black powder

[eb11]

dyno i mill my bp for 4hrs use the same mixture i use it for lift and bust no problems

[Carbon796]

Well i got my mill and made a batch BP 75G P.N 15G AFC 10G S 20G D and milled it for 26-28 hrs. This was supposed to be supper fast. I compared it to 2FG not even close i dont think it's fast enough for rice hulls or even by it self for lift or burst. I know yall are talking about different types of charcoal could this be the case? Luckily i have some 2FG i can mill. I guess i will start building my Star roller today, hopefully i'll start getting off on the week ends now.

 

Did you really use 20 grams of Dextrin or is that a miss type ? 20 grams will definitely make it slow, with that batch size.

[dynomike1]

You know that's what i had in my notes. I don't know how i came up with that number . I guess i could pump it and see how it looks. Edited October 29, 2012 by dynomike1

[goldwingnut54]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a question for my 1st post.

 

I am using a Thumler Tumbler for tumbling brass cartridges with my stainless steel tumbling media. (For reloading purposes, it is excellent!) My main pyro tumbler (homemade--using PVC "jars") is in another town 60 miles from here and not easily available from my workplace, which is where I do most of my reloading.

 

Do you think it would wear out the Thumler and it's hex rubber liner by milling my BP in it? It is so much more light weight than my homebrew tumbler, and I don't want to kill it with heavy linotype balls. And when I grind KNO3 prills, I usually use 3/4" brass rods for media. It seems like it might chew up my Thumbler jar prematurely.

 

I am an older guy who is new to this forum (NOT to pyro) and probably won't post a lot, but reading here is quite interesting.

Edited April 11, 2013 by goldwingnut54

[Bobosan]

What size Thumbler do you have? I have a 15lb rubber lined metal barrel......think Thumbler calls it the "B" series barrel. Using .600 hardened lead media, the only wear I have noticed is on the lid gasket. If your brass media has been used before, the sharp edges should be gone by now and the barrel will probably not be hurt at all.

[goldwingnut54]

http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1600/23337/products/120389/images/127036/thuy0002__85598.1304971967.1280.1280.jpg

 

Model "B" is what the base says. 15 pound jar? I don't know about that. I love this thing for polishing my brass in stainless steel pins and don't want to screw it up. If you shooters haven't seen this http://www.stainless...CFQYEnQodcnoA6g look it up. You most likely already have tumblers to use it in, but the jars can't leak water. (Awfully expensive though. But supposedly the media never wears out. We'll see.....)

 

And Bobosan, the brass pins I cut years ago should be smooth enough, but they are HEAVY. I've got some .458 linotype balls, but could whip up some 530's if you think that would grind up prills in my Thumler. That would avoid the heavy brass pins, which serve well in my PVC jars.

 

And thanks for the quick response!

 

Stan

 

(EDIT: I just called Thumler and confirmed it is the 15# jar and the "high speed" model, with the 3000 RPM motor as opposed to 1500 RPM. And FYI the person I reached at Thumler said my application would work just fine in the unit it have. That's good news.)

Edited April 11, 2013 by goldwingnut54

[Bobosan]

Yeah, that's what they call this size barrel for some reason. Maybe due to motor constraints. Fully loaded with optimal lead media, the same model B jar weighs in at a bit over 35lbs. I don't believe you'll screw up the liner doing chemical mills unless that lid gasket starts to leak.

 

 

p.s. - your .458 balls should work just fine in the B drum on the prills. Remember though when milling the dry chemicals, the correct media charge is based on jar volume, not media weight. Check out the link below for info on ball milling chems.

 

http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to/use-a-ball-mill.asp#new

Edited April 11, 2013 by Bobosan

[goldwingnut54]

Yes, that is a good link! Thanks!

 

http://www.brianredmond.net/dwilliams/mill/mill001.jpg

 

Mine came out a little more like Dan Williams' mill, pictured above. http://brianredmond....lliams/top.html I DO like having the opportunity for two jars....I just didn't build mine like that.

 

But like I said, I'm wanting to use my Thumler Tumbler when at my shop, which Is 60 miles from my house. I spend the night at the shop quite often, as we have an apartment inside that my wife and I use when in town.

 

When I made my mill years ago, much like the one above, I always wanted to make a jar out of polyethlyene tubing, much like mortar tubes, but I couldn't ever figure out a decent closure. If a jar like that ever experienced a energetic event of some kind... the jar walls would surely remain intact, limiting a 360 degree event to one much more easily focused in basically 2 directions. If anyone here has solved that "closure" issue, I'd like to see their solution.

 

I do wish I had Sponenburgh's book(s).

Edited April 11, 2013 by goldwingnut54

[Pyrodood]

A useful tip for any "stock rock tumbler" users;

 

Ordinarily, the speed of the jar turns too slow in those 'stock' tumblers, But I found a hack on skylighter, and I can't find it now, dangit.

Anyway, the hack was to slip a piece of clear rubber tubing over the drive roller (to increase its diameter, and thus the jars speed).

 

I did it, and the rpms went up approx, 10 percent or so, and I think it helped make better BP using those small mills.

[goldwingnut54]

Pyrodood, do you happen to know the RPM of your jars? I've not counted them up on my Thumler Tumbler, but I probably will. It has never been an issue for cleaning cartridge cases.

 

The picture I posted is exactly like my tumber (A Thumler B-High Speed) and it has been a solid performer with tumbling my brass. I just dumped out the stainless steel media today and dried it out. I had cast up some water dropped Linotype balls in 58 cal over the past few days and was amazed with how many it will hold at 50% capacity by volume. I figure ~410 of those little suckers barely filled it to 1/4 capacity. That particular Lee mold is an ancient single cavity I've had for 20+ years. I had forgotten how slow a single cavity mold can seem...especially with Linotype. It freezes slow and my casting cadence is wretchedly slow.

 

I cast wheel weights in 9 milimeter with a Lee 2 cavity at a pace which much much faster (and HOTTER) plus you get double the output. I don't know why my Linotype likes to be cast so cool, but 600 to 625 is gobs a plenty hot. Wheel Weights in 124 grain round nose .357, or 158 grain aren't happy in my setup much less than 775 degrees and they freeze pretty fast.

 

I'm going to have to cast another 400 to 450 balls, one at a time(!)...to fill my Thumler "B" half full. But the water dropped linotype seems pretty hard...maybe 24 Brinell Hardness when aged a few days. So I'll survive the SLOOOW casting in order to have very hard media. I've got some round brass pins .750 diameter by about the same length for a PVC jar for use in my homemade-+ tumbler, but I decided not to use them in my expensive Thumler.