Occasional Happiness

[scarbelly]

I recently finished building my ball mill! It is by no means in its permanently completed state, but until something breaks (which i doubt will be soon if ever) or I get a larger mill jar, I'll stick with what I've got.

It works great, turns my 4" lortone jar at around 100 rpms, perhaps a little bit fast, but it works well. When I get a larger diameter jar, it should be just about perfect. It certainly isn't a work of art, but it gets the job done, and I am very satisfied for a while. 150g of good black powder meal every 7 hours or so will keep me happy for a while.

I'm also using a variable pitch sheave, so I can speed up the jar speed a bit if I want to very simply, but right now it's set at the lowest speed setting.

[TheEskimo]

Hooray...first snow of winter...2 inches and counting

[Ventsi]

Thanks for the kind words guys, I'm really liking using this media, though I already snapped both spare belts that came with the mill. I suppose I'll stop by Granger later todaty and get a "real" drive belt, fiber reinforced, urethane, all that good junk...

 

SB props on that mill, now all you need is some new media!

[scarbelly]

Yeah seriously, I would love to have a gallon or even a half gallon jar, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to spend all that money on the media... Maybe I'll ask for brass rod as a christmas present or something .

 

And congrats on your brass media Ventsi, I'm definitely a bit jealous.

[Mumbles]

If you feel like cutting up about 400 more pieces let me know. I think I could find a home for it.

 

Lead is much cheaper for this if you are worried about the money.

[Ralph]

http://myworld.ebay.com/toolsupply/ this guy has brass balls and postage isnt to bad

[KruseMissile]

I am really happy. My pyrodirect order came in...

3x 2" HDPE Tubes

2x 3" HDPE Tubes

2x 4" HDPE Tubes

4x 1" x 500' Gummed Kraft Tape

3x 1.5" x 1000' Gummed Kraft Tape

3x 3/4" x 1000' Gummed Kraft Tape

5x 1/2" x 500' Gummed Kraft Tape

2x 2" x 600' Gummmed Kraft Tape

2x 25pc 3" shell set

4x 10pc 4" shell set

Moving up from 2" shells! WOOT!!!

[Ventsi]

Ya lucky duck! I just got a bunch of fiber reinforced tape and some sparklers for my folks...

 

Anywho.. I'm a happy camper! Got some vacuum belts for my mill, which work perfectly , made 1/2lb of Win 25.5 and tested my new Splitting Comet tooling on it, so far so good. Milled a bunch of CuS, and got some 20 lb Hemp for spiking! Here ya fellas' go :

 

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m100/asota_2006/P1080195.jpg

 

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m100/asota_2006/P1080191.jpg

 

http://pyrobin.com/files/p1080200.jpg

 

http://pyrobin.com/files/p1080196.jpg

 

http://pyrobin.com/files/p1080211.jpg

[Swede]

Bought some bulk Platinum-coated titanium mesh at a decent price... no more $100 anodes that measure 1" X 3"!

 

http://www.platinumplating.net/images/platinised%20niobium%20anode.jpg

 

All that remains is to see if it can be spot-welded. If not, a simple mechanical connection with Ti hardware will work.

[Bonny]

Bought some bulk Platinum-coated titanium mesh at a decent price... no more $100 anodes that measure 1" X 3"!

 

http://www.platinumplating.net/images/platinised%20niobium%20anode.jpg

 

All that remains is to see if it can be spot-welded. If not, a simple mechanical connection with Ti hardware will work.

 

 

Great score!!

Is there going to be any available in the Agora? If my mini anode doesn't work I'll be looking.

Edited December 16, 2009 by Bonny

[Swede]

We'll see! I want to make sure it is both effective and reasonably long-lasting. I needed some BIG anodes (either Pt or LD) for my jumbo cell. The dinky Pt anodes that seem to be common are just too small. If they do go up, they are not going to be really cheap, not like the MMO, but hopefully I can make any size.

 

The last time I used a similar material, the crop was just beautiful... white as snow, no filtering needed at all. The big question is "will it spot weld?" I think it will. These are going to get welded onto lead-filled tubular Ti anode hangers.

 

I am not giving up on Pt alternates, and probably never will, as the bug has bitten too hard, but I do need to produce some perc. I've got too much chlorate, and need to process a few kilos.

[Mumbles]

Well I am pumped. I now have a little slip of paper that says I am officially a chemist. It only took 4 1/2 years, several hairs from my head, and an immeasurable amount of beer to accomplish.

[Gunzway]

Well I am pumped. I now have a little slip of paper that says I am officially a chemist. It only took 4 1/2 years, several hairs from my head, and an immeasurable amount of beer to accomplish.

 

Congratulations Mumbles. Where to now? I have a suspicion that you'll be back trying to get another piece of paper.

[Ralph]

congratulations time to get a nice high paying job now ?

[Mumbles]

I have a couple more piece of paper, and letters to add to my name in mind. I sent out one application tonight as well. Four more to go.

[mike_au]

Bought some bulk Platinum-coated titanium mesh at a decent price... no more $100 anodes that measure 1" X 3"!

 

All that remains is to see if it can be spot-welded. If not, a simple mechanical connection with Ti hardware will work.

 

And I thought I was doing well when I was given a bit of Pt wire the other day, if you decide to start selling them I would certainly be in the market for one (and I suppose I would have to grab an MMO one as well). How thick is the Pt layer?

[Richtee]

Well I am pumped. I now have a little slip of paper that says I am officially a chemist. It only took 4 1/2 years, several hairs from my head, and an immeasurable amount of beer to accomplish.

I have a feeling the hair and beer were far from stoichiometric quantities ;{)

 

Congrats, Sir!

[firetech]

Congrats Mumbles, are you going for your PhD?

[dagabu]

Congrats Mumbles, are you going for your PhD?

 

WHOOT!

 

Now you can straighten me out with chems, man I hate chemistry!

[firetech]

You hate chemistry!? Hm, well I guess its not that important in pyro anyway....

[flying fish]

Congrats Mumbles!

 

I just went to my graduation ceremony, but I technically still have to finish a few small things on my (undergrad) thesis before I can get my diploma.

 

Thought I heard you were thinking of University of Michigan. I'll most likely be goin' far far away for grad school as there's nothing good for optics in the state of Michigan. Or I could just pick a different field to study... Or if school doesn't work out I could be working in Ann Arbor!

 

So many things to figure out...

 

Happiness...these holidays are turning out pretty awesome... Three awesome parties with awesome friends, 2 awesome parties with awesome relatives, probably a fair bit of skiing...airsofting, and other random fun activities. Great to see people who are back from school and such. One of the family parties was yesterday...'twas an Italy-themed dinner (we pick a different country every year). Some really kickass food!

[dagabu]

You hate chemistry!? Hm, well I guess its not that important in pyro anyway....

 

Yes! LOL I do! I love pyro, I just cannot stand remembering chemical names and numbers. I am a "Lets cut something up, weld it together and see what it does" kind of guy. I am a scavenger, a hunter, a re-purposer, I leave the chemistry to you guys and shamelessly steal your information to make pretty fire in the sky for my family.

 

D

[scarbelly]

Congratulations Mumbles, good luck with all of those apps, my brother's in the same position at the moment. And myself as well, except I'm applying for undergraduate college.

[Mumbles]

Yes I am applying to several PhD programs. I wish I could just get a Masters degree and go from there, but that is generally not an option.

[50AE]

Some Christmas shopping ! Today I bought from my local chemistry supplier :

 

-1kg paraffin

-1kg KOH

-1kg powdered bentonite

-1kg lactose

-2kgs of ceramic media!!!

-1L of HCl

-and some beakers