Harbor Freight 3lb "Rock Tumbler"....Is this worth the money?

[nater]

I think some of the black dust is from the rubber jars. They are slightly textured when new, but get smooth as they are used. That worn off rubber has to go some place and can get stuck on the oil. I mountain bike regularly, and depending on the conditions I am riding in, I will adjust the lube on the drivetrain and bearings of the bicycle. Some types are better at repelling moisture, but is like a magnent for sand. Any lube is better than running dry, but for the best longevity you need to match the lube to the operating conditions. For my mills, I use a little marine grease on the bearings and light oil on the other moving parts. Edited April 5, 2013 by nater

[Dead_Cell]

I've had a Lortone 3a for few years and its been a beast. Its a bit pricier than the HF one, but its made in the USA. Other than that, they are pretty much the same thing. The HF, I believe, is a Chineese knock-off under the brand of Chicago Power Tools (or something like that), but it should be a decent mill. Unfortunately, I just snapped my belt the other day when making my first batch of BP in a long time (college and women kind of kill my pyro budget), so it looks like I'll have to scrounge around for a suitable replacement. :/ I'm also considering wrapping the drive roller with a hose as mentioned in the skylighter article, as well as giving it a wrap with some skateboard grip tape to eliminate slipping.

[Shadowcat1969]

I hadn't thought of grip tape for anti-slip. I just clean the rollers and jars with a little alcohol and then run the mill and hold some sandpaper against the tubing I have on it to keep it rough.

 

Grip tape is a nice idea.

[Dead_Cell]

Its been on my to-do list for awhile, as I've always had issues with slippage even after I give the jar a bath and a good scrubbing. My old remedy was just titling the mill somewhat so that more of the jar's wieght would rest on the drive roller, but that was kind of annoying.

[BlastFromThePast]

I only run one jar at a time on my mill and I was wondering if anyone else has found that for this specific mill/drum size, milling becomes wayyyy less effecient when your milling batches of BP larger than 100g? I've done 100g batches 3 or 4 times now and they are pretty damn quick after only 2-3 hours. The other day I tried doing a 200 gram batch and had it milling for almost 7 hours and it's no where near as fast as my others. And there has been no change in quality of chems or type of charcoal.

[Bobosan]

At the bottom of this article is basic loading for the 6lb mill drum.

 

http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to/ball-mill.asp

 

also;

 

http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to-make/Black-Powder-Quick-and-Cheap.asp

[BlastFromThePast]

Thanks, I guess it could also be the fact that my granules weren't hard enough last time so I upped the dextrin from around +1.5% to more like +3-3.3%. Haven't been doing this stuff long enough to know how much dex can slow things down.

[Wildcard]

http://www.skylighte...o/ball-mill.asp

 

That will show you how to properly configure the HF ball mill.

 

opps, someone beat me to it.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Wildcard

[busspuppy]

I modded my HF "mill" and it works great. I haven't had a belt break yet either, allow I have spares handy just in case.

[Bobosan]

That's the key, Busspuppy. If the mill knows you have spares, the belts don't break.

[AirCowPeacock]

My belt broke after years of service. I didn't gave a spare. I found a replacement belt for a hoover vacuum that was the right circumference and cut it down to the right width. Runs better than ever, (but that's because I oiled it while I was making the repairs.)

[SekndAmendment]

The new ones come with a pack of replacement belts. With a little machine oil the thing runs great. I had to cut the rubber tubing off the drive shaft and replace it with masking tape because it kept slipping over the shaft if a tiny bit of machine oil got under it. Other than that it has run great for quite some time now.