Pechovski Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Im looking in to making a bigger bucket of filler, i seem to run out it quickly and start using my good BP instead. Cylinder shells are to be traditionally filled with pulverone right?, aka having a non compressible filler. But ive seen people and used hulls myself as filler with good success. So i have a few questions for the more experienced canister builders. I want the filler to burn decently, helping out the stars to ignite properly and i also want the end result quantity of production/consumption to be balanced. Hulls, is a 4:1 ratio good as a filler or could i even go lower. And in both cases, could i just go with green-mix instead of proper meal and still have the proper burn rate? When using hulls i just had to press the end disk a bit to make it nice and compact. Pulverone sure makes a sturdier shell, but the amount used to fill the shell is a little to much for my taste and the weight makes me add more lift. The weight though makes the shell launch with better trajectory. Im a little split on what path i should go with, anyone feel like giving me some input? //Pechovski
dagabu Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 When I started making cylinder shells, I used pulverone for filler and nearly doubled the weight of my charcoal based stars. I switched to 5:1 rich hulls but after seeing issues with the side walls bowing after heavy spiking, I made 7:1 rice hulls and found that they work exceptionally well. I still make some pulverone here and there for shells where I dont want any flaming fall out but the 7:1 rice hulls seem to fill the gap in everything else. Adding 1% by weight of either slow flash or good ole 70:30 for small plastic shells to the coated hulls helps immensely to shatter them and get the stars out in a circular pattern. -dag
dagabu Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Yes, 1# of dry rice hulls to 7# of mill dust. I like to use 2% dextrin and 1% CMC in my mill dust when making hulls, they are harder and dont absorb a lot of moisture. I separate each pound of BP into tubs of 1# and use them one at a time to coat the hulls. -dag
Mumbles Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 As a personal preference I prefer polverone, as in granulated green meal. It's traditional, and I know it will work for any sized shell. I got away from rice hulls as a burst in normal star breaks as I felt that the center was too soft even if compressing it. I am still up in the air with wall supported breaks such as comets or inserts. As you start to build bigger shells, the smaller details begin to matter more. For me, the effects just trickle down to smaller shells as a matter of practice. I've only tried rice hulls as a filler once, and didn't like it. They don't settle between the stars nearly as well, at least if using cut stars. Unrelated to the filler, I had to dump the contents of that shell out as I noticed that quickmatch I had tied over the time fuse came loose. I think the string I had tied it on with (not trimmed) got caught with the canule former and pulled up with it it. It was very clear that the filler was not making it's way through the stars very well. Upon re-building, I mixed up the hulls and stars before adding them in. I was able to settle it down fairly well, but it was only a 3" shell. I spent years making them with no filler what so ever, paper bags, and crappy cotton string. I've often wondered if perlite coated with BP might make an okay filler. It's fairly hard, and non-compressible, but of course not flammable. It bulks up like popcorn when heated, but I doubt if there would be sufficient heat for long enough to really do the trick. It's not harmful to the environment, I just try to avoid any fallout. Seeds, pasta, etc. Something else round to simulate the shape of polverone was my general thought. In the long run, I don't know how much you'll really save in the form of BP though. Rolling or coating something with green meal possibly will form a denser layer than the somewhat porous polverone.
SjeefOne Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 I've often wondered if perlite coated with BP might make an okay filler. Mumbles, a member of another forum I'm on (I think he's here also) has experimented with vermiculite. And with good results too. The discussion led to perlite too as well, But vermiculite is more spongy and less prone to crumble.
dagabu Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Mumbles, a member of another forum I'm on (I think he's here also) has experimented with vermiculite. And with good results too. The discussion led to perlite too as well, But vermiculite is more spongy and less prone to crumble. If anyone wants to drop by and grab whats left (24#?) of my 25# sack of vermiculite, they are welcome to it! It absolutly sucked as a carrier. I do agree with Mum to a point, if weight and cost were no issue, I would use pulverone every time but with a 50# max for my mag, I have to make sure that I make good choices in weights as well. -dag
SjeefOne Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 It absolutly sucked as a carrier. -dagDag, what kind of ratio did you use? I've seen a vid and it looked pretty good. What exactly sucked IYO?
dagabu Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Dag, what kind of ratio did you use? I've seen a vid and it looked pretty good. What exactly sucked IYO? 7:1 ratio. The queer thing about vermiculite is that it resists water, sheds it actually so that it will not coat the entire piece unless forced to do so and it is sticks together unlike rice hulls. Want the bag to experiment with? -dag
SjeefOne Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 7:1 ratio. The queer thing about vermiculite is that it resists water, sheds it actually so that it will not coat the entire piece unless forced to do so and it is sticks together unlike rice hulls. Want the bag to experiment with? -dagAllright, I think my friend uses 2/1 and that was nicely coated. Would think it would pick up more coating if required. I'll ask him his secret. Thanks for the offer, but don't think i'd like the shipping charges from you to me. Also I have no use for Queer vermiculite (please note the sarcasm font i used)
Bonny Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 If anyone wants to drop by and grab whats left (24#?) of my 25# sack of vermiculite, they are welcome to it! It absolutly sucked as a carrier. I do agree with Mum to a point, if weight and cost were no issue, I would use pulverone every time but with a 50# max for my mag, I have to make sure that I make good choices in weights as well. -dag I used vermiculite for a few years. Never had any problems. Before coating, I would screen with a 10 mesh aqnd throw away the small shit. I only use rice crispies now so I can eat a handful here and there while working
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