121 replies to this topic

[pudi.dk]

It is said that nitrate ruins the effect. I've read somewhere (passfire i think) that it is possible to coat them to prevent nitrate from ruining the dragon eggs, IIRC it was wax.
Damn I can't wait to get some Copper Oxide so I can start making those eggs

[ITCHI]

I have access to 600 mesh Magnalium, will this work for Dragon Eggs?

Edited by ITCHI, 23 May 2007 - 01:40 PM.

[Mumbles]

You can try, but I doubt it if my 200 mesh didn't work in the first place.

[ITCHI]

Roger that, I'll keep searching as I am a big fan of Dragon Eggs or as I call them, crackling.

[Wyvern]

I have successfuly made Dragons eggs with my 250 mesh magnalium from Keten using one of the passfire formulae, cant remember which but i think its was one of the bismith ones which was labeled as being able to substitute the bismuth for Lead

[Bonny]

It came from Best of AFN 3 originally

Bismuth trioxide 75
Magnalium, -200 mesh 15
Black copper oxide 10
Aluminum, 200 mesh atomized +5 [tiranti]
solvent 10% NC lacquer

I just made my first 10g test batch of dragon eggs using this formula and am happy with the results. My magnalium was homemade 250mesh and the NC lacquer was 6 ping pong balls from the dollar store dissolved in about 250ml acetone. The comp got too dry (10g not a very big piece of dough to work with). When adding more acetone I spilled way too much into the container, but I kept mixing while it evaporated and then granulated through 20mesh screen. I lit a few with a lighter and got a good crack. I will hopefully be trying some soon in a fountain and go from there.

[pudi.dk]

I'm not sure what the aluminium is for, or if I can use 400 mesh?

[MMMMMM Pyro]

I'm not sure what the aluminium is for, or if I can use 400 mesh?

I believe that the Al is there so that when the egg pops you get a nice shower of sparks!
Not sure about weather 400 mesh would work... you could try it and find out!

Regards,

Mike

[Bonny]

It was hard to see in daylight but I think they had a white flash when they popped...maybe from the Al. I'll try and film some today or tonight if I'm still out of town.

[cooperman435]

Just made my first batch of Dragons eggs :-)

very pleased with the results but Ive a few questions.

I saw a vid that was posted on here a while ago where someone set off a batch of these. Im not sure of the actual formula he used but they went with quite loud pops and propelled themselves into the air to form a slight cloud of white fierce crackles. Mine dont do this just one pop and sometimes if the star is too big(bigger than 1mm) then theres comp left after the pop that can be re ignited any ideas what the comp was?

when making the veline system the comp becomes like putty when wetted with acetone. I used nc laquer for the dragons eggs but its a hard comp to work as it dries hard on the outside very quickly whilst still wet inside. What component of the veline system makes this putty like consistency and could it be used instead of the nc laquer?

anyone got any favourite tested formulas to suggest?

Edited by cooperman435, 07 November 2007 - 12:37 AM.

[pyromaniac303]

I find bismuth trioxide based microstars give multiple crackles whereas lead tetraoxide based ones give a single crack, but much louder.

I remember a year or so ago I made a 100g batch of bismuth based microstars and half way through cutting them I began to feel dizzy from solvent exposure, as I was using a new make of NC lacquer with a different type of solvent. I already had cut a large number of them, so I left the rolled out sheet of microstars to dry, and the next day seperated the already cut ones as normal. I then tried igniting the 1mm thick by 50mm square sheet (reasonably long fuse needed). This produced a very strange effect. It was ignited from the middle and the first crackle fragmented the sheet into several pieces which were all alight, the next crackles propelled these pieces around the garden, each one breaking up in turn and fragmenting further to produces even more crackles. This was a great effect but also expensive and short lived, I think the total distance travelled from the centre point was probably 3 or 4 metres, and the duration no more than 5 seconds.

[Mumbles]

The reason they are turning soft is because you're wetting the cores with acetone. Acetone is a solvent for NC. Just out of curiosity, but what part of the Veline system are you trying to bind with acetone? The Redgum? Alcohol would work just as well, and is cheaper. No problems with the dragon eggs either.

[Bonny]

Just made my first batch of Dragons eggs :-)

very pleased with the results but Ive a few questions.

I saw a vid that was posted on here a while ago where someone set off a batch of these. Im not sure of the actual formula he used but they went with quite loud pops and propelled themselves into the air to form a slight cloud of white fierce crackles. Mine dont do this just one pop and sometimes if the star is too big(bigger than 1mm) then theres comp left after the pop that can be re ignited any ideas what the comp was?

when making the veline system the comp becomes like putty when wetted with acetone. I used nc laquer for the dragons eggs but its a hard comp to work as it dries hard on the outside very quickly whilst still wet inside. What component of the veline system makes this putty like consistency and could it be used instead of the nc laquer?

anyone got any favourite tested formulas to suggest?

I've made a few batches using the formula in my earlier post on this thread. They have worked very well, and I sometimes get several pops from one "egg". I've used 100, 200, and 250 mesh magnalium (homemade) and they all worked well. I use the veline style prime (look for it in veline star or perchlorate star priming threads I think). The eggs seem to work well in mines and in matrix comets. I think they need a layer of meal over the prime for use in shells though.

[MDH]

I am just using a number of very tiny inserts with 70/30 flash. I have small fuses coming out of them and roll them in composition until they are stars. This tends to work very well for the popping effect.

Just suggesting my idea for inspiration.

[Jerronimo]

Yes dragon egg's are a nice effect.

I use the formula from hardt's book:

75 bismuth trioxide
10 copper oxide
15 magnalium (60 mesh) I use 100 mesh
Bind with NC lacquer

The bismuth formulas are rather forgiving in what mesh size magnalium is used.
The courser the magnalium the louder they ''pop'' it seems.
A tiny grain of 1mm makes a very loud bang, very impressive for such a small amount of composition.