Spider web # 2

Summary

Stars are cut 5/8″ or 3/4″ (large) square Formula 2 needs to be ball milled for at least ten hours to be almost as fast, yet just as ignitable as formula 1. Because it burns slightly slower than formula 1 (after ball milling;), these stars achieve a larger spread in the sky. Ball milling also serves another purpose. It reduces the amount of ash and shortens the charcoal glow time. Without ball milling, some of the sparks may glow all the way to the ground. With ball milling, the golden stripes are more uniform and more beautiful, fading in unison. Formula 1 (less the Meal D;) can also be ball milled to achieve uniformity and less ash. Add the Meal D after ball milling the rest of the chemicals. Very slight dampening with a volume mix of 80% water with 20% denatured alcohol is helpful during ball milling. By slight I mean just enough to settle the dust but the mass still feels dry and flows freely as a powder. one tries to burn the star composition after mixing and ball milling, one will be disappointed. It appears to be smoldering and slow as if something were done wrong. This is normal. After the stars are made by thoroughly dampening with water, forming loafs in a frame, slicing, dicing, dusting and drying the stars perform quite differently! Burn time for a 3/4″ star is less than 1 second. The star is very sensitive to low temperature incandescent heat ignition, yet is very stable and insensitive to friction or impact. This makes the star ideal for hard breaking flash bag bursts!