bobconan

In spherical shells less then 3" do you fill them up completely or do you put a layer of stars and then meal coated (fill in you favorite) in. If you do fill them completely what bp grain do you use?

I filled up my mill a little more then 1/4 with damp meal and put some lead weights in and 30 hours later i got a 2 inch solid ball of bp. It cracked when i hit it with my mallet. had like a hard crust. Really weird. Any ideas as to what i didnt do right?

I have 10 lbs of zinc. More then im ever gonna need. I got it for something i found in George Weingart's "pyrotechnics". The electric spreader stars call for:
zinc dust 36
potassium Chlorate 7-1/2
Granulated charcoal 6
Pottassium bi chromate 6
dextrin 1

Any Ideas on how to make that safe? I.e. no dichromate or chlorate
Thanks for the help

I notice many people associate the word pyro with fire(duh). In fact tho i hate fire. Some people ive talked to like fire and watch it but when i see fire my first reaction is to put it out not stare. Am I an exception or is this just a mark of a true Pyrotechnican from a pyromaniac. Although if you can make the fire purple or blue i might stare.

Bp made with lampblack.