BLAST420 Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I have purchased a roll of fiberglass screen and some 4 foot lengths of wood I plan on making a bok 1ft x 1ft with the fiberglass screen inbetween them. I was just wanderin if fiberglass screen should be okay? I got it because I figuered it wont ever spark!! I just need as a simple screen to mix chems mainly to sort media from BP!! http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/breimer06/DSC00261.jpg
BLAST420 Posted June 13, 2008 Author Posted June 13, 2008 And here is the finished product this should work well for mixin or seperating media. Hey only cost $2.00 to make!! http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/breimer06/DSC00262.jpg
TheSidewinder Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I don't wish to piss in your cornflakes, but I suspect your fiberglass screens will have a VERY short life. Any metals that you screen are going to be abrasive and will wear it out in short order. Could be wrong, but I don't think so. You generally have to "push" your comps through screening anyway, if for no other reason than to avoid the dust you'd get by just shaking chems through. And any hydroscopic chems will be clumpy, so screening them is the easiest way to break them up. Your best bet is Brass or Stainless Steel. They are pricey, but worth it in the long run. There are a few threads about this subject already, but I'll leave this open for the more experienced members to comment on the likely results.
justanotherpyro Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I have made some out of the metal screen you get from Home Depot etc..I think its aluminum. It had a short life span and I looked at some of the fiberglass screen I had laying around and it is even less durable. My advice would be to not use them to separate media from comp and only screen chems together with it because the weight of the media will probably tear it.
Mumbles Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I use aluminum screens to dry my stars on, but nothing more. Everything I use for actual manipulations are SS. As a side note, please edit your pictures to a managable size, or link to them. Every single picture you've posted stretches the forum screen. Theres a rule about it if you want me get technical about it.
BLAST420 Posted June 14, 2008 Author Posted June 14, 2008 I use aluminum screens to dry my stars on, but nothing more. Everything I use for actual manipulations are SS. As a side note, please edit your pictures to a managable size, or link to them. Every single picture you've posted stretches the forum screen. Theres a rule about it if you want me get technical about it. sorry, didnt even know!
ULTRABUF Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 If you want something quick and easy to use as screens, kitchen sieves like this http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/957/65021781.JPG work very well. I've been using them for quite some time and havent had any troubles yet.
TheSidewinder Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 I use aluminum screens to dry my stars on, but nothing more. Everything I use for actual manipulations are SS. As a side note, please edit your pictures to a managable size, or link to them. Every single picture you've posted stretches the forum screen. Theres a rule about it if you want me get technical about it.sorry, didnt even know! Then I suggest you spend some more time reading the rules. Ignorance of them is not an excuse.
Mumbles Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 They also sell flat screens that are finer, around 30 mesh or so. They are sold as splatter screens for frying pans. Work great for screening compositions and lumpy chems.
Frozentech Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 If you want something quick and easy to use as screens, kitchen sieves like this http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/957/65021781.JPG work very well. I've been using them for quite some time and havent had any troubles yet. I have two of those, but with white plastic grips, which are labled and one used only for chlorates, and the other for ammonium perchlorate. Otherwise I use stainless "bucket screens" or brass test sieves for general use. I do have one fiberglass windowscreen, which is a star drying platform only.
frogy Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 McMaster-Carr has SS screens in nearly every desirable mesh... All of the ones pyro's commonly use... Note that sometimes a 40x40 screen will cost double what a 38x38 screen or such costs, so it's normally a good idea to check up\down a few mesh for each screen... It's not like Pyro is a science where you need exact mesh size. Close is good Bucket screens are perfect for nearly everything... The only thing I like to use otherwise is a sliding wooden screen for granulating KP\BP\Microstars\etc...
Swede Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 Blast, look at the "bucket screen" tutorial. I made some nice wood frame screens like yours, and I still use them, but cleaning can be a pain. The best way to clean these, assuming nothing poisonous, is to hose the hell out of them with a garden hose, and the water really gets between the wood a bit too easily. You don't want dissolved chems soaking into the wood. It becomes a fire hazard. One answer is to give the wood frame about six coats of polyurethane, which will protect it just fine, and run a thick fillet of epoxy or similar on the joint (both sides) between screen and frame. I used titebond glue mixed heavily with milled pecan shells, a "wood" filler, to thicken, and it made a plastic-like seam, which protects that gap between the two sides of the frame. I like your pics by the way. Not many people bother to post pictures, and lots of pics make this a fun place to visit. The best and easiest free "editor" is Google's Picasa. Picasa is incredibly powerful for a freebie. You can crop, rotate, sharpen, do all the standard manipulations, and lots more, like certain special effects.
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