MisterSteve Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 I made some tigertail stars on monday using the formula KNO3 44Charcoal 44Sulfur 6Dextrin 6 I ball milled them all together for about 7 hours I think. Then I watered them down with 75% water and 25% alcohol and made them into small balls. The biggest ones were only about .5" in diameter. Then I sprinkled some BP on them while they were still gooey. I think I used a bit too much to water them down they were sort of sloopy. But I put them right next to the dehumidifier for my house and let them dry. The problem is today I tried to light them and the BP that they were coated in lit no problem but the actual star comp failed to ignite. I even broke it into powder and tried to light it again. After holding a lighter on it for a good 10 seconds all I got was little puffs. I thought that this would be plenty of time for them to dry but my question is do you think it's just that they haven't fully dried or did I mess something else up. I tried to light stars that I made YESTERDAY and they lit fine but that was a diff comp. Please help me I need to make these shells soon I'm leaving for vacation on saturday.
aquaman Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 There's a good chance they were still wet. I usually let my stars dry for at least 24 hours depending on size. Also some star comps don't burn but smolder. You need to make a star tester to see if it is ok.
MisterSteve Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 Ok so can I just use a tube and put some BP in it and then a star and light it? Thats what it says on Pyro Guide. P.S. Quick question how do you guys make your lift powder? I have seen some places that say just put it through a strainer but some that say it needs to be in small chunks.
pudidotdk Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1459
MisterSteve Posted June 28, 2007 Author Posted June 28, 2007 Yeah I saw that but it doesn't really help me....
tentacles Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Charcoal stars can take a LONG time to dry.. the willow stars I made a while back took a week to fully dry in my dehydrator. they were about 3/8" square cut stars wetted with about 50% alc What I found is that if you can break the stars up without, say, pliers... they are still damp. Especially with TT and willow. Mine are little flammable rocks. If I want to break one, I use wire cutters and they SNAP, and tiny bits may break off but they don't crumble into powder once fully dry.
MisterSteve Posted June 28, 2007 Author Posted June 28, 2007 ok Thank you that's what I wanted to know.
aquaman Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Yeah I saw that but it doesn't really help me.... It's not so much that it doesn't help you, it's the point of the topic. You should have posted your question there. That way the forum doesn't get cluttered with help with tt, help with TT 2, TT?, etc... Glad to help though.
MisterSteve Posted June 29, 2007 Author Posted June 29, 2007 Ok good point sorry there pudidotdk didn't mean to be an ass there
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