Potassiumchlorate Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Aw, don't be sad! Friday is Midsummer Eve!
TheEskimo Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 Yeah, that's Rensselaer. I won't come out with much to pay back, thanks to my parents, but it's still a ridiculous amount they're charging. Unless you live in a fraternity, you HAVE to live on campus Freshman/Sophomore years, and get the school meal plan, which is also way expensive. I mean, it's gonna cost me about 13K to live and eat on campus, and that's with the second cheapest meal plan. I don't see how they can raise the price of everything much more without giving out massive scholarships or seeing a dive in attendance.
Potassiumchlorate Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 I'm not depressed really, but it hurts. I'm clumsy when I cut things. In 2005 I cut myself in my left index finger when cutting a piece of moose sausage in the middle of the night. Some months ago I cut myself when cutting butter(!) - left index finger again. Just some 10-15 minutes ago I cut myself again when cutting a thick delay fuse. It's not dangerous, but it bleeds a bit and hurts like hell. I can only imagine how the poor bastards feel, that blow off their fingers.
taiwanluthiers Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) I am depressed because I can't seem to make any green comp. I thought blue was the hardest to make and with copper carbonate it was actually not that hard, but when I tried the same with barium carbonate, all I get is yellow like the barium carbonate is contaminated with sodium or something. Tried everything I can think of, even threw it in a high temp spherical al + KP mix, and all it did was make the mix non-pyrotechnic, and when it did go pyrotechnic all I got was a blinding white flash, not green! And this is after having spent so much money on chemicals and not getting the result I want. As for bp I don't know, I never made the ball mill mix go thump, I think I made a fast bp with old T shirt charcoal a long time ago though but found that Palownia is quite common in Taiwan so I might buy a few planks and char them. That has to be cheaper than ordering willow charcoal from abroad. We all get depressed sometimes, but just lay off the Paris Green... it's not worth it! Edited June 25, 2012 by taiwanluthiers
ExplosiveCoek Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Barium carbonate sucks at making green stars, just use Ba nitrate and you'll get rid of at least one problem.
Potassiumchlorate Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Taiwanluthiers - try a mortar and a pestle. You won't be able to make much BP at a time, but you will be able to make enough to lift a 3" in 15-20 minutes or so.
taiwanluthiers Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 I have been making test quantities of bp with mortar and pestle, just thought I'd do better with a ball mill. I think its the charcoal though, the charcoal I was using while its whole charcoal (no additives) it was designed with BBQ in mind so may not be suitable for bp. I am still waiting for the willow charcoal to come in so I can make a benchmark.
spitfire Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 @taiwanluthiers, There is no willow in Taiwan? I have been to Mainland China many times and willow is growing everywhere. Maybe you can try some bamboo or other fast growing plants..??
graumann Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Tried bamboo, it's no good. From what I have read it isn't the speed of growth or cell structure that matters for fast BP, its the oils & other compounds in the timber.
taiwanluthiers Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) I am not sure, bamboo charcoal is everywhere and is being sold as some kind of a snake oil cure-all. I have not seen willow timber anywhere in the world, including the US. I think I've seen willow trees in the US but I don't believe I've seen any in Taiwan yet, but there are a lot of trees that has those long thin strings hanging down from the tree, as well as various species of fig, mahogany, rosewood, etc. I have read Palownia charcoal is commonly used in Asia and those woods are common here. You have to realize that China is a huge country, so willow could be growing in the northern part of China but Taiwan is a whole different animal when it comes to flora and fauna. Edited to say, I just got the willow charcoal from the UK. I made a small test batch with mortar and pestle. While it doesn't go thump it burned much faster than the BBQ charcoal I used, without leaving much residue either. It's definitely the charcoal. Edited June 26, 2012 by taiwanluthiers
Peret Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Bamboo, like all grasses, is high in silica. It won't make good BP. You need a fast growing light wood, preferably from a flowering deciduous tree. Willow must grow in China. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Willow_Pattern.jpg/479px-Willow_Pattern.jpg
NightHawkInLight Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Paulownia supposedly is especially good for BP. If there are no paulownia trees in your area you can buy a few saplings or transplant them from other parts of the country and they'll be ready to yield charcoal trimmings in less than two years. They grow at a staggering rate in almost all climates - staggering as in 20+ feet in the first year.
taiwanluthiers Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Paulownia supposedly is especially good for BP. If there are no paulownia trees in your area you can buy a few saplings or transplant them from other parts of the country and they'll be ready to yield charcoal trimmings in less than two years. They grow at a staggering rate in almost all climates - staggering as in 20+ feet in the first year. I can buy Palownia timber in most hardware store in Taiwan, they're cheap too. I really love willow charcoal, made really fast black powder and it's a lot more sensitive too... a hot ember will light it. Edited June 26, 2012 by taiwanluthiers
Potassiumchlorate Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 He finally got himself some barium nitrate.
taiwanluthiers Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Yea, and since they only have reagent grade, it's a lot more than 5 dollars a pound.
NightHawkInLight Posted August 13, 2012 Posted August 13, 2012 I hope you guys are taking some good video at the convention this week. Man am I bummed not to be there. I feel like temporarily blocking the PGI and a few other key people on facebook to avoid the reminders of what I'm missing out on.
nater Posted August 31, 2012 Posted August 31, 2012 ugh, bad day, and to make it worse, Saturday is my last scheduled show for the season and looks like it might get washed out by the remmnants of Issac.
taiwanluthiers Posted September 1, 2012 Posted September 1, 2012 I managed to make good bp, good green, red, and blue stars, made a small shell that was flash boosted but it blew everything blind. I used fencepost prime too.
Seymour Posted September 2, 2012 Posted September 2, 2012 Did you prime the fencepost prime with a layer of BP type prime? Soft stars? crack one in half and try to scratch it with your finger nail. It should be very scratch resistant if rock hard and dry. How much booster?
taiwanluthiers Posted September 2, 2012 Posted September 2, 2012 The "fencepost prime" was only bp with silicon added to it... I was told it didn't need an outer prime. I am thinking of just dusting them with riced bp to make them take fire more easily because round stars don't take fire as easily as stars with sharp points. I used about half a gram of flash as booster.
Potassiumchlorate Posted November 1, 2012 Posted November 1, 2012 I have improved my skills what handrolling concerns. Now it turns out that I must be better at putting shells together again. This one is just a 5" with "rubbish" stars to see if my new BP is OK and not too strong, but the shell must be put together in a proper way nevertheless.
NightHawkInLight Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Just did the math and realized I'm likely to be slaughtered with a five figure tax bill at the end of this year. I was so happy with how well my house fund was going.
dagabu Posted November 26, 2012 Posted November 26, 2012 Just did the math and realized I'm likely to be slaughtered with a five figure tax bill at the end of this year. I was so happy with how well my house fund was going. Youch! I hope you are prepared... -dag
NightHawkInLight Posted November 26, 2012 Posted November 26, 2012 I'm prepared, but it's going to hurt my anticipated home purchase timeline.
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