12 inch shell

[Mumbles]

It's a different brand, and a tad larger, but a few hundred cheaper. Lortone is certainly a well known and respected brand in the rock tumbling industry.

 

http://www.4facets.com/Lortone_commercial.html#20

[pyroguy1960]

To bad there wasn't a store around that sold all these things, it would be nice to see them in person before buying, those lortone ones do look nice too. That 40 lb one is still cheaper than the 12lb diamond pacific. I just wonder how ballsy the motors are, the problem I had with the thumbler mill is I can only fill it like a quarter of the way with media because other wise it's too heavy and doesn't spin.

[pyroguy1960]

This site has all the candidates and easy online purchasing, I may go for that 40lb lortone....what ya reckon? It's hard to tell from the pictures but the diamond pacific ones look to have a really rugged drive train, not sure if the lortone has the same.

 

http://www.rocktumbl...+4295057203.cfm

Edited December 16, 2010 by jms04081974

[davis050594]

At least look into building one first. Go to a junk yard and find a washing machine motor. May as well try before spending a few hundred bucks

[pyroguy1960]

I'd rather spend gobs of money than expend any effort whatsoever, as dagabu pointed out earlier it's not about the journey for me, it's about the result.

 

It's unfortunately 100% true in my case, so just looking to get the best mill for the money without having to build something.

 

 

[pyroguy1960]

Speaking of which, I've got 80 1 inch Ti streamer crossettes waiting to be filled and pasted, just can't bring my self to do the work. Took me over a week to press them all, Ti was a bad chioce.

[OneEyeCharlie]

For what it's worth, I use the Lortone QT12 and it works plenty good for my needs. I use it mostly for converting "rough" charcoal into airfloat, and making BP. Because of its primary usage design (polishing rocks), it can run all day and night if need be.

 

Thus, even if it isn't as efficient as a purpose built ballmill, I can charge it up on a Saturday morning, let it run all day and into the evening, and using one of the "away from home" light timers have it shut down automatically in the evening. Wake up Sunday morn, make some coffee, sift finished product from media, and turn my boogers black.

 

I also have to admit that I got it for a virtual steal. A cop friend called me when they were cleaning out the evidence room.

[pyroguy1960]

The deed is done, decided on the lortone C40, I'll post up with results when I get it.

[pyroguy1960]

That lortone C40 showed up today, thing is alot more serious looking than I expected, barrell is huge compared to the one I have now. Looks very well construced and sturdy. Curious to see if that barrell is going to weigh too much when filled halfway with lead, I might switch to ceramic media.

[Mumbles]

It will probably weigh somewhere in the vicinity of 120lbs if I had to guess with lead. The 65lb drum filled with comp and ceramic weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 80lbs. I'd guess the 40lb barrel would come in around 50lb or so depending on how much the barrel weighs.

[davis050594]

Would a lighter ceramic media give as quick and high quality results? I would think more weight would be better, but at the same time ceramic would have rougher edges and more surface area which could help

[dagabu]

There is a lot of debate about lead vs. ceramic but I am very comfortable with ceramic grinding and see no real benefit with using lead. That's just my opinion though, I am a big fan of ceramic.

[Mumbles]

Given identically shaped media, lead will crush faster due to the mass, but both should give similar results given enough time.

[dagabu]

Due to leads softer surface and larger surfaces making contact, the edge to edge striking capability is reduced with lead making is better for coarse crushing but takes longer to pass fine mesh screens. Again, this is in my experience.

[pyroguy1960]

Just an update on this thread, much has happened since I posted it. I ended up getting a lortone C40 and am now able to properly charge the mill with media, I also switched to willow charcoal. I finally got around to corning and testing some pucks I had pressed a few months ago and the powder it produced was great. The same amount of 2FA I corned was equal in strength to the same amount of 2FG, which leads me to beleive it's even a little hotter than goex.

 

So a good mill, proper charge and the right charcoal was what I was missing here.....all is well in pyroland once again.

[xBangergoosEx]

For a shell that big, id just buy some Goex 2F. Cheap insurance, my friend. I wouldnt leave anything up to chance with that kind of risk. Edited March 8, 2011 by xBangergoosEx

[ExplosiveCoek]

That's just ridiculous, if you can't even trust your own capacity of making decent lift powder you shouldn't be making shell's. Just use the lift powder if it works right .

[pyroguy1960]

*

 

 

Edited March 7, 2011 by pyroguy1960

[dagabu]

That is simply not true at all, many of the best amatuer pyros around don't routinely make thier own lift powder, in fact it's the norm to buy it, not the other way around. They'd rather spend all that extra time perfecting thier shells then expend all the energy it takes to make good lift when it's easily bought in bulk.

 

Also 8" ball shells can be lifted no problem with 2FG and don't absolutely require courser grades for lift. Ball shells as long as thier properly constructed can take much more punch than canisters just because of the inherent strength of a sphere vs a cylinder. In fact I know people that put as much as 10 oz of 2FA under 8 inchers just to get them up higher. So yes you can lift 8" shells all day long with smaller amounts of 2FG and never have a problem.

 

I posted a question to Passfire on this one since there are a lot of guys that have a lot of experience over there. I have used both and use what I have to lift shells though I am only making rockets now.

[pyroguy1960]

deleted, just realized I don't care and need to stay out of the mud.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2011 by pyroguy1960

[dagabu]

Not picking on you pyroguy, I really dont know what others use and I use what I have around for lift. It IS a good question though.

[ExplosiveCoek]

Everyone I know makes his own liftpowder, no one can buy it over here .

 

Really, how much time consuming is it to weigh 4 chems, throw them in your ball mill. After a couple of hours milling, dampen it with water and push it through a sieve. Finished .

[Mumbles]

I agree that you can lift shells with finer grains, at least most ball shells. 2Fg may be pushing it getting up around 8". Not necessarily for the shell's sake, but more for the mortars. They could start failing at least more rapidly if one was not careful with the lift. I know plenty of people who lift all ball shells with 4FA, but 2Fg is another level smaller than that.

 

It definitely used to be the norm to purchase commercial powder for all the lift and break. It seems the tides are turning a bit however with the rising cost of commercial powder. I know a few people who still use commercial powder exclusively, but most people I know use a mix of the two or home made product exclusively. All commercial outfits still use commercial powder mostly due to volume, labor, and consistency factors that would make home-made powders uneconomical. Once you get setup for it, making your own BP is really not all that time consuming or energy expending.

 

It's a time vs. money argument. I have more of the former personally.

[Fly]

Well I make all my lift & break & airfloat ect.Why? I guess making BP is more fun for me than any thing else in this hobby.I love trying

all the different woods for charcoal.Some of my strongest lift was made with sliver maple.It rates with any black willow I have made.

 

I even use it in my black powder guns.Dagabu is right on about what ever trips your trigger is fine.Shoot Al & I met up in St louis to

watch those fuse lighters shoot there stuff.They just buy theres & try to put on the best shooting display against each other.

 

I enjoyed it even thow I don't get it, but HEY to each there own.Those guys worked there tails off putting each event on as we may

just shoot a few to show what we made instead.Both are COOL!

Fly