Strobe

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience using chlorowax as a chlorine donor. I searched the archives and didnt find much though creepingpyro listed it as one his favorite chemicals. Its relatively cheap compared to parlon. I'm curious how well it works and if its generally easier or harder to use than PVC or Parlon.

My second question is how you would convert a formula to substitue in a different chlorine donor.

For instance if a formula called for:

Barium nitrate....................................80
PVC...............................................10
Red Gum...........................................10

But I wanted to substitute chlorowax as the chlorine donor.

Would it be something like dividing the %chlorine contributed from the PVC (57%) by the % chlorine contributed by Chrolowax (70%) to scale the amount needed?

ie .57/.70 = .81 and then multiplying the 10 parts PVC in the formula by .81 to get the proper amount of Chlorowax to substitue for PVC?

.81 X 10 parts (PVC proportion from the original formula) = 8.1 parts Chlorowax required to substitute?

I'm not sure if I've done the math properly or if its as simple as determining a ratio.

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of trying out the Shimizu Firefly #5 formula:

KNO3 50
Charcoal Airfloat 45
Barium Sulfate 7
Sulfur 5
Wheat Starch 5
Aluminum flake, firefly 10-12 messh 4.6

I have a couple of questions on this as I dont have all of the exact ingrediants called for.
1. Can dextrin be substitued for wheat paste and is there any difference in proportions?
2. Would hardwood airfloat be ok? I don't have anything else at the moment.
3. Could I get away with Aluminum flake, 40 mesh or is this going to give a completely different effect?

I discovered this weekend that I have a bit of Strontium Chloride. It's used as additive for salt water fish tanks to maintain strontium levels in the water. I dont have it in front of me now but I believe the product name is Turbo Strontium made by Kent. I was wondering if there was anything else I could use it for.

Would it burn red similar to the way Copper Chloride burns green/glue?

I've been experimenting with colored fire recently, though with mixed results. I've gotten some nice green/blue flames by burning Copper Chloride on top of cotton balls soaked in denatured alcohol. I tried isopropyl alcohol but it didnt work quite as well as the denatured alcohol.

Hi,

I'm planning on trying out my 1st star comp today. The formula is from Intro to Practical Pyrotechnics:

Blesser Purple
KP - 68
cupric(II) oxide -9
Strontium Carbonate - 6
PVC - 11
Dextrin - 5
Solvent - Water/25% alcohol

I weighed and screened the dry chems (100g total) together yesterday and will attempt to make cut stars this afternoon.

Can anyone give me a rule of thumb regarding how much comp to reserve for priming? I gather I should keep a little extra on hand in case I add too much solvent as well.

Should I anticipate any difficulties with this formulae and cut stars? I have a couple of plastic syringes I could use to pump them if needed. I stayed away from the red gum formulas as I gather they can be pretty sticky and difficult to work with.

Hi Folks,

Are Mortors and Pestals made of stone (marble from the looks of this one) safe of use to grind pyro chemicals? I thought I read somewhere there was an issue with using the stone ones but I can't remember if it was a safety or quality issue. I've found one locally that is reasonably cheap but wanted to check before I buy it. The porcelin variety are kind of expensive where I live.


Thanks
Strobe