Ruby red and Emerald green

[PyroMan LTU]

well I have ballmilled all components exept metals for 1/2h... never mind mybe it will turn out ok when dry.

[Mumbles]

You know, there are far more applicable topics for this. I'm going to move it somewhere when I have some time later today.

[AdmiralDonSnider]

What about the burn rate of Emerald and Ruby in comparision e.g. with Velines?

[firetech]

How good are they really?

[dagabu]

These are all proven formulas for fast drying Parlon cut stars. The burn time for a 1/4" cut star is the same as a D1 glitter rolled 1/4" star but the effect will not hang.

 

D

[TheEskimo]

I made the ruby red, bound w/dex. I have made these before, and they seem to have a medium-fast burnrate. This time, however, I have come very close to losing some eyebrows. They've been rock hard for about a week, after priming. I light them, and they literally explode. They fly around, throwing pieces all over the place, burning for no longer than half a second. They're 3/8in pumped stars. A good analogy would be like lighting up a puck of your fastest BP. It just shoots all over the place, breaking into pieces. Some of them don't even fly around, they just 'poof' and bits of star are all over the place.

It's pissing me off. I know that I put in the right amount of chems, 'cause they're the usual "ruby red". Any suggestions as to why they're doing this?

[dagabu]

These are acetone bound stars, the parlon needs to be melted into the comp, no dextrin, dextrin takes water to activate, parlon needs acetone to activate. Parlon in powder form is a fuel and is probably why they burned so fast.

 

D

[gordohigh]

I have had awesome ruby red and emerald green stars from this original formula, and was wondering if anyone used this formula dry in a gerb/fountain. If so, did you still use the red gum, being that you don't need a binder, or is the red gum providing fuel or something else?

 

My stars with this comp burn bright, good color and very slow burn rate, so it seems it would be good in a fountain. I have used some crushed stars of these comps in a regular Kno3/charcoal/sulpher type fountain and the stars shoot out with great color so before i decide to make a fountain directly was hoping someone else might have tried it and can make some recommendations or adjustments that might make for a good composition. A side note to this is that I also used some crackling star mix I made and it worked fantastic, I mean it was awesome for such a small pyrotechnic device.

 

I'm thinking about doing a 4th of july this year at my daughters party using only gerbs, lances and wheels so it's important to use as many nice effects as I can. Any ideas are welcome!!

[Seymour]

I suspect that the 2% RG is in the formulas to reduce the stickiness of the parlon when it is used as a binder, and also it will of course act as a fuel.

 

I have pressed Emerald green, or similar compositions above fountains so as to give a coloured flame before the display of sparks from the fountain compositions ignites. This works well for the effect, but the effect is quite limited, just a coloured flame, and I would not go as far as to call it a fountain.

 

A better effect might be to do what you describe and to embed small stars in a normal fountain composition. If you want to maximise the effect of the stars, it could be a good idea to coat them with a slow burning delay prime, such as glusatz, so that instead of being half consumed once they leave the fountain, the entire burn of the coloured star is in the fountain plume, or if you timed things wrong, on the ground.

 

Another fairly popular fountain effect, based on coloured stars is to get an energetic one and add some coarse metal powder.

 

To get the Emerald green and Ruby red formulas burning a bit more aggressively I would consider replacing the +4% dextrin with more MgAl, as well as adding the metal. Titanium would probably be most peoples choice, but right now I am thinking about a steel powder being very attractive, with the less blinding gold going quite well with the green flame.

 

So as to preserve the bright green/red flame at the base, I would suggest making the chokes on these devices quite generously wide.

[gordohigh]

Hey Seymouur, thanks so much for the tips. I was looking on skylighter and they do have a red and green fountain formula with these chems, I know the red gum was eliminated and they added Titanium just as you suggested. Unfortunately I don't have any Ti but I do have some steel filings I could add.

 

As far as the nozzle, I do plan on going bigger than normal, in fact, I made up an alu tool so I can make the nozzle end first with the tool I made on the lathe, and then I'll load it backwards. This way I can use my press to get a very compacted nozzle and it wont crumble any like it did with a drill bit and will actually make a better more consistant fountain since I'm making 8-10 of these. I plan on making some red and green, a couple with the iron filings, and a couple with some crushed colored stars with plain 60/30/10 fountain mix. I also want to do a couple with crackle however I need to limit how much because I had one blow the other night and I think it was from too much crackle, (home made dragons eggs).

 

I am blown away at how beautifful the little colored stars shooting out of a gerb are, and the crackle makes the fountain really tall, probably was about 6-7 foot altogether.

 

I wouldn't mind ordering the Ti If I could find a good price and fair shipping, but I made a recent order and don't really need anything else, at least that I can afford right now. I do like that look though and it is usefull so I might do some searching and talk myself into it, lol.

 

 

[TheSidewinder]

If you're going to use Iron filings, make sure they're wax-coated unless you plan to shoot them within a day or two of making them. With a Nitrate in the mix, they'll oxidize (turn to rust) incredibly fast.

[pyrochris732]

Hey all,

 

I made ruby reds last night and dusted them with standard green mix. They arent perfectly dry but they sure did light in the star gun! See below video:

 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

Edited May 14, 2010 by pyrochris732

[Pretty green flame]

Can Emerald green be turned into a green wave star with the adition of 5% titanium sponge/flakes or will it ruin the colour?

[qwezxc12]

Can Emerald green be turned into a green wave star with the adition of 5% titanium sponge/flakes or will it ruin the colour?

 

I've added coarse (18-30mesh) Ti sponge to both the Red and Green and liked the result. The coarser spongs ignites as a delayed tail and IMO doesn't wash out the color head of the star.

[Pretty green flame]

Cool, which type of titanium will give the longest tail? I want the tail to hang in the air for a couple of seconds.

This is pretty much what I'm looking for:

But I can't find any composition that would even come close to this, so I have pretty high hopes for Emerald green w/Titanium

[petroleum]

I like theese comps. But under my conditions, it work well only in starmines, not in aerial shells, due to its low burning rate. Once I try to use in in 4 inch ball shell, so the result was that all the stars was perfectrly burned, but the brightness was not quite good (burning rate problem). I use homemade magnalium 50/50 what was milled 2 hours in ball mill using stainless steel balls. I use Strobe prime from Shimizu without dichromate. So, there is 2 inch starmine with Emerelds green and Rubby red stars. Sorry, but the quality of video is not good. distance from the mine is about 300 meters.

 

Edited December 8, 2010 by petroleum

[Updup]

I like theese comps. But under my conditions, it work well only in starmines, not in aerial shells, due to its low burning rate. Once I try to use in in 4 inch ball shell, so the result was that all the stars was perfectrly burned, but the brightness was not quite good (burning rate problem). I use homemade magnalium 50/50 what was milled 2 hours in ball mill using stainless steel balls. I use Strobe prime from Shimizu without dichromate. So, there is 2 inch starmine with Emerelds green and Rubby red stars. Sorry, but the quality of video is not good. distance from the mine is about 300 meters.

 

 

You may not know this, so I'm letting you know now, we do not allow animated avatars.

 

11. Signatures are allowed, but text only, with a three line maximum. You cannot not use your signature for attacks on others, or offensive comments. Avatars should be of a reasonable file size (under 30k) so they load quickly and animation is not allowed. Do not sign your posts, your username is in the top left corner of your post so we already know the author. The text under your avatar must also be short and appropriate.

 

Thanks! And nice star mine by the way!

[petroleum]

O, sorry!

Thank you UpDUp, I remove my avatar.

[Richtee]

 

Do not sign your posts, your username is in the top left corner of your post so we already know the author. The text under your avatar must also be short and appropriate.

UpDUp

 

"if you look out the window and see smoke rolling past, I'm at work again"

 

Isn't that almost signing yer post?

[Updup]

UpDUp

 

"if you look out the window and see smoke rolling past, I'm at work again"

 

Isn't that almost signing yer post?

 

Oh dear! You got me there. It is in fact signing my post. Wow... I feel bad now .

 

Removed

[Richtee]

Oh dear! You got me there. It is in fact signing my post. Wow... I feel bad now .

 

Removed

Just funnin' with ya man. If the mods had a problem (of which I'm not) they would have told ya. I'm just a smartass sometimes. OK usually.

[pyrogeorge]

My red gum finished..can i use shellac for emerald green composition?But do yo know if it will make any difference in colour?Maybe faded colour? Edited December 13, 2010 by pyrogeorge

[petroleum]

My red gum finished..can i use shellac for emerald green composition?But do yo know if it will make any difference in colour?Maybe faded colour?

 

 

I think you can use the shellac instead of Red Gum without worseninc your colour, but I think you must check the burning rate of the stars. Also there may be some problems with drying process (my shellac binded stars do not dry so quickly as Red Gum binded ones). I try to use novolac resin instead of dextrine and Red gum. The colors of the stars was quite similar. Also I try to use saran resin instead of parlon. There was no visible changes in the effect and color(may be wind resistance or ignitability of the stars will changes).

.

[dagabu]

I think you can use the shellac instead of Red Gum without worseninc your colour, but I think you must check the burning rate of the stars. Also there may be some problems with drying process (my shellac binded stars do not dry so quickly as Red Gum binded ones). I try to use novolac resin instead of dextrine and Red gum. The colors of the stars was quite similar. Also I try to use saran resin instead of parlon. There was no visible changes in the effect and color(may be wind resistance or ignitability of the stars will changes).

.

 

Saran can indeed be used instead of Parlon but it will not act as the binder if you do so. Shellac would act as the binder or you could use NC lacquer.

[petroleum]

Yes, of course. I wrote about the substitution of Parlon with Saran yust for info, that there are no visible changes of the colour and other properties of the comp... Edited December 13, 2010 by petroleum