Help with Chemicals and what to buy..

[DragonsKing]

well, firstly i want to state that in 2 days, i am going to buy some supplies and i wanted to add some chemicals to that list but i am unsure as to what i should add. I dont want anything too advanced, and i want to be able to make BLUE stars. Maybe one other color. So i was wondering if there was a few beginners chemicals that i should buy that can buy used in more than one composition and perhaps in later compositions. Again, beginner chemicals, and try to keep it basic, as i am not that experiened yet and i dont want to get in over my head. Thanks everyone.

 

P.S. Could you please mention what the specific chemical could be used for. Thanks

[dagabu]

IMHO-

 

Dont use poisons, choose comps that use common chemicals that you dont have to don hazmat gear when using. Personally, I like the GE II blue stars, they are a mess to make but they are about as fool proof as they come. Also, start with cut stars and leave the rolled stars alone until you have a few successful shells under your belt.

 

Example:

 

http://www.passfire.com/images/clear.gifAmmonium Perchlorate 63

Silicon, GE II 22

Copper(II) Oxide, black 10

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). 5

All are in parts, not percentages.

 

D

[Mumbles]

Ammonium Perchlorate has enough incompatibilities that I think it's not the greatest choice for your first stars.

 

I'd go with the following chemicals:

 

Potassium Perchlorate

Parlon

Copper (II) Oxide (black)

Red Gum

Dextrin

 

Those 5 will give a very nice blue star.

 

Strontium carbonate will give a passable red with those chemicals, and potentially purple.

[DragonsKing]

well, i know that the potassium perchlorate is out of the question. As it will be my first purchase from skylighter, i am not able to order it. As of right now, i think i am going to get the very basics out of the way. i do have a question though,

 

Does anyone know where i can get some granulated wax from?

 

I am going to try andd buy some to add to a Clay cat litter, ground into a fine powder and see if that will make a better nozzle mix than what i already have. This is just an idea, but i think its worth a try. I have yet to be able to find a place that i can buy this from though. I am also thinking about buying some steel powder to use in some fountains for an added bit of effect, as well as with rockets for a better looking tail. I think that this week i am going to get every little small thing that i can think of to get aka black match manufacturing items, some small rocket tubes, kraft paper, screens, things to make star pumps, etc. Then next wekk i am going to be looking into buying chemicals of more significance. I am trying to get a small list of things that i would be interesting in buy though.

[dagabu]

You dont need to granulate it but you can buy it from a place like Micheal's in their candle making department. Just melt a candle or two and pour the wax over the clay as it is spread out, put it all in a cake pan and heat it in the oven at 200° and stir it a few times. The wax will seep into all of the clay.

 

D

[Twotails]

And for the record, Skylighter's not the cheapest place to ge chemicals, Check out HobbychemicalSupply, or Firechemical. oh and Underground gadgets, there all fairly cheap, Hobby is where i get my perch from, not a bad price on the other chemicals eather. that way you can streach your doller (also Pyrocreations has nice fuse last time i checked, worth checking out)

[jwitt]

I'm just getting into pyro work too (mentioned to take anything I say with a 500g grain of salt)

 

 

 

Be aware that color stars often require a hot prime- not a meal prime. "Fencepost Prime" is one- it uses elemental Silicon powder to ignite the star (Si heats up, turns to molten glass).

 

It's neat how color stars work- you've got your oxidizer and fuel, then a "coloring agent" and a chlorine donor. In the case of the blue Mumbles suggested, KClO4 oxidizes and the other stuff burns. CuO burns to yield up half the chemicals that give colored flame, and parlon (chlorinated rubber, also fire retardant) yields chlorine. This and the other combustion products combine in the flame envelope to give blue light. Personally, learning about neat stuff like that is what got me into "proper" pyrotechnics.

 

In that composition, I'm not sure the exact function of the two binders (Red Gum and Dextrin) because from my understanding, parlon functions as a binder when you use acetone as the solvent. (Think pouring solvent on rubber and turning it to goo)

 

Another option for you is a Zinc star, referred to as a "Granite Star" from a book by Weingart. Kosanke's "Pearl" is another, one that I made as my first star. (Both were in a Skylighter newsletter). Those are pretty neat. It's simply a charcoal star with Zn dust, which burns with aqua flame. The stars are heavy as all get-out. 2 pounds gives about as many stars as one pound of typical charcoal stars. I'm going out on a limb here, but a rocket header with heavy stars like that might be waaay top-heavy?

 

 

Additional advice- when doing mail order, think things through. Shipping plus various hazmat type fees will bleed you dry. Try to be logical when putting orders together and plan for future needs as best you can. I'm finally figuring this out That's one reason I'm making a spreadsheet chemical inventory for my simple stash.

 

Dagabu- for clarification- the composition you mentioned was "parts, not percentages" yet it totals to 100? So wouldn't 1 part equal 1%?

Edited May 4, 2010 by jwitt

[dagabu]

LOL!

 

Yes, its true, they do add up to 100% but I have a lot of comps that dont due to the addition or substitution of one or more chems. It is the tag-line that I have under all of my comps reminding myself to not expect the mix to add up to 100, or 1,000 or whatever.

 

D

[Mumbles]

Parlon binding is relatively new, and not all that traditional. 99% of the formulas out there are designed to be wet with water, or another aqueous solution. You can bind the stars I had in mind with water, alcohol, or acetone. My shop has electricity in it, so I am relatively uneasy about binding with acetone or alcohol. There are stories, specifically about NC lacquer, about a spark igniting vapors. If I do bind with alcohol, I use a water alcohol mix to help it remain workable longer. They still dry overnight however. I also shut off all electronics, and sources of sparks except for a fan to create air current. It should be noted that I always cut on waxed paper, but alcohol seems to attack wax paper after a little while.

 

In the formula I gave, parlon is the chlorine donor, red gum is a fuel, and dextrin is the binder. With a lot of compositions, you can actually do step priming and get very efficient ignition. All of the ones I had in mind were organic stars to save on chemicals, and they should light from just BP, or light step priming.

 

I will let you know that you will have trouble making colored stars without potassium perchlorate, ammonium perchlorate, or potassium chlorate. Of the three, potassium perchlorate is generally considered to be the safest and easiest to work with from a lack of incompatibilities.

[dagabu]

I still have AP from HP rocket days and so I use it with comps to brighten the colors. I like Pot Perc too but IMHO, the colors are not as bright.

 

I use NCL to prime my AP stars and such so hygroscopic events are unlikely and I dont use chlorate for anything but smoke so there is no chance for cross contamination to occur.

 

I find AP to be just as important as Pot Perc and it costs the same per pound.

[pyrochris732]

i order from American pyro supply and they are probably one of the cheapest. I ordered barium nitrate once and didnt have to go through any hazmat fees or trouble with shipping. They will also sell you perchlorate on your first order. I just ordered parlon, red gum, magnalium, and strontium nitrate! You can get a few really cool stars with those chems (in addition to some other basic ones). They are running a nice little spring time sale that is supposedly over now but I still got 5% off when i entered the discount code!

 

Check em out, Dragon.