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You have a tendency for most of your posts to look like that. Please slow down, and take a moment to look over your posts in the future. Commas, capitals, and puctuation are much appreciated. It is starting to get annoying. It will help people to take you more seriously.
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You have a tendency for most of your posts to look like that. Please slow down, and take a moment to look over your posts in the future. Commas, capitals, and puctuation are much appreciated. It is starting to get annoying. It will help people to take you more seriously.

I remember when I think qwezxc12 told me to do that.

 

Speaking of qwezxc12, does anyone know (including qwezxc12) did you ever fix the yellow star comp you created with the table salt?

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snip...Speaking of qwezxc12, does anyone know (including qwezxc12) did you ever fix the yellow star comp you created with the table salt?

Hey mormanman,

I fired off a few more small shells with that particular mix and wasn't ecstatic with the burn rate (too slow). The hygroscopic nature of salt wasn't a good characteristic, either. I'm back to my NaNO3 based BP mix with 5%- 8% added Cryolite and some fine mesh Al for extra brilliance. Cryolite isn't as cheap as salt, but is readily available here in the states at ceramic suppliers.

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Hey, I tryed that composition... didn't know that you inventedit

 

BTW: Is it just me or is there juste like a massive wave of new posts on the forum?

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Hey, I tryed that composition... didn't know that you inventedit ...snip

Just curious...Which one are you referring to? The salt or the Cryolite formula? The salt one was just a series of experiments...I certainly don't consider myself the inventor of anything. I'm sure most pyrotechnic compositions have been invented, lost, found, and re-invented multiple times over the years.

 

The Cryolite formula is more my own, I suppose...if only because I've been tweaking it for the better part of a year :)

 

This was a shell with a early iteration of the Cryolite yellow: (I called it a Palm, but it's more like a terminally ill Joshua Tree :D )

4in Yellow w/Ti

 

This was one of the last table salt experiments I did: a small yellow comet with coarse MgAl attached to a 3in shell. You can see how lazy it burns:

3in Shell w/Yellow comet

The 6in C6 to Yellow shell in the competition thread also used salt in the star cores...unfortunately they were a bit dim, where the Cryolite/Al formula definitely is not.

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Yeah, but I loved the yellow/Ti, and especially the sound when the shell came out of the mortar "wwwpthum" :D .

 

I made table salt stars some 4 weeks ago and they still anen't dry, I think I will just junk them away.

 

EDIT: I just granulated my H3 here is 10g of it. Now would that be a good lift for a shell/comet? http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=GLJcItsqqRs

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Try it with 1 gram and we'll be able to better tell you. But given that video, I'd still say no. I was wrong before though.

 

I am totally fine with the more posts. Just gives me more to read.

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EDIT: I just granulated my H3 here is 10g of it. Now would that be a good lift for a shell/comet? http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=GLJcItsqqRs

Is KClO3 that easy to get (or make) in USA??? Why not just use BP for lift? It takes soem tuning, but seems to be fine for lift etc.I save my more hard to get chems (like KClO3, KClO4) for stars and such...

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He lives in france. But no, KNO3 is much easier to come by than chlorate.

My mistake...I shouldn't assume anything! Isn't NaClO3 commonly available in France (and maybe other European nations) though? That would make using chlorates a more convenient option.

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Well you see, I can get as much KNO3/KClO3/NaClO3 as I want.

The NaClO3, is like 66% so I would have to purify it, and as I baught 4kg of potassium chlorate, and didn't find use for it (now I make stars) just started using it, and as I don't have a ball mill (it is coming ordered a 3lbs one) I will start using BP for lift.

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Does the NaClO3 come as weed killer? I had heard that the adulterant added (Table salt) was of a fine enough size that the good stuff could be sieved out pretty easily with a window screen. Eh, regardless, I still prefer keeping my workshop and tools chlorate free. It's bad enough trying to keep the AP separate.
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Yeah, it's a weed-killer... And it's becoming a bit hard to get, but I still have 5kg of it in my lab and I only use like 25g at a time because it is quite strong to make the yellow color.

 

I have to say that I like chlorates, because I can't get perchlorates,... Well maybe I could buy some from KeteN`

 

BTW: Mumbles is the AP that you stated, Acetone Peroxide?

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BTW: Mumbles is the AP that you stated, Acetone Peroxide?

Probably means ammonium perchlorate. I think it has quite a list of incompatibilities.

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Made 4 3" starmines this evening with various combinations of stars of different effects and sizes. One of the starmines is just a random junk stars disposal one. All are perforated disk style using 1/5 to 1/6 of the total stars payload weight in 1Fg GOEX. I have a feeling that they are going to be a bit powerful. Probably wont get to shoot them off for many many months... Hopefully all the stars will still be good then...

 

The next semester starts in a couple days... So I'm franticly trying to get some more projects finished and stored out of the way. I think I'll make a 4" spherical shell tomorrow perhaps 5/8" pumped D1/Win20...

 

I have been thinking about timed inserts... and getting a pattern of inserts to go off in a precise order with perhaps a fourth of a second delay between each... with jap time fuse... 3s/inch... so a little less than 3/8" per second... now cutting 4 fuses with roughly 5/64" difference between each one is possible... but its tough to be so precise... especially since you need to take cross matching into account too... if we use a small diameter Chinese visco burning about 2.3s/inch... it gets a little easier since the difference between segments of fuse that burn in approximately .25s are slightly longer... but not by much... Now... Yellow vis-quick burns approximately .25s/inch... Thats a big difference that should simplify cutting time fuses for closely timed inserts. However its speed is because the core is bigger grains than the normal meal/corning dust/etc of normal viscos AND the weave is MUCH thinner... and I would wager that its burning properties vary significantly at times when looking at the speed of a small segment size like 1"... perhaps getting times between .18 and .38s/inch (random guesstimations) but it should work pretty good. My only concerns thus far are if it speeds up significantly when wrapped in masking tape and if the weave is loose enough to allow the burst to ignite the fuse ahead of where it is primed and supposed to ignite. Anyone here used yellow vis-quick for timed inserts?

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I would think it would be easier to go with convenient lengths rather than perfect timings. Cut the fuse at say, 1/8" increments. It may also be useful to cut the fuse a bit longer than needed, and trim it after crossmatching. Might want to consider only crossmatching on end, and letting the other(interior side) do it's magic without blackmatch. I find just putting a piece of quickmatch over the interior side sprays the fire pretty good and gives more precise timing.
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Hmm sounds good. I think I may make a needle point hole of uniform shape and depth in all the interior sides of the fuses in the powder core.

 

Cleaned up a bunch in my work area and re-arranged some things to reduce clutter and subsequently make the area safer. I moved many boxes around on shelves to free up all the space I could... It was a lot like playing real life Tetris... Pumped the rest of the Win20 that I had saved up into 1/4" stars... was a pain... I really need a roller or a cheap star plate set for making these smaller stars... Waaaaaaaay too time consuming for something so small... Also made 400g of Chrysanthemum 6...

 

Got hemis from Precocious (several 12", 8", 6", and 4" Chinese paper hemi sets), Aluminum (1# atomized 15-24mi, 4# atomized 25-30mi, 2# -325mesh coated flake... 7lbs total :D ) from... a certain awesome source..., and my ceramic supply order (ceramic fiber paper, good big crucible, CMC gum)... All today... The 4" hemis look waaay small... like I could wax their outer surface and paste onto that to make proper 4" hemis... May be the time to try spiking spherical shells... and/or see how hard I can get them to break without blowing some heavy charcoal content stars blind...

 

Thinking I'm going to make some KP/crispies and BP/hulls tomorrow... maybe try my hand at some proper whistle mix and break in some of the scientific screens... Maybe make a shell... or inserts for one. Maybe make some BP propellant and corn it... break in the 1# tooling?

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I have a question I keep hearing people say chlorate stars produce amazing colors but are dangerous what are these formulas for these supposedly amazing stars?
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Chlorates spontaniously explode on contact with sulphur, sulphur compounds, and ammonium compounds. Perchlorates have fewer incompatibilities.

 

All ingredients have risks but chlorates have more risk of accidental explosions than most others

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Chlorates spontaniously explode on contact with sulphur, sulphur compounds, and ammonium compounds. Perchlorates have fewer incompatibilities.

From what I got from this statement, it seems you're saying Chlorates explode as soon as they touch sulfur. I don't know if you mean to say this or not, but chlorates and sulfur mixes generally tend to explode/ignite when some other action comes into play. KCLO3/S mixes are extremely sensitive to impact and friction, obviously. I try to stay away from KCLO3 mixes in general, but obviously avoid S/KCLO3 mixes at all costs.

 

That being said, I have only tried one KCLO3 star comp, and it sucked but I over wetted the stars, and ground tested it. It was supposed to be yellow, but fell horribly short of producing any color (aside from the orange flame) whatsoever. I will give them another shot in the near future to see if they really do produce good colors. Check here for chlorate star comps. they may have something. Composition Database

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thank you for that unnecessary relatively false information. As you may or may not have noticed my post was not about are they good or bad but WHAT ARE THEY.

 

 

So before you tell me stuff like chlorates spontaneously explode on contact with sulfur. Why don't you consider maybe I have some experience with dangerous materials and can handle my own safety and chlorate compounds.

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Chlorates are an entirely different beast.

 

It seems that at every turn people will say they are very sensitive with sulfur, phosphorus, etc compounds, but not state why... and that why is the most important part... Chlorates react with acids to form a chlorine oxide gas... I forget which... however this chlorine oxide is a terrific oxidizer... when formed it will readily oxidize whatever it can that is around heating up the mix and increasing the reaction rate to form more of the gas and heat the mix up enough to ignite. Oh and the gas is friction sensitive too, or so I recall. Simply mixing with an appropriate base like potassium carbonate doesn't guarantee safety. Both sulfur and phosphorus on standing in air with humidity will generate trace amounts of acids hence the sensitivity. However any acid strong enough to react with the chlorate can do this... How strong is strong enough? Good question. I have no idea. What about the slight bit of carbonic acid formed in passing from CO2 in the air dissolving in water? Is that strong enough? Or the boric acid we so often use in nitrate/aluminum comps? What if some stray fumes from a HCl based driveway cleaner jug wonder into the mix? Also you have to be exceedingly careful about cross contamination. It only takes a trace. You also have to remember... that the chemicals your working with... while likely pretty pure... are not 100% ever.

 

Chlorate whistle and flash compositions are very sensitive and powerful. Keep in mind that an unbound chlorate star composition... isn't far from being a flash or whistle comp.

 

Now... I'm not saying that they shouldn't be used... By all means experiment with them... and post your results :D. Just be exceedingly careful.

 

 

Edit: Had an acid spill yesterday... it involved a pretty strong aqueous solution of a pretty damn strong organic acid... almost involved two glass bottles of nitric acid too... which would have been disastrous... strong mineral acid plus organic chemical acid or not... would not end well... The cement floor has permanent rough etchings now... I love bicarb.

 

Well... I'm on a mission... to get good video examples of all the glitter compositions that I can... not necessarily my own tests... so far from youtube and pyrobin I have Win1,10,12,20,23,33,39,39J and D1... I have a star test or 2 of some gold tremelon... or so I think... either way I loved the effect and I'll have to make more sometime... but yeah I'm looking for vids of good examples of the various glitter comps... meal based like gold and silver tremelon would be awesome... as would other ones... I'm about to go look through Alan Yate's videos as I remember he is pretty fond of glitters too...

 

Then... IDK...

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Does dawntreader still sell Copper (II) Benzoate? I sent an email to his sales address and haven't recieved a response. The email was sent on the 1st of Jan 08.
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