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The nicest red stars


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Posted

Concerning Independence Red:

 

How about the dextrine then? Does it work with acetone?

And if not, or the parlon does the binding job alone: can I leave it out? Does it have much fuel value?

 

The Dextrine only is activated by water, the acetone effectively kills the dex, you can leave it out if you wish since it does not contribute any real fuel to the comp. I make it as is in powder form with the dex so that I can whet with water or acetone depending on how long I want to wait for them to dry and what the humidity is outside.

 

Using water does not stink and you can cut them in a confined space while the acetone makes that impossible.

 

-dag

Posted

Thx.

 

2 small batches of Independence Red and Buell Red are drying :)

Drying surprisingly fast, Sr-Nitrate does not seem to be a hindrance...

Posted

"Slow" red:

 

Strontium nitrate 40

Potassium chlorate 40

Shellac 20

 

"Fast" red:

 

Strontium nitrate 37

Potassium /per/chlorate 30

Magnesium 14

Parlon 14

Red gum 5

 

"Faster" red (Bleser Red Magnesium):

 

Strontium nitrate 55

Magnesium 28

Parlon 10

PVC 7

Posted (edited)

Just did some test.

 

It was already dark outside and I lit the stars with a lighter, so I was blinded every time ;)

 

Buell was much faster then Independence, wich burned very nice and slow, perfect.

On the other hand Buell was much easier to ignite.

 

Is it normal that Independence Red leaves behind a massive grey skeleton?

I guess that whould be some nasty kind of fallout, very hot and glowing for some time afterwards...

 

 

roll them in meal powder for prime and they are fantastic!

Are you sure?

Edited by dangerousamateur
Posted

Is it normal that Independence Red leaves behind a massive grey skeleton?

I guess that whould be some nasty kind of fallout, very hot and glowing for some time afterwards...

 

 

The star will turn to dust in the air when shot from a shell, the skeleton disintegrates.

 

-dag

Posted (edited)

Everything bound with parlon will leave lots of ashes on the ground. In the air it will be smoke instead. ^_^

 

Lacquer Red seems very interesting. I don't have much AP and I don't like to work with potassium dichromate, but something I'd like to try would be to change it to:

 

Ammonium Perchlorate

41

 

Strontium Nitrate

20

 

Hexamine

10

 

Parlon

12

 

Red Gum

5

 

Magnesium 200 mesh, coated with potassium dichromate.

12

Edited by Potassiumchlorate
Posted

Hi,

 

I'd like to hear your opinion of what you think is

 

- the nicest rather slow burning red composition

- the nicest red composition burning normal, or rather fast.

 

The slow burning one is for a little parachute project, and the fast burning for "normal" but BIG stars.

 

By nicest I mean reddest. I haven't got much experience with colors yet.

But I'm not afraid of chlorate.

 

I like this comp:

NH4ClO4-50

Sr(NO3)2-35

shellac or phenolic resin (rosin also was used)-10

Al bright (coated with stearine)-5

 

solvent: EtOH

 

It is relatively slow burning star comp. Poor wind resistance, so I can not reccomend this comp in aerial shells. IMHO this comp is the optimal in color/brightnes ratio.

Posted

I think that the parlon ash that is left behind is dimming my emerald green stars.

it seems they burn inside the ash because the slowly fade into dim little orbs.

I seem to notice it more when they're acetone/parlon bound because my dextrin bound ones were beautiful.

Posted

I think that the parlon ash that is left behind is dimming my emerald green stars.

it seems they burn inside the ash because the slowly fade into dim little orbs.

I seem to notice it more when they're acetone/parlon bound because my dextrin bound ones were beautiful.

 

When they're propelled through the air, that is not much of a problem.

 

But yes, parlon bound ones do give off more smoke than dextrin bound ones.

Posted

OK, time to shoot a little rocket, let's see.

 

 

Since you always post lot's of NH4ClO4, I found a source meanwhile. But possession alone is a crime here ;)

Is it so much better for colors that it's worth the effort, special priming, coating Mg...?

Posted
No it's not, it's totally useless. You can make perfect red stars without it ;). Try buell red for instance.
Posted
I think you can make very good red stars based on potassium chlorate or perchlorate. Red is one of the easiest colours to make. But it's always funny to strive for the ultimate composition. :)
Posted (edited)

Update: I just tested this composition in a loose pile:

 

Strontium nitrate 36

Ammonium perchlorate 30

Magnalium 63µm 14

Parlon 14

HMTA 6

 

I would have preferred magnesium, but I don't have any dichromated, so magnalium had to do.

 

Very nice red colour anyway.

 

If you check my gallery, you can see an 8mm pumped star made with this comp. It's extremely bright, as you can see.

Edited by Potassiumchlorate
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Thanks for mentioning that Independence Red formula.

 

Tried it out last week and compared with some KClO4 and KClO3 based stars, both redgum or magnalium fueled, but the Independence Red was my favorite.

 

Extremely bright, but also extremely long burning. The Chlorate red was nice to, but even a big star is gone in a second while not being much brighter, at least not in my impression. The Independence Red seemed to burn forever ^_^

  • 4 months later...
Posted

I tested Paheka Red today:

 

Potassium perchlorate 50

Strontium carbonate 15

Magnalium 13

Parlon 13

Sulfur 5

Red gum 4

 

though I used 250 mesh magnesium instead of magnalium. It was the best KP/strontium carbonate compostion I have tried this far.

 

By the way: I thought Paheka was the name of the creator, but it seems that it means "white man" in the language of the native population in NZ. :)

Posted

that'd be seymour's comp ;)

 

better than buell? wow!

Posted
I haven't tested Buell, but I have tested several similar. I think the sulfur is what makes it a bit better than those.
Posted
sorry cant beat ruby or independence red mate
Posted (edited)

Absolutely! And I'm entitled to tell you you're wrong :rolleyes:

 

no your wrong

Edited by allrocketspsl
Posted

sorry cant beat ruby or independence red mate

 

No, it can't. What I said was that it is the best KP/strontium carbonate based composition I have tested. ;)

Posted

no your wrong

 

I'm glad you decided it was worth it to childishly respond 6 months after the fact.

Posted

I'm glad you decided it was worth it to childishly respond 6 months after the fact.

 

lol that long geeeeeeeeessssssssssssss what a child I am,please!Your chiming in also 6 months later?

  • 8 months later...
Posted

Except for the above lance formula, I'll admit that I've been largely unimpressed with most organic carbonate reds. Buell red is a carbonate based formula, and try telling me that it isn't red. I think part of the secret for that particular formula is that the carbonate is part of the oxidizer, thus you can get more in there as opposed to just being a colorant. That may be part of the appeal of strontium nitrate, as you can have 50 or 60% of the formula also be the colorant.

 

I tried Buell Red today. Very nice red. I might resort to that composition, if I can't get it right with strontium nitrate and magnesium due to the almost constant raining here this year.

Posted (edited)

Does it matter if Sr(NO3)2 is involved?

I'd like to exclude such compositions because of possible hygroscopic behaviour.

 

Ammonium perchlorate is not available to me.

 

Comparing organic and metallic fueled compositions:

metal is brighter and thus often prefered, but how do they usually compare in color?

LOL! I love that about those bright red stars!

 

Doesn't anybody need Strontium Nitrate at all? If you are looking for some, email me, I will give you a deal!

 

-dag

 

Please see this

 

1 cup Estrontium Nitrate

1 cup pvc

1 cup 1 powder Magnesium 80 mesh

 

Metil Etil Ketone ( MEK dissolv pvc)

Edited by kleberrios
Posted
Pyrotechnic compositions should never be mesured by volume, and your inablility to spell is very concerning.
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