dagabu Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 1.How it will ignite, when it's brushless? (At least it seems to be) Brushless or not, individual grains of comps pick up static charges or just settle due to gravity and stick to all surfaces of the motor. As the space between the stator and rotor fill with comp, the heat increases and the ignition temp can easily be reached. The comp can also be rubbed as it builds up and cause sparks or a static charge causing ignition. I have had this happen several times over the years as a welder when the open faced fan motors on welding machines get grinding dust built up and flame out. The motor itself was still good, it was the grinding materials including the non flammable aluminum carbide that took fire. 2.Nothing prevents him from isolating the motor. Mine is an opened brushless too. Isolation of the motor is a good idea no matter the motor type. Yesterday, a guy gave me an oil pan from a VW engine. But when I got home with it, the vinegar test for Mg was negative. It seems to be another of these Al-Zn-Cu alloys.
TheEskimo Posted May 8, 2010 Posted May 8, 2010 Blegh...I just got back from prom 2010. I think I pulled a muscle or two in my neck. It was moderately interesting, but my dancing was a bit outrageous. Everyone is moving their arms a bit, and bouncing on their feet. That gets boring after a while, and so I made a total ass of myself in front of everyone, while having a blast doing so. The druggies thought I was on some sort of tripping. The parties afterwards were interesting. I didn't drink, but it was hilarious watching some of the people getting smashed. I watched my friend try to decide if his socks really were socks for 5 minutes.I went out at about 2:30 with some friends who didn't drink, and rode those little push scooters around the block. We tried to find a canoe to go for a ride on the lake, but the paddles were locked up. So we ended up taking a friends PennState flag (diehard PennState fan).Good times man, good times
50AE Posted May 12, 2010 Posted May 12, 2010 Guys, if some of you are new to bright flake Al mixtures, DON'T SCREEN them!If you want to save yourselves from cleaning a big silver mess afterwards.I found that the cleaner way to mix these is to put them in a zip-lock bag and shake it.This stuff is just horrible to work with. I also accidentally spilled some of the mixture on the floor and me. Needless to say, I turned to Mr. Silver.
Bonny Posted May 12, 2010 Posted May 12, 2010 Guys, if some of you are new to bright flake Al mixtures, DON'T SCREEN them!If you want to save yourselves from cleaning a big silver mess afterwards.I found that the cleaner way to mix these is to put them in a zip-lock bag and shake it.This stuff is just horrible to work with. I also accidentally spilled some of the mixture on the floor and me. Needless to say, I turned to Mr. Silver. I actually got rid of all my bright flake Al, as I couldn't stand the mess. There are some comps I wish I could make that require it, but too late now, and I don't plan on getting any more.
Ventsi Posted May 12, 2010 Posted May 12, 2010 Guys, if some of you are new to bright flake Al mixtures, DON'T SCREEN them!If you want to save yourselves from cleaning a big silver mess afterwards.I found that the cleaner way to mix these is to put them in a zip-lock bag and shake it.This stuff is just horrible to work with. I also accidentally spilled some of the mixture on the floor and me. Needless to say, I turned to Mr. Silver. I've actually done this once or twice, now I don't even mix flash in the open. I screen it INSIDE a baggy. Al electrostatic proof of course.We also used it in a movie as make up, turned my friends hands silver!
scarbelly Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 I can honestly say I like the silver mess ...well... until I have to clean it up... I think usually what I've done is just screen everything except the Al, and then add it in and diaper the whole mix together, that keeps the silver mess relatively confined.
50AE Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 Hmm, I started to like this bright Al, because if I think a little.-It's the cheapest metal powder here (10$/kg)-It makes some great compositions When I know that I cannot find atomized Al locally, I find it very useful.
Mumbles Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 If you screen everything else first, and mix in the bright flake afterwards, it is much easier and cleaner to screen. It's so sticky, you really can't get it completely distributed without screening. Another thing, is that you should find some Simply Green cleaner. It washes the bright flake off everything like a champ.
dagabu Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 All things considered, bright flake, lamp black and airfloat charcoal are all a mess to work with. The Baggy method works very well to keep the mess down but I still screen the comp with a bucket screen. The dust stays in the bucket and the use of a trash bag over the whole thing (sprayed with static guard of course) keeps the dust down and the hands clean.
Ventsi Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 I don't know, what can I say, I'm a messy person.I love bright flake though, its cheap as dirt, makes excellent flash, streamers, glitters, primes and just about everything I need it to. I still use spherical extensively but I have no place for dark flake Al for now! Four times as expensive too...
Mumbles Posted May 22, 2010 Posted May 22, 2010 I'm sure a lot of you saw the Google pac-man thing today. I just found out it was actually playable, and now I can't stop.
TheEskimo Posted May 23, 2010 Posted May 23, 2010 (edited) Has anyone tried Nurdrage's tut on getting the roll of Li out of Energizer Li batteries? I keep shorting them out, and trying to get through it with pliers is nigh on impossible. It's making me so mad!! EDIT: Aha!! I finally got it out. A Dremel really helps. You get several grams from each battery, and is quite fun to play with. I would post a picture, but the camera is out of comission atm. The lithium is really quite fascinating. Edited May 23, 2010 by TheEskimo
Ventsi Posted May 23, 2010 Posted May 23, 2010 Hmm, I need to do this, some Li would be nice to have around. How much do the batteries run? Might be nice in a campfire too... Hah, semi-related. I found a bunch of low% HCl for ultra cheap as a cleaner at a local store and I've been making CuCl(2?) with it, H2O2 and copper wire. Then soaking wood chips with it and tossing them into camp/backyard fires while still damp. Needles to say everybody(especially non-sober folks) are dazzled.
Mumbles Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Alright, who's the joker that put a pineapple in my ball mill? Fullsize:
Ralph Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Alright, who's the joker that put a pineapple in my ball mill? Fullsize: welllll.... I heard it made excellent bp but wasn't keen on getting my ball mill all sticky so I popped it in yours while you were asleep
TheEskimo Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Very beautiful pineapple, Mumbles. You should make a fruit salad in the sky with that....Ventsi, I think that batteries are like 8 bucks for a 4 pack. Kind of expensive, but it gives a decent amount of lithium to play with. Would you mind telling me where you got the HCl, and what brand it is? I really need some.
Mumbles Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Very beautiful pineapple, Mumbles. You should make a fruit salad in the sky with that.... Heh, for what I have planned, that description is more accurate than you'd think. I think it needs some more milling. There was some granular charcoal left in that cake. In my other mill, it's finished by the time it's caked. I guess I'll need to open this one part way through in the future. It doesn't have that woosh my old mill gave. I found out I had it over charged anyway, so that could have hurt the efficiency. I just properly charged it and milled some spider mix for a half hour. Extremely fine powder. Much finer than the BP that was in it previously, with no visible caking.
Ventsi Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Very beautiful pineapple, Mumbles. You should make a fruit salad in the sky with that....Ventsi, I think that batteries are like 8 bucks for a 4 pack. Kind of expensive, but it gives a decent amount of lithium to play with. Would you mind telling me where you got the HCl, and what brand it is? I really need some. Try BigLots, I was randomly browsing looking for cheap pyro-ware and saw 1pint bottles for a buck each. Not strong, nor pure but it does the job I need. You can also try HomeDepot for the 30% stuff, not too expensive either.
PyroMan LTU Posted May 26, 2010 Posted May 26, 2010 Hello, I was just wondering - could titanium be use in chlorate colored stars? It is not a reactive metal, chrorate gives quite a cool flame so it will not burn in star as fuel.. And it should leave quite a tail.. So is adding 2-5% of ti to a chlorate composition a good idea? PyroMan
50AE Posted May 27, 2010 Posted May 27, 2010 Adding fine and non coated metals to chlorate compositions isn't recommended, I don't have any experience with Ti though. I don't see a problem, if you roll a good amount of meal prime on the stars to protect the chlorate composition from friction.
50AE Posted May 27, 2010 Posted May 27, 2010 You will do wise to wait for other opinions though. Don't rely on mine, I don't have the best experience with chlorates and metals here.
TheEskimo Posted May 27, 2010 Posted May 27, 2010 (edited) I've never worked with chlorates, but Ti strikes me as a rather unreactive metal, both from personal experience and knowledge of the properties of Ti, unless some force or friction is applied.I'm sad, because my scale now reads everything as about 1/6 of what it should be, and I don't have any calibration weights. I will have to borrow some off my physics teacher.And I'm afraid for tomorrow, due to a note I gave to one of my female friends. Ah well....any jackass can go through life without making mistakes. I hate thinking about choices for a long time, and then second-guessing once you make them. Edited May 27, 2010 by TheEskimo
Recommended Posts