Hexamine question

[oldguy]

In reading about Hexamine, some info says it will increase the size of a flame envelope.

 

Any opinions how true that is & if true, to what degree?

 

Another question, is there anything better for increasing a flame envelope size?

 

 

[dagabu]

I only use Haxamine for AP stars and falling leaves. In a very similarly colored star from True Blue, it burns very fast with a smaller flame envelope, in the hex version, I can still see it clearly at 600 meters.

 

I will look for hex in KNO3 comps tonight but I have never seen one.

[NightHawkInLight]

I have a fair amount of hexamine but have yet to try it in anything. I'll let you know how it works when I do. I have some ideas that I plan to test soon that may benefit from the addition.

[dagabu]

Barium Nitrate, Potassium Perchlorate and Ammonium Perchlorate are the only oxidizers I have found that use Hexamine.

[pyrogeorge]

Can i ball mill hexamine?is it safe?

[pyrojig]

Yep..., It would be like ball milling red gum for that matter...

[Peret]

I've only used hexamine in blue formulae and I've never tried milling it, since the stuff I have is quite fine. Milling without an oxidizer, I'm sure it's as safe as sugar. I don't know how well it would mill, since it's rather soft and waxy - also it will make your mill jar and workshop smell of week-old fish Perhaps milling it along with some harder ingredient like charcoal might be a good idea. There's not much written about it (other than it increases the flame envelope) but apparently it's a popular choice for indoor fireworks, since it burns cool without smoke or noxious fumes - probably just what you need for your candles, oldguy.

[dagabu]

I've only used hexamine in blue formulae and I've never tried milling it, since the stuff I have is quite fine. Milling without an oxidizer, I'm sure it's as safe as sugar. I don't know how well it would mill, since it's rather soft and waxy - also it will make your mill jar and workshop smell of week-old fish Perhaps milling it along with some harder ingredient like charcoal might be a good idea. There's not much written about it (other than it increases the flame envelope) but apparently it's a popular choice for indoor fireworks, since it burns cool without smoke or noxious fumes - probably just what you need for your candles, oldguy.

 

I'm blessed with a nose that does not smell Hexamine.

 

-dag

[Arthur]

Hexamine is usually used as a fuel for blue star formulations with KP or AP as it burns with a big flame so it burns cool and doesn't spoil to blue colour by overheating.

[pyrogeorge]

I've only used hexamine in blue formulae and I've never tried milling it, since the stuff I have is quite fine. Milling without an oxidizer, I'm sure it's as safe as sugar. I don't know how well it would mill, since it's rather soft and waxy - also it will make your mill jar and workshop smell of week-old fish Perhaps milling it along with some harder ingredient like charcoal might be a good idea. There's not much written about it (other than it increases the flame envelope) but apparently it's a popular choice for indoor fireworks, since it burns cool without smoke or noxious fumes - probably just what you need for your candles, oldguy.

First of all is the safety..so if it is safe for milling i will try a batch..

thanks

[moondogman]

I'm blessed with a nose that does not smell Hexamine.

 

-dag

 

its because of you vikings up there eating that lutefish You cant smell anything like fish

 

Steve

[dagabu]

its because of you vikings up there eating that lutefish You cant smell anything like fish

 

Steve

 

Uffda! That's right, dontcha know? Ya know the best way to eat Lut(e)fisk? Cook it in butter and onions, drian off the butter and onions, throw the Lut(e)fisk away and eat the butter and onions!!

 

-dag

[ulajo]

If i could get Hexamine 5-6 years ago i would make some RDX now i have no use from it since i cant find other chemicals as Barium Nitrate... and i dont want to make RDX anymore.

It is safe to ball mill it. Anyway it is as safe as ball milling aspirin.

Edited July 12, 2011 by ulajo

[dagabu]

If i could get Hexamine 5-6 years ago i would make some RDX now i have no use from it since i cant find other chemicals as Barium Nitrate... and i dont want to make RDX anymore.

It is safe to ball mill it. Anyway it is as safe as ball milling aspirin.

 

Interesting, I have no problem getting either chemical but I make falling leaves with them, not RDX. Please keep the HE discussion in the HE section.

 

-dag

[Short5]

Not that i have anythging I want hex for right now but this topic made me remember I have a bunch of hexamine tabs somewhere. They used them in the military as cooking fuel and i bought them at a gun show. Does anyone know if that is pure? I would more likely buy it if I needed it but it got me wondering.

[Mumbles]

The pellets are usually a mix of hexamine and a wax binder/water repellent.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

hexamine is very hygroscopic once you remove that layer, i had half a block just sitting under my desk for 2 months, when i finally noticed it, it had formed a stalagtite under my desk, sort of.

i iremember when i worked at BIG W, the camping section would wreak of olf fish because of the hexamine, everybody thought there was a dead animal there, i would get called there at least once a week about customer complaints, fortunately it was only short distance, but oddly, the smell was projected near the enameled cups and dishes, rather than actually being where the hexamine fuel tablets were. very odd.

 

currently i am trying to formulate some hexamine with a colourant (which wont extinguish any easier than regular hexamine and uses no oxidizer), which will be the equivalent of fire logs, since i no longer use it to make school rooms smell of fish, or to make **** which i am glad i never hurt myself making.

 

 

i dont think it should be milled however, once it gets fine enough, it just starts compacting and gets waxy, not unless you drive all the moisture out of it with a desicator of course.

[Mumbles]

Good quality hexamine is not hygroscopic, and typically does not smell all that much. Being able to detect the odor is actually a genetic trait. Some are more sensitive than others. I can smell it, and will tell you for a fact that the good stuff has relatively little odor compared to even the waxy fuel tablets.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

really? wow!

i had no idea.

[50AE]

I agree pure hexamine doesn't smell that much, you have dig your nose into the container. Not much hygroscopic, it tends to cake into hard pieces though.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

i suppose though the extreme humidity (ave 80-100%) of the tropics here make an exception.

the wetter the smellier though, when dissolved it stank 100 times stronger than it did slightly cakey powder

[Mumbles]

Hygroscopic is hygroscopic. The humidity you mention is similar to what I have around where I live for a fair portion of the summer. You just have lower quality hexamine. Mine cakes too, but a quick screening is all it takes. Even then it has very little odor. It seems that it's an impurity in the solid that has the most intense of the odor.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

if its gonna get burnt, i dont think the manufacturers are going to be botherd much about removing an impurity just because "some people" can smell it.

[Mumbles]

The pyrotechnic and fuel tablet uses of hexamine aren't even a blip on the manufacturers' radars.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

exactly my point. nobody cares, not even them