Originally Posted by
DoubleBuck
dtknowles;
I don't know what size vice you are using. I saw you said you are using a 1 inch die.
I pulled up some old information on vices. A 1" 8 thread bolt, which is what some American made 8" vices use, calls for 300 pounds of torque, and supplies 10,200 pounds of clamping force. That converts to over 12,900 pounds of compression on a 1" die. If the target compression for 1.7 gram per CC density is 3,500 pounds, and you are using an 8" vice, the math says you can do it. Times nearly three. A 6 inch vice with a 3/4 10 thread screw calls for 138 pounds of torque and will supply 5500 pounds of clamping force. On your 1" die, it says you can get 7,004 pounds per square inch. Which will still get your 3,500 pound target (if that is what it actually takes).
I don't know if it will or will not make viable pucks, but the math says it will.
By the way; that 8" USA made Wilton vice that I paid a hundred bucks for 50 years ago, is nearly $800, today. But, whatever it would do the day I bought it, it will still do today. That's the difference in the Chinese BS they sell today as a 'quality' vice.
Balsa Charcoal is the berries. It is my fastest linear burn rate powder. It burned a four foot 1/8 inch line in my tester, in less than one half second. The Chronograph said it was not my best, but I made it four or five years ago, before I knew that I probably over cooked every batch of charcoal I made until learned different. I have a 12" X 6" X 6" piece I have been saving until I know I can cook it correctly and I plan to cook it up.
If you have Balsa at your disposal, look no further.