Question about ball milling

[Fly]

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html Just high light & hit copy??????

It's been done over & over.I will see if I can find another on You Tube where the guy hits it with a stun

gun.

 

Maybe you need to static guard yourself next time you handle some bp????????????/:whistle:

[50AE]

Did you pay attention to what dagabu said?

 

I understand your argument about BP, I cannot say that I completely disagree with a test on solids but the environment inside the ball mill jar are very different then lighting pressed and corned BP.

[Fly]

Did you pay attention to what dagabu said?

 

 

Dooooo What?http://bestsmileys.com/rude/13.gif

[dagabu]

Dooooo What?http://bestsmileys.com/rude/13.gif

 

OK, you need to read the whole thing and not all ready have made your decision.

 

Dust vs. solid.

 

In your link, it is shown that a spark will not ignite a solid mass of BP.

 

In my hypothesis, the dust ignites ignites because of the explosive nature of BP dust.

 

It's raining here tonight so I cant do a test of the mill dust but I will do it and video tape it. I will also do the same test inside a paper tube with the dust in aerosol form.

[Fly]

Remember we are talking STATIC spark not just spark, there is a big difference.How do you plan on

creating a static spark for this test?

Fly

[dagabu]

Remember we are talking STATIC spark not just spark, there is a big difference.How do you plan on

creating a static spark for this test?

Fly

 

I plan on using the same device they used. I will "place a wire from a ceramic torch igniter 1/4" over the top of the powder" and press the button. The test will be performed as stated in your link, both with BP in the soild, ground and a mill dust configuration. The final test will be done in a paper tube with the mill dust in aerosol form.

 

I dont win, I dont care to be right and would be tickled if I didn't have to worry about static but with the possibility of a simple static spark lighting off a pound of BP in my ball mill jar. I just dont see the carbon resisting the heat in floated particles.

[Col]

Here`s my 2c on static for what its worth.. not taking sides btw

To create a spark in the jar you`d need a ground. If there`s a ground, any static will bleed off well before it has a chance to build up enough for sparks

I use hdpe jars so my worry would be a static charge waiting inside the jar for me to unwittingly provide it with a nice pathway to ground. The easy fix is install a brass bolt in the base of the jar and attach a loose ring terminal (so it doesnt rotate with the jar) and connect it to ground. Any static will bleed off via the ring even if it only contacts the bolt intermittantly. In the event of a spark, it would be outside the jar between the brass bolt and the ring terminal.

With a metal jar you could fashion a simple copper strip or braided wiper to run against the jar and connect that to ground.

[Fly]

Well that,s great, for this is no pissing contest on my end ether.But you got me to thinking about it.I just

came from my shop.What I did was take my TIG welder which has a high frequency unit on it to generate

the static charge.

 

I put my meal powder on a notebook paper with the ground on the backside & never could get it to light.

The high frequency unit on this welder shoots a static charge about a 1/4 inch long.

 

My meal is really fine believe me on that.Now no it was not air born so does my test confirm my

belief that static electricity can't set it off, no.I think it would take a much more controlled environment

to say for sure.

 

As I stated above it's only my opinion & I never said it was written in stone.This is not the first & it

won't be the last written on this.That is why that web site above posted his findings.As far as I know

I have not heard of anyone igniting bp with a static charge.I think it is easy to blame explosions on

it when it's not really the cause many times.

 

JMOHOP

 

Fly

[jimbo]

after reading this thread I decided to do some testing I have one of those electric bug zapper tennis rackets and have been dropping my granulated b.p through it and have had no problems igniting it I don't think you can compare this to static build up but its igniting it quite easily

[dagabu]

Well that,s great, for this is no pissing contest on my end ether.But you got me to thinking about it.I just

came from my shop.What I did was take my TIG welder which has a high frequency unit on it to generate

the static charge.

 

JMOHOP

 

Fly

 

Awwww, man. I only have a wire feed system, lucky. Are you certified in any materials or methods?

[Fly]

I,m a retired tool & die maker.I was over a R&R machine shop making prototypes for engineering for 22 years before I

retired.I have a small machine shop at my home where we retired.

 

I have a Miller Tig,& mig, lathe mill ect.I just play now & enjoy life with my wife at the lake.

 

Life is good.Thank God for this great country.

Fly:)

[dbryceman]

Thanks for the info guys.

I`ll think i`ll try Mumble`s idea of drying some kno3 in the oven and see how much it weighs afterwards although it seems pretty dry. I have 26lbs of lead in the jars so i don`t relish the idea of emptying them to break up the bp

 

 

I took the advice offered here and dried a few pounds of my potassium nitrate (it seemed dry to begin with) using an oven. As soon as it was cool, I put it into an air-tight plastic container and added a dessicant. Recently, a florist enlightened me to the fact that I could buy large quantities of silica gel crystals for drying flowers. I dried the crystals for 5 hours in the oven, which is easy to do, and they have a color indicator for when they need to be dried again. I then packaged the crystals in envelopes made from coffee filters, and placed those into plastic bags perforated with pin-sized holes. With the envelopes glued or taped into the lids of my storage containers, my chemicals stay very dry so far. Chemicals that I will not put in an oven seem to dry pretty well using just the silica gel in the containers. My chemicals are bagged, so there is never contact between the silica gel and the chemicals - I just want to draw excess moisture from the air.

 

The end result is that I cannot seem to reach a point where my BP really balls up. It does cake a little on the barrel surfaces, but that is all that happens in up to 18 hours so far. I am going to keep testing to see how long I can mill the BP, just for the heck of it. My mill barrels are leakproof, so very little moisture should be getting in during milling. The silica gel I purchased comes in small and large boxes, and is sold at Michaels (the arts/crafts store) with all the junk for florists. I believe I paid $15 for about 3 pounds of crystals, and that is more than enough for my needs. As a bonus, it can be dried again and reused. The color indicators turn pink or white when they have absorbed too much water, and they turn blue when they are completely dried again. I am using my homemade dessicant packs to store stars, chemicals, and any composition. It would probably work well if you just throw the crystals into the bottom of a container and then place your bagged chemical in there. I just use the packets to avoid the mess and prevent any contact between chemicals, compositions, and the silica gel. The only drawback is that I cannot see the color indicator crystals through the coffee filter paper. I am looking for a permeable plastic or something that might work better, like glassine, but for now it's coffee filters because they are cheap and I have them in my cabinet.

 

There are probably better solutions out there, depending on your access to dessicants and such, but I hope this helps someone. It certainly fixed my problem - my rock tumbler no longer makes rocks lol.

[dagabu]

I took the advice offered here and dried a few pounds of my potassium nitrate (it seemed dry to begin with) using an oven.

 

Remember that a gas oven produces water as a byproduct and it can complicate drying.

[dbryceman]

Remember that a gas oven produces water as a byproduct and it can complicate drying.

 

 

I didn't employ the use of a gas (?!) oven. I used an old 3.5 cubic foot textile lab oven (electric) with a hole in the top for an exhaust tube. It was designed for drying dye/chemical and fabric samples but it's seen better days. I've used it for all kinds of things I wouldn't do in my kitchen oven, which is also electric. I would not recommend using a gas oven to dry chemicals, but that is my opinion.

[dagabu]

Sorry man, I wasn't pointing at you, its just advice for those that have gas ovens at home and want to dry chems in them.

 

Been there, done got the t-shirt kind of thing...

[garyrapp55]

Hey guys I know I'm reviving a very old post but I'm not sure where to ask this and my searches really don't turn the right stone. I have recently filled my mill with self cast 1/2 inch lead balls to 50% capacity. I poured in granulated kno3 and .15% cab o sil to 75% capacity. Ran the mill and was blown away at how well it worked. Problem is the caking in the neck of my mill. I thought cab o sil would cure this. What can I do to prevent this caking?

Thanx, Gary

[dagabu]

Dry the KNO3 in the oven to reduce the moisture. If you have a chest freezer, you can mill it in there as well, the KNO3 will not hurt you if it spills. It is an oxidizer though

 

-dag

[garyrapp55]

Thanx Dagabu, I've also read here that the heat plays a part in the caking and its nearly 100 already here in Texas. Isn't the cab o sil supposed to cure that though. I gave $25 for a pound. I'm a little disappointed.

[Mumbles]

It's supposed to prevent caking, but it doesn't prevent it from absorbing water. It more prevents caking from settling, not as much for absorbing water and fusing.

[dagabu]

Thanx Dagabu, I've also read here that the heat plays a part in the caking and its nearly 100 already here in Texas. Isn't the cab o sil supposed to cure that though. I gave $25 for a pound. I'm a little disappointed.

 

I usually use cab-o-sil for getting comps to flow well in small spaces, like Vitamin F into small inserts and such. Like Mum said, it will not help with wet comps.

 

-dag

[garyrapp55]

Another ball milling question if you don't mind. Apperently -325 mesh from a certain supplier doesn't pass my 100 mesh screen, what's left looks and feels like fine sand. So, can I mill the ammonium perchlorate? Should I add a bit of cab o sil?