swervedriver Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Hi. I know ruby red and emerald green both call for 325 mesh MgAl. I only have 200 mesh, presumably they will still work, but is the effect still acceptable, or greatly diminished if I use the 200 mesh magnalium. I was going to make a small batch up to test, but I figured I'd ask for feedback from others first in case the substitution is waste of time and chems. Thanks in advance.
Miech Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 I use 270 mesh without problems. I'm rather sure you'll get a nice color with 200 mesh too, although it is likely to develop a bit of a tail.
TheSidewinder Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 I've used both formulas in the past and, on a hunch, substituted about half the called-for 325 mesh with ~200 mesh, which DID produce a short sparkly tail. I don't know how well it will work if you substitute ALL the 325 mesh with 200, though.
al93535 Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 We control the burn rate of stars at work by either using -200 or -325 mgal. The -200 will produce a longer burn time, and it will make the characteristic hissing/crackling noise of burning coarser mgal. You can use the -200 in place of the -325 without any noticeable ill effects.
swervedriver Posted April 3, 2009 Author Posted April 3, 2009 Great, thanks guys. On side note, I just made a bright Al metallic green star by sheer luck. I was making shimizu's brilliant core comp [ba(NO3)2 and bright Al type] and I wanted to do a quick test on how it looked. I had read of pvc glue containing some dissolved pvc so I used some as a quick-drying "binder" in a little star batch of this "brilliant core" comp. The stars turned out to be beautiful super bright and color saturated traffic light green! Waaaay better than the organic green I've been using. Since I was looking for something nice to use Cracker's aluminum for, this is a pleasant surprise. I'll try some parlon/pvc and sub the dextrin with redgum, then try to bind with alcohol. Since I have way more of the Al than MgAl, this is convenient, I hope it works as planned.
Seymour Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Waaaay better than the organic green I've been using. Yeah, organic greens without Ba(ClO3)2 are a big disappointment. Green tinted white, yes? Well, AP can do 'ok' organic greens, but nothing on metallic.
swervedriver Posted April 3, 2009 Author Posted April 3, 2009 Green tinted white, yes? It was daytime and lasted all of 2 seconds, but I'd say yes, green and white. I'll compare it to emerald green (I've never seen it in person) side by side and get back to you on that Seymour.
FrKoNaLeaSh1010 Posted April 4, 2009 Posted April 4, 2009 Yeah I agree barium nitrate based organic greens are definitely green but it is pale and a little washed out however metal fueled greens using al, or MgAl are very very nice....they make very bright non washed out greens. I found the same with organic strontium nitrate based reds. the metal fueled are definitely a purer color and a lot more light output. This isnt to say that organic fueled stars are crap as they still work good and are a lot cheaper than metal fueled but i money is not an issue i would go with metallic fueled stars over organics any day
Mumbles Posted April 4, 2009 Posted April 4, 2009 I use -200 mesh in all my stars with no ill effects. I've never noticed any tails, but then again never really tried.
50AE Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 I've used -200 mesh for Ruby Red and it did the work. Rich, blinding red.
pyrogeorge Posted April 6, 2009 Posted April 6, 2009 Black powder priming is it good for ruby red stars?
Yankie Posted April 6, 2009 Posted April 6, 2009 Black powder priming is it good for ruby red stars? Black powder will generally not be enough. Ruby red and Emerald green need a hot prime. I use meal powder + 5% MgAl(100-200 mesh) + 5% Al(200 mesh atom.) + 7% RG as the binder, then over the top of that I use straight meal powder + 7% red gum. Never had any stars blow blind like that, people say that you need ultra hot primes such as veline hot prime or fencepost prime, but I do not beleive that it is needed.
swervedriver Posted April 6, 2009 Author Posted April 6, 2009 I went ahead and used pinball prime. 75% KP, 15% C, 10% RG, +5% dark Al added. Then rough green mix BP over that. They're still drying, hope it works.
swervedriver Posted April 9, 2009 Author Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) Hmm, I don't know why but my emerald green came out looking like shit. Yellow green. I checked the comp twice, I mixed everything correctly. The pvc cement and brilliant core test I did above came out much better, so my BN doesn't seem to be the culprit. My parlon is from firefox. Something isn't right with one of my chems. All are fine mesh. I milled the fuels together, screened in the oxidizers and MgAl a few times, and it's shit. Bummer... edit: one thing I noticed is the red gum seems to be unburned? It's slagging off, it's the chunky stuff I just got from skylighter. Edited April 9, 2009 by swervedriver
swervedriver Posted April 11, 2009 Author Posted April 11, 2009 Apologies in advance for another post on this one, but I had to attempt to redeem my newbishness. My emerald green mix had to be bound and dried fully before showing it's true color. I was impatiently testing the unbound mix and not-fully-dried stars before making the above post and was getting the inferior yellow-green color. The bound and fully dried version is a beautiful green. Just a heads up to any other people reading who may make the same mistake I did. This is a beautiful composition...
Richtee Posted April 11, 2009 Posted April 11, 2009 The bound and fully dried version is a beautiful green. Just a heads up to any other people reading who may make the same mistake I did. This is a beautiful composition... I had always had good luck with it too. Matter of fact, the authorities have 2 shells of RR and EG to check out...;{) And a nice Hex Blue.
whyter Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 Ruby and Emerald are great in my book.. BP + Silicon or MgAl might light it on a soft broken shell
Steps Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 I just mixed up some emerald green from my freshly made barium nitrate Green was good! Have not made stars yet but will in the future. made a bit of a booboo on the tire rolling mechanism that could get me into a lil trouble.
Yankie Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 I just mixed up some emerald green from my freshly made barium nitrate Green was good! Have not made stars yet but will in the future. made a bit of a booboo on the tire rolling mechanism that could get me into a lil trouble. YAY that means my BaNO3 is on its way . What was the booboo?
Steps Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 What was the booboo? Was milling bp at milkies and didnt screw a jar lid on tight enough!, it didnt spill everywhere and it can be recovered just effort. Come on msn yankie got some details to share!
nath0r Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 Ruby and Emerald are great in my book.. BP + Silicon or MgAl might light it on a soft broken shell I've only ever primed my Ruby Red & Emerald Green stars with BP + 5% MgAl and have never had any problems with ignition even on some hard broken flash shells. I've even tried putting un primed stars on a small pile of my lift powder and still they light every time.
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