Dorkmongoose Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) This is my first attempt at making stars and attaching to a rocket4 oz BP core burning rocket1.5" header made per Skylighter spec. except I used a round disk plug instead of tying with stringHomemade dextrinburst charge: homemade BP with impregnated rice crispies (rice hulls not yet available to me)chrysanthemum and veline blue stars Stars were only semi-successful. I can't make out the chrysanthemum. The veline blue looks pale. I will try another blue formula next. Constructive comments are welcome. Thank you! Edit: to properly attach file RocketWithStars1031019.MOV Edited March 10, 2019 by Dorkmongoose
pyrokid Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Nice rocket! I saw some charcoal firedust in the break, but I bet you put more blue stars than charcoal stars! Veline system is optimized to share components, not produce the best color. The metallic fuel is increasing the brightness at the cost of color purity. Organic fueled composition such as pyro science blue http://howtomakefireworks.fireworkscookbook.com/firework-recipe/blue-star-pyro-science-blue/ should have a richer color. Regarding the break, it's a matter of personal taste and objectives. Clearly the use of a paper plug instead of stringing resulted in a dump break instead of something more symmetrical. I will say that I've seen some Chinese rockets that have huge, thunderous, round breaks from only a bag of flash powder and round stars in a thin tagboard casing. Looking forward to the next one!
Dorkmongoose Posted March 11, 2019 Author Posted March 11, 2019 (edited) Nice rocket! I saw some charcoal firedust in the break, but I bet you put more blue stars than charcoal stars! Veline system is optimized to share components, not produce the best color. The metallic fuel is increasing the brightness at the cost of color purity. Organic fueled composition such as pyro science blue http://howtomakefireworks.fireworkscookbook.com/firework-recipe/blue-star-pyro-science-blue/ should have a richer color. Regarding the break, it's a matter of personal taste and objectives. Clearly the use of a paper plug instead of stringing resulted in a dump break instead of something more symmetrical. I will say that I've seen some Chinese rockets that have huge, thunderous, round breaks from only a bag of flash powder and round stars in a thin tagboard casing. Looking forward to the next one!Thank you for the comments and the link. I was hoping a veteran such as you would chime in, as I know my design leaves room for improvement. Minimally, I need to improve my launch pad, stick choice and stick application. I added extra charcoal to the delay portion composition of the rocket, in attempts to add a bit of charcoal tail. I suppose this sacrificed height? More Veline blue stars were used than charcoal. I also did not prime the charcoal stars...maybe a mistake? I had read conflicting information about the necessity to prime those. I opted for a plug because I assumed the report would be less audible, given the location of launch (large field in a semi-residential area). I didn't take into account this affect on dump. I will experiment with stringing on the next one to see the result. This week I plan to make a similar rocket with a Lancaster red formula (organic) stars recipe I found online. Thanks again! About the organic blue stars referenced in the link: How does one determine whether to use water, alcohol, MEK, acetone to dampen stars? Is it based on solubility of the binder(s)? I assume parlon is not soluble in water, dextrin is. What about red gum? I have also seen recipes that indicate certain star recipes should be cut, rolled or pumped---or any combination thereof. How is that best determined? I'm using a homemade spring-loaded 3/8 dowel/aluminum star pump I made based on a thread in this forum. Thanks Edit to add question about moistening technique Edited March 11, 2019 by Dorkmongoose
pyrokid Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Certain binders are not activated by certain solvents. We know water activates dextrin, and this is the method of binding. If a composition contains dextrin, you may assume that water is the correct solvent in the absence of any hazardous incompatibilities. Mixtures of solvents (e.g. Acetone/MEK) may be used to increase the working life of the wet composition by reducing evaporation. Certain formulas may be incompatible with water and thus require a nonaqueous binding system. Red gum is supposed to be activated by alcohol but I've never tried it so I can't comment. If a composition contains both dextrin and parlon, the operator has some discretion: water is the cheaper solvent, but acetone produces finished stars quicker. It may be easier to roll stars with water as the solvent rather than acetone. These factors all play into the choices that you make. Regarding star production: It's again a matter of using your production capabilities to produce the effects you desire. Precise color changes and uniform spherical breaks are most accessible from round stars and shells. It may be the case that you don't own a star plate or some pressure apparatus, so cylindrical stars are challenging. I can certainly vouch for the star rolling capabilities of a small kitchen mixing bowl!
Dorkmongoose Posted March 12, 2019 Author Posted March 12, 2019 Thank you for the advice on solvent. I will have to research small-scale rolling of stars; I had considered them out of reach for now as I don't have the necessary equipment. Might you have a link to a discussion on using a mixing bowl to roll stars? Thanks again!
dlking59 Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 For simple rolling of stars try this1. put down a piece of wax paper2. put your composition on the wax paper3. put a piece of wax paper on top of your composition4. put a wood dowel (of the size stars you want) on opposite sides5. use rolling pin to roll over the top of the 2 dowels to get your desired star size ie 1/4" dowels for 1/4" thick starsCrude but worksTry using a pizza cutter to cut the rolled stars 1
Mumbles Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 I don't think you understand what rolled stars are dlking. 1
Sulphurstan Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Dlking, without any offense, these should rather be called cut stars..
Maserface Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Thank you for the advice on solvent. I will have to research small-scale rolling of stars; I had considered them out of reach for now as I don't have the necessary equipment. Might you have a link to a discussion on using a mixing bowl to roll stars? Thanks again! https://youtu.be/VH9s0YFEbdo?t=331 This isn't necessarily small scale, but should give you an idea. With the right technique you can swirl the bowl by hand and get some decent round stars. Alternatively you can make perfectly usable small stars by screen slicing them. Roll out a patty of wetted star composition to 1/4" thick and flop it onto a 4x4 hardware mesh screen, then just push it through. you'll end up with more or less uniform round-ish stars.
dlking59 Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 My apologies for calling the above star method wrong. I was thinking of the rolling pin rolling.Mumbles and Sulphurstan thanks for the correction. I learned something new.
Sulphurstan Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 No need for apologies 🤙🤙Just being precise in scientific matters 😀
Dorkmongoose Posted March 14, 2019 Author Posted March 14, 2019 https://youtu.be/VH9s0YFEbdo?t=331 This isn't necessarily small scale, but should give you an idea. With the right technique you can swirl the bowl by hand and get some decent round stars. Alternatively you can make perfectly usable small stars by screen slicing them. Roll out a patty of wetted star composition to 1/4" thick and flop it onto a 4x4 hardware mesh screen, then just push it through. you'll end up with more or less uniform round-ish stars.Thanks for the video link. I'll look into trying this instead of cylindrical stars.
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