mormanman Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 ~After 24 hours if decided to breakup the puck. The granuales can still be crushed between my fingers? Should these get harder? -Joe I think you should try letting it dry longer.
Frozentech Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Yes it is called corning when you press the BP. For those who press: -How long do you wait after pressing before corning it? -How hard are your granuales?~After 24 hours if decided to breakup the puck. The granuales can still be crushed between my fingers? Should these get harder? -Joe I usually wait 3-4 days before corning my pressed BP pucks. I have weighed them immediately after pressing, and I wait until they stop losing weight by evaporation. I have broken them up after only 2 days before, with good results though. The pucks will be very hard, and sound like ceramic tiles when you tap them together, the corned grains are too hard crush with your fingers.
acoop101 Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 what would happen if you tried to light the puck on fire? Just wondering.
Mumbles Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 It would burn, probably quite a bit like a comet. We're essentially making short comets. What else would you expect to happen?
TheSidewinder Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 EDIT: LOL. Mumbles beat me to it!! M Doesn't pressed comet mix produce a burn much slower than a pressed BP puck? I think it would be close to an explosion if it got lit. But maybe not. I haven't done it. I think that would be a waste of good BP.
Mumbles Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Well yes it would burn faster than your standard comet, but probably not to explosion speed. I agree, it would be a waste, and probably not too smart to do. Never know until you try though, and I'm not volunteering.
Draco_Americanus Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 I just did a quick search for "corning machine" and it only lead back to this thread, no other results, I had been busting the pucks up with a hammer, there hast to be a better way? any ideas?
Frozentech Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 what would happen if you tried to light the puck on fire? Just wondering. The only report I have ever heard of lighting a whole puck is from Lloyd S. on rec.pyro. He said they have taken off like frisbee's, jetting around at random. Not something I want to be near, actually.
Draco_Americanus Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 one time i light off a large chunk and it flew into the air and thankfully it burned out before hitting me or my lair
bmarley5780 Posted January 14, 2008 Author Posted January 14, 2008 Guys where right. I left the pucks in the dry box all night. This morning I couldn't break up the pucks anymore with my hands. So its onto the mallet!
TheSidewinder Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Huh... you're right. Only two references to corning at all, and neither one relevant. I thought there were at least a couple threads specifically about it. Ok, who's got a link to the process with some pics of machines? Basically it's a rotating drum made out of what we in the US call "hardware cloth" (very sturdy and coarse screening, 5-10 mesh I think), inclined from the horizontal. You put the raw puck in it and the rotation tumbles it against the screening. As it breaks up, pieces of various sizes fall through. You take those pieces and sort them by size with further, finer mesh screening, often by hand. This is VERY simplified, though. Take a look at any links that get posted here.
Pretty green flame Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 http://www.brianredmond.net/pyro/corn.html Check this site out for some pics of a corning machine.
TheSidewinder Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Nice link! Thanks pgf. Draco, that's a more complex machine than you may need, but it gives you a place to start if you (or anyone else reading this) decides to make your own.
Bonny Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 I'm not sure where, but I've seen corning machines that basically crush the pcs between rollers ,at least one with "teeth" on it. The crappy part is that pcs of BP need to be manually fed into the machine, compromising safety. I'm still crushing my pucks with a pc of 2" round solid UMHW and a hammer, after allowing them to dry for several days.
Frozentech Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 http://www.brianredmond.net/pyro/corn.html Check this site out for some pics of a corning machine. Brian's work was a real inspiration to me when I decided to get seriously into pyro. Has anyone heard anything from/about him recently ? I reckon his probation period is long over, I wondered if he was going to get back into the art ? At least he's kept up hosting on his website.
Pretty green flame Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 http://www.brianredmond.net/pyro/corn.html Check this site out for some pics of a corning machine.Brian's work was a real inspiration to me when I decided to get seriously into pyro. Has anyone heard anything from/about him recently ? I reckon his probation period is long over, I wondered if he was going to get back into the art ? At least he's kept up hosting on his website. Actually his site just went back up recently, up to a couple weeks ago it was still down, I guess he's back.
bmarley5780 Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 I love that corning machine! I can see why he can be a inspiration! Love that mill as well. Anyone know if Lowes/H.D. has 12" PVC in stock?
hst45 Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 Anyone know if Lowes/H.D. has 12" PVC in stock?If you're talking length, then yes, you can buy short lengths. If you mean I.D. they'll have up to 6" I.D., but nothing larger. It's really expensive at a plumbing supply center and you generally have to purchase 10' lengths. Your best bet is to find it at a commercial construction site and see if someone will let you take a short piece of a cut-off length. Large diameter pipe is used in concrete wall construction to make chases through concrete walls when they are poured.
bmarley5780 Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 In that case. What about a 6.5 gallon bucket made out of HDPE? Bottom Diameter 10 1/4 Exterior W Top Diameter 12 1/4 Exterior H 18 13/16 I am thinkin that the top part can be cut off and jsut use the bottom part of 10 1/4 dia. Any comment?
FrankRizzo Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 You could also make an octagonal barrel from wood like this: http://www.pyrobin.com/files/drum%20with%20screen%201%20resized.jpg
Mumbles Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 My only thought about why a bucket couldn't be uses is that the wall is slanted, so everything would be focused to one side. I believe the original passfire design uses a cardboard concrete former. They are pretty cheap and redily available at most larger home improvement stores. I know the hardware store I used to work at carried them.
qwezxc12 Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 I believe the original passfire design uses a cardboard concrete former. They are pretty cheap and redily available at most larger home improvement stores. I know the hardware store I used to work at carried them. Easy to find as "Sonotube".
bmarley5780 Posted January 16, 2008 Author Posted January 16, 2008 My only thought about why a bucket couldn't be uses is that the wall is slanted, so everything would be focused to one side. I believe the original passfire design uses a cardboard concrete former. They are pretty cheap and redily available at most larger home improvement stores. I know the hardware store I used to work at carried them. The buckets I am referring to are the straight walled ones.
Mumbles Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Well, the dimension you gave show that the top is 2" wider than the bottom. I think most of the buckets I've seen are somewhat slanted a bit. PErhaps it wouldn't be enough to make a difference. I suppsoe if you made it, and it didn't work, you'd only be out a couple bucks.
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