They sell rechargeable dehydrating pellets that people sometimes use for drying flowers. Why not try that in a sealed container? Example: https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Desiccant...3416693&sr=8-3
Printable View
They sell rechargeable dehydrating pellets that people sometimes use for drying flowers. Why not try that in a sealed container? Example: https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Desiccant...3416693&sr=8-3
I've not tried pressing pucks with no water, but even damp I notice when I set the piston in place a little "poof" of dust comes out when the piston settles down to the meal. I think I'll keep misting with water to keep dust to a minimum.
Steve
It sure looks nice! Bet you're proud of your work. (As you should be.)
Now, "We want shooting results!!!"
;~)
Vettepilot
PS. I was just curious about the alcohol. Seems like it would dry faster, and less chance of leaching KNO3 and/or KNO3 crystalizing when making screened powder whereby you use more water.
Also, I have some Red Gum to use as a binder for screened powder, which will require alcohol, so I was curious about negative comments regarding it's use.
Mailemaker:
If your fines screen out at 4fg size, you could use it to "spice up" your 3fg for use in cartridge loading. I've not done this personally, but read many accounts of it being done with good results....
Personally, I would only try it in modern guns meant for smokeless, such as my 44 magnum which I sometimes load black powder rounds for fun.
Vettepilot
I know I wasn't on the OP but my two pennies.
I've been doing pyrotechnics for a few? years now. BATF licensed and evertang. You need a little water to dissolve the KNO3 so that it fully combines with the charcoal. Alcohol won't do it but it does activate the most common starch used as a binder. If you use too much water then when it starts to dry the nitrate will leach out again. so a blend of isoprop and water tends to work best with quick drying and enough moisture to incorporate. There are a ton of sites and supply houses. My fav is out of VA. Not advertising so try google and fireworks supplies.
For the best results though a ball mill is a must... and it's a great use of those miscast boolits. Please no steel bearings:eek:
Pulled out my borescope today to try and get some close-up photos of the grains.
I'd say the screens I listed above from Amazon seem to give pretty close grain sizes compared to Goex.
My fines are now back in the ball mill with another 200 grams (in 100 gram batches) of green meal. :)
https://i.imgur.com/ujaFCBX.jpg
Steve
Looking nice from my display. Screen 1 of 2 arrived today as did a thaw and a couple passes of rain. If the temps stay up tomorrow, I'll be able to grind up my last puck. The static was a serious concern with the 20% RH a few days back.
I used my laser engraver tonight to burn out a bunch of puck dividers. Now I can press multiple thin pucks in one press action.
https://i.imgur.com/v2YGk6Ql.jpg
Today I assembled my Jegs/Harbor Freight 6ton press. It's just a wee bit short for my 40mm hammer die so I'm going to cut about 3/4" off the shaft. That's about the most I can cut but should give me plenty of room. There's no way of telling how much pressure I'm applying so I guess it's trial and error unless someone has some wisdom to pass on when it comes to pressing pucks.
On your press.
Can you lower the movable shelf by moving the lower stand spreader bar up.
That might give you more room to press stuff
Interesting. I just used a 1.5” hole punch from joanns and punched 100 pieces of wax paper. I too press 4-6 pucks per pressing. 1-2 tbps in the die, then a paper, then 1-2 tbps, etc, then press. Starts as 2” thick, presses down to an inch, separates into a bunch of pucks a few mm thick. Repeat.
Press till you max out. Thats 6 tons. Then swap the bottle jack for a 10 ton and max it out. That will break the linkage of the frame. Then HF will tell you ONE linkage costs $20, and you need 2 to repair your $36 pess that used 4x linkages. If you complain, the support guy will explain the cost is worth it for high quality equipment. You’ll hang up on him.
Then you go buy the 20 ton H frame and max that out for 20 ton of force and rock it...
I am using a 12-ton press, and I just crank on the handle until it feels like it would not be good to go any further. If you're mechanical minded you'll know what I mean. Then I start my stopwatch on my phone for 5 minutes. Then I give it one more pump and walk away until the timer goes off.Quote:
There's no way of telling how much pressure I'm applying so I guess it's trial and error unless someone has some wisdom to pass on when it comes to pressing pucks.
My density is just a bit lighter than Goex (see post above).
If I was starting over again I would spring for the 20 ton press.
Steve
I made up a spreadsheet to show the required pounds/tons to hit 3000 PSI for various size pucks.
https://i.imgur.com/wfY1dFhl.png
Area calculation: =PI()*(A2/2)^2
Pounds calculation: =3000*B2
Tons calculation: =C2*0.0005
Hopefully I did the math right.
My 12 ton press should be more than sufficient to the task for my 2 inch puck, but my densities are slightly under Goex.
Steve