BasedAndRocketpilled Posted March 29, 2021 Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) Several months back I acquired the chems necessary to make the screen sliced red rubber stars described by Ned Gorski in his Skylighter article. They are beautiful stars, but now I am looking to broaden my color repetoir, ideally without purchasing additional chems. In his follow up article, ned describes several other colors, including a barium nitrate green, which I am hesitant to use as I am not confident enough in my chemical handling abilities to risk poisoning myself. However, he also mentions a "peachy-lavendar" star made with good old KNO3 which sounds both pretty and safe. However, I have been unable to find any videos of this particular formula. Has anyone had any success making this composition? I am also slightly worried about reactions between KNO3 and the aluminum in the MgAl. Is this an issue using acetone as a solvent? Will it be an issue using water to prime them? Thanks for any input, and if anyone has made these and happened to video them I would love to see them in action before devoting chems to them. The formula:KNO3: 53MgAl: 19Parlon: 17Red Gum: 11 Edited March 29, 2021 by BasedAndRocketpilled
SharkWhisperer Posted March 29, 2021 Posted March 29, 2021 Several months back I acquired the chems necessary to make the screen sliced red rubber stars described by Ned Gorski in his Skylighter article. They are beautiful stars, but now I am looking to broaden my color repetoir, ideally without purchasing additional chems. In his follow up article, ned describes several other colors, including a barium nitrate green, which I am hesitant to use as I am not confident enough in my chemical handling abilities to risk poisoning myself. However, he also mentions a "peachy-lavendar" star made with good old KNO3 which sounds both pretty and safe. However, I have been unable to find any videos of this particular formula. Has anyone had any success making this composition? I am also slightly worried about reactions between KNO3 and the aluminum in the MgAl. Is this an issue using acetone as a solvent? Will it be an issue using water to prime them? Thanks for any input, and if anyone has made these and happened to video them I would love to see them in action before devoting chems to them. The formula:KNO3: 53MgAl: 19Parlon: 17Red Gum: 11No real worries about the MgAl/KNO3 intermingling. It's more of an issue with straight Al comps that are water bound. This is a simple rubber star, easy to make and fast to dry. The peach/lavendar effect you're going for? Dunno--never tried this comp, but you can make a small batch, dry it, and test it within a few hours, on the small scale (like 100g if chems are limited), and decide if you like it or want to modify it. Did it specify what size MgAl? Guessing the generic -200. That's a lot of fuel/oxidizer in that formula, so will probably burn reasonably fast with the metal. Barium nitrate is to be respected but not feared. Don't coffee grind it inside, wear disposable gloves and wash your hands (and all equipment used with it), don't snort it, and you'll be fine. Screen sift comps outside and stay upwind. Cautious and thinking about risk is good. Being paranoid overcautious and getting tunnel vision is not good. Remember that your scraps are toxic, too. Don't burn a test pile of comp and breathe it in. Upwind. But it's pretty indispensable at making piercing greens, and is a pyro mainstay... PPE. Think a few steps ahead. Plan for potential problems. Don't be in a hurry.
kingkama Posted March 29, 2021 Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) This star are cool cause you use acetone which activates the parlon as a binder, so you can rest assured that it is a very safe formula, the peach or lavender color is directly related to the quality of kno3, the purer it is the more the color will be lavender less is will tend to peach.I read the article on skyligther and it's all well explained. Edited March 29, 2021 by kingkama
BasedAndRocketpilled Posted March 30, 2021 Author Posted March 30, 2021 (edited) Mixed up a 100g batch today. Definitely more peach than lavender but based on my KNO3 source (amazon seller) that was expected. Very pretty nonetheless. Im in between BP batches right now but plan on making up some more tomorrow at which point Ill prime them and do a stargun test. trim.6BB1A2D3-223F-4C52-981D-9ADD496244E6.MOV Edited March 30, 2021 by BasedAndRocketpilled 1
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