New Years shells - Bleser Aqua and Lancaster Silver

[Potassiumchlorate]

I had bad luck with my green stars this New Years Eve. Of those in the first shell only 7 lit. The rest of them were obviously damaged from the moist weather that I have been ranting about. The second green shell didn't ignite at all. The expensive Italian fuse was obviously damaged too. No use posting those anyway.

 

Some of my Bleser Aqua stars didn't light either, but that shell was pretty nice anyway. The somewhat oval shape of the effect is mostly due to very strong wind.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=1AmkheyAe54

 

I was really satisfied with my new favourite: Lancaster Silver. The test shell didn't look very much but at night it looks like this:

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=C9bFDqyyx8M

[psyco_1322]

That second shell looked like a salute with some silver star crusties thrown in for effect. The first one was nice though.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Yes, Bleser Aqua is lovely and probably one of the best chlorate blues there are

[Mumbles]

Wind does not affect the flower shape that badly. It looks and sounds just like a poor break to me.

[Potassiumchlorate]

[thunderboy]

Nice color though

[Potassiumchlorate]

Yes, like I said, one of the nicest blue

[TiE]

Nice colour on the first shell!

And nice sound on the second shell

[Potassiumchlorate]

I was always surprised that more people haven't used Bleser's compositions. Most of them are very good.

 

Bleser Aqua looks aqua fired from a stargun and probably in small shells (I haven't tried it in small shells), but in 5" and 6" you just see a little aqua in the middle of the flower directly after the burst, while most of the flower is deep blue

[AdmiralDonSnider]

The first shell is quite nice, but do you have an idea why the second turned into such a salute? The stars were crushed and the break was nowhere near to where it could be.

 

Could you post the Lancaster comp you are talking about? I´m currently looking for a good silver.

[Potassiumchlorate]

The first shell is quite nice, but do you have an idea why the second turned into such a salute? The stars were crushed and the break was nowhere near to where it could be.

 

I had problems with the stars being brittle when binding with dextrin. This batch was bound with SGRS, though, and the stars seemed much harder. No idea if this was the way it was supposed to look or not.

 

Could you post the Lancaster comp you are talking about? I´m currently looking for a good silver.

 

Sure:

 

Potassium chlorate 56

German Dark Al 19

Bright flake Al 19

SGRS 6

Edited January 5, 2013 by Potassiumchlorate

[AdmiralDonSnider]

The appearance of the second flower could relate directly to the silver comp you used. I once made this composition and it gave the fastest burning stars I have experienced so far. Stars of this kind used in a shell could contribute a tremendous amount of gas to the burst (which I assume is the same in all shells of a given size you build) and turn it into a salute.

 

I would say this comp is not really suitable as a chrysanthemum star, at least not without modifications in star size and burst. It could give a very good comet comp, though. I don´t recall Lancasters suggestions, but I recall he rates the effect very highly.

 

It could still partly result from your break charge or improperly bound stars, but this comp is really different.

[mabuse00]

The Bleser Aqua is indeed nice.

 

Lancaster silver is not my favorite, as the Admiral pointed out it's rather explosive.

And the bright aluminium makes it a pita to bind.

Given the large amount of metal I also do not find them very bright.

 

When I tested the last one, it disintegrated at the starguns muzzle and made a stunning load report. Pretty embarrassing when you test near residential areas and don't anticipate something like that

[pyrowinner]

First one shell's 'Bleser Aqua' stars are very impressive & nice blue color.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Thank you!

[bubba153]

Potassium chlorate 56

German Dark Al 19

Bright flake Al 19

SGRS 6

 

I've had a similar problem with that Lancanster formula. Even when testing in a star gun about half of the test stars came out with a "bang" and star fragments rather than the typical star test result, regardless of amount of lift. My shell results were also about the same, looking like a salute shell with a few very vigorous stars and lots of small star fragments. I think the formula may need some toning down, at least with my chems. My attempts to modify the effect by substituting some moderately coarse Mg/Al for some of the Al only made matters worse. It looks like it could be a nice effect, but if I try it again, I think I'll try adding some burn rate inhibitor. Although consolidation usually tames stars that are basically just a modified flash, this one doesn't seem to tame so readily. I pumped mine, BTW.

[Potassiumchlorate]

I pumped mine too.

 

I think you could either use just bright Al or add 7-8% of some resin fuel to slow it down.

[Mumbles]

Adding a resin would be a good idea in general. It is known to extend the tail.

 

Using all bright flake will make it nearly impossible to consolidate. This is what the dark flake is actually for. By making it denser, it also makes it easier to consolidate. You could probably replace the dark flake 1:1 with atomized Al. It serves the same purpose, and will probably tone things down a bit.

 

You guys might also want to try wetting the composition with thin wheat paste or Gum Arabic solution instead of water or water/alcohol. It really does help.

 

My personal favorite streamer is Hardt #3, but it's probably not recommended replacing the perchlorate with chlorate due the inclusion of BP as well.

[Potassiumchlorate]

I found 750 grams of dark Al that isn't German Dark, the kind that looks a bit like soot. Maybe that will burn slower?

[bigbuck]

any other good silver formulas suitable for rolling that do not contain chlorates?

[OldMarine]

Hardt's Silver Star #4 uses perchlorate but is hard to consolidate because of the aluminum content. It will press but I don't have a star roller yet to try it out. Bill Ofca had a silver star with silver tail formula that I liked but I can only find it on FW so am reluctant to post here for fear of having my ass handed to me there!

 

Here's a pretty good list: http://pyrosource.wikia.com/wiki/Silver_Stars

Edited July 31, 2016 by OldMarine

[bigbuck]

thank you old marine,i will give it a try in a roller and see what the results are, I see it calls for a two stage prime was that listed on link?

[OldMarine]

thank you old marine,i will give it a try in a roller and see what the results are, I see it calls for a two stage prime was that listed on link?

 

 

 

Most require a step prime. I use a 50/50 mix of prime and comp for the first layer and then straight prime for the final layer. I do this even if I'm using pinball or fencepost prime just to be safe.