shagaKahn Posted November 12, 2007 Posted November 12, 2007 Did a search before posting here and came up zip--but if there's a thread somewhere on this that I missed, spank me and send me over. Zinc powder 80Potassium nitrate 28Charcoal (airfloat) 14Sulfur 5Dextrin 2 Long since given up worrying about formulae that don't add up to 100%--but this formula seems a bit weak to me. (Got it off PyroGuide). Have tried the mix, but before doing the alcohol/water wetting to make it pumpable, I like to test a little sample dry, just to see how it lights. This one definitely does NOT. As my reserves of Z dust are pitifully low, I ain't about to mud this up into stars and then find out it's still too weak to take fire. Anybody ever/still make granite stars? Doesn't this recipe seem a little cold to you? (Been making Z/S rocket fuel since I was a little kid, and ratio is like 8 to 5--which is way hotter than the above formula. Know rocket fuel and stars ain't the same thing--but ...
hst45 Posted November 15, 2007 Posted November 15, 2007 shaga, I have/do make these using that formula with the addition of 2% boric acid. I make them as cut stars and prime them with tigertail, and they take fire well, burn with a nice aqua core and give a nice yellow sparky tail. I suspect you Zn/S rocket formula might burn too quickly. 1/2" cut stars of the above formula will burn for about 3 seconds. Two things that I have noticed is that they seem to take a long time to fully dry and they are, as I'm sure you know, quite heavy so consider this when calculating lift.
shagaKahn Posted November 16, 2007 Author Posted November 16, 2007 So you sound like you don't test light your compound in a dry state, before mixing it with H20/alcohol and cut your stars? Wondering if my Zn may be getting a little old and has lost its umph. Thanx hst45, for the boric acid tip--and the tigertail prime.
Mumbles Posted November 16, 2007 Posted November 16, 2007 Stars normally burn totally different as a dry powder and bound, so whats the use? Granite stars specifially will burn much more poorly as a loose powder, as opposed to bound. The same is true with spider web stars. They barely burn before being bound.
shagaKahn Posted November 16, 2007 Author Posted November 16, 2007 Well that's certainly true in the case of my batch of granite stars mix (can't get them to ignite period in the dry unbound state). Guess I'll go ahead and commit to turning this dry mix into mud for stars. Thanx Mumz, for the tip.
Recommended Posts