71 replies to this topic

[KarlosH]

sasman: I was punched every point with nail and hammer to the aluminum plate(to schematis screen). I was drilled every hole and polished this star separator. Sorry, poor english:-)
bye.

[BrightStar]

Hmmm.... Rolled up some 8mm Veline Orange stars this evening using mustard seeds from the kitchen as cores. This was probably a mistake.

The mustard seeds became very sticky on dampening with 25% IPA and just stuck to the roller. When coaxed into moving, they grew very slowly indeed but, with much patience, I got them up to 3-4mm and from then on everything seemed to go well.

Six hours into drying (just placed in a warm room, not force dried) a good portion of the stars have developed cracks around the circumference. Presumably the seeds have significantly expanded or contacted as the stars dried.

It's back to rolling on lead shot for me for the time being - much easier to work with and I can't afford to waste composition... Does anyone have any better suggestions for cores?

Edited by BrightStar, 20 December 2007 - 11:17 AM.

[digger]

Hmmm.... Rolled up some 8mm Veline Orange stars this evening using mustard seeds from the kitchen as cores. This was probably a mistake.

The mustard seeds became very sticky on dampening with 25% IPA and just stuck to the roller. When coaxed into moving, they grew very slowly indeed but, with much patience, I got them up to 3-4mm and from then on everything seemed to go well.

Six hours into drying (just placed in a warm room, not force dried) a good portion of the stars have developed cracks around the circumference. Presumably the seeds have significantly expanded or contacted as the stars dried.

It's back to rolling on lead shot for me for the time being - much easier to work with and I can't afford to waste composition... Does anyone have any better suggestions for cores?

If you have not found a better core yet. I have tried a few different cores, and for the moment I have found husked millet to be very good, although I needed a fair amount at the start hence generating allot of cores for further use.

[Neway]

Hello, I'm new in rolling stars! I built my own star roller, but I can't understand what is the right inclination of the bowl. If it's very inclinated the cores skids without rolling on the sides of the bowl, if the bowl is more upright then the cores starts to bounce all around. Can I have an advice?

Thanks a lot!

This is my star roller in action:

Edited by Neway, 02 March 2008 - 04:21 PM.

[maxman]

For such a small star roller you'd be better off rolling by hand. Much more control and a usefull skill to have

[GalFisk]

Try slowing it down a bit, looks like it's going at 60 rpm at least, which is a bit fast.

[Mortartube]

Brightstar, go down to your local supermarket and buy a bag of tapioca, it makes great cores and you should get a couple of thousand for about £1.50. The proper name is tapioca pearls. Like this.

http://static.flickr..._7fcfdfedf9.jpg

[Pretty green flames]

I'm having a slight problem, my first batch of round stars made in a star roller turned out pretty good, most of the stars are round-ish but it bothers me that I got a whole range of different sizes, from 2 tea spoons of cores (a little over 1mm in diameter) i got about 30 stars that are 10mm in diameter, most of them are still under 5mm or have barely grown at all, how can i remedy this issue? Any suggestions?

[crystal palace fireworks]

I'm having a slight problem, my first batch of round stars made in a star roller turned out pretty good, most of the stars are round-ish but it bothers me that I got a whole range of different sizes, from 2 tea spoons of cores (a little over 1mm in diameter) i got about 30 stars that are 10mm in diameter, most of them are still under 5mm or have barely grown at all, how can i remedy this issue? Any suggestions?

Does your drum have a inner lip/beading?....this will make the cores/stars can jump a little when the drum turns? (don`t make the lip/beading too thick....otherwise they will break the stars up).............this will help separate the cores more evenly!

Other than that.................wear a glove and put your hand in the mix - just after you add the slurry!

Edited by crystal palace fireworks, 10 July 2008 - 09:37 AM.

[Pretty green flames]

Great, I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[digger]

I'm having a slight problem, my first batch of round stars made in a star roller turned out pretty good, most of the stars are round-ish but it bothers me that I got a whole range of different sizes, from 2 tea spoons of cores (a little over 1mm in diameter) i got about 30 stars that are 10mm in diameter, most of them are still under 5mm or have barely grown at all, how can i remedy this issue? Any suggestions?

What design of star roller are you using?

It is normal for a you to get a size range when rolling in a drum as the stars tend to segregate with the smaller ones going to the bottom and the larger ones sitting on the top of the star pile. This makes the situation worse as the big stars get the first bite of any powder you add when rolling (and having larger surface area they eat more).

So the simple solution to solve this problem is to run the stars through a screen at regular intervals to remove stars that have grown to the desired size. You will note that initially you will just remove a few stars every time you screen and then all of a sudden everything seems to come up to the right size all at once.

Some will say that you should get the stars started dry them, then grade them and then roll up to the desired size. But I find if careful it is easy to grade while still rolling them so as to end up with only the size of star required and non that have to be put to other uses.

The advantage of screening is that if done well it can lead to a very tight size range which makes it easier to populate the inner surface of a shell (and they all burn out at the same time as you know).

[Pretty green flames]

What design of star roller are you using?

Might as well show you guys as i'm terrible at describing things

This is the drum, the motor is attached directly to the drum


These are the stars

So the simple solution to solve this problem is to run the stars through a screen at regular intervals to remove stars that have grown to the desired size.

Sounds like a simple enough solution indeed.

and then all of a sudden everything seems to come up to the right size all at once.

Funny enough, this just happened, after i sorted the bigger ones out I continued rolling the undersized stars and right now the majority of the smaller ones have grown to about 10mm, there are still some smaller ones in the drum but no problem there.

[Bonny]

I use a 'nascar' type star roller (with a tire) and get stars of all different sizes too. My last batch was rolled using quinoa seeds as cores, I started with 1/4 cup and have more cores and microstars than I'll probably use in a year...I just dry the batch and seperate them into a couple of sizes and continue rolling the small ones.
I did find using peppercorns as cores that the stars were a much more uniform size though.

[digger]

I use a 'nascar' type star roller (with a tire) and get stars of all different sizes too. My last batch was rolled using quinoa seeds as cores, I started with 1/4 cup and have more cores and microstars than I'll probably use in a year...I just dry the batch and seperate them into a couple of sizes and continue rolling the small ones.
I did find using peppercorns as cores that the stars were a much more uniform size though.

Yep I use both types of roller (nascar and drum) depending on what I am doing, however I do find the nascar roller does seem to give a more uniform star size even though it does not stop the need for screening. I have found different types of tyre give different results, I tend to search through the tyre pile for a tyre with internal ribs that run right across the inner surface of the tyre.

Husked millet is my core of choice.

[BrightStar]

Husked millet is my core of choice.

husked or de-husked? Where did you find it?

I've found mustard seeds are hopeless - they swell up when dampened causing cracked stars. Is the millet any better?