jeffez

Jefrez the "standard" ratio is 15:3:2 not 12:3:2 which will definitely not help either.

Sorry that was a typo I use 150g pn, 30g c, 20g s.

I have not done any testing against commercial powder but the pine charcoal is faster than silver maple and about the same as weeping willow.

So pine is good for for bp!? I had no idea! I live in right next to a pine plantation. I'll get some pine cones and make charcoal from that.

A trustworthy pyro has done some pretty extensive testing: http://www.creagan.n...orks/index.html

Wow this is extensive indeed. He certainly has done allot of work to put that together. Incidentaly that tumbler he uses is the same what i use except myne has two drums.

you did say in a previous post that you didn't know what your media weighed... Do you have scales,, what ratio is your Bp,

Each jar contains about 565 grams of lead balls, which comes to around 1.24lb. I'm using the standard 12:3:2 ratio.

Jefrez I strongly advise you to SEARCH the forum as every scrap of information you may ever need is contained here already including what has been posted again within this thread.

For sure, that's what I'll do. I think i have gained the info i need. There's many other things i will read up on.

http://www.pyroguide...le=Black_Powder


A quick search on google shows that mallee charcoal can contain eucalyptus oil - which will make your bp stick to your ball mill barrel....and burn slowly.

So we can safely say the mallee isn't good for for making fast burning bp then. I'll see about getting some willow then. Does anyone know where i might be able to find some?

Optional and correct way of loading a drum is to have exactly 1/2 the drum full of media (whatever the size we wont go into that now) then load the material to be milled till it is level to the media. Ie fills all the gaps between the balls and just covers them.

Good to know. So i guess in theory this is what to aim for, but i my case it may be something like 1/4 of media and material, to stay within the rated load.

Weigh out the balls and try to run close to the rated load. The machine may work if over loaded but may offer shorter belt or machine life. Possibly put all the balls in one drum to get a half full mill jar without overloading the machine.

OK, you have a tumbler rated for 6 pounds, right? So, using ONE jar, optimize the media (1/2 of jar capacity- you will need approx. 200 TL. This will be about 5.4 lbs. if using pure lead) and material charge (1/4 of jar capacity, or as Cooperman435 said, cover the media- in this instance, both work out to approx. the same thing). Use lead media no larger than 1/2" OD.

Ah ok now this is making more sense.
So assuming i cant go anywhere near the 1/2 full of media amount using both jars and staying withing the 6lb load. I should use just one jar, so i can get closer to the ideal 1/2 media+comp amount. Thus i would be grinding the same amount of comp but only using 1 jar?

Can having very little material yield even faster/better results?

Ideally, you want the jar to be 1/2 full of 1/2" media, and 1/4 full of comp to be milled. If you follow this you might only be able to mill with one jar at a time with out overloading it, if using lead media.

The RPM's of the jars will likely be slower than desired, causing erosion of lead media and a loss of efficiency. A 4" jar can need to run upwards of 90 RPM's, but I've run them slower with decent results. You can up the speed by taping the drive roller to a larger diameter or adding a length of rubber hose over the roller.

If using BOTH jars at the same time, try using 2.5 lbs. of media and 100 to 200 grams of comp per jar. The BP will be about as good as it will get at about 12 hours milling time.

These tumblers can be hard on drive belts/o-rings, as well.

I'm using 2 small 3lb jars 4.5" in diameter. Each has 50 lead balls. They barely fill 1/8 of the drum, but that's what came with the mill so i assumed that was the best amount for that size drum. For all i know i could add more, but i don't know if that will cause over loading. There must be an optimal amount of media and comp i can put in these drums and get the best results.

So 2.5 lbs should be the right amount of media for me to use per jar? I'm not sure what 50 lead balls weigh, but if its under 2.5lb i can always get more.