Another Newbie Question (Sorry)

[DJPork]

I recently downloaded a bigass list of pyro formulas (formulae?) for gerbs, stars, propellants and other stuffs from... I can't remember, all I know is that it was some major pyro supplier. In one of the comps for a golden gerb it lists 20 mesh Fe as one of the components. It then tells me to ram it into a tube. Common sense tells me that this is a really bad idea, although, if some random text file I found in the internet says it isn't, then I guess I should just go ahead and ram massive amounts into metal tubes full of ball bearings and nerve gas.

 

But yes, I'm assuming iron and steel are a complete no-no when it comes to ramming them into tubes, but what about other metals such as Ti, Mg, Zn and Al?

 

Thanks, and sorry for all the noobish Qs, but I can't find any other threads about this.

 

EDIT: The same file also tells me to ram this comp:

 

KNO3 - 7

Meal Powder - 72

100 mesh charcoal - 7

100 mesh Al - 7

Dark pyro Al - 7

 

This also doesn't seem safe to ram... I'm thinking that because of the whole creating small amounts of FP with the meal/KNO3 with dark Al. What do you guuys think?

[rev.redneck]

I always think to myself "is this a good idea¿" if you dont feel comfortable you may make simple mistakes, just because .

just my thought...

[ActiveA]

Where did you get this again?

 

Honestly, I'll hold my judgement until someone with more experience can sort this out.

[rocket]

I wouldn’t ram it because of the dark Al. If it dint have that in it I would be tempted to. Really you shouldn’t ram any comp with metals in it.

 

Also you might want to at 1% boric acid to the comp to stop any nitrate Al reactions.

[asilentbob]

The whole non-sparking metals thing applies mostly.

 

Iron, Ti, probably Zr, shouldn't be rammed at all. If you want to use them, they should be slowly pressed using a hydralic press and preferably non-sparking tooling, however Ti is really hard and scratches aluminum spindles pretty good i hear. Generally when Ti is put in rockets for the tail it is as the increments above the spindel so it is safer to press.

 

Al and Mg are non-sparking, but as stated before, it really isn't a good idea to ram metal containing compositions at all as they are harder and can generate friction against tooling and spindles pretty easily.

 

Also Fe should generally be coated with a little bit of linseed oil as it will quickly oxidize in the presence of KNO3 and traces of moisture. You should be ok though if you use it within about a week IIRC.

 

But... You could probably get away with ramming the composition so long as you are ramming very very lightly, just alot. Though using a press and doing small increments is by far the safest way. You might be able to use a vice to press it... but generally they don't open enough to fit tube and tooling into it...

 

I wouldn't ram any composition with extremely fine metal in it. I think about -100mesh is the finest i would personally go. If the composition was moistened and pressed/rammed i would be willing to use very fine metals so long as they are non-sparking i feel like the composition as a whole isn't sensitive moist. In the case of KNO3 based for me this would mean a non-water solvent like acetone, boric acid added, etc. and i'd still be rather light on the ramming.