Screen Pressed Stars

[dagabu]

Cut stars seem to be one of the easiest to make stars there are but last weekend, I made a batch of white strobe stars using the screen pressed method and boy, oh boy, was that fast!

 

Please share your stories, questions, comments and pictures of your screen pressed stars. Don't forget to post your comps that did and dint work.

 

-dag

[Pechovski]

Did they get more or less dense then cut? And what kind of screen/mesh did you use? Using a no-stick flat board to press with would be nice i think. Never seen the method your talking about, just had it in my head while cutting some stars...

Pictures would be nice

[dagabu]

I found the most interesting thing to be the effect the screen had on the actual size of the star. 1/4" hardware cloth that measures .22" across the opening only yielded a star .19" across after the patty was pressed through the screen but was still 1/4" thick .

 

I pressed another patty that was only 1/8" thick and they stayed pretty close to that size on all sides. The next stars will be pressed through a 1/2" screen.

[cogbarry]

Interesting that you bring this up. I recently made a few batches of parlon based stars with this method. I used a 3-mesh screen and rolled the patty 1/4 inch thick. When I pushed the comp through the screen it seems they all stretched from the gravity on their way through. Many were 1/2 inch long x 1/4 inch wide. I simply pinched them all manually to get the closer to a cubical shape before they dried. The results were less than ideal in terms of uniform size and shape. A pyro friend told me he had the same issue with the same method and star comp until he used parlon from a different supplier.

[dagabu]

I make a pretty stiff mix, they dont elongate much for me.

[dan999ification]

ive seen some parlon bound green stars made in this way, seemed to hold up quite well and they were fired the same day.will find and post vid if you like.

ive been contemplating using this method for charcoal stars but it cant be neater than a sharp knife, i think its better suited to more springy/stringy comps like parlon bound stars and larger batches.

dan

[cogbarry]

I make a pretty stiff mix, they dont elongate much for me.

 

I only added enough acetone so that I could roll into a patty without it falling apart. In fact, I had my work cut out for me trying to reform them before they got too dry and crumbly. I suppose I could have re-dampened them though. Like I said, another more experienced pyro friend had the same issue

but seemed to think it was that particular parlon from a particular supplier. Then again, what do I know?

 

Once these stars did dry completely, they were rock hard and seemed to work well in tests. I plan to test some shells with these stars this weekend.

[Mumbles]

Adding some alcohol makes the stuff less stringy, so maybe it could also make them less likely to stretch.

[cogbarry]

Adding some alcohol makes the stuff less stringy, so maybe it could also make them less likely to stretch.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. Unfortunately, I have quite a bit of the parlon left so I really need to use it up before trying some from a different supplier. I was also thinking about cutting them against a back board of some type so they don't hang and don't get a chance to stretch. I would need something that fits the framed screen I have. ...or I suppose I could consider cutting them, they are a bit sticky though.

[dagabu]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. Unfortunately, I have quite a bit of the parlon left so I really need to use it up before trying some from a different supplier. I was also thinking about cutting them against a back board of some type so they don't hang and don't get a chance to stretch. I would need something that fits the framed screen I have. ...or I suppose I could consider cutting them, they are a bit sticky though.

 

If you prime the patty well with meal, the knife will press prime into the patty and help protect the knife blade. Wipe it off between cuts and you should be fine. Also, do like Mum suggests, add a little alcohol and the "stickiness" will abate some.

 

-dag

[cogbarry]

If you prime the patty well with meal, the knife will press prime into the patty and help protect the knife blade. Wipe it off between cuts and you should be fine. Also, do like Mum suggests, add a little alcohol and the "stickiness" will abate some.

 

-dag

 

Every so often I fat finger a key and lose my reply after I've thought it out and typed it in. This is one of those times - starting over.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I will keep all of them in mind the next time I make a batch(s) of the parlon based stars. FYI, I was using straight acetone as the solvent when cutting the stars, alcohol for rolling prime layers on. It was straight out of skylighters rubber star kit/directions (both the red rubber and rainbow kits) and I pretty much followed them to a "t". The article is pretty informative, actually explaining pros/cons between nitrates/carbonates and there are a lot of variations in color options by making very small adjustments in the comps. There was even a fairly good explanation on some options for blue stars which I haven't made yet. I thought this type of comp would be a good way for me to get some successful stars in my list of pyro competencies. Before this, I had avoided anything that wasn't bound by water/dextrin. Glad I read a bunch of the safety threads, I knew acetone was nasty but would not have known just how dangerous it is if I had not read them!

[Siegmund]

I tried screen cutting and gave it up in favor of the knife, for the reasons already mentioned -- the stars didnt come out anything close to cubes, and did all sorts of odd things as far as trying to stick back together after they went through the screen. I realize most of this was because of using too much solvent... but you arent punished for a gooey patty nearly so much.