athlon Posted December 15, 2011 Posted December 15, 2011 What is happening when rolled stars looks like these?Started out with soaked mustard seeds and coated them with ball milled Chrysantemum #8 composition.There seems to be more stars in the drying tray than the mustard seeds I started with.
dagabu Posted December 15, 2011 Posted December 15, 2011 You got raspberries my friend! There are many here that will direct you as to the correct fix but for me, all I did was do a quick bucket roll with some slurry (thin) and added comp really slowly till they evened out. -dag
pyrogeorge Posted December 15, 2011 Posted December 15, 2011 Did you use straigh water without alcohol?
athlon Posted December 15, 2011 Author Posted December 15, 2011 Hey, raspberries it is! How do you mean with the slurry? I used 75:25 water / alcohol.
AdmiralDonSnider Posted December 15, 2011 Posted December 15, 2011 Few quick tips: - use more solvent, making the stars softer, evening out bumps- make larger batches - adding weight in rolling- grow slowly- don´t use superfine comps, straight from the mill (consider regranulating and milling again for a few minutes to get a 100 mesh powder)- avoid lightweight comps or consider using heavier cores e.g. nitrate strobe cores
athlon Posted December 15, 2011 Author Posted December 15, 2011 Ok, I guess I'm in too much hurry! But if I wet them more they stick to the drum and clumps together.Will try again tomorrow.
dan999ification Posted December 15, 2011 Posted December 15, 2011 (edited) patience, i can make small batches of 100 stars with streamer comps straight from the mill, it does take 3 steps to reach 10mm though, it is not impossible i even rolled with 54% charcoal once ,i have never used alchohol to ease the surface tension.you can even them out by wetting them and letting them spin in the roller [fast] but if they are too wet they will stick if the fugal force is too low [ i find that if they spin fast enough the water stays on the surface of the stars allowing them to dry while you work with them and smooth off, let them dry if they are too wet already]i hand roll mine and to even them out they really have to have enough momentum/force on them to make them climb the walls of the roller/jar i find this is important with small batches and you get harder stars than with less force on them, pushing them into the walls of the roller will delete rasberries as they form, too wet and they will stick or break up, too much force and they will break up. it takes nearly 3 hours of rolling to get me 10mm charcoal stars with three drying sessions.you dont have to even them out unless you strive for perfection they will work just fine and imho take fire easier than stars with smooth surfaces.two or three goes and you'll have it. dan. edit: the slurry is made from the comp, search for the "torro" method Edited December 15, 2011 by dan999ification
allrocketspsl Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 patience, i can make small batches of 100 stars with streamer comps straight from the mill, it does take 3 steps to reach 10mm though, it is not impossible i even rolled with 54% charcoal once ,i have never used alchohol to ease the surface tension.you can even them out by wetting them and letting them spin in the roller [fast] but if they are too wet they will stick if the fugal force is too low [ i find that if they spin fast enough the water stays on the surface of the stars allowing them to dry while you work with them and smooth off, let them dry if they are too wet already]i hand roll mine and to even them out they really have to have enough momentum/force on them to make them climb the walls of the roller/jar i find this is important with small batches and you get harder stars than with less force on them, pushing them into the walls of the roller will delete rasberries as they form, too wet and they will stick or break up, too much force and they will break up. it takes nearly 3 hours of rolling to get me 10mm charcoal stars with three drying sessions.you dont have to even them out unless you strive for perfection they will work just fine and imho take fire easier than stars with smooth surfaces.two or three goes and you'll have it. dan. edit: the slurry is made from the comp, search for the "torro" method practice practice practice go slow
athlon Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 (edited) How much comp does it take you guys to make about a hundred 10mm stars? I used 200g on this batch and the stars are about 5mm now. B.T.W I milled the Chrysantemum comp for about 4 hours, is that too long? The mix was air float. Edited December 16, 2011 by athlon
athlon Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 Raspberries will be raspberries... Well, they look nice though!
dagabu Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 How much comp does it take you guys to make about a hundred 10mm stars? I used 200g on this batch and the stars are about 5mm now. B.T.W I milled the Chrysantemum comp for about 4 hours, is that too long? The mix was air float. I make 2 kilos of comp when I am rolling stars and roll them until I have the size I want. I use 1/8 cup of starter seeds, crackle, spheres, shot or star chips and work from there. I find that it takes close to 5# to roll a full batch of stars to 3/8" for my shells. -dag
athlon Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 I have tried to find some tutorial video on youtube but found nothing good. Anybody have any good links?
athlon Posted December 17, 2011 Author Posted December 17, 2011 Ok, think I got it now! Less spray more comp... Not all the same size though.
dan999ification Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) i find 100 stars to 10mm takes me 100g of comp [streamers] i do use cut cores sometimes though which need less comp as they are bigger i find 100 perfect for a 3" shell you get a few leftover for testing,for mines i just cut them.using airfloat comp is a pita but can be rolled with patience.here is a link that may be of help but i agree there is not a lot on rolling http://pyrotalk.com/making-fireworks-stars-at-the-little-... dan. Edited December 17, 2011 by dan999ification
athlon Posted December 17, 2011 Author Posted December 17, 2011 Now I even managed to make my raspberries round again! Rolling stars is all enjoyment now...I can't keep up with milling charcoal though at the rate I'm making stars. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of different chemicals so I only make charcoal based stars right now.
dan999ification Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Now I even managed to make my raspberries round again! Rolling stars is all enjoyment now...I can't keep up with milling charcoal though at the rate I'm making stars. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of different chemicals so I only make charcoal based stars right now. mill the charcoal with the comp it takes a little while longer but you only have to crush it a bit first. dan.
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