BPinthemorning Posted August 9, 2007 Posted August 9, 2007 Dose anyone know what micron or mesh size west system aluminum powder is, and what type of pyro aplications it could be used in? (sparkalers, stars, flash?)
qwezxc12 Posted August 9, 2007 Posted August 9, 2007 I'm not sure about West System's specifically, but some aluminum I got under the guise of epoxy gel-coat additive looked and felt like painter's aluminum, i.e. "bright" flake or -325 or -350 mesh coated.
BPinthemorning Posted August 9, 2007 Author Posted August 9, 2007 Can it be used to make a reletively good flash?
BigBang Posted August 9, 2007 Posted August 9, 2007 No, it's atomized. You need flake Al for flash. Someone wanting to be a boomer?
BPinthemorning Posted August 9, 2007 Author Posted August 9, 2007 no, i just have started making much bigger shells, and i need a better break than bp.
Frozentech Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 no, i just have started making much bigger shells, and i need a better break than bp. That's actually kind of backwards. Larger shells tend to use BP break, while smaller shells need a hard kick to get a wide enough break, thus using flash and whistle to enhance it. Really big shells use BP on hulls/cottonseed/rice puffs for break.
BPinthemorning Posted August 10, 2007 Author Posted August 10, 2007 I read this, but the hemi's i made are realy thick, and they aren't puting out.
Phildo Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 You need flake Al for flash The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels. Never would have guessed.
Phildo Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 I misplaced my bulletin but as memory serves, it was 5 micron. I'm sure it's around here somewhere.
crazyboy25 Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 You need flake Al for flash The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels. Never would have guessed. why is that surprising i would assume flake has more surface area.
Pretty green flame Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 You need flake Al for flash The PGI bulletin a couple of issues back reported that spherical AL outperformed flake by a large margin. It surprised the heck out of me but the measured the shock wave and decibel levels. Never would have guessed.why is that surprising i would assume flake has more surface area. emm..spherical was better than flake, according to the bulletin.
Mumbles Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 Suprised the heck out of me too. Then again the Kosanke's science is often disguised as something legitimate, while is rather skewed. I still find it odd they testify for the government against hobbiests, but they publish articles on which Al makes the best M-80. Anyway, I think you're full of shit. Hemi thickness is really not a factor, it's all about pasting. I find thicker hemis give better more symetrical breaks for me anyway. What do you consider to be "bigger" shells anyway?
BPinthemorning Posted August 10, 2007 Author Posted August 10, 2007 6" and a few 4s. i was also going to make a few areal salutes. i still cant get my hemis to break well at all. dont belive me? ill post some vidios on youtube and make a link.
BPinthemorning Posted August 10, 2007 Author Posted August 10, 2007 I saw on united nuclear the guy put flash powder at the center of his rice hulls, and I was gonna try that. Bottem line is if I can't get these shells to break I have tons of hemis I waisted my time on. If there is some way to exelerate my bp to break the shells better, what is it? Flash powder is a last resort for me. I've avoided it my whole hobby carreer because I know how dangerouse it is. I'm no kewl, and I don't apreciate being called one.
BigBang Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 My guess is during their testing they used heavily spiked and pasted maroons. It will give you more bang for your buck (or volume) just because of the nature of the particles. Still, in small salutes, a flake material is almost always used or needed because the particles burn much faster and thus may rupture the tubes in the blink of an eye.
BPinthemorning Posted August 10, 2007 Author Posted August 10, 2007 Ok, I'm buying 1 lb of german blackhead 2 micron flake. Befor i do this, is there anyway to get my bp to work. I don't wanna make it or spend money on it if i don't have to. Way to many horror stories.
BigBang Posted August 10, 2007 Posted August 10, 2007 Coated rice hulls or rice crispies should do you well. You might want to look into benzolift as well. I use it for lift but it can be used if your BP is slow (or straight whistle proves too fast.)
BPinthemorning Posted August 11, 2007 Author Posted August 11, 2007 I'm gonna give my wistle a swing for one of the shells tonight. I already did the rice crispies. And my gunpowder is VERY fast. I use balsa charcoal because i have free access to it.
Mumbles Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Since you have perc, might I suggest giving KP on hulls a try. It makes big symetrical bursts for me. I will advise that some think it's too strong for 6" single petals, but I like nice big breaks. Cutting it 1:1 with BP on hulls will give a slightly slower powder, but still a nice big full break. More pasting may be in order as well. Using KP in double petal shells gives me good results at 15-17 layers of gummed tape. If traditionally pasting, at least this many should be used as well. I just want to let you know that it is completely possible to make good breaks without resorting to flash. Whistle will probably be a good bet. It's not quite as strong as flash, but it's damn close.
BPinthemorning Posted August 13, 2007 Author Posted August 13, 2007 I used wistle with magnesium flakes added in in the center of my rice hulls on my 6 inch. I got what might have been my best break ever. Looks like I'm safe and I don't have to go threw the mess of flash powder. Flash free pyro for 2 years!
Funnlecake Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Hey it's my first post here. Anyway I Just got a can of 420 Al powder in the mail today so I can try making D1 glitter stars. On the label it says it's atomized aluminum but it doesn't say the mesh. It's a light gray color and heres a picture:http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/3328/p8140010tb6.th.jpg
psyco_1322 Posted August 16, 2007 Posted August 16, 2007 Well that looks like a bitch of a container to put fine Al in. What was that company thinking? Anyways....What would happen if you made D1 Glitter with flake Al?
deadman Posted August 16, 2007 Posted August 16, 2007 I believe the company was thinking that since it is an epoxy additive that a paint can will look more appealing to customers. You wouldn't buy something you're going to keep in your garage if it came in a plastic baggy, right? Also the airtight seal keeps the aluminum dust from floating out everytime the container gets shaken. Since it is most likely the same kind of aluminum in silver paints it is probably about 325 mesh and looks similiar to mine, but I really can't tell from a picture. If you have a top notch micrometer lying around you could always figure out the exact particle size. It will work in D1 though, don't worry. If you use flake in D1 it is going to have a match faster effect and won't be quite as glittery as it is flashy. It's still not a bad looking star, but not quite as good as atomized (IMHO).
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