My homemade black powder

[ChrisPer]

I wonder if something like that is available for small electric motors.

Well, after searching and digging there is such a sensor but finding a vendor who will sell one in small quantities is a problem.

I'll have to contact one of the manufacturers to see what sort of a "deal" they'd be wiling to make for a small number of them...

I built my mill out of a tumble dryer.
There are three temperature sensors in there, and a broken dryer can be picked up for free.

[Eddie2002]

I built an oxalic acid vaporizer wand to treat my bee hives for varroa mites and incorporated a 350 degree temperature cutoff sensor to prevent overheating of the acid which would cause all sorts of nasty things to happen. It should be possible to use something similar to shut off an over heated motor but since the sensor resets when it cools off a relay would need to be wired in which cuts the power till it gets a manually rest. Just a low tech though about it.

[almar]

dont know about light duty. Ive got two along with a lyman and a big dillion. THose harbor frieght units are probably the best bang for the buck in a vibrating tumbler. They dont clean quite as fast as a lyman but faster then my dillion. My older one has been tumbling bullets with pc for about 2 years. I put about 10lbs of bullets at a time in it and run it for 30mins. MANY thousands of cast bullets have been done using that machine. I thought it died once so pulled off the bottom and found the electrical connect had broke off and i had to crimp a new one on. Its been running at least another year since then.

I think they were referring to the rotating tumbler from HF not the vibrating kind.

My personal experience with the thing is mixed. For ball milling not really the best deal even with improved jars etc. Its not designed to do what we ask of it. Its like hiring a high school kid to paint your house, you will pay less but don't expect miracles. Its probably good for polishing powder though. The cheapest, best option that I finally settled on was to build my own. You start with the amount of powder you intend to make in a batch and make a jar to be good for that with pvc for example. Then you design the rest around the jar. It took me about 30 minutes to build once I had the parts. About 40 bucks of parts but I had the motor already. That thing can handle more than 30 lbs of media without breaking a sweat and I have peace of mind.

[SeaMonkey]

Quote from Lloyd Smale:

THose harbor frieght units are probably the best bang for the buck in a vibrating tumbler.

That is good to hear! I just bought one recently to try as a powder mill.

From the videos I've seen about them the vibratory action is less of a strain on the motor than in the rotary tumblers.

I'm eager to begin the trial runs but have some obstacles to overcome first. It may be a while yet...

[Lloyd Smale]

I think they were referring to the rotating tumbler from HF not the vibrating kind.

My personal experience with the thing is mixed. For ball milling not really the best deal even with improved jars etc. Its not designed to do what we ask of it. Its like hiring a high school kid to paint your house, you will pay less but don't expect miracles. Its probably good for polishing powder though. The cheapest, best option that I finally settled on was to build my own. You start with the amount of powder you intend to make in a batch and make a jar to be good for that with pvc for example. Then you design the rest around the jar. It took me about 30 minutes to build once I had the parts. About 40 bucks of parts but I had the motor already. That thing can handle more than 30 lbs of media without breaking a sweat and I have peace of mind.

then i know nothing. never owned a rotating tumbler. Probably never will.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

This weekend I upgraded my 6tn bottle jack to a 10tn and made some really hard pucks that turned out great, but it reminded me how much I dislike the process compared to screening. For that reason I bit the bullet and purchased a pound of red gum. An earlier attempt at adding dextrin got me the gooey mess. Screening without a binder burns well but it's hard to get a consistent pack in my muzzleloader. I need harder grains. Will report back when it comes in.

[Vettepilot]

Quote from Lloyd Smale:


That is good to hear! I just bought one recently to try as a powder mill.

From the videos I've seen about them the vibratory action is less of a strain on the motor than in the rotary tumblers.

I'm eager to begin the trial runs but have some obstacles to overcome first. It may be a while yet...

The Harbor Freight vibrating tumbler is a good unit, and useful for various reasons to a reloader. The only weak link is the long stud that holds the jar on. This can come loose, and when it does, it will "Waller Out" it's hole in the plastic base plate, and eventually break the plate too. (Ask me how I know!)

I strongly recommend taking that part apart, and reassembling with Loctite, as tight as you dare. If I recall, I double nutted that on mine as well. Further, when you put the lid on, bolt it down very tight. This adds stability and reduces bending stresses on that long bolt where it goes through the plastic base plate.

Vettepilot

[SeaMonkey]

Good advice Vettepilot!

Since I can't actually use mine yet for a while I'll do just that.

A little bit of preventive maintenance can go a long way.

[indian joe]

This weekend I upgraded my 6tn bottle jack to a 10tn and made some really hard pucks that turned out great, but it reminded me how much I dislike the process compared to screening. For that reason I bit the bullet and purchased a pound of red gum. An earlier attempt at adding dextrin got me the gooey mess. Screening without a binder burns well but it's hard to get a consistent pack in my muzzleloader. I need harder grains. Will report back when it comes in.

if your dexrin is any good 1.5 or 2% is plenty and will do the job good -----redgum means using alcohol in the mix - I tried alcohol water mix and didnt like the result at all - made soft grains and the energy of the powder changed over time - didnt like that at all!
gum arabic might be an option instead of the redgum ????

[Eddie2002]

A good source of dextrin is fiber powder from WalMart or a pharmacy. I've been using it for my screened powder and 2% works well. I have found that dextrin works better when added at the start of the final milling and mixing it well with the other ingredients. Adding enough water to make it just a little sloppy seems to activate the dextrin and gives harder grains but is messy. Packing the load down hard with the patched ball helped me a lot with consistency at the range. My screened 2F is only 60% the weight of commercial so compacting the charge seems to give a much better burn.

[ChrisPer]

This business of compressing the charge sounds very significant. A champion shot at my club showed me that between two shots of his underhammer with different pressure loading, the ball hit spot on (his pressure, my shot) and 6" high (my lighter pressure, my shot).
I am thinking to make a ramrod handle with a loaded spring so I can feel say 30 lb when the sprung handle lifts off its stop, and 50 lb when it reaches its maximum travel. No need to make a distracting click like a tension wrench. I met this in a coffee tamper of all things.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

A good source of dextrin is fiber powder from WalMart or a pharmacy. I've been using it for my screened powder and 2% works well. I have found that dextrin works better when added at the start of the final milling and mixing it well with the other ingredients. Adding enough water to make it just a little sloppy seems to activate the dextrin and gives harder grains but is messy. Packing the load down hard with the patched ball helped me a lot with consistency at the range. My screened 2F is only 60% the weight of commercial so compacting the charge seems to give a much better burn.

I do have some of the fiber powder from the store. It didn't make a mess but resulting grains wasn't any harder for me. Maybe I need to add more water. The latest attempt was cooked corn starch. That made an awful mess. I had to abort the whole test batch.

I think alcohol is easier to work with since it evaporates so quickly. I'm going to try 1% red gum. For some reason the shipping was $17 so it must be a hazmat. My screened stuff burns a lot cleaner for me too. A slightly harder grain would make it perfect for any muzzleloader where there's no limit to how much I can stuff down there. My corned stuff will be for .38 special loads.

[Vettepilot]

I have been using 2% SGRS lately, and like it so far. (Soluble Glutinous Rice Starch) On one screened batch, I ended up with a good bit of 2fg, and wanted more 3fg. So I spread the 2f out on a firm surface and took to it with a "rolling pin" made of 3/4" PVC pipe. I put all my weight onto that rolling pin, and it was tough to break down those grains. I ended up with very, very little dust! I was impressed!

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

I've often thought of making a calibrated ram rod too. My idea was to have it spring loaded, with an electrical contact at the desired pressure point. (Adjustable?) Make it so it makes a semi-quiet "beep" when you hit your pressure.

Is there any data out there as to what pressure range would be appropriate??

As always with me; too many ideas-->too little time to try them all...

Vettepilot

[indian joe]

A good source of dextrin is fiber powder from WalMart or a pharmacy. I've been using it for my screened powder and 2% works well. I have found that dextrin works better when added at the start of the final milling and mixing it well with the other ingredients. Adding enough water to make it just a little sloppy seems to activate the dextrin and gives harder grains but is messy. Packing the load down hard with the patched ball helped me a lot with consistency at the range. My screened 2F is only 60% the weight of commercial so compacting the charge seems to give a much better burn.

I cook my own corn starch - absolutely agree with all your other points

[indian joe]

I do have some of the fiber powder from the store. It didn't make a mess but resulting grains wasn't any harder for me. Maybe I need to add more water. The latest attempt was cooked corn starch. That made an awful mess. I had to abort the whole test batch.

what happened with the corn starch - it works good for me - sounds like you had too much in there (i did that once with 5% dex made an awful gooey mess)

I think alcohol is easier to work with since it evaporates so quickly. I'm going to try 1% red gum. For some reason the shipping was $17 so it must be a hazmat. My screened stuff burns a lot cleaner for me too. A slightly harder grain would make it perfect for any muzzleloader where there's no limit to how much I can stuff down there. My corned stuff will be for .38 special loads.

......

[ChrisPer]

Is there any data out there as to what pressure range would be appropriate??
You can find references, but it depends on calibre, projectile type, lube, and degree of fouling so we need a suitable measuring stick to experiment. I might see if my suspension luggage scale can be adapted.
https://www.amazon.com/Inspira-Digit...pt=WEIGH_SCALE

Lots of those that shoot better compressed do not get a steady, measured force but are hammered down, which is very hard to measure. Also, boom! (rarely but it has happened several times).

[indian joe]

Is there any data out there as to what pressure range would be appropriate??
You can find references, but it depends on calibre, projectile type, lube, and degree of fouling so we need a suitable measuring stick to experiment. I might see if my suspension luggage scale can be adapted.
https://www.amazon.com/Inspira-Digit...pt=WEIGH_SCALE

Lots of those that shoot better compressed do not get a steady, measured force but are hammered down, which is very hard to measure. Also, boom! (rarely but it has happened several times).

just an opinion here - I reckon consistent pressure shot to shot more important than whatever pressure ....................

[Vettepilot]

Is there any data out there as to what pressure range would be appropriate??
You can find references, but it depends on calibre, projectile type, lube, and degree of fouling so we need a suitable measuring stick to experiment. I might see if my suspension luggage scale can be adapted.
https://www.amazon.com/Inspira-Digit...pt=WEIGH_SCALE

Lots of those that shoot better compressed do not get a steady, measured force but are hammered down, which is very hard to measure. Also, boom! (rarely but it has happened several times).

L.p.

In videos, you often see them bouncing the ram rod hard against the ball or bullet. Man, I don't agree with that at all. Not for consistency, nor for beating on the soft bullet like that!!

"BOOM"? Explain?

Yes Indian Joe; I agree with you as usual. A consistent pressure is the best for sure. Can you elaborate on the problems you had using 50/50 water and alcohol on screened powder?? I would think once the alcohol evaporated away, it would leave no after effects. But you've proved differently?? I would like to hear more about that if you don't mind...

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I have been using 2% SGRS lately, and like it so far. (Soluble Glutinous Rice Starch) On one screened batch, I ended up with a good bit of 2fg, and wanted more 3fg. So I spread the 2f out on a firm surface and took to it with a "rolling pin" made of 3/4" PVC pipe. I put all my weight onto that rolling pin, and it was tough to break down those grains. I ended up with very, very little dust! I was impressed!

Vettepilot

That's what I'm looking for. Do you have a link to what you bought?