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Commercial Stars?


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Posted
Lately, I have seen containers, tubs, shipping ctns. in the backgrounds of pyro photos and a few videos of what seems to be commercially made stars. Are they available from a commercial source?
Posted
Care to share some of these pictures or videos to give us a head start?
Posted
Lidu makes stars, they generally run about $10/LB IIRC. They are nice, rolled ones. You can purchase them at WPA events.
Posted

As CApyro said, i saw them at the WPA doit event... due to shipping regulations theyre packaged in Paper Hemispheres and taped shut. and are sold at $70/case.

 

here is the price list for that section from the 2012 event.

 

http://puu.sh/1Tke4

Posted (edited)

Zink-feuerwerk sell comets,But i don't think anyone can buy their star/comets

 

http://www.zink-feue...ttyPhoto[6]/11/

Edited by yvariro
Posted

I can't imagine shipping stars... one or two as lab samples maybe but I am guessing they're 1.1 as far as shipping regs are concerned so I wouldn't think it's possible unless packed into very secure containers, can see why they pack it inside shell hemis.

 

It would be really nice to be able to buy ready made stars, would have saved a load of time rolling and drying them, and not have blind stars. However in my country fireworks may only be sold for the general public after they have been approved as consumer fireworks. So even at events (assuming there is such a thing) not even blackmatch can be sold legally. This is one reason why visco fuse is so hard to buy here, as they're not approved as consumer fireworks.

Posted
Commercial stars and other shell components are available and generally sold as 1.3g items to license holders. There are a few items that Precocious lists as 1.4 though.
Posted
Its one thing to go to a event and build shells with commercial stars, but it is much more satisfying to make your own. You can custom tailor your effects and colors to suite your taste. It is a sense of accomplishment, and pride to see your own perform to a commercial standard ( or better) ., ^_^ . This is what our hobby is about ...., right? :)
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Posted

Couldn't agree more Pyrojig.

The satifaction of seeing your own creations glowing, is well worth the time and effort, which, if making large batches, isn't all that lengthfully exhausting :)

 

Posted
However, there is merit to being able to buy commercial stars at events. Many builders or people who would like to build, do not have a safe place to make, dry and store live material. While there are field expedient methods to other aspects of building, getting stars made from scratch over a weekend is a tough challenge. Having commercial components available allows for more people to start building.
Posted (edited)

There are many purposes for commercial stars in the hobby: Shell construction seminars.... Also those who don't have enough space to legally/safely process pyro will often build at club shoots with pre-made stars. For those of us that are currently experiencing winter, drying water based stars safely can be a challenge.

 

As far as purchasing, I'm fairly certain you do need a license/permit. I've seen them sold as "1.4s" as well as "1.3g." Either way they need to be stored in a magazine. There's a place in MI called Family Fireworks that sells them in 25# batches.

Edited by flying fish
Posted
There's a company called Knighton that makes commercial stars. A friend gave me some white spider and red mag stars made by this company. They were marked 3/8" but range in size from as small as 5/16" and as large as 7/16". I made good use of my set of mums sizing screens with these stars. The stars are very nice and I have been using them for inner peddles and for cores of larger stars. It took me a while to find this company by searching google but as I recall, they are in the midwest somewhere and last I knew, they were still in business.
Posted
Looked around didn't find any.
Posted
Of course you would need a license to purchase from them.
Posted
That didn't tell me anything.
Posted

There's a phone number in that link, I think the best way to get details would be to give them a ring.

 

At one point we were going to buy some for a class at our club but I think someone ended up donating the stars. Knighton and Family Fireworks were the two suppliers mentioned and neither have details posted online.

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