taiwanluthiers Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 I don't have potassium dichromate, nor do I want any... its a really nasty chem from what I have read. But the veline superprime needs it... is it really necessary or can I omit it? I had problem with veline stars being blown blind. Loaded it in a test rocket with emerald green and veline blue, the emerald green lit properly but all the veline blues blew blind... the stars only had simple slow bp prime so I guess it was enough for emerald green but not veline. I looked up veline superprime while the chems will be slightly expensive (lots of use of perchlorates) it's doable but I do not have potassium dichromate. I can't get them and neither do I want them around me if its as nasty as what I've read...
Potassiumchlorate Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 You can make Veline stars with chlorates instead. Veline's intention was to make colours that were very much on the safe side. Even if you use chlorate instead, there are no incompabilities. But even if you do them with perchlorate you won't need the potassium dichromate in the prime. Though I think that potassium dichromate is great; it really helps you to get the full potential out of the potassium perchlorate.
vh718 Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 all my veline stars light with a prime of bp+10% silicon. then bp over that. matter o fact this prime works for just about the hardest of stars to light.
Mumbles Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 You can probably leave out the dichromate without any issues. The prime is going to be plenty hot on it's own. I would consider metals and chlorates an incompatibility. There is really no reason to use them together unless absolutely necessary for certain effects. Any improved color one may believe they're getting from chlorates is going to wiped out by the metal at the cost of increased sensitivity. I find it kind of odd that the emerald green lit just fine, but the veline did not. My experience has been the complete opposite. It may have just been the blue star itself. I never make the veline stars, but many blue stars have a bad habit of being prone to being blown out.
Bcorso85 Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Remember the purpose of di (bi) chromate is to speed the decomposition of a perchlorate. Remember to wear proper gear and you should be fine. There are also other very hot primes out there.
taiwanluthiers Posted July 11, 2012 Author Posted July 11, 2012 I can't get potassium dichromate, so its more than the issue of the stuff being very poisonous. Most chem shops in Taiwan won't sell anything poisonous (basically anything with a NFPA health rating of 4) due to high suicide rates. I do not know where to get silicon powder either. When I searched all I found was silicone (the word in Chinese are the same, thus a google search means going through literally a million result to find it). I guess I could look for old computer parts and attempt to extract silicon from that, but we're talking gram quantities here. Also how thick does a prime need to be in order for it to work? Say I make a 1/4" pumped star, but if I prime that then its going to be bigger than 1/4" which means that if I use it in a more fit critical application like roman candles, there will be issues.
Potassiumchlorate Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 Dichromate is a finer word. Greek is always finer than Latin If you want dextrin-bound metallic stars, there are better ones than Veline's. This one is very good for green: Barium nitrate 37Potassium perchlorate 30Magnalium <63µm 12Parlon 12Red gum 5Dextrin 4 And this one for red: Strontium nitrate 37Potassium perchlorate 30Magnalium <63µm 12Parlon 12Red gum 5Dextrin 4 This organic red from Bleser is (relatively) cheap and IMHO a good alternative to Veline's red. It's not as bright as a metallic one, of course, but very deep: Potassium chlorate 38Strontium nitrate 38Charcoal 12Red gum 6HCB (or chlorowax) 2Dextrin 4 For blue I'd reccomend some organic potassium chlorate composition with copper(II)oxide or copper oxychloride.
Potassiumchlorate Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 (edited) I'd suggest a potassium perchlorate inner prime, though you don't really need the potassium dichromate. It's a great way of "speeding up" the perchlorate, but it isn't an absolute must. Edited July 11, 2012 by Potassiumchlorate
dan999ification Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 for veline stars i use pinball prime, when cutting stars i prime the pattie both sides pushing gently with gloved fingers then cut then shake them in the same prime, the first priming bonds well to the comp and the second gives a dusty outer that i think lights quicker/easier than a smooth well bonded layer, never failed me yet even in bombettes that are pure "f" broken. i dont want incompatabilities or poisons either. dan.
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