129 replies to this topic

[paul]

How could WE evaluate if your pulverone is good, if we don?t know how fast it is? :)

You could test it. Or film a batch of it burning. Then someone could try to rate the powder. But testing it is the best way!

[broadsword]

Admittedly I don't know what good pulverone is I have never seen any Burn. But what would this be useful for? I will try to film some......watch this space

EDIT: I have put a video of the pulverone burning on my site:
- Straight Link to VIDEO
- Link to Pulverone Page

Edited by broadsword, 02 December 2004 - 10:26 PM.

[Stuart]

One test might be to put it into a mortar with a shell, should give you an idea of if its any good or not . Make a dummy shell if you want. You might also consider making a maroon or poluma from it and see what sort of report it gives.

[Richard H]

I'm afraid that is fairly bad pulverone, UNLESS you are only using it as a structural filler inside a cylinder shell etc, in which case it is fine. For lifting this particular batch of pulverone will be useless. To remedy this, ball mill your green mix for several hours, and try to use a good soft wood charcoal such as Willow or Alder.

I have successfully lifted shells with pulverone, and the next step for me is pressing my powder, and then corning the resulting pucks into various grades of finished black powder.

[broadsword]

I thought it may have been quite poor when i lit it Oh Well i spose im in the learning curve!

I am using lumpwood BBQ Charcoal. Would Cherry Tree wood be any good. I have read people talkin about it but i could not fins a good answer? So my poor pulverone would only be goot for putting inside shells as colour? Would it work as anything in anything else?

Here is a video of some BP i mixed up in an electric coffee grinder. Unfortunalty it is rubbish! I let it mix for 10 minutes - I know this is not very long but it was just a test until i get my ball mill fully functional!

Edited by broadsword, 03 December 2004 - 02:42 PM.

[Phoenix]

Can you think of any risks associated with making black powder in a coffee grinder? If you can't, search the forum and hopefully you won't do it again. There is a reason why ball mills use non sparking media, and even then are run in secure, isolated places.

[broadsword]

I have already thought of this...
I have checked my grinder out and it has an isolated motor so nothing can get in/out of the motor itself, it has a shaft to the blades and a tight ball bearing to ensure nothing can pass through. I took the original blade off and my dad fabricated me some new ones out of copper.
So there should be no problem there. It is just as safe as anyones ball mill.

Edited by broadsword, 03 December 2004 - 11:12 PM.

[Richard H]

The idea still makes me whince! For a start coffee grinders are not designed to run for hours on end, and secondly just suppose a tiny amount of mill dust gets into the motor. Is it really worth the risk?

If you do insist on using this contraption make sure you place it a good 30 metres from anyone and anything, and only turn it on or off on the end of a very long wire.

Just build a ball mill or buy a rock tumbler, it's the way to go, trust me.

[adamw]

It also has something to do with FRICTION and static build up.

To put it simply - DONT DO IT!!

You should of course use it for making tasty coffee as intended.

[chemicalwazi]

Coffee grinders make great airflot chacoal out of willow drawing sticks

but thats as far as it goes.

[broadsword]

Yer i only milld for about 10 minutes because i was aware of the friction causing heat. But i needed my chemicals mixed up!
My ball mill is neaqrly finishd now and will be up and running as soon as i can make some media.
BTW i have my shed at the end of my garden which is LONG and far enough away from the house! its just a chore if i need something from the house!

Thats what i started using my grinder for, makin airfloat charcoal
And i don'y like coffee

Edited by broadsword, 04 December 2004 - 01:24 PM.

[adamw]

You should use it for charcoal and NOTHING ELSE. Just dont mix pyro in it.

[cat]

You should use it for charcoal and NOTHING ELSE. Just dont mix pyro in it.

Many people including myself use then to mill oxidizers (at least stable ones) and have a separate one to mill organic fuels.

PS: No matter how good you think your grinder is sealed dust will get into the motor, take yours apart and look for yourself.

-Cat

[broadsword]

Scrapped now! Ball mill almost working exactly as i wished

[broadsword]

I am having major problems with making 'lift' powder. I have tried just plain 6hr milled BP and this did not really work. I have tried using pulverone and this also does not really work!

I tried playing with the amounts of 'lift' i used and this had no real effect.

Does the 'projectile' (in my case a small charcoal star) have to fit snugly in the tube?

So please help! Im not sure if it is my BP or something else? Any thoughts or help GREATLY appreactated!