OblivionFall Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Hi there, I was wondering where the cheapest place to buy Potassium Nitrate in Canada is? The best prices I can find are $14/Pound of not-so-fine KNO3 on Ebay.ca. Looking into making my first batch of BP and then some TT stars, shells, rockets etc
GMetcalf Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Having had a look through Google and some old forum posts, it doesn't seem like there is a dedicated pyrotechnics supplier in Canada. I reckon EBay is going to be your best bet! Buying coarse Potassium Nitrate isn't a disaster, I always buy mine coarse and then break it down using a small coffee grinder. How do you intend to make your first lot of Black Powder?
clarkie752 Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 check out dudadiesel.com thats the cheapest place i have found it. i dont know if they can ship to canada but it is worth a look.
OblivionFall Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 check out dudadiesel.com thats the cheapest place i have found it. i dont know if they can ship to canada but it is worth a look.Man, that is some cheap KNO3! I might even buy 5+ pounds and sell some of it on Ebay. I emailed them if they can ship to where I am, hopefully they can!
OblivionFall Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Did you check at a farming supply depot?I'll be sure to check out the Home Hardware near my house. They sell 16oz containers of Stump Remover. I'm not sure how expensive but I'm hoping less than $10/pound.Having had a look through Google and some old forum posts, it doesn't seem like there is a dedicated pyrotechnics supplier in Canada. I reckon EBay is going to be your best bet! Buying coarse Potassium Nitrate isn't a disaster, I always buy mine coarse and then break it down using a small coffee grinder. How do you intend to make your first lot of Black Powder?Ebay is pretty expensive! $15/Pound for KNO3! I'll probably get stump remover. I'm going to measure maybe about a pound's worth of 75:15:10 mixture and put it all into my 3LB Ball Mill that has lead-antimony hardened balls for about 6-8 hours (not sure what amount of time is optimal.) Then I'm going to figure out the best way to granulate it and make ultra-fine granulate of it for homemade Visco Fuse and coat rice hulls with the rest of it for some shells. Edited May 6, 2015 by OblivionFall
LiamPyro Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 I agree with pyrokid, a pound of BP is a bit much for a 3 lb mill. I always mill batches of 100g.
clarkie752 Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 i would not go over 120 grams in a mill that size. i had a 6 pound mill from harbor freight (same size jar as 3 pound mill) and i only ever did 120 gram batches of bp at a time.
Mumbles Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 I typically did 200g batches, but it was somewhat overloaded. It's always a little hard to tell. Once milled powder becomes denser. In my case, it usually caked, so the final real volume was difficult to gauge. 8-10hr runs were typical. On an optimized mill, I would let it go for 4hr. Might have been done in less, but it worked.
LiamPyro Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 Does anybody know what RPM is optimal for these little mills? Skylighter reports it to be about 80. I modified my mill by sliding a section of 3/4" O.D. plastic tubing over the drive shaft to increase the rotation speed of the barrel, as per Skylighter instructions. I marked the barrel with a bit of tape and ran it for a minute, recording how many times it rotated. It clocked in at about 66 RPM, although I have no idea what it's RPM was before the modification. According to Skylighter, adding the tubing is supposed to increase the RPM from 60 up to around 80. Are they're measurements off, or am I doing something wrong? Is it possible that my mill was running at a much lower RPM than 60 before adding the tubing, or did the modification really only raise the RPM by 6? Anybody else have similar experiences? I haven't tried milling any BP with it yet. In the past, I usually ran it for around 24-36 hours, the barrel was only about 1/4 full of media though so it's no wonder. LOL, those were some looooooong mill runs! P.S. I'm thinking of switching to ceramic media for BP, does anybody know what media diameter/total weight is good for this size mill?
nater Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 I mill 100g at a time in those small jars. For media, I use 5 lbs of .40 cal lead balls. I did add some PVC tubing to the roller, I would have to run it to count RPMs.
pyrokid Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) I use 3/8" media with good results, and many use 1/2". Weight varies with media shape and material, but I aim for 1/2 the volume of the jar to be filled with media, with interstices of the jar/media filled with bp to the extent that the composition is just covering all the media. This works out to roughly 120 grams. Something that has troubled me is slippage between the jar and the roller. This could cause RPMs to be below their expected number. Edited May 9, 2015 by pyrokid
LiamPyro Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 Cool, so basically media around a half inch is good. PyroCreations has the option to buy a combonation of two sizes of media (1/2 and 13/16), is this any better than just one size alone? Something that has troubled me is slippage between the jar and the roller. This could cause RPMs to be below their expected number.I was wondering about this too. Slipping between the drive belt and pulley could also be a problem. That's one reason I decided to switch to ceramic, as it is a bit lighter so it will be less likely to overwork the motor or cause slippage.
mikeee Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 A softer rubber type hose will provide more traction on a ball mill jar. They also make rubber tape (not plastic) that can be applied to a roller. Surgical tubing is very soft and would also provide good traction. If using a smooth PVC jar you could roughen the surface or coat it with a rubber like material. (Rubber tape) or paint some E-6000 adhesive after it is thinned with solvent.
LiamPyro Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 I used vinyl tubing, which is semi-soft. I'm pretty sure it grips the rubber jar well, but I'm not sure if the drive belt grips the pulley well.
Differential Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 (edited) I would recommend Ebay, should be a dollar or two a pound, including shipping, depending on the quantity you order. I would order at least 5 pounds to get a decent price per pound.But if you want to get a pound of stump remover at the hardware store, that'd work too. Probably a bit more expensive, but here in KS it's only $4/lb. Just make sure you get Spectracide, not Bonide. Made that mistake before. Bonide is potassium metabisulfite, and completely useless for pyro (as far as I know). Edited May 11, 2015 by Differential
Twignberry Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 Perhaps head to the urban-rural fringe and look for ag, horticulture or general farm supplies stores. We cant get stump remover and its definitely not sold as fertiliser in our hardware warehouses I'm getting 50lb sacks of Haifa multi-K for 50 AUD
OblivionFall Posted May 13, 2015 Author Posted May 13, 2015 I would recommend Ebay, should be a dollar or two a pound, including shipping, depending on the quantity you order. I would order at least 5 pounds to get a decent price per pound.But if you want to get a pound of stump remover at the hardware store, that'd work too. Probably a bit more expensive, but here in KS it's only $4/lb. Just make sure you get Spectracide, not Bonide. Made that mistake before. Bonide is potassium metabisulfite, and completely useless for pyro (as far as I know).A dollar or two a pound?! Where are you finding this? This is the best price I can find http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Potassium-Salt-99-Nitrate-1-pound-Chile-saltpeter-nitrogen-fertilizer-Oxidiser-/261824748345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf5f89b39which is about $10 U.S. per pound ($12 canadian). I can only dream of getting 1 pound for $5 or less, even in bulk.
otto Posted May 13, 2015 Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Oblivion, it doesn't take much to find a deal on fleaBay. How's under a buck 50 strike you? Go see it:http://www.ebay.com/itm/171397190393?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT This one sometimes comes in lower than even this...... edit: look at the rest of his stuff for reasonable deals on smaller amounts. Edited May 13, 2015 by otto 1
OblivionFall Posted May 16, 2015 Author Posted May 16, 2015 Oblivion, it doesn't take much to find a deal on fleaBay. How's under a buck 50 strike you? Go see it:http://www.ebay.com/itm/171397190393?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT This one sometimes comes in lower than even this...... edit: look at the rest of his stuff for reasonable deals on smaller amounts.That is a ridiculously low price! I contacted the seller and unfortunately he can't ship to Canada
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