Star Molecule Aluminum Powder

[handymanherb]

Just got around to playing with the sample of military grade Aluminum I got a while back, I'm making some aerial salute shells to soup up our family 1.4 show a little, I'm glad I tried a small sample shell first before just making up the 3 inch can shells.

 

This stuff is hot and I can see I'm going to have to lighten the shell load, or I'm going to being breaking windows and ear drums, don't want to do that, plus less material needed, means I can afford to make a few more, I like it.

 

I got some e-matches drying, I made from it too, and from what I seen so far, they should be great.

 

I placed my first order with them to make sure I have some for club members to try at the next meeting I go too, won't be able to make this months as I have a shooting class to complete and then with demo night starting a few hours after that, Saturday is going to be a long day as I will be there from 8 am to 10 pm , so I think that will fill my pyro fix for the month .

 

If you haven't tried Star Molecule's Aluminum Powder yet, give it a try, if you have tried it let me know what you think

[shagaKahn]

Got my first shipment this afternoon. So far I'm more impressed by its packaging than by its performance.

 

It's surely hot--but no hotter than anything I've ever tried. I'd say nose to nose with German Blackhead it's about equal. But my Indian Blackhead still remains the hottest Al I've ever used.

 

(1-gram batch of 70/30 in an open paper cup performed noticeably worse than Indian Blackhead).

 

Will apply it in other devices and report findings--but right now I have no plans to re-order.

[Ralph]

Got my first shipment this afternoon. So far I'm more impressed by its packaging than by its performance.

 

It's surely hot--but no hotter than anything I've ever tried. I'd say nose to nose with German Blackhead it's about equal. But my Indian Blackhead still remains the hottest Al I've ever used.

 

(1-gram batch of 70/30 in an open paper cup performed noticeably worse than Indian Blackhead).

 

Will apply it in other devices and report findings--but right now I have no plans to re-order.

 

really your indian out performs it ?

Indian is significantly cheaper too and is advertised as having a larger particle size Interesting

[shagaKahn]

Got my first taste of Indian Blackhead over a year ago and immediately noticed its brissant !crack! was more pronounced in a salute mixture than either my German Blackhead or Andji's Aluminum.

 

Went in with my back up 'cause I'd heard it was an Indian copy of the German process so naturally I assumed it inferior. But despite it's being the messiest Al I've ever worked with (excluding bright flake of course) I do prefer it at least in 70/30 preparations.

 

Have others experienced inferior results with Indian Blackhead?

 

Ain't given up on Star Molecule; only a single experiment so far and the jury is still out.

[shagaKahn]

Asked around about StarMolecule and got an interesting report. Apparently someone who was in business with this provider awhile said that if you tell people it's louder they'll believe it's louder. The psychology of the car salesman.

 

"He said it's a hotter aluminum; it must BE a hotter aluminum . . . "

[Algenco]

The "Power of suggestion" is indeed powerful.

 

Star Al is of a finer mesh than anything I've seen.

That alone would tell you it is "faster" than other varieties, now will that make a difference in performance?

In some cases I think yes.

Several "old snorts" even feel it may make comps more sensitive than Indian or German black ( hasn't been made in Germany for a long time)

 

Some people notice a difference in tone/intensity with Star

One Pyro stated his tests showed salute made with Star were 1 decibel louder than 5413

Is the difference worth the cost? I think that's up to the individual.

 

I have a crap load of 350 mesh Bright flake that works very well and is very cheap

Edited August 15, 2011 by Algenco

[dagabu]

Lots of testing on the ground salute line last week, the data is still being amassed, lets see what the decibel meter says about Al powder?

 

-dag

[dagabu]

I used a 60 samples a second audiometer at 10' left on the ground to record the highest peak decibel on several salutes of various size and found that there was just too much variation using this equipment to be meaningful.

 

Peak sample was 171dB and lowest was 141dB. The same salute using the same materials displayed a -10dB variation suggesting that the sampling equipment is just too slow to measure the peaks.

 

Sorry

 

-dag

[Bonny]

I used a 60 samples a second audiometer at 10' left on the ground to record the highest peak decibel on several salutes of various size and found that there was just too much variation using this equipment to be meaningful.

 

Peak sample was 171dB and lowest was 141dB. The same salute using the same materials displayed a -10dB variation suggesting that the sampling equipment is just too slow to measure the peaks.

 

Sorry

 

-dag

 

 

I guess we need to send someone else to PGI to collect data next year then...

[Peret]

1g of 70:30 Star unconfined in a twist of paper was louder than any other 70:30 flash I ever made. 1g in a 1/4 inch spiral tube was quite disorienting at a distance of a few feet. I do ball mill my perc, though.

[dagabu]

1g of 70:30 Star unconfined in a twist of paper was louder than any other 70:30 flash I ever made. 1g in a 1/4 inch spiral tube was quite disorienting at a distance of a few feet. I do ball mill my perc, though.

 

Perception is tainted by expectations and the human ear is probably the worse measure of sound pressure there is. Even the position of the head in relation to the salute can change the perceived sound greatly.

 

-dag

[Peret]

Perception is tainted by expectations and the human ear is probably the worse measure of sound pressure there is. Even the position of the head in relation to the salute can change the perceived sound greatly.

So my observation is especially relevant, given that the loudness of the twist of paper explosion was completely unexpected (and, given that it was 11.30pm at night, unwise). No previous burn-off of flash ever prompted my neighbor to call the police and report shots fired.

[r1dermon]

The cost is too high...if i need it louder, i can make double the amount of cheap flash, and put it in a larger tube...a simple twist of paper is an inefficient use of flash. The decibel output for that quantity of flash could be much greater with confinement in a convolute tube with secure end plugs. At 20 bucks a lb, its just too much $. Lb for lb, it may react faster than most flash comps...but unless there's a size limit in a competition, id prefer to just make my salutes larger.

 

Then again, your 3" salutes might be louder than my 4's. Lol...so there's some bragging rights.

[dagabu]

So my observation is especially relevant, given that the loudness of the twist of paper explosion was completely unexpected (and, given that it was 11.30pm at night, unwise). No previous burn-off of flash ever prompted my neighbor to call the police and report shots fired.

 

Nice side step but still incorrect. It is still perception unless scientific equipment is used in the same way every time in repeated samples. I think the Star is louder too but I cannot make a statement that it IS louder since the human ear is easily tricked.

 

-dag

[NightHawkInLight]

We recorded MANY types of salutes for the section of the show shown here at around 6 minutes in:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReW6Q2vVaas

 

Let me tell you, they all sound exactly the same until you get them playing next to each other or on the computer after recording them. Even hearing them about 30 seconds apart as we were testing we were second guessing which had a higher or lower pitch. Computer playback was the only to figure it out. I once heard that of all the senses, hearing has the worst memory recall ability. Can't remember where I heard it, but that speaks to the point

 

I believe we ended up using about three different kinds of flash in those salutes and three or four different tube sizes and shapes.

 

Anyway, the point is, a salute is just as good as any other until you set another one off right next to it. There's maybe two different kinds, loud ones, and loud ones that knock the wind out of you. Not much in the middle.

[optimus]

Anyway, the point is, a salute is just as good as any other until you set another one off right next to it. There's maybe two different kinds, loud ones, and loud ones that knock the wind out of you. Not much in the middle.

 

Maltese beraq come to mind, I saw them for the first time recently and was amazed by the different sounding salutes and how distinct they were.

[Dean411]

Gotta say I prefer the Indian myself price versus performance it got the win on both counts IMO

Also it's 2 micron

[Potassiumchlorate]

Real German Black isn't black in colour, by the way. There is aluminium that is black in colour, but that's a bit coarser. Real German black is grey.

[Algenco]

SM is darker than Indian

I have both

[usapyro]

In my testing Star Molecule so outperformed 5413-HS that I was half suspicious something was wrong with my 5413... But no, it's from a very reputable supplier.

 

In small amounts of 50mg to 1g star molecule is nearly twice as fast without confinement, and with confinement it's still noticeably hotter. Comparing frame by frame on a video camera confirms. If you can afford it and want the best or use < 1Lb dark Al/year... Go with Star!

 

It's definitely worth it to have around for use in small amounts. If you need Al for tons of larger salutes or something it's not cost effective.

Edited January 8, 2012 by usapyro

[Blackthumb]

Could you all speak up...having trouble hearing you!

Good thread...!

[pyrojig]

Could you all speak up...having trouble hearing you!

Good thread...!

 

I have some interesting info to add... Not sure if it was a supplier or inconsistency in 5413 AL, but some Indian Dark Al of similar size flake outperformed it in burn rate by a very noticeable amount... I was always under the impression that 5413 was the hotter of the flake Al( excluding Star's Al, or sub micron AL's ) but not in this case. It seems that color is not always a way to grade your AL's . I know that a few years back there was a load of bad Al circling the market claiming to be the hot stuff. I believe that it was cut with carbon black to "bulk" it up. I thought it was only the Indian Dark that was hit with that bad deal, not the 5413. Seems strange though .

Edited January 9, 2012 by pyrojig

[PyroLearner1989]

I see that star is 10 lbs for 170$ shipped, my 5413-H Super costs me $17.50 per pound for a total of $175.00 with shipping and tax $192.42. So actually star would of been cheaper but at 1.5 micron and faster burning (possibly more risk to be hazardous?), it's not worth it to me. Since I have been using 5413-H Super for the past 3 years (used regular german dark and have handled large amount and it performs the same every year and no issues so far (cross my fingers) I will stick with it. But I wouldn't mind trying STAR to see a difference for myself. I use a high mesh screen to finely sift my KCLO4 into a large bucket then I place that inside of a metal canister for storage. Would ball milling KCLO4 with anit-cake be of any benefit?

 

Here is my AL:

 

Aluminum, flake, dark, German Blackhead <br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: tahoma; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">3 micron, coated.5413-H Super