Juiceh Posted December 30, 2010 Posted December 30, 2010 I have a friend who runs a custom auto tuning shop. I was over there the other day and noticed a rather large pile of assorted metal bits underneath his band saw, probably 5 pounds or so. I've started playing around with gerbs\fountains recently and have been using metals I purchased from pyrotechnic suppliers, so I saw this as a potential score. But, the shavings are a mix of metals, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum and the ratios are unknown. My friend was concerned that the stainless steel wouldn't be much use for me. I know that steel can be used for pyro, however I'm not sure which kind. I told him I wasn't sure if it was any good for pyro use either I was just thinking about using some and seeing what happens anyway! Should I grab all this stuff and just give it a try or is it a bad idea to substitute the called for metal with unknown mixtures of metal bits to standard gerb mixes?
Ralph Posted December 30, 2010 Posted December 30, 2010 provided you use it soon after making (with in a day or two) will be excellent (mg in there wouldn't be cool though) or you can linseed coat it than storage is a viable option
Mumbles Posted December 30, 2010 Posted December 30, 2010 Some people like to wash off any cutting oil but it should be fine. Some steels, not sure of the types, exhibit very nice branching sparks similar to titanium.
Juiceh Posted December 30, 2010 Author Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) provided you use it soon after making (with in a day or two) will be excellent (mg in there wouldn't be cool though) or you can linseed coat it than storage is a viable optionI'm pretty sure he doesn't work with mg at all, if any. So that shouldn't be an issue. Is that why you say to use soon after making? I'll double check that he doesn't cut any mg. If he doesn't would you still recommend some coating for stuff not for use in the next day or so? Edited December 30, 2010 by Juiceh
Ralph Posted December 30, 2010 Posted December 30, 2010 iron and some steals will react unfaroably with nitrates resulting in your metal being eaten up before you get a chance to burn it up thats why you want to use it within a couple days
Juiceh Posted December 30, 2010 Author Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) Ok, thanks! Haven't tried coating metals yet. Been kinda avoiding it. I guess my first attempt using some free shop floor sweepings wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd rather mess that up than some expensive mg powder. Edited December 30, 2010 by Juiceh
Ralph Posted December 30, 2010 Posted December 30, 2010 dont diochromate coat linseed coat and you can allways just make and fire as most people do with out the hassle only bother with coating if you plan on storage
Juiceh Posted December 30, 2010 Author Posted December 30, 2010 Some people like to wash off any cutting oil but it should be fine. Some steels, not sure of the types, exhibit very nice branching sparks similar to titanium.I missed this response before. Cutting oil is an issue, He doesn't use any with the band saw. Hopefully I get some nice sparking steel. Once I go back over there and grab the stuff, probably tomorow, and make a few gerbs I'll post vids.
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