crazyboy25 Posted May 18, 2007 Posted May 18, 2007 i am going to make my first starmine soon. i am using a tutorial from a skylighter newsletter. mine tutorial my mine will have an ID if 1 1/2" the tutorial is for a mine with a 2" ID. i was wondering how tall to cut my tube, how much lift i should use (the tutorial uses commerical lift i only have homemade) and how many stars the tutoial recomends 1/4 cup but that is for a 2". sorry for all the questions i just dont want to make a mistake (i like to do my research)
Von Bass` Posted May 18, 2007 Posted May 18, 2007 hi a) Anywhere between 12 and 24" I would say is fine, you can probably get away with less, and you can probably get away with more. I use 12 or 18 as standard. A shorter mine will give a wider spread of stars, like a cloud, whereas a longer mine will give a more tunnelled effect to the stars. I use 1/4 of the weight of the stars, but depending on the quality of the BP, whether it has been pressed and whether it has been corned, it could be anywhere between a 10th of the weight of stars, and half the weight. I very much recommend following the piston method for building star mines, that is where you have a disk of cardboard between the lift and the stars, with a few holes cut into it. This is important, and will make your star mines much higher. Basically, it's going to take a bit of testing to work out how you are going to build themGood luck!
crazyboy25 Posted May 18, 2007 Author Posted May 18, 2007 thanks for the help the tutorial in the newsletter does use cardboard disks and i will use lift powder made the united nuclear way (wetting and straining through a screen) even though i have heard it is slightly inefective.
Von Bass` Posted May 19, 2007 Posted May 19, 2007 ah don't worry, that's the way I use. Granted its nowhere near as effective as properly pressing, but it still does the job.
crazyboy25 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Posted May 20, 2007 thanks im am almost ready to assemble but i was testing my stars they were fairly hard to light with a butate lighter (took about 5-6 seconds) i will let them dry more but i took one wet it and rolled it aroung in meal powder then let it dry overnight it it lit much faster (1 second) i plan on priming all my stars and maybe adding more lift to compensate. do you see any problems with this i have heard sometimes primes can ruin the effectivness of star or possibly cause my starmine to CATO.
Mumbles Posted May 20, 2007 Posted May 20, 2007 Stars should light from being brushed over with a butane lighter. If you have to hold it there for any amount of time, chances of them igniting in your mine are not good. It does sound like your stars might still be wet though. What kind of stars did you make for it? I can't answer a priming question without knowing that. About the starmine cato'ing. Just think about that for a minute. I don't believe it's even possible for a starmine to cato. Worst case scenario, the stars don't light.
crazyboy25 Posted May 21, 2007 Author Posted May 21, 2007 i realize my stars are probably still wet but i was just testing them they are magnalium strobe stars here is the formula they have been drying for 3 days i know i should let them dry for about a week but i had to test them. Barium Nitrate 51 gramsPotassium Nitrate 7 grams Sulfur 19 gramsMagnalium 60 to 100 mesh 18 gramsDextrin 5 grams i realize it is hard for a starmine to CATO but my dad allways thinks about worst case scenarios since i had a little accident with a black powder rocket and an antique stain glass window.
Mumbles Posted May 21, 2007 Posted May 21, 2007 Oh yeah, strobe stars are notorious for being hard to light. Not sure about those, but other types of formulas are. I'm specifically thinking of the AP based ones. If you have trouble with them, might I suggest moving to a charcoal streamer or glitter to help get your technique down. They are extremely easy to light, generally no need for a prime. Very pretty IMO as well.
crazyboy25 Posted May 21, 2007 Author Posted May 21, 2007 allright i just used strobe because i had all the chemicals i planed on doing a D1 glitter soon...i just wanted to make sure i could roll them at all let alone make a device that would fire them. i will let my stars dry for 3-4 days then prime them with meal powder and test them. i will let you know how it goes if i ever get to fire them (still need a good launch place)
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