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- Jan 19, 2009
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Well, it is not the first time the ATF has been wrong!:wink:
Isn't that the truth!
Well, it is not the first time the ATF has been wrong!:wink:
Well, it is not the first time the ATF has been wrong!:wink:
As solder doesn't stick to the wire I can't solder the NiChrome but that doesn't seem to matter..
But back to ignitors. I use this (kno3, Mg, and epoxy) and they work great. They are waterproof, last forever, burn for a long time of course depending on the size, and are hard/strong enough that you dont have to be so gentle with them. The mix is about as safe as you can get. I do not solder the wires, I just wrap and crimp. I have some going on 2 years old and they always work. It's funny to watch them when doing ground tests with the thrust pointed up. Sometimes when the motor lights, and burns out, the igniter is on the ground still burning. The kno3 has to be good stuff, I get mine from firefox, we have tried the bulk stuff that a friend uses to make sugar motors with, and the ignitors would not work.
Chuck, I just noticed that you are from Georgia like me. I guess you go to Orangeburge though since your on the east side of the state.
Have you had trouble with the quality of the kno3 affecting the igniter mix?
I live in Savannah, been using the same basic formula you have years.
Literally thousands of igniters later....
Since a year ago been using this:
https://www.americanpyrosupply.com/PYROTECHNIC_OXIDIZERS-POTASSIUM_NITRATE_-325_MESH.html
Anti-cake is only way to go. I still warm it up to drive off the terrible humidity we have and screen right before use.
I find moisture content affects the finished product terribly! Results in a slower burn, 2-4 seconds rather than the desirable 1-1.5 [for me anyway]
Also have used the prilled stuff, fertilizer grade. [looks like sand]
After several 15 second bursts in a coffee grinder. Talc powder consistency,[14.00 walmart] then the now standard drying. Just a flat Tupperware container with 1/2in. of material in bottom, set on top of lampshade, gentle heat dries material in 15-20 minutes.
PS folks never use a grinder for anything else! Just the dedicated oxidizer. Buy another one for other materials or risk going Boom!
This has worked equally as well as the anti-cake expensive stuff. I tested over a dozen & could not tell any difference. BUT it will cake up during storage and needs to be screened and dried every time.
So for me processing, moisture content, and particle size are determining factors for success.
Also have used the prilled stuff, fertilizer grade. [looks like sand]. After several 15 second bursts in a coffee grinder.
PS folks never use a grinder for anything else! Just the dedicated oxidizer. Buy another one for other materials or risk going Boom!
Jim, As much as I want to use a coffee grinder again to get that fine dust like powder so easily. It aint never gonna happen no way no how! Maybe in 10-20 years when I cant remember why my hands look like they do now! People please DO NOT USE A COFFEE GRINDER FOR ANYTHING except grinding coffee.
Oxidiser + plastic (most all grinders are made of plastic) = POOF!
Doing really good. February will be 2 years so all the healing is long been finished. I have a little bit of webing "duck feet" at the bottoms of my left hand fingers. and a couple of the fingers wont get completely straight. The right hand has a couple of pieces of skin graft that refuse to turn the same color as my palm. I guess it thinks it's still a leg. From 6 feet away it's hard to tell that I had the grafts done to my forearms. I've had friends that I haven't seen since I got burned tell me that they thought that I was burned really bad! They understand when I drop my pants and show them the long purple marks all over my left leg where they got the skin from. You get funny looks from people when you do that in the bank to show the teller.
There was a kid who though it a good idea to grind old estes motors with a coffee grinder. Not good.
He wasn't hurt but it scared me and the mrs. when we found out what he was doing next door.
Black Powder / Gunpowder are basically the same. 2 variations in the chemical mixture are, Potassium Nitrate, charcoal/carbon and sulfur. The 2nd variation is without the sulfur.
Estes C Class rocket engines are made with Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal, Sulfur & Dextrin (the binder)
Estes igniter pyrogen is made with Potassium Nitrate, Carbon, Corn Starch & Hide Glue. The reference for the igniter info can be found here
https://www.drra.nl/documenten/estes/MSDS-Estes Igniter.pdf
Both are of a black powder/gunpowder nature.
Now granted, not all pyrogens are created the same but Estes industries does use black powder/gunpowder. My recipe is a bit complicated as I melt ping pong balls in acetone for a polymer. Pyrodex gunpowder and aluminum powder are incorporated until I have the consistency of Elmer's glue. This particular recipe is designed for high power motors but could be used in smaller motors. Class Dismissed.
I've watched various programs on discovery and whatever about people that make fireworks. It seems that the key is how much material you have on hand at one time. Cut a couple of Estes motors open, smash the contents into a pile on the floor and throw a match on it. It might look dramatic but it probably isn't dangerous to anything but the floor it is burning on. But if he was accumulating several pounds of the stuff, he could get into serious conflagration.
Most guns today don't use black powder, rather a smokeless powder.
Some old flint locks use it but, even those use a black powder substitute of some form these days.
JD
I've watched various programs on discovery and whatever about people that make fireworks. It seems that the key is how much material you have on hand at one time. Cut a couple of Estes motors open, smash the contents into a pile on the floor and throw a match on it. It might look dramatic but it probably isn't dangerous to anything but the floor it is burning on. But if he was accumulating several pounds of the stuff, he could get into serious conflagration.
Also have used the prilled stuff, fertilizer grade. [looks like sand]
After several 15 second bursts in a coffee grinder. Talc powder consistency,.
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