fred815 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Was thinking of trying my hand at pumping some stars. Simple small single hand pump. Yet I can't a good source for formulas for pumped stars???
PersonGuyDude Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 You can pump any star comp as far as I know. The only ones that don't work that well are parlon bound ones (acetone+parlon = sticky mess = shit to pump). The only thing that I don't like about pumped stars is the labor, it is monotonous and takes forever! The pros are drying time, cost of equipment, and consistency of star size.Plus I personally thing cylinder stars look cool If you have the money, get a good star plate though, IMO. Wolterpyrotools and firesmithtools have a good selection, but are pricey, californiapyro might be able to help you out.
dan999ification Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 most charcoal stars pump well and its a good way to cut down on drying time, then theres added metal, dozens of possibilitys with just charcoal stars and metals, the pump does not like metal, cheap syringe is a good disposable pump.ralphs glitter is a lovely star comp, pumped well for me aswell, his thread deserves to be revived if you ask me. dan.
warthog Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) Pick a dextrin bound star formula and get pumping. They pump the easiest. NCL or other sticky methods of binding can make a real mess and are not the best for a person who hasn't pumped stars before to start. Dextrin bound comps clean up with water, sometimes a little hot water and soap, but they are the easiest clean up for sure. I pumped hundreds of Veline stars last summer, they have metal in them and my pumps don't have a scratch on them. The 3/8" is super cheap aluminum and the 1/2" is brass. You don't want it to be too wet or too dry. I use 90/10 water/denatured alcohol (the alcohol makes the water "wetter" so the comp will get wet faster and dry faster as well). Start at ~5%, the after the water is added run the wetted comp through a 40 mesh screen a few times so it is uniformly wetted then put it aside in a seal container (like tupperware) and let it st for a bit. This lets the dextrin activate and once this is done, then you can start pumping. Will you use a mallet or a press to consolidate? Edited March 22, 2012 by warthog
fred815 Posted March 22, 2012 Author Posted March 22, 2012 SOOOO Basically NO parlon or hcl and I'm good to go?? Hmmm A simple answer for a change??? Unbelievable!! Thanks guys!! Gonna pound the suckers at first. (mallet that is).
Potassiumchlorate Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Bleser's Mg stars are pretty easy to pump. Just have a cup or can with acetone to clean the pump with after each 10-15 star.
JFeve81 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I've done Shimizu's Chrysanthemum 8 stars. Does really well pumping them with a 3/8" pump.
Mumbles Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 When pumping single stars or by a plate without a large press, you'll probably find you need way more than 5% moisture. 5% is more for BP or large comets where you're putting a large amount of pressure on a single comet or puck. For charcoal rich compositions like glitters or streamers I start minimally at 10% when going by hand or using an arbor press. For less water hungry compositions, you may want to go to 8%. It's hard to describe when the composition is "ready". If you pinch the composition it will stick together in a certain way. I agree with Warthog that you should allow the composition to sit for a while. I don't agree that you need to granulate it and let it sit. Granulating will allow the moisture to be better distributed, but it will not diffuse very well to get even activation and dampness if you leave it as a fluffy powder. Also, good luck trying to granulate a damp powder through a 40 mesh screen. A window screen size (16 mesh) is more than sufficient. Before I let it rest I mash it with my fist into the bottom of the container to a more or less relatively solid mass. From there it seems to activate and diffuse very well. I'm also a little leary about closing the container. Water does not evaporate that fast that you need to worry. Covering it is fine, but sealing it seems like a bad idea. The one time I sealed off a container (a glitter), was one of two times I had a batch heat up and cause a bad reaction on me. I removed the cover to get a nice whiff of hydrogen sulfide and some hot composition. To be fair, the composition was more prone to reacting than others (oxalate with flake Al), but only when I sealed it up did I ever get a reaction that ruined the composition. Anyway, after you let it rest for 30min to an hour (some let it go as long as overnight), regranulate through a 16 mesh screen or so. This will produce small granules. This gives a final mixing, and makes the comp compact when as you dip your tooling into the composition. I will do this one or two times as I move through. Compacted composition doesn't enter the plunger as well.
allrocketspsl Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Was thinking of trying my hand at pumping some stars. Simple small single hand pump. Yet I can't a good source for formulas for pumped stars??? you can pump winokurs just becareful not to over wet.If you do make them with a pump add moisture by spray and weight
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