This was my project for the weekend ( Ball Mil )l

[Charley Davidson]

Charley you ever eat at Kirkenburts? Our old Buddy Tom owns that place. Got a buddy named Gary Wyatt in your town as well

Never ate there or even knew it existed but I googled it & it is on my bucket list for eating. It's only a long mile from my shop. They have a 4 out of 5 star rating on most searches .

You'll have to come visit & we can go there and eat, if you buy I'll even take you to our very coveted scrap yard.:rofl::roflmao:

 

[chuckorlando]

I dont eat BBQ but I love Toms bbq. We buy his bbq sauce to ship here to Fl ahahahaha. I'll hold ya to the scrap yard for sure )

 

[cjtoombs]

I hope that you are using that in a remote location, and taking proper precautions for grounding. I've worked with explosives before, and black powder is actualy one of the scarier ones. It is extremely static sensitive and somewhat friction sensitive. And having 20lbs of black powder with a bunch of steel balls mixed in with it going off when you are anywhere near it would be your last mistake. Frankly, any milling of black powder should be done with several feet of earth and concrete between you and that mill while it is running. All pouring should be done with grounded, conductive containers and funnels. You should be wearing conductive shoes, on a conductive surface while you are working with it. These precautions are usualy not taken by home reloaders, but they generaly are not working with lethal amounts of black powder, either.

 

[Great white hunter]

I do it out side on a nice day in the shade. I have a 8 foot deep grounding rod in the ground that I use to tumble black powder. I also use a 100 foot extension cord to start it up. Believe me I am no where near that thing when power is to it. I have a lot of property so there is no danger if there should be ignition. I have been doing this for 11 years now with no problems.

 

[AlanR]

I do it out side on a nice day in the shade. I have a 8 foot deep grounding rod in the ground that I use to tumble black powder. I also use a 100 foot extension cord to start it up. Believe me I am no where near that thing when power is to it. I have a lot of property so there is no danger if there should be ignition. I have been doing this for 11 years now with no problems.

Well, if you one day stop posting here we can all speculate on the reason why.

 

[ScrapMetal]

I do it out side on a nice day in the shade. I have a 8 foot deep grounding rod in the ground that I use to tumble black powder. I also use a 100 foot extension cord to start it up. Believe me I am no where near that thing when power is to it. I have a lot of property so there is no danger if there should be ignition. I have been doing this for 11 years now with no problems.

It sounds like you take proper precautions. Guys, even if that container were to "spark off" the main concern would be the shockwave produced by the blast itself and not "ballistic bearing" shrapnel. While the container it's in may be air/water tight I highly doubt that it would allow the build up of pressure to make a spectacular explosion. Because the ball bearings are interspursed within the powder itself (as opposed to being arranged on the outside of the "pressure vessel") it's highly unlikely that they would do much of anything. Your greatest possible cause of "shrapnel" would be the shards of the pvc(?) container itself. I wouldn't want to be standing next to it but his precautions sound more than adequate to me.

Nice build by the way!

JMHO

-Ron

 

[cjtoombs]

I do it out side on a nice day in the shade. I have a 8 foot deep grounding rod in the ground that I use to tumble black powder. I also use a 100 foot extension cord to start it up. Believe me I am no where near that thing when power is to it. I have a lot of property so there is no danger if there should be ignition. I have been doing this for 11 years now with no problems.

Glad to see you are taking precautions. With that said, pouring into and out of the tumbler would be my bigest worry. To reduce the posibility of ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) igniting it, I would use metal containers and funels, and put them on a grounded surface for pouring. Also, using a wrist strap, like the ones used to work on sensitive electronoics, that is grounded would also be prudent. Black powder doesn't need much confinement to cause an explosion, and if a static spark ignited it and it flashed back into the tumbling container, it could be a problem. When I was working explosives, we did a project with black powder (very simmilar to what you are doing), and the majority of the precautions we had to take were for ESD. Have fun and be safe.

 

[Great white hunter]

I like the wrist strap idea. I think I will do that. I don't mix 30 lbs of powder at one time. At most I do is 10 lbs. I can do 30 lbs but it scares the heck out of me to do that much.

Glad to see you are taking precautions. With that said, pouring into and out of the tumbler would be my bigest worry. To reduce the posibility of ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) igniting it, I would use metal containers and funels, and put them on a grounded surface for pouring. Also, using a wrist strap, like the ones used to work on sensitive electronoics, that is grounded would also be prudent. Black powder doesn't need much confinement to cause an explosion, and if a static spark ignited it and it flashed back into the tumbling container, it could be a problem. When I was working explosives, we did a project with black powder (very simmilar to what you are doing), and the majority of the precautions we had to take were for ESD. Have fun and be safe.

- - - Updated - - -

one day when I feel like wasting alot of powder I will ignite 10 lbs of powder in one of those containers to see just how big of an explosion I will get so I know what I'm in for if something would go wrong. I only do 10 lbs at once and like you said I don'y think You would get a very large explosion with a rubber cap on the container. I think the cap would just pop off and have a very large flame. If I ever do this I will post the results with a video.

It sounds like you take proper precautions. Guys, even if that container were to "spark off" the main concern would be the shockwave produced by the blast itself and not "ballistic bearing" shrapnel. While the container it's in may be air/water tight I highly doubt that it would allow the build up of pressure to make a spectacular explosion. Because the ball bearings are interspursed within the powder itself (as opposed to being arranged on the outside of the "pressure vessel") it's highly unlikely that they would do much of anything. Your greatest possible cause of "shrapnel" would be the shards of the pvc(?) container itself. I wouldn't want to be standing next to it but his precautions sound more than adequate to me.

Nice build by the way!

JMHO

-Ron

 

[cjtoombs]

It sounds like you take proper precautions. Guys, even if that container were to "spark off" the main concern would be the shockwave produced by the blast itself and not "ballistic bearing" shrapnel. While the container it's in may be air/water tight I highly doubt that it would allow the build up of pressure to make a spectacular explosion. Because the ball bearings are interspursed within the powder itself (as opposed to being arranged on the outside of the "pressure vessel") it's highly unlikely that they would do much of anything. Your greatest possible cause of "shrapnel" would be the shards of the pvc(?) container itself. I wouldn't want to be standing next to it but his precautions sound more than adequate to me.

Nice build by the way!

JMHO

-Ron

It takes very little confinement for the burn rate of black powder to jump up to "explosive" levels. That container with the top off would be sufficient. Black powder will not detonate; it works as an overpressure explosion, which generally rips the surrounding objects into larger chunks than a detonation does. The finely ground nature of the final product will also increase burn rates. It's not like smokeless powder; it is in fact quite dangerous to work with.

 

[melsdad]

I go through a good bit of black powder. About 5-6 pounds a year when I am shooting a lot. I have had thoughts of making my own, but they quickly exit my mind. The last case I bought was $13.10 a pound. So it is still justifiable for me to purchase rather than make I would never pay $20.00 a pound either.