resin - 11, Parlon - 10, MgAl (200 mesh) - 11. To wet, I use 91% isopropyl alcohol (I get it at wal-mart). Any color comp that calls for red gum, just substitute with the redgum with phenolic and roll, cut, or pump with alcohol. Good luck.
chuckufarley Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 Thanks I have the jopetes PDF. Ill give that a try
Fotia Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 So your saying the weight of the phenolic is the same as the red gum? Does it take away from the colors?
OldMarine Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 Jim Widman says to use 83% phenolic when replacing red gum to keep the fuel value balanced.
braddsn Posted April 6, 2017 Author Posted April 6, 2017 Fotia, I use a 1:1 replacement for redgum, and there is no difference in the color. The only difference I notice, is that the stars ignite easier.
braddsn Posted April 9, 2017 Author Posted April 9, 2017 Like Mike said, they light easier, and burn faster. However, with the faster burn, there is also more light output.. they definitely burn brighter.
OldMarine Posted April 9, 2017 Posted April 9, 2017 I'm going to try my first married 1.75" comets using phenolic blue and gold Tremalon. I made the blue wafers ¼ to ¾ Tremalon. Burn times seemed pretty equal in tests.
Fotia Posted April 9, 2017 Posted April 9, 2017 Video or it didn't happen. BTW, why haven't you been on mspag?
OldMarine Posted April 9, 2017 Posted April 9, 2017 Haven't figured out how to navigate it or see new posts.
drtoivowillmann Posted April 21, 2017 Posted April 21, 2017 (edited) The correct phenolic is phenole-hexamine-novolac, with a content of free phenol less than 1%.Pyro-factories use it since years as a good and cheap substitute fore red gum. Yours truly: Toivo Edited April 21, 2017 by drtoivowillmann
MadMat Posted April 21, 2017 Posted April 21, 2017 Up until now I have only cut stars (plan to make roller very soon). Anyone have any experience cutting stars with phenolic? I am wondering if there are any differences in texture ect. I imagine there is a shorted working time since alcohol is used, but alcohol doesn't evaporate as fast as acetone, and I have no problem cutting them.
lloyd Posted April 21, 2017 Posted April 21, 2017 The general consensus is that phenolic bound/fueled stars cut MORE easily than those made with dextrin. It might be a 'toss-up' with SGRS. Lloyd
DavidF Posted April 22, 2017 Posted April 22, 2017 I don't have much experience with it, but I found it very difficult to make cut stars with phenolic binding. The comp remained crumbly no matter how much alcohol I added. Then it became crumbly and sticky, especially the knife. The stars I did manage to cut dried rock hard. For me, it has been the least user-friendly binder- for cut stars
braddsn Posted April 27, 2017 Author Posted April 27, 2017 Mat, you will find that cutting stars with phenolic is easier than with dex. In addition, those babies dry FAST!! I made some small pink cut stars a few days ago and they were dry and rock hard 8 hours later. I LOVE phenolic! I roll most of my stars, and roll all color stars with phenolic/alcohol. I pump and cut all color stars with phenolic also. And when priming things with monocapa, I use phenolic as the binder.
mabuse00 Posted April 27, 2017 Posted April 27, 2017 Do you guys talk about the resin with- or without hexamine content?
chuckufarley Posted April 28, 2017 Posted April 28, 2017 Brad,Im hopefully going to cut up some of Kyle's emerald gen stars this weekend. I made the test batch with the quoted formula and plan on binding with water/alcohol. If I like the color and make a full batch Id like to replace the red gum(about 2%) and the dextrin(about 5%) with phenolic and bind with denatured alcohol.
braddsn Posted April 30, 2017 Author Posted April 30, 2017 Chuck, I don't think that will work very well. Only replace the redgum with phenollic, NOT the dex. By replacing the dex with phenolic, your burn rate will change drastically, and will possibly throw other things out of whack (color). I replace the redgum with phenolic (1:1) in my color star formulas, and just delete the dextrin. Then roll with alcohol.
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