How safe is whistle mix ?

[h&k machineguns]

70/30 with 1 percent Red iron oxide(No vasoline).

 

I want to make sure I am safe doing what I've been doing. here is my steps.

 

Step 1. Ball mill the PP by itself for 20 hours.

 

Step 2 .Take above after ball milling and put it in a plastic container with lid on it.

 

Step 3. Clean out ball mill including clean the lead balls.

 

Step 4. Ball mill the Sodium S with Red iron oxide in ball mill for 7 hrs by itself.

 

Step 5. Poor the SS and RIO in the plastic container that the PP is in and shake for 2 minutes.

 

Step 6. Using 12 ton press with 4 sheets of 1/8" Lexan between me and it.

 

Step 7. I press with 2K pounds(Wolter pressure gage) into a 4once whistle rocket tooling using incriments for 1/2 inch each.

 

I have had very good success with the rockets doing this method.However after reading this part of the board I thought I can never be safe no matter what and am parinoid after seeing a few nasty pics of hands of victims of M-80's.

 

Thanks for the safe advice.

[cplmac]

Whistle is pretty strong stuff so caution is always a good idea. Sounds like a pretty good process to me. I mix mine togther in a large ziploc bag. It is a good idea to use the vaseline, it helps prevent water absorbtion and gives a real nice glossy grain when pressed. Do you use acetone to bind this or just mix everything dry? I've never used a dry mix. I add enough acetone to make the consitency of play-doh, then add the melted vaseline and knead like hell while it is in the ziploc. Then I take a ball of the play-doh out and run it through a screen. Let it dry on newspaper for a couple hours and there you have it. Screening it into grains is nice because there is no dust when you load increments and press. Your procedure sounds pretty safe though.

[h&k machineguns]

Whistle is pretty strong stuff so caution is always a good idea. Sounds like a pretty good process to me. I mix mine togther in a large ziploc bag. It is a good idea to use the vaseline, it helps prevent water absorbtion and gives a real nice glossy grain when pressed. Do you use acetone to bind this or just mix everything dry? I've never used a dry mix. I add enough acetone to make the consitency of play-doh, then add the melted vaseline and knead like hell while it is in the ziploc. Then I take a ball of the play-doh out and run it through a screen. Let it dry on newspaper for a couple hours and there you have it. Screening it into grains is nice because there is no dust when you load increments and press. Your procedure sounds pretty safe though.

Yes I have been mixing it 100% dry 70/30 then 1% with no vasoline , acetone or any other solvents. I tried the Vasoline and solvent thing and didn't have any luck,but then I was also trying to use Black powder tooling and drilling the hole out to almost 1/4 inch ID and maybe only 1/2" long also. I finally got whistle tooling and it has made a world of differance. I just cannot believe how high,fast,and loud these things are.

 

I'd do the vasoline thing,but to me if it only makes the mix easier to load, then I would rather skip the long process of the steps you take with vasoline and ..... then just mix the stuff dry.

 

I was just worried about me shaking the plastic container of whistle with my hands. I have heard a few things about humidity,static elctricity,and static your body can creat. A 1/4 lb of mixed wistle inside of a closed plastic container probably would make an M-80 going off in the hand look like a black cat.

I had heard something a while back about doing the mixing on a piece of newspaper or something in that fasion,but can't remember why it was done this way and exactly how.

Thanks

[h&k machineguns]

Whistle is pretty strong stuff so caution is always a good idea. Sounds like a pretty good process to me. I mix mine togther in a large ziploc bag. It is a good idea to use the vaseline, it helps prevent water absorbtion and gives a real nice glossy grain when pressed. Do you use acetone to bind this or just mix everything dry? I've never used a dry mix. I add enough acetone to make the consitency of play-doh, then add the melted vaseline and knead like hell while it is in the ziploc. Then I take a ball of the play-doh out and run it through a screen. Let it dry on newspaper for a couple hours and there you have it. Screening it into grains is nice because there is no dust when you load increments and press. Your procedure sounds pretty safe though.

What size mesh screen do you run your play dough consistancy whistle through ?

[pa_pyro]

If you shake it dry in a yogurt/plastic container(yes I am guilty of this too, except flash powder) you should atleast wear goggles and gloves. The method with the newspaper you are thinking of is diapering. You add the composition on the center of a sheet if paper and lift the opposite corners to mix the composition for a few minutes or unitil well mixed. I have also heard of usingmineral oil instead of vaseline for pressing ( I'm getting 2.2 lbs. of sod. benzoate in a few days )

[delta_echo]

As another general precaution, I have three different milling jars. One I use solely for Black Powder. The other, for fuels/miscellaneous, and the last for oxidizers. Overkill? Maybe, but most of us have learned by now that a little extra effort/cash in return for even an increase of 1% safety factor is worth it.

 

You shouldn't need to diaper whistle. Diapering (as stated above) is usually reserved for flash as the mixing is rather frictionless. The downside of this method is that you are very much limited to in batch size.

[Mumbles]

A phlegemizer (vaseline for instance) helps to compress the grain more solidly. It does slow the mix a tad, but some have problems with their rockets catoing. Like has been said before it reduces hydroscopicness, reduces cracks and pockets. It really is somewhat neccesary if the rocket won't be fired relativly soon.

 

Mineral Oil is often used as an alternative. It's faster. I would suggest looking into it. There is no drying time, and makes the mix safer and more compact. I think 1-3% will do. You can experiment a bit, see what works for you. After you mix the comp, add the oil and kneed. It will become somewhat crumbly and dough like. Just something to try if you want.

[h&k machineguns]

A phlegemizer (vaseline for instance) helps to compress the grain more solidly. It does slow the mix a tad, but some have problems with their rockets catoing. Like has been said before it reduces hydroscopicness, reduces cracks and pockets. It really is somewhat neccesary if the rocket won't be fired relativly soon.

 

Mineral Oil is often used as an alternative. It's faster. I would suggest looking into it. There is no drying time, and makes the mix safer and more compact. I think 1-3% will do. You can experiment a bit, see what works for you. After you mix the comp, add the oil and kneed. It will become somewhat crumbly and dough like. Just something to try if you want.

The Mineral oil sounds like something I'd like to try. I will probably just do 1% first to see.Thanks

[ewest]

What size mesh screen do you run your play dough consistancy whistle through ?

I screen mine thru a 10 or 20 mesh screen. Mesh is just the number of increments per linear inch, for example:

1" square is 1 mesh

1/2" square is 2 mesh

1/4" square is 4 mesh etc.

10 mesh is just 10 divisions over a distance of 1"

 

I use a nice big stainless steel kitchem strainer I got at Target or Walmart or something, it doesn't need to be exactly 10 or 20 increments per linear inch, just close. Go to the school supply aisle, grab a ruler, then go to kitchen supplies and look for stainless steel strainers. You can use the ruler to count what mesh it is.

 

And for static electricity, grab a can of Static Guard and when mixing comps, spray the container and yourself with the Static Guard. It might not be totally necessary, but what the hell, it just costs a couple dollars.

 

BTW, for mixing almost anything, I weight the chemicals and pour them straight into a ziploc bag all together. Then I seal it up and just turn the bag slowly in a cirlce letting the dry chemicals kind of sift thru my fingers until it's all mixed. You really don't need to shake the hell out of stuff, just get it mixed up well.

[h&k machineguns]

What size mesh screen do you run your play dough consistancy whistle through ?

I screen mine thru a 10 or 20 mesh screen. Mesh is just the number of increments per linear inch, for example:

1" square is 1 mesh

1/2" square is 2 mesh

1/4" square is 4 mesh etc.

10 mesh is just 10 divisions over a distance of 1"

 

I use a nice big stainless steel kitchem strainer I got at Target or Walmart or something, it doesn't need to be exactly 10 or 20 increments per linear inch, just close. Go to the school supply aisle, grab a ruler, then go to kitchen supplies and look for stainless steel strainers. You can use the ruler to count what mesh it is.

 

And for static electricity, grab a can of Static Guard and when mixing comps, spray the container and yourself with the Static Guard. It might not be totally necessary, but what the hell, it just costs a couple dollars.

 

BTW, for mixing almost anything, I weight the chemicals and pour them straight into a ziploc bag all together. Then I seal it up and just turn the bag slowly in a cirlce letting the dry chemicals kind of sift thru my fingers until it's all mixed. You really don't need to shake the hell out of stuff, just get it mixed up well.

I have used those strainers before,howver I just picked up one of those grease gards you put over hot food that's on the oven keeping it from spalttering on you. The mesh is probably 25-35 ish i'm assuming.It's pretty close together,and sure as hell beats paying %18 for a screan when Wallmart sells these for $3.00 .

Do you spray the insed or outside of the plastic bag,or container with static guard ? And do you just spray your hands or all over your body ?

Thanks

[ewest]

After getting everything in the ziploc bag I spray the outside of it, my hands, and arms and just generally all over. My shed has a wooden floor so I'm prety safe standing in there mixing stuff but I use the static guard anyway.

 

Oh yeah, I also wear a face shield when mixing, pressing, ramming. I don't need to be loosing an eye. But it would make Halloween a lot easier....I could be a pirate every year.

[h&k machineguns]

After getting everything in the ziploc bag I spray the outside of it, my hands, and arms and just generally all over. My shed has a wooden floor so I'm prety safe standing in there mixing stuff but I use the static guard anyway.

 

Oh yeah, I also wear a face shield when mixing, pressing, ramming. I don't need to be loosing an eye. But it would make Halloween a lot easier....I could be a pirate every year.

Today I'm buying a full face shield and static guard. Thanks

[charles821]

When i am dealing in flash compositions and whistles I always wear a anti static lab-coat along with a facemask and cloves. Safety is the most important thing when it comes to flash as it is very dangeros stuff