Lactose Blue or Conkling Blue?

[hindsight]

I have only pumped phenolic bound stars twice and had the same experience--no problems. The last 6 or 7 times using phenolic resin and parlon with ethanol, the star cutting went well. (Mumbles has already informed me that Parlon is not acting as binder with ethanol, yet it may still affect the consistency). It seems that substituting Saran this last time (and maybe the time before) there was a bit of sticking together of the stars. Anyway, the stars labeled "Nater Blue #1" were hard today and ready to light. It was daylight and they were ignited on the ground.

The stars lit easily with just Pinball prime. There was a brief bit of orange followed by a nice pure, fairly light blue and just a brief bit of orange as it died.

This was only a ground test but, basically, a success. So far this is the best formula for a phenolic bound blue star I have tested. Thanks for the formula.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by translator for correct English

Edited July 14, 2014 by hindsight

[rogeryermaw]

 

this is the blue formula i have been experimenting with.

 

65 perc

16 cupric chloride

10 sulfur

7 dex

10-12 parlon

 

i bind with acetone and cut with a (don't laugh) pizza cutter. step primed with hot prime containing aluiminum and finished with b.p. mill dust.

 

not the best but my family loved them on the 4th.

Edited July 31, 2014 by rogeryermaw

[rogeryermaw]

too late to edit...sorry. here is that blue star formula in a fountain.

 

[burningRNX]

Did you use CuCl2 or the green air oxidized stuff?

[rogeryermaw]

Copper(1)chloride. It's a bit too dim for aerial shells...at least on camera. Looks good in person though.

[abbykarim]

science question......selenium is a metal that burns with a very bright blue flame, it is used in glass colouring and medicines and anti dandruff shampoo, it also has a low boiling ponit and acts somewhat similar to sulfur,.i am very new to pyro making but i was wandering why i dont see selinium being used in any mixtues for blue

[rogeryermaw]

according to Wiberg, Egon; Wiberg, Nils and Holleman, Arnold Frederick (2001). Inorganic chemistry, (source wikipedia) it has seen use as a reducing agent in fireworking. however, over 400 microgram per day exposure is toxic. 400 micrograms is less than half a milligram so that comes off as pretty toxic to me.

[Peret]

Actually, 15ug/kilo body weight/day is considered the upper tolerable intake level at which you won't suffer any harm, so a figure of 400ug is way on the low side, child safe. Selenium is an essential trace element and you probably have 20 milligrams in your body right now. In fact you'll die if you don't get at least a little bit. It's an ingredient in multi-vitamins. Too much is definitely bad for you but it takes a lot of it to kill you, and you generally have to take it continuously for a long time.

[rogeryermaw]

only a guess on my part but perhaps that figure is for daily exposure and toxicity is cumulative?

 

my potassium benzoate and ammonium perchlorate should be here any day now! hoping to get some good results with a blue that has a similar burn rate to metal fueled red, green and white. also got some black copper oxide heading this way...that pihko #2 looks intensely gorgeous!

Edited August 19, 2014 by rogeryermaw

[Mumbles]

Toxicity aside, most of the compounds we'd experience from burning selenium are incredibly pungent and terrible smelling. The descriptions of rotting horseraddish, rotting eggs, and leaking natural gas do not do it justice. Fractions of a ppm of certain ones will clear a room.

[rogeryermaw]

 

it's pretty but lights with inconsistent speed. i need to tweak it a bit. just a standard AP/copper benzoate 82/18 + 10% parlon. have some 5% dex bound drying. i'll try those tomorrow night if they're dry in time.

[Jakenbake]

Nice blue Rog. It's times like this that I hate my chlorate!

[rogeryermaw]

thanks jake. glad i was working on a 10g test scale. i went to prime them and grabbed the b.p. box instead of the kp. noob move *oops* didn't notice until they started heating up then it hit me "ap & a nitrate" SMH! so i burned them off and have a new batch drying. the dex stars aren't quit dry yet.

 

also this new batch is a bit experimental i haven't seen before. hope they work out as well as preliminary tests indicate. if so i'll share the formula.

[FlaMtnBkr]

Really the only danger of using a nitrate with AP is that it can form ammonium nitrate which is deliquescent and will attract water until it is a wet mess.

 

Also, the AP provides plenty of chlorine to the flame and a chlorine donor should not be needed. Since parlon is basically rubber and has a fuel value, that might be why you were having ignition issues without any additional oxidizer. Plus parlon can leave a glowing glob of clinker ash in some formulas.

 

Edit: dumb auto correct

Edited August 26, 2014 by FlaMtnBkr

[rogeryermaw]

 

thinking on the line of parlon as unnecessary and dex binder burning too slowly, i tried some pumped to the greatest density i could safely pack them. these are quarter inch with only a light dusting of hot kp prime. bright and fairly deep color seen from about 40-50 feet. for consisten burn each star should be pressed to a similar density.

 

you tube doesn't do it justice...

Edited August 28, 2014 by rogeryermaw

[rogeryermaw]

 

this is a slightly modified version of the pihko blue mentioned upthread. me like!

 

i have noticed that a lot of the blue formulae burn too slowly to keep up with other colors or, making them small enough to give a similar duration makes them hard to see in the sky. so i basically took the pihko formula from page 1 of this tread and added 5-7% ammonium perchlorate to increase burn speed while hoping the chlorine in the ap would help with color retention. above is the result.

Edited September 2, 2014 by rogeryermaw

[rogeryermaw]

 

ok...i need help here. this is from the same batch of stars in the mine i just uploaded upthrerad. at 80-100 ft., they perform fine but as you can see, at about 350 ft up, they are all but invisible. and it is driving me nuts! pihko blue isn't that far removed from pyro science blue and i have seen others use that with good results. any help here would really be appreciated. the color is fine but the brightness is dog doo.

 

they are slightly brighter in person than on video but still dissappointing.

[rogeryermaw]

 

thank you to Niladmirari for the composition. finally a decent blue that you can actually see in the air!

 

sorry the video is a bit out of focus. there may have been a smudge of the lens...

[Zmuro]

That's really nice blue. Would you mind sharing the formula?

[rogeryermaw]

It's not my formula. It's a bit modified but I got it from the pictures in Niladmirari's gallery. He posted the formula but I asked him if I could use it. Edited September 12, 2014 by rogeryermaw