Tips for Making Round Stars

[warthog]

I should hopefully be getting my star roller very very soon now. I believe it is finished up now and what is holding up the shipment to me are the two small things he is throwing in with the deal along with some of his sorting screens which he is making on his CNC now. One my extra "goodies" are done than the whole kit-n-kaboodle will be on its way to me. I admit I am getting more than a little antsy for the arrival day to come! Until it gets here though I thought I might be able to ask a few questions. I realize this is likely covered elsewhere but perhaps you can let this slide and help me out here anyway? Please?

 

 

I know that until I try to roll stars and see how well I manage doing it, I will be mixing up rather large batches of composition just in case I screw it all up.

 

I want to know what sort of cores, if any, make rolling easier to do? By this I mean heavier, like lead shot (I am not concerned about the environment just yet so please, no lecture (which virtually ensures I will get one )) or something like mustard seed which is extremely light? Does the density and or weight of the core make much difference in how easily they will take up the dry comp?

 

I have a very good atomizer that produces a very fine mist for wetting things as I roll so that should help some, right? I have already been told that you want to find a not too wet, not too dry amount of solvent when rolling, same with the amount of comp put down each time. I imagine this is yet another one of those learn by doing items that ill come with experience, right?

 

Is there some point where it is better to let the stars dry before making them bigger? If so, what size and I imagine different comps should also be handled differently as well...

 

I suppose I will find a speed that feels right once I get to that point, right? Or, is there an optimal speed (RPM) for rolling stars?

 

Any other little tips and tricks you star rollers might want to share with me?

 

Thank you for putting up with me.

Edited February 28, 2012 by warthog

[daron]

ive never been a fan of using led shot 1 it sounds dangerous and to is costly

i use budgie seed its very cheep and light and rolls fine for me

[oldguy]

I to am just getting into star rolling.

 

Bough a variable rpm speed electric motor & several stainless steel mixing bowls of differing diameter, depth & upward curve.

 

Plan is to coat the inside of the bowls with PLASTI DIP.

 

Mount the motor in a stand, then try the bowls to see which is best.

 

 

Do an eBay search for “Acrylic Beads 2.5mm”.

 

I have some on order & plan to use them as star seeds.

 

I tested a few from a local bead store.

 

They are very flammable & burn away cleanly.

 

They run $1.85 per thousand

 

 

[warthog]

I have a bunch of "seed beads" here somewhere, never thought about using those as cores, thanks! I had a GF who beaded all sorts of things. When we parted ways she left a rather large box of them with me. She also told me where I should put them. Yeah, it wasn't a pleasant parting... Edited February 28, 2012 by warthog

[oldguy]

She also told me where I should put them. Yeah, it wasn't a pleasant parting...

 

Any male worth salt has be told that at least once.

If I had "shoved" everything I was told to in my life.

My ass would be a land fill.

[vegasdude]

Wart, what size is your drum? I have been talking with Danny Creagan about star rollers and I made the one posted on his website.

[Blackthumb]

I still like both sizes of Tapioca for starters......

[burningRNX]

I have a very good atomizer that produces a very fine mist for wetting things as I roll so that should help some, right?

The finer the better.

Is there some point where it is better to let the stars dry before making them bigger? If so, what size and I imagine different comps should also be handled differently as well...

You can easely roll up to 10 mm without any problems, I think you can go to at least 15 mm without trouble, (with forced drying afterwards in my case)

I suppose I will find a speed that feels right once I get to that point, right? Or, is there an optimal speed (RPM) for rolling stars?

I roll with continuously variable speed, so I take the rpm I think is best at that time, if your stars are pounding too hard at each other and start getting seperated from the load flying, I should tune it down.

Edited February 28, 2012 by burningRNX

[Zingy]

Old Guy

 

You are greatly innovative. Do you have any plans, or ideas, of filling the cavity, of beads, of slightly larger size, with something, like dextrin bound D.E. compound? I suspect acetone will dissolve the beads?

Edited February 28, 2012 by Zingy

[starseeker]

If you are starting out rolling for the first time,the heavier the core ,the easier it will be,i found lead shot no 7.5 with a light coating of bentonite clay was a good place to start.

 

I would certainly start with a alcohol based solvent as acetone etc is far more tricky.

 

When you wet your cores for the first time and they all stick together which they probably will,just be patient,dust them with comp.bounce them a bit,break them up with your spoon and you will be away,

 

good luck warthog

[oldguy]

Old Guy

 

You are greatly innovative. Do you have any plans, or ideas, of filling the cavity, of beads, of slightly larger size, with something, like dextrin bound D.E. compound? I suspect acetone will dissolve the beads?

 

 

Thanks for the kind words about innovation.

 

Acetone will dissolve acrylic plastic, if you soak the acrylic plastic in it for a time.

 

I don’t think enough acetone is involved here long enough to do that.

 

But, it may make the beads sticky. But, that should make a comp stick to them.

 

Have to wait & see.

 

As pointed out, an alcohol based solvent should work fine.

 

 

[dagabu]

I still like both sizes of Tapioca for starters......

 

I have tried just about everything to make cores. Lead shot, Beads, Millet Seed, Mustard Seed, BB's, Tapioca both Large and Small, Star Chips, etc...

 

All in all, the fastest way to roll a star is to use a heavy large core, the problem is that half your star size is wasted by the core size. The hardest way to roll stars as well as the slowest is to use small light cores.

 

I found that if I made really wet star comp and push it through a 4 to 8 mesh screen into lots of dry comp and roll it around the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket until they round out. Then I screen them by size, dry them and store them for later. When I am ready to roll stars, I take a container of the 1/8" to 3/16" star cores (all the same size) and drop them into the rolling drum, give a single shot of water to the pile and add a spoonful of comp to the leading edge of the pile and wait for the pile to take it all up.

 

I find that if I get anything sticking to the walls of the drum then I have added to much water or I am a bad aim. Add enough dry comp so that the stars can take it all up but not enough that there will be a pile of dry comp under the stars UNLESS you want to make stars chips or star starters.

 

Patience grasshopper, patience.

 

-dag

[allrocketspsl]

mustard seeds

[warthog]

@Vegasdude, no idea yet what size the drum is but I know it is a stainless steel drum of decent size. He is still trying to fid that last piece of the puzzle and then it is ready to send my way.

 

@the rest of you

 

THANKS! This is all helping me a lot. I have a sort of roller now that I am trying to use. Your basic bucket on a drill. I lack sorting screens (those are a part of my other roller deal BTW). This has helped me, I am finding the shot to be a little easier to get comp to start piling up. I have ruined a fair bit of comp so far so I must be learning. I even managed to make a few usable stars.

 

As you think of things, feel free to keep,sharing...

[Pyrophury]

I used to use lead shot cores until I discovered it was far easier and faster just to start with 1/4" cut stars and roll using the toro method. I'd only roll stars using a spray bottle if I wanted to make core-less microstars.

 

 

[dan999ification]

cut stars are the way to go,used charcoal and veline cores with good results, theres always the good old dragons egg aswell.

a nice way to cheat colour changing and cavity stars is to use coloured [cut] star cores with streamer comps on top

my favourite: c6 with 20% mg/al for the cores [they burn quite fast] and c6 over the top gives a nice effect and transition between the two.

you can make enough stars for a 3" shell or mine with just over 4 ounces of c6 20-30g for the cores and the rest over the top,iirc.

 

dan.

[dagabu]

@Vegasdude, no idea yet what size the drum is but I know it is a stainless steel drum of decent size. He is still trying to fid that last piece of the puzzle and then it is ready to send my way.

 

@the rest of you

 

THANKS! This is all helping me a lot. I have a sort of roller now that I am trying to use. Your basic bucket on a drill. I lack sorting screens (those are a part of my other roller deal BTW). This has helped me, I am finding the shot to be a little easier to get comp to start piling up. I have ruined a fair bit of comp so far so I must be learning. I even managed to make a few usable stars.

 

As you think of things, feel free to keep,sharing...

 

Careful with the drill, the brushes make lots of sparks and there have been many that have had fires using that setup.

 

-dag

[DanielC]

I got my little star roller completed this weekend. I ended up using an 8qt. stainless bowl, but I want to be able to swap out different size and shaped containers. However, it needs a way to adjust the tilt angle and I still need to hook up the variable speed. I had to buy a bigger power supply than what was recommended. The 2.5A wall wart I got from Radio Shack barely gets it started running in the lowest speed, but does fine once it gets going. The 40 and 60 rev. settings work great, but I did find out the 106 rpm setting is great for throwing cores all over the shop

I have used the lead shot once before, and it was really easy to get them started. I just don't like the idea of using lead for obvious reasons. I tried the tapioca (not the instant kind) and mustard seeds, but food grade millet works fine. If you live close to a Fresh Market or a Whole Foods store you can buy it for next to nothing. The only problem I've found is once the star burns up you can see small orange sparks coming from the core burning up. It isn't really that bad, but may spoil the look of some comps. In a shell, up in the air it is hardly noticable. They are very uniform in size and I've never had to clay coat them first, though it may make it even easier. It does help to wet them well before putting them into the roller. They will stick a bit at first, but I use a folded paper towel to knock them off the sides of the drum. Once they start tumbling it is pretty simple. Microstars also work great for cores as long as they are remotely the same size in the beginning. I use them for parlon or color star cores. The Wife loves blue/peach so I end up making those a lot.

Edited February 29, 2012 by DanielC

[warthog]

I shoot enough lead shot into the world that I am not too worried about the lead shot in a shell. I shoot skeet and at least here in Indiana, we still use lead shot for clays. The only reason I may not use them is they are expensive these days and I need all of the ones I have to break clay. LOL I was given a pound of mustard seed a while back for a Sunday School project we made in class. We made paperweights out of them since the mustard seed was used in two of Jesus' parables (in three Gospels). I told them we didn't need anywhere near a pound of them but I guess they never realized just how small those seeds were until they came in. LOL They're like ten years old plus they were supposed to be sterile when they were purchased since we didn't want them to grow in the paperweights.

 

They should still work for star cores though, right? They look fine and feel fine to the touch meaning they aren't rotten. I think I will try some lead first but I am wanting to use up these seeds and also all those stupid beads that chick left here.

[DanielC]

I shoot enough lead shot into the world that I am not too worried about the lead shot in a shell. I shoot skeet and at least here in Indiana, we still use lead shot for clays. The only reason I may not use them is they are expensive these days and I need all of the ones I have to break clay. LOL I was given a pound of mustard seed a while back for a Sunday School project we made in class. We made paperweights out of them since the mustard seed was used in two of Jesus' parables (in three Gospels). I told them we didn't need anywhere near a pound of them but I guess they never realized just how small those seeds were until they came in. LOL They're like ten years old plus they were supposed to be sterile when they were purchased since we didn't want them to grow in the paperweights.

 

They should still work for star cores though, right? They look fine and feel fine to the touch meaning they aren't rotten. I think I will try some lead first but I am wanting to use up these seeds and also all those stupid beads that chick left here.

 

The beads I don't know about using...you may end up with flaming rain fallout. The mustard seeds, of course I would use them. They will work great. Millet is just so inexpensive, but I've never eaten the stuff. I shoot clays often as well as card/turkey shoots several times a year, but I'm not vaporizing lead in the air. Also lead is expensive right now. That said, you should try it at least once if only for reference. My 2cents

 

By the way here is the power supply I ended up with for powering the star roller. I mounted it behind the motor so the cooling fan blows across the motor as it runs.

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/PS-1512/12-V-12A-FAN-COOLED-POWER-SUPPLY/1.html

Edited March 2, 2012 by DanielC

[warthog]

Millet isn't bad really, if you make it right. It is good to mix into breads too. It is truly poor folks food though, the kind of poor like the protruding bellies from starvation in Africa poor. Saw that and ate millet in the Peace Corps and it makes me ashamed to be fat.

[oldguy]

Millet isn't bad really, if you make it right. It is good to mix into breads too. It is truly poor folks food though, the kind of poor like the protruding bellies from starvation in Africa poor. Saw that and ate millet in the Peace Corps and it makes me ashamed to be fat.

 

Many years back my daughter did a Peace Corps tour in Mali Africa. Millet is a staple food in Mali. The native meal of the day was often a small bowl of millet gruel like paste. She was lucky in that the village where she worked was close to a fair size river that contained fish. So villagers could net fish as a protein supplement. A good casting type fishing net was worth the price of several goats. I remember sending her a large sturdy wooden crate of netting, 3 point frog gigs, fish hooks, swim goggles, scissors, stainless steel needles, etc. to pass out free amongst the families she worked with. To them those simple things were like treasures from heaven.

 

 

[vegasdude]

I rolled some red stars last night using #8 instead of my normal Millet and I do find the Millet to be easier.

[Mumbles]

Do you think that is just because you're used to rolling with millet compared to lead, or is there something else about millet you like?

[vegasdude]

A couple reasons. IMO,The millet doesnt clump together when you first start the roll and wet it unlike the shot did and the comp seems to stuck better to the millet. Now this is my first time using the shot so It could be first time jitters.