RamblesTheGoat Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 i dont have a ball mill or the money to buy one so i kind of made my own type of ball mill with a broken dryer where the heat doesnt work but it still spins, i put some steel ball bearings and some willow charcoal in a plastic bottle and put that (with the lid tightly shut) in the heatless dryer. it seems like if i grind one chemical at a time it should be safe, right? i just want to hear what you guys think safety wise.
Mumbles Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 If you don't have the time or resources to be doing something correctly, you probably shouldn't be doing it at all. This is not a cheap hobby. I don't know how I'd feel about any sort of flammable solid. If it breaks open (and they probably eventually will), having finely powdered dust flying around in there could lead to some serious problems. If you're actually vaguely serious about the hobby, which seems questionable, you may want to try to save up to get a rock tumbler at the least. Mow some extra lawns, or sell things at school, it wont take you long.
RamblesTheGoat Posted August 2, 2011 Author Posted August 2, 2011 i just tried it for only about 20-30 minoutes and my charcoal was airfloat, i put it in as about 1 cm chunks and it seems like if i keep the lid shut i shouldnt have any problems.
dagabu Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 i just tried it for only about 20-30 minoutes and my charcoal was airfloat, i put it in as about 1 cm chunks and it seems like if i keep the lid shut i shouldnt have any problems. Sweet! "Hey everyone, look at Rambles, he blow'd himself up real good!" I think Mum should give you some time off to think this foolishness through before you really do hurt yourself or others. "steel ball bearings and some willow charcoal in a plastic bottle" No sparking hazard there... -dag
PersonGuyDude Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 i dont have a ball mill or the money to buy one so i kind of made my own type of ball mill with a broken dryer where the heat doesnt work but it still spins, i put some steel ball bearings and some willow charcoal in a plastic bottle and put that (with the lid tightly shut) in the heatless dryer. it seems like if i grind one chemical at a time it should be safe, right? i just want to hear what you guys think safety wise. For milling individual chemicals it is much more common to put them into a coffee grinder. DO NOT mill BP or any other composition in one of these though. Buy 2, one for fuels, and one for compatible oxidizers.For charcoal I personally like to load up the mill, close the lid, and while the machine is unplugged, rubber band the "on" button so it stays on. Then I run a extension cable so I can turn it on and off remotely.Good luck, and be safe.
RamblesTheGoat Posted August 4, 2011 Author Posted August 4, 2011 I'm just going to save up and get a ball mill. It seems like thats the smartest/safest idea. Do you guys know where i can an at least relatively cheap one?
dagabu Posted August 4, 2011 Posted August 4, 2011 I'm just going to save up and get a ball mill. It seems like thats the smartest/safest idea. Do you guys know where i can an at least relatively cheap one? Ta-Da! LINK You will quickly want to upgrade to a 1 gallon soon though. LINK -dag
RamblesTheGoat Posted August 4, 2011 Author Posted August 4, 2011 Ta-Da! LINK You will quickly want to upgrade to a 1 gallon soon though. LINK -dag how much longer do you have to mill in a rock tumbler?
dagabu Posted August 4, 2011 Posted August 4, 2011 how much longer do you have to mill in a rock tumbler? I had to run the little rubber barrels for 24 hours to get good BP but only 2 hours in the one gallon jars. -dag
cogbarry Posted August 5, 2011 Posted August 5, 2011 Just a suggestion: I fried the motor in my first Harbor Freight tumbler because I exceeded the 3 lb rating with the lead media. I bought the 6 lb tumbler (made for 2 barrels) and run a single barrel.
californiapyro Posted August 10, 2011 Posted August 10, 2011 hey, can someone please tell me how pounds translates to gallons? ie, 35 pound rock tumbler. thanks!
Mumbles Posted August 10, 2011 Posted August 10, 2011 There is no steadfast rule, but it's approximately 1/6 the stated capacity. IE if a jar is rated for 35lbs of rocks, it will handle about 6lbs of BP. In all practicality, it's probably closer to 5ish though. Maybe 1/7th would get you closer to a realistic value.
Col Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 You can make a small mill from a lexmark printer, put an ad on your local Freecycle and you`ll be inundated with offers. The mill inside the printer can be removed inside 5 minutes, both shafts are driven and it comes out in one piece. Screw it down onto a piece of wood, hook it up to 12v dc and its ready to go.A 500ml epsom salt mill jar half filled with 1/2" lead balls will churn out 100g of fast bp in 3 hours. Its ideal for milling small quantities.http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/colinspyro/smallbatchmill.jpg
dan999ification Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 printers work very well, makes good bp in three hours for me in 2"[500ml] -5" jars wont handle the 5 with lead though so ceramic for that. i will say that the little motors are not used to the weight or the long running times, therefore i never ran it more than one hour before letting it cool, check it and test the bp every hour. dan.
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