Richtee Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Is KP powder made the same as black? I have the ratio, but then milled, pressed and corned? My main use will be burst, coating hulls and such. But if it's corned, a 15-20 mesh powder should work well too. Or, best to mill and coat hulls with the meal directly?
Pretty green flame Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Do not mill KP. Most people screen the finely powdered ingridients together and granulate/coat rice hulls, you can mill the charcoal and sulfur together and then screen the perch in.
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 The ratio is 70:12:18, but the BP ratio 70:10:15 works also.You don't need willow or paulownia charcoal, BBQ charcoal works well.
Richtee Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) The ratio is 70:12:18, but the BP ratio 70:10:15 works also.You don't need willow or paulownia charcoal, BBQ charcoal works well. OK... I had the ratios, etc. I am more interested in the process. Is it milled? Pressed and broken up <corned> as BP is? Or just dampend and screened? Or is a grain not required? And what grade is used to coat hulls? Do not mill KP. Most people screen the finely powdered ingridients together and granulate/coat rice hulls, you can mill the charcoal and sulfur together and then screen the perch in.Ahhh...thanks... can I dampen and grain for burst if I choose? Or just add screened without graining... On edit..oops heh. I see the grain OR coat now LOL! Grained more powerful than coated hulls I assume? Edited September 5, 2008 by Richtee
Pretty green flame Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Grained more powerful than coated hulls I assume? That I cannot say, I've only made it once, granulated it and used it in some canister shells, worked OK, nothing spectacular though. I haven't tried the coated stuff but my guess would be that the granulated stuff might be a bit stronger simply because you can put more of it in there, mass wise.
asilentbob Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 If you actually granulate it... rather than coat it on filler material... You will more quickly feel the pain of expensive perchlorate woes...
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 If you coat it too thick not every KP will be burned before the shell actually bursts.The coated stuff should be better then the pulverone type KP. My Potassiumperchlorate is allready very fine, It doesn't need to be milled, if it does, just mill everything seperate as PGF said. It doesn't have to be pressed, just screen the ingredients together and coat your carrier (puffed rice or ricehulls). If you find the KP too expensive like I do (I believe the prejudices about dutch people are right ), then H3 is a good substitute. H3 is pretty insensitive to, just look out with sulfur of course. Both burstcharges haves almost the same power I believe.
Richtee Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 If you actually granulate it... rather than coat it on filler material... You will more quickly feel the pain of expensive perchlorate woes... Ahh yes... of course. Soo I made 10g, and go looking for Rice Crispies- OUT! Did have some fairly coarse sawdust tho... dampend and mixed, about doubled the volume with it. We'll see. Thanks for the info guys!
Mumbles Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 I don't know if I agree that they both have the same "power". They might, but they are powerful in different ways. H3 is primarily for small shells, 4" and under, maybe up to 6". KP is primarily for larger shells. 5 or 6"+. Too small of a shell doesn't allow the KP to get up to speed so to speak.
Richtee Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 KP is primarily for larger shells. 5 or 6"+. Too small of a shell doesn't allow the KP to get up to speed so to speak. Well...crap. I'm stuck with 3's for a while. Flash just busts everything to hell, and even my good BP won't break the hemi...splits at the seam. I'm in break charge hell here.... Altho I have not yet tried the KP.... I did try whistle the other eve...still just split the shell..but I only used 15 grams.
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) Thats true mumbles, H3 needs less amount of layers, I believe KP needs a factor of 1.2 more layers to achieve the same star velocity right after burst. It's also pretty logical KP isn't usefull for small shells because the aren't pasted with so many layers as the 4 inches and bigger are. KP is very pressure dependent. Edited September 5, 2008 by FREAKYDUTCHMEN
Mumbles Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 H3 is always an option with 3" shells. I will say this as well, I get much better breaks from paper than plastic. I've never had a paper shell break at the seams either. You may want to try dusting the BP covered hulls with a slow flash or whistle. This could get them up to power. The only good 3" plastic shells I've made were flash broken. Paper isn't really a burden with shells this small. You can paste everything in some sitting. With some fans, they'll be dry overnight. You probably only need 5 or 6 layers. There are also the nesting hemis from Precocious Pyro. I've seen them made at 2pm and fired come dusk. No pasting necessary, but I'd feel safer with at least 1 or 2 just to seal everything up. Those nesting hemis would get pricy though. I do use KP in 4" and up, though it isn't traditional. I still get good breaks out of them. I should probably add a few extra layers of paste on the 4" shells though. As a side note, there's always 3" canisters. BP works just fine. These also break fine with KP. I use a 1" canule down the center, and fill with KP on hulls, and they break real nice and symmetrically. I use BP dusted with flash to give them a little boost. There is also a piece of quickmatch running the length of the canule to ignite everything at once.
FrKoNaLeaSh1010 Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Did you use standard kclo4/benzoate whistle? I am lead to believe you didnt mix it well enough because if i were to put 15g of straight whistle in a confined shell it would blow half the stars blind. Mixing it with bp or something would be a different story but straight whistle should deffinitely do more than just split it at the seems
Richtee Posted September 5, 2008 Author Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) There are also the nesting hemis from Precocious Pyro. I've seen them made at 2pm and fired come dusk. No pasting necessary, but I'd feel safer with at least 1 or 2 just to seal everything up. Those nesting hemis would get pricy though. As a side note, there's always 3" canisters. BP works just fine. These also break fine with KP. I use a 1" canule down the center, and fill with KP on hulls, and they break real nice and symmetrically. I use BP dusted with flash to give them a little boost. There is also a piece of quickmatch running the length of the canule to ignite everything at once. Hmm by "nesting" you mean? My hemis have a "locking" ring..the fused side if "female" the solid side "male" and they "mate". I do have a few cans... have used as salutes or a couple semi-failed multi-breakers. Well the first shell worked well..LOL! I will say the poly stars have held up well to flash breaks... that's been my best showing so far. Hmm perhaps I should consider scoring the hemis with a razor knife... "prestressing" as it were. Did you use standard kclo4/benzoate whistle? I am lead to believe you didnt mix it well enough because if i were to put 15g of straight whistle in a confined shell it would blow half the stars blind. Mixing it with bp or something would be a different story but straight whistle should deffinitely do more than just split it at the seems Hi Freak. Sorry.. I was indeed out of sorts the other day. Anyway... I do believe it was poorly mixed..I went and checked out the bit I have left and seen white flecks. I'm gonna rescreen the remainder and run one up tonight... God bless spray adhesive ;{) Edited September 5, 2008 by Richtee
Mumbles Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 By nesting I mean a set within a set. There is an inner set of hemis that are filled and taped together, then an outer set of hemispheres that encompasses the inner set. They are put on in opposing directions to strengthen the seam. Often the inner hemi set is smeared with glue before the outer hemi sphere set is put over it to seal it all up. I'd feel more comfortable with a layer of pasted paper over the hole thing just to seal it all up, but I've seen it done without.
psyco_1322 Posted September 8, 2008 Posted September 8, 2008 Whistle is fast weather or not it was mixed good. Screening, you will be there all day trying to get an intimate mix. They only way to truly get a good mix is to wet it down with a solvent and let it dry. 15g, though a lot is not going to always blow your stars blind, it depends a lot of the type of stars and how good your prime is. I get good breaks on 3" paper balls with 6 layers of paper, bp on rice hulls boosted with 3g of whistle. They almost dont get far enough in the sky for how big the break is.
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