1. how much flash would be required for an adequate burst in a 3" shell?

2. how much lift powder (approximately with the sieve method of making lift) would i need for a 3" shell?

3. can cut stars be used in a 3" shell, or should i attempt making round stars only?

4. how big are the stars supposed to be for a 3" shell? a 4" one?

5. in the process of making lift powder from meal powder, UN's procedure states adding a little amount of water at a time.

does anyone have a recommended amount of water to use for the 110 gram batch?

6. i was reading about another process of turning meal into lift powder with a powder die.

would UN's method of the sieve work just as good?

7. for fusing the shell, can stickymatch be used as a substitute for quickmatch?

8. does anyone have any suggestions for a pouch to hold the lift powder on a 3" shell?

solo cups are too big

i know its a lot of questions, but it'd give me enough information to complete a few orders. thanks for any feedback

Unfortunately, I am inexperienced in shell building, but through my research on the topic, I can tell you:

3. You should be able to use cut stars in almost any situation you use round stars in.

8. You can try different methods for the lift cup, such as an Oragami-like cup, or even try making a cylindrical cup like on many consumer shells. I don't know how well those would work, though.

If you use pressed stars prime them really well, and of course test all of your stars in a star gun.

thanks for the cut stars info; do you know about proper priming for perchlorate stars?

all my stars are going to be perchlorate based, and Perigrin's perchlorate prime formula calls for potassium dichromate(very dangerous )

unitednuclear's prime for perchlorate stars is a mix of 50/50 bp and star mix, then a layer of BP.

is this an adequate prime?

btw, thanks for your responses. i really thought this board had very little 'pure' pyrotechnics threads or members

its disappointing when good threads are being drowned out by kids who haven't done their homework on any of their stuff and expect a full explanation..

quote:Originally posted by orangejuice:

unitednuclear's prime for perchlorate stars is a mix of 50/50 bp and star mix, then a layer of BP.

is this an adequate prime?

That should be a good prime, BP takes fire pretty easily. One of these days I'll really get into pure pyro stuff... eventually.

And keep BP and all sulfur/sulfur containing compositions away from chlorates in case you forgot that..

[This message has been edited by DavidThePyro (edited 07-18-2003).]