automatic star pump machine

[SideGlance]

guys check out this video.. awesome job by this college student he's on the right track the comp mix was to wet imo

[Shizznt]

Thats pretty awesome, hopefully they'll hit the shelves so i could buy one. That would save so much time rather than pumping them by hand.

[Mumbles]

It's sort of difficult to tell if he's really pumping them, or extruding them. There isn't much you can do about the consistency if he's extruding. If you'd like to see what commercial automatic star pumps look like, find some videos of rotary pill presses. These are actually what is used commercially.

[leedrill]

i had seen that vid before on the you tubes and asked the same question it really looks like its just extrusion due to the way the comp seems like soft serve ice cream when cut rather than crumbly or quite solid this is my assumption but have to say if it is an extrusion rather then pressed star machine the pressed option would not be much more work if you have a good workshop id really love to see some one come out with a pump machine that comes with different interchangeable tooling from 3/8ths to 3" for comets and has adjustable settings to be able to deal with dryish glitter comps to anything else im sure anyone producing a lot of shells would have a wasp and one of these

[pyrokid]

Isn't the size of traditional star plates simply restricted by the size of the press being used?

[Mumbles]

Yes, and how much money/time you're willing to spend on buying/making it.

[Arthur]

The Chinese would have you believe that they use all traditional methods, however I suspect that stars are often made by machine. Tablet (pill) presses are used and are available up to 3" diameter. However in most cases ebay vendors of tablet presses are not in the pyro industry and buying one may get you all the wrong attention.

 

For their hand made shells I know Kimbolton Fireworks (2012 Olympic displays etc) use hand rolled stars -I've seen them roll them.

 

It's difficult to prime a star in the tablet press.

[Mumbles]

No manufacturer I'm aware of actually primes their stars in the same operation they're pressed in. The stars are pressed in the pill presse, and from there there is no difference from using a conventional star plate or pump. They're allowed to dry, and then primed for use.

 

Most stars from chinese import shells and cakes I've seen are round, so I'm liable to believe they're rolled. Rolling 100kg really isn't much different (besides increment and drum size), than rolling 1 or 2kg.

[Maserface]

what Mumbles said.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIDu4OLEmI

[marks265]

Looks to me like the process is mostly an extrusion process. The star comp needs to be wet to pneumatically push the comp out. I bet the cylinder is filled with the very wet comp and then a piston is inserted and then air pressure works on the piston to force the comp out. Wet comp has to be used because pneumatics in this application could never create enough force to consolidate a star well enough. The wet comp is forced into the 3/8 mold area, the cam pushes the turd down, and then a knife slides right to left to cutoff or remove the star. While removing the star air pressure is probably relieved by using the cam to keep from pushing out more comp. I like the turd destacker underneath which is the white block that is attached to the knife.

[FlaMtnBkr]

The turd destacker should be stationary. As it moves it missed some. Not that it appears to be working very well. If the belt was horizontal and moving faster it wouldn't need a destacker.