Richtee Posted April 11, 2021 Posted April 11, 2021 Well, I broke down and got a mill (.45 cal balls) and rigged up a press- epoxy piston, 2” black pipe cap and nipple. Pressed with a 1T bottle jack. Calculated 1.72 g/cm density. Burns nice...pretty clean too. YAY! It’s been almost 10 years since I made any real BP. It’s rewarding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2oTY7luIUs
Richtee Posted April 11, 2021 Author Posted April 11, 2021 Once you smell the smoke...Yeah. It gets into yer DNA I swear. I just popped a 1” tube with a 75 gram dummy shell and a 5g charge. Oops.
Richtee Posted April 12, 2021 Author Posted April 12, 2021 So one key IS to allow the press to remain under pressure. After 15-20 mins hit it again. It will compress more. THen leave it for another 20. Let the stuff settle in. I’m getting a consistent 1.8 G/CM. Using 50/50 water/methanol to wet to a “clumpy” stage.
SeaMonkey Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 Excellent work men! It looks to me like you've "got it!"
justvisiting Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 Interesting about the water/methanol mixture. I tried pressing with straight isopropyl alcohol and failed. The amount of water I use is low enough that I don't see a need to add alcohol. Recently, just to prove I could, I pressed a puck to d1.7 in a 6" vise. I used 2% water. From the literature, it seems that a density of 1.7 is ideal, 1.8 is slower, and 1.9 would be MUCH slower. At some point, pressed pucks are so dense they won't absorb 99% isopropyl alcohol. If immersed for 1 minute, a 1.7g/cc. puck will gain weight, but a 1.8g/cc. will not, when wiped dry. For no particular reason, I find this interesting
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