Veline stars

[Lewjack13]

Hello..Im obviously a novice but have progressed to the point that Im going to start making stars. Ive looked at the Veline system and have a couple questions. Is there any special processing that needs to be done to the different chemicals before mixing? Are they all powders that you just shake together In a tub until blended..make a paste then make your stars? I notice there is Magnalium in one of the mixes..isnt it dangerous to wet magnesium? Are there any instructions online that give these instructions..I havent been able to find any. Thank you for any guidance you provide..looking forward to a great new hobby.

[greenlight]

I always just run the chemical through a seive together a few times to make sure there are no lumps and then mix in a tupperware container until they are intimately mixed.

Then you make more of a dough than a paste, it takes practice to get the water content right.

I have mixed many magnalium star comps with water binded dextrin with no problems.

 

Try the skylighter tutorial articles if they are still up, they have detailed instructions. Here is a libk to a whole list of pyrotechnic projects on their website:

 

http://www.skylighter.com/how_to_make_fireworks.asp

[Lewjack13]

I will look again..didnt see them. Thank you for the reply

[rogeryermaw]

just quick and without looking, if i recall, the veline system uses a dichromate salt to protect the metal from corrosion. its purpose in the comps may be intended differently but potassium and ammonium dichromate are typically used in pyro in aqueous solution to passivate certain reactive metals to reduce the possibility of an exothermic runaway reaction.

[starxplor]

Some comments from someone who is recently out of the 'newb' level, here are some suggestions from experience.

 

Please start with small batches. This is for your personal safety and wallet safety. Messing up a 100g batch is not such a hard thing to live with.

 

When adding water, keep a small supply of the mixed and not wet comp to the side. If you add too much water to the main volume of comp, you can add more of the dry mix to absorb it.

 

When adding water, go very slow. Mix the comp with the water between each step of adding water so it evenly spreads. If you have a larger mesh screen, like 20mesh, screening the mix after adding a little bit of water can help distribute the initial water content. (Don't do this once the mix becomes at all 'shiny')

[Lewjack13]

Thank you guys for the advice

[Arthur]

Powders are usually mixed together by pouring them all into a sieve and letting them fall through together, do this 1+ times til the mix is even. Do this onto a sheet of paper so that the sieved powder can be picked up easily and poured through the sieve again.

 

Powder for rolled stars is usually added dry, powder for cut stars is usually made moist til it just goes slightly glossy, powder for pumped stars may be only slightly damp -just but only just slightly coherent (it just clumps together a bit). Usually it helps to mix and moisten a batch of powder then put it in a snap top plastic bag for the moisture to even out over several hours (overnight possibly) which saves having a wet patch which will not dry and a dry patch that will not bind.

 

Powder for tiny (3mm) stars needs to be finer mesh than powder for big (30mm) stars.

 

Magnalium is much less sensitive to moisture than magnesium

[Lewjack13]

Thanks Arthur..couldnt find anything on dangers of dampening Magnalium..plenty about magnesium tho! Glad to have this resource.

[Sulphurstan]

Lew. IMHO wetted MgAl is not a problem (you mix it with kp, not with kn!). I personnally never had problems with it, even when sometimes a little overwetted by mistake (see starxplor' and arthur' advices to avoid this)

Anyway, follow Shimizu's advice in FAST, and don't mix boric acid in a composition containing MgAl, it has no benefit, and could even create problems, if I remember Shimizu's writing..

Veline is a very forgiving mix, pale colors when stars tested on the ground, but worth to make a whole bunch of shells, where the colors are deeper, because seen from a distance.

Short story: no dichromates, no moisture problems, very easy and very versatile composition, easy ignition (veline prime, then BPSi), maybe just not THE very best colors around.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Sulphurstan

[MadMat]

A little advice from my experience. It is best to have your chemicals ground nice and fine (separately, please) beforehand. I usually measure out my chemicals into a stainless bowl, mix them with a stir rod or spoon, then run that mixture through a screen at least three times (somewhere between a 20-40 mesh is fine). For the stars with Mg/Al I would screen mix everything except the MgAl first, then add the MgAl and screen mix once or twice. For screen mixing my compositions I simply use a fine stainless steel kitchen strainer (available at Wally World) and two stainless steel mixing bowls. If you plan to cut your stars, I have found that a 6-8" drywall taping knife and cheapo flexible plastic cutting boards work great. I usually wet my compositions with a 80/20 mixture of water and alcohol. The alcohol lowers the surface tension of the water and allows it to mix into the powders easier. Don't go over 20% alcohol as this may cause problems with the dextrin's ability to bind. I find using a trigger spray bottle a convenient way to add the water to my composition. Add the water slowly while mixing. You need time for two things to happen; 1 the dextrin needs to "activate" 2 the water needs to be integrated completely and evenly. Adding the water slowly will help prevent you from adding too much water. I have found that putting on a pair of disposable nitrile gloves and actually getting my hands into the mixture and kneading it like bread dough is very helpful in getting the right consistency with the least amount of water. when you get the comp to the right consistency, your gloves won't be all "clumped up" with comp. I them lay the blob of comp out on the cutting board, cover it with some kitchen plastic wrap and roll it out into a patty for cutting (you could use an actual kitchen rolling pin for this or just a large diameter wood dowel). At this point, I usually place wooden dowels on either side of the patty to use as a guide for the proper thickness. Once you get a nice flat patty of the thickness you want proceed to cut with a taping knife.

Edited February 27, 2018 by MadMat

[Lewjack13]

Thank you for the info guys