Some questions

[ivars21]

Hello, I have been reading this forum for 3 days almost 24/7 but I didn't find answer to these:

 

1) Where to get rice hulls for burst charge? I am searching them for while - nothing on ebay. (I am in Europe) Is there any alternative for burst charge?

I am making 3" aerial shell with homemade paper hemis.

2) Which stars are best for beginner like me? Is pumped stars good enough or I have to roll them?

3) Which compositions are best for newbies like me?

4) Do I really have to press my ball milled BP or I can just use it after ball milling?

 

Thank you and sorry for these newbie question.

[californiapyro]

1. rice hulls are just for efficiency, you can burst with granulated BP if you want. go to pyrodirect.com, or pyrocreations, or skylighter, or a rice factory you can also coat onto boiled grass seed or puffed rice, but you most likely need a booster (whistle mix). also you could use KP, H3, etc.

 

2. charcoal stars mostly, possibly with metal. go to pyroguide.com and look up tiger tail, c6, c8, chrysanthemum of mystery. these are all 3 chemical simple stars. if you have titanium, ferroti, and aluminum you can now make D1 glitter, tt/ti, bleser blond streamer, firefly, and willow diadem. pumped is good enough, even cut will work. rolled are trickier, especially with high charcoal stars. IMO the only advantage rolling has over pumping is color changing, which you wont be doing for a while.

 

3. the ones listed above. you need BP, and as a newbie I would suggest starting with fountains, spinners, rockets etc. before making time consuming and expensive shells.

 

4. if you want to use it as lift, you need to granulate it somehow. pressing, corning, ricing, all work. if using as burst then coat onto hulls/whatever. having a ball mill really helps the amateur pyro process.

 

hope this all helps, good luck!

Edited January 8, 2012 by californiapyro

[petroleum]

Hello, I have been reading this forum for 3 days almost 24/7 but I didn't find answer to these:

 

1) Where to get rice hulls for burst charge? I am searching them for while - nothing on ebay. (I am in Europe) Is there any alternative for burst charge?

I am making 3" aerial shell with homemade paper hemis.

2) Which stars are best for beginner like me? Is pumped stars good enough or I have to roll them?

3) Which compositions are best for newbies like me?

4) Do I really have to press my ball milled BP or I can just use it after ball milling?

 

Thank you and sorry for these newbie question.

 

Hi!

1)Rice hulls I got from Freakyduchman's shop (pyro-stuff.com) (Im also from Europe). Alternatives: I use grass seeds, granulated tea for my burst charges (vermiculite also give good results).

2,3) Yu can use relatively cheap black powder type comps like C6 or C8, it can give pretty attractive effects. Star rolling technique is not easy for beginners and you can use pumped or cut stars as well.

4) it it is problem for you to press BP you can use meal coated rice hulls/grass seeds/cotton seeds (and other materials)

 

 

 

[ivars21]

Thank you for your replays.

Yea, I am build my ball mill at the moment (need few more things to buy). I have already made fountains and rockets. Now I want to go few steps forward.

Can I use sunflower hulls instead of rice hulls? But I think ordering online would be cheaper.

 

Thank you petroleum, I am also from Latvia. Check PM

Edited January 8, 2012 by ivars21

[Arthur]

Commercial puffed rice (breakfast cereal) is an OK substitute for core centres for making break powder. Get BP dust and roll stars of it on rice krispie cores 5 : 1 weight ratio (BP to krispies) is a good start.

[helix]

An alternative to rice hulls suggested on the UKPS forum was oat husks: -

 

http://www.haiths.com/Products/Oat-Husks-clean-CAST01001/

[NonNewtonic]

Hey guys I've just join this forum as I'm planning to pick pyro as my hobby and my target is to make a chrysanthemum shell with tail I went through tons of website and got bunch of formulas and I kinda know the basic process but when I kinda plan how to make my own shell I'm lost and got even more confused after referring to some websites hope that you guys could help it out

 

1) Whats the different between chrysanthemum and star as I've seen both of them having different formulas

2) If both of the are the same how am I suppose to colour the chrysanthemum stars? What are the proportions? and what are the chemicals required?

3) Is there any difference between tiger tail and spider?

4) If I wanted to have a significant tail effect during the blast should I coat the tiger tail or spider formula on the outer part of the star?

5) And finally whats a wet process as I've seen this phrase many times without further elaboration

 

HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS COULD HELP ME ON THIS AS I'M PLANNING TO MAKE THIS BEFORE CHINESE NEW YEAR MANY THANKS

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Hey guys I've just join this forum as I'm planning to pick pyro as my hobby and my target is to make a chrysanthemum shell with tail I went through tons of website and got bunch of formulas and I kinda know the basic process but when I kinda plan how to make my own shell I'm lost and got even more confused after referring to some websites hope that you guys could help it out

 

1) Whats the different between chrysanthemum and star as I've seen both of them having different formulas

2) If both of the are the same how am I suppose to colour the chrysanthemum stars? What are the proportions? and what are the chemicals required?

3) Is there any difference between tiger tail and spider?

4) If I wanted to have a significant tail effect during the blast should I coat the tiger tail or spider formula on the outer part of the star?

5) And finally whats a wet process as I've seen this phrase many times without further elaboration

 

HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS COULD HELP ME ON THIS AS I'M PLANNING TO MAKE THIS BEFORE CHINESE NEW YEAR MANY THANKS

 

1: a star is the burning composition in the air. A chrysanthemum is the shape of the burst. There is an exception with chrysanthemum of mystery, which is the name of the star.

2: If you want colored compositions, go here http://www.pyroguide.com/index.php?title=Category:Compositions . This is a great place to start looking for the colors you want and the chemicals you need to obtain them. For starters, you will need potassium perchlorate for about 95% of your colored stars. IMO that is the most important chemical aside from the BP components.

3: Yes, there is a difference. They are different compositions. Although they are similar, they do burn differently in the air.

4: Yes, that is essentially a color changing star. I would recommend trying to go with just Tiger Tail first.

5: A wet process could refer to a multitude of things. You could be referring to the CIA process of making black powder. You could be referring to applying solvent to stars in order to activate the binder (Dextrin, Parlon, SGRS etc..)

[Mumbles]

Hey guys I've just join this forum as I'm planning to pick pyro as my hobby and my target is to make a chrysanthemum shell with tail I went through tons of website and got bunch of formulas and I kinda know the basic process but when I kinda plan how to make my own shell I'm lost and got even more confused after referring to some websites hope that you guys could help it out

 

1) Whats the different between chrysanthemum and star as I've seen both of them having different formulas

2) If both of the are the same how am I suppose to colour the chrysanthemum stars? What are the proportions? and what are the chemicals required?

3) Is there any difference between tiger tail and spider?

4) If I wanted to have a significant tail effect during the blast should I coat the tiger tail or spider formula on the outer part of the star?

5) And finally whats a wet process as I've seen this phrase many times without further elaboration

 

HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS COULD HELP ME ON THIS AS I'M PLANNING TO MAKE THIS BEFORE CHINESE NEW YEAR MANY THANKS

 

Maybe you could find some sort of video of what you want to do? You're also already bordering on the time limit for getting anything like this done in time for chinese new year.

 

1. A chrysanthemum is the type of shell, a star is the individual pellet of burning composition. Specifically a chrysanthemum is a shell containing tailed stars.

 

2. A shell containing colored stars is no longer a chrysanthemum shell. It'd then be called a peony shell if broken the same way as a chrysanthemum. Depending on how it's done, there are a few other special names for stars which change from tail to color. There are formulas around for colored stars, look for them and make decisions based on what you have available and all that.

 

3. For stars, they use different formulas. A spider shell and a chrysanthemum shell are two different things however. One is typically a cylindrical shell, and the other is typically a ball shell.

 

4. Probably.

 

5. You'll have to be more specific. Given the kind of questions you're asking it may be "toro". It's a method of rolling stars using a slurry. Also in terms of tailed stars, there is also something referred to as a wet process. This is when the ball milled composition is wetted and granulated. It is then dried, and ball milled briefly to reduce the granules to around 100 mesh. These small granules are then used instead of powder when making the stars. It is supposed to give a superior effect. There are other various forms of wet processing to stars, but they're too numerous to detail here without more clarification as to what you're looking for.

[ivars21]

Sorry if this is stupid question, but I think it is better to ask before doing something wrong.

I just ball milled my BP and there are few grams of BP (2-4g) left in ball mill jar (which I can not get out). Tomorrow I am planning to ball mill my C6 composition, do I have to clean my ball mill jar and media?

Or it shouldn't ruin my C6?

And if I have to clean it before use - can I just wash it with soap water?

 

Thank you!

[californiapyro]

it'll be fine, if anything it might burn a LITTLE faster. if you're worried, add a gram or two of extra charcoal to the c6 and you'll be golden

[ivars21]

One more question.

I am getting ready for my C6 stars. But I can't find any source of alcohol (pure), so is it possible to use vodka (40%) instead of alcohol? (For 25% alcohol /75% h2o mix I would probably need about 50grams vodka /40grams h2o?

Correct if I am wrong.

[AdmiralDonSnider]

You´re right, but alcohol is not vital for binding stars.

[californiapyro]

lol, expensive stars

[Mumbles]

I don't think he was planning on using Grey Goose or anything. You can get incredibly cheap vodka. It comes so cheap and so terrible I'd actually probably rather drink rubbing alcohol instead. If you can find it, rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol will work just fine in stars too. It also isn't normally as expensive or taxed as much.

[ivars21]

Thank you for your help, I just made my first shell. It was 4" with C6 with meal coated grass seed as break. It was a little bit low, might be that there were too much space between shell and mortar wall (I used 1/10 of weight, so around 32grams)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uqY04L4ABE&

Edited January 29, 2012 by ivars21

[californiapyro]

hey very good for a first shell its always nice to see non-kewls that actually take people's advice on here and produce some real pyro

[Blackthumb]

Nice shot!!!

[warthog]

Good Start!

 

Now that you have smelt the smoke as they say, you shall never again be free!

 

You are on your way mow and I am sure that you are going to find this as much fun as all of us here do.

[petroleum]

Thank you for your help, I just made my first shell. It was 4" with C6 with meal coated grass seed as break. It was a little bit low, might be that there were too much space between shell and mortar wall (I used 1/10 of weight, so around 32grams)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uqY04L4ABE&

 

 

Ivars, good start!!!

 

After you get some practice, you will have good devices =)

 

 

 

[larsulrich62]

so you have cut stars that are pressed using mesh. you have ones that a rolled with layers, then you have ones that are pressed with X amount of pressure... whats the difference? when do i use one or the other?

 

 

 

L

[Mumbles]

It's all about application. There is actually another type. Cut stars can also be made by making loaves or patties of composition and cut with a knife or other straight edge.

 

Round stars are typically used in ball shells. IMO, they are more aerodynamic, and are really required for perfect patterns. Using them in cylindrical shells can be somewhat dangerous in some situations as they do not lock together well enough.

 

Pumped stars can be used in both ball shells and cylindrical shells. Smaller ones (say 1/2" or smaller) are generally considered stars, where as larger ones are generally considered comets. There's no real cutoff. It's more about use than actual size. When sized to the shell, they can be stacked along the walls of cylindrical shells to make comet shells. They're not quite as aerodynamic as round stars. They'll work in ball shells, but the pattern may not be quite as perfect.

 

Cut stars are really best suited to cylindrical shells. It look me a long time to admit it, but they are just inferior for ball shells. They can be used as cores for round stars too. They have poor aerodynamics, and don't fly particularly well.

 

All of the above can of course be used for mines. For small shells where symmetry doesn't really become apparent anyway, any of the above can be used to. The most important thing is to size the stars to your device properly.

[larsulrich62]

It's all about application. There is actually another type. Cut stars can also be made by making loaves or patties of composition and cut with a knife or other straight edge.

 

Round stars are typically used in ball shells. IMO, they are more aerodynamic, and are really required for perfect patterns. Using them in cylindrical shells can be somewhat dangerous in some situations as they do not lock together well enough.

 

Pumped stars can be used in both ball shells and cylindrical shells. Smaller ones (say 1/2" or smaller) are generally considered stars, where as larger ones are generally considered comets. There's no real cutoff. It's more about use than actual size. When sized to the shell, they can be stacked along the walls of cylindrical shells to make comet shells. They're not quite as aerodynamic as round stars. They'll work in ball shells, but the pattern may not be quite as perfect.

 

Cut stars are really best suited to cylindrical shells. It look me a long time to admit it, but they are just inferior for ball shells. They can be used as cores for round stars too. They have poor aerodynamics, and don't fly particularly well.

 

All of the above can of course be used for mines. For small shells where symmetry doesn't really become apparent anyway, any of the above can be used to. The most important thing is to size the stars to your device properly.

 

 

thanks for the answer.

[Potassiumchlorate]

I prefer round stars, but some stars are almost impossible to roll or ten times harder to roll than to cut or pump. Bleser's magnesium stars, for example, are really wonderful, but it takes a very long time to roll them. Edited February 9, 2012 by Potassiumchlorate

[pyrogeorge]

Why takes long time to roll?