Water amount in stars and other compositons

[xer]

I'm trying myself at making some stars starting with chrysanthemum 8.

 

The first test was making a tiny batch and pumping it with a syringe and because I don't have the necessary tools I'm going to cut the larger batch. Right now I have moistened my composition for cutting and am running into the same problem as when I was when pumping my first batch I feel like that I need way more water than I've read about. In the cutting stars via baggie thread David stated that he uses a LOT of water around 30% for cutting I'm not even getting a workable dough with 30%. For pumping/pressing I've read depending on pressure amounts between 3 and 15%. I have really low pressure with my syringe but still I needed at least 20-25% to not get a non-powdery consistency. While granulating my first bp I also felt like it needed quite a bit more water the anticipated to get it into a ball. I'm using hemp charcoal it seems quite voluminous, but I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

I feel like that I'm maybe missing something any ideas/tips would be appreciated.

[Mumbles]

The first thing I'd do is let is sit covered for an hour or two, or even overnight. I tend to pack it into the bottom of the bucket or bowl with my hands and let it be. The water will distribute better throughout the comp, and make the comp more manageable. Heavy charcoal stars are weird behaving sometimes. It feels like the charcoal soaks up a bunch of water at first, and then slowly releases it back to the comp. It's easy to overwet and get a sticky mess if you don't take it slow. Once it's been rested or tempered, it seems to wet better and is more controllable.

 

All comps are different with how much water they need. It also seems to depend on what kind of charcoal you use. As a general rule, I'm probably around 30ish% water when cutting charcoal stars using the patty/bag method. I will add 20% off the bat and let it temper, and then get it to the consistency I want after that. I do it more by feel than actual mass to be honest. What I aim for is being able to form it into a ball, and then being able to cleanly break that ball apart cleanly without much crumbling or being too sticky. If you start to see the surface get shiny upon standing, that's a good sign you're right there or a touch over wet. It shouldn't stick too much to your gloves either.

[Arthur]

Water is cheap compared to other ingredients! Definitely let the damped mix rest for a while then see how it cuts or pumps. The more pressure you can make the less water is needed. Charcoal stars will stand being over wet and just take more time to dry, other comps (esp glitters) will NOT.