Pirotecnia Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I want to corn my BP and i dont have a press. So, im thinking to ram it by hands, putting the meal into an HDPE pipe and press it with a wood piece and a mallet.It works fine? Give me your opinions and some tutorial if someone have done this before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Cant hurt any but you cant get anywhere close to the density you need to make real corned BP by hand ramming. -dag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 If you use a small enough pump to achieve the correct desnsity of 1.7g / cc 3, you can do so by hand. It will take quite a bit longer though. For example use a one inch comet pump and ram quarter inch pucks. They will come out pretty darn dense. Don't quote me on the density figure, that was off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I tried with a 1" comet pump a while ago and was only able to obtain about 1.4 g/cc I also probably had about 50lb less of.......pressing ability at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50AE Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I've done it successfully, but the density will be around 1,4-1,5 g/cc and it will depend of the surface and force applied. The pucks are more fragile. In a few worlds - it was a PITA for me. It was so much labor to produce ~ 200g of corned BP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I tried with a 1" comet pump a while ago and was only able to obtain about 1.4 g/cc I also probably had about 50lb less of.......pressing ability at that point. When I saw you last year I was going to say you need to gain a few pounds Me, I quit smoking and heh end of story. By no way is ramming pucks a good means of producing any sizable quantity of powder. In fact most people just granulate theirs any more. I still like to corn my powder for a variety of reasons. With the die that I am using I can process upwards of five pounds per hour. A few days spent corning and I have a years supply of very good powder for a variety of purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peret Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I did it once by dividing the damp powder into about 4oz (100g) lots, double wrapping tightly in foil and driving my car on to them. I let the wheel sit on the patty for a couple of minutes, then unwrapped and dried it. I didn't measure the density but the pucks were HARD and difficult to break up. I only did it the one time because it seemed like a lot of work for no discernible benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I did it once by dividing the damp powder into about 4oz (100g) lots, double wrapping tightly in foil and driving my car on to them. I let the wheel sit on the patty for a couple of minutes, then unwrapped and dried it. I didn't measure the density but the pucks were HARD and difficult to break up. I only did it the one time because it seemed like a lot of work for no discernible benefit. It really depends on what your uses are. If my interests were making a few hundred two and three inch shells using visco wrapped with tape for time fuse I really wouldn't care. But if you are making exhibition quality shells it makes a difference. My twelve inch cylinder shells weigh over 125# and require 1FA to lift them without destroying the shell or shredding the gun. The 2FA for break charges, ounce per ounce you have more powder per given volume, thus creating more gas. The meal is used for spolettes and priming. Pressing and corning is not that much more time consuming if you are set up properly. It is the way I have always done it and see no reason to take short cuts when spending hundreds of dollars and almost as many hours on a single shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thank you all for your opinions. I found in my garage an hydraulic jack, and i will use it between 2 cement walls... i think it can work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thank you all for your opinions. I found in my garage an hydraulic jack, and i will use it between 2 cement walls... i think it can work. Oh, oh, I think someone is going to break a wall! It takes more pressure then a brick, stone or cinder block wall can hold. -dag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan999ification Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Thank you all for your opinions. I found in my garage an hydraulic jack, and i will use it between 2 cement walls... i think it can work. is it shuttered/reinforced cement or rendered brickwork?, is it a bottle jack or a vehicle jack? dont break the wall!do you have a bench vice?i made some once with brass pipe fittings[this was stupid, never with sparking metals], nipple, caps, al pipe for the ram, copper coins for the pressing faces and a bearing to negate the twist on the comp while i dont recomend this i was able to achieve 1.4-1.8g per cc using a pair of spanners and hand pressure only for more leverage i extended the spanners by putting pipes over the ends and could apply much more force than with short spanners i managed to strip the threads off the nipple after a few pucks, and gave up on corning until i have the correct tools. dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I make a little press with the jack (not between the cement walls..hehe) between two metal bars and press very small pucks inside and HDPE tube with 2 coins as plugs and a wood piece.You can see my first puck below: Thanks for all of your helpful ideas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan999ification Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) now smash it alomost a shame. dan. edit: have you worked out the denity yet to see how you got on? Edited March 25, 2012 by dan999ification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 now smash it alomost a shame. dan. edit: have you worked out the denity yet to see how you got on? Hi Dan, I dont have tools to measure the density.So, i only pressed the powder until the press seems to crash (hehe), but i think it takes an acceptable density, because it appears to be a little difficult to destroy the puck.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFeve81 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I just like it because the coin imprint is still visible. Kind of looks like a piece of candy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrojig Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 http://fogoforum.us/powderdie.php Thought this link will help. . It may shed some light on the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) That is a great powder die, I can make them easily for anyone that wants one. \ -dag Edited March 26, 2012 by dagabu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I just like it because the coin imprint is still visible. Kind of looks like a piece of candy. Best reason yet, I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) That is a great powder die, I can make them easily for anyone that wants one. \ -dag That is the type of die I use with a few mods. As is it works great and you can easily press a few pounds of pucks at a time. What the picture doesn't show is the use of two repair couplings. Only one is shown. Repair couplings are of a larger diameter than standard pvc. I use a 30 ton press and go up to about 15 ton of pressure. Never calculated the density, but the grains are hard as rocks. Edited March 26, 2012 by MikeB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Mike, do you use two repair couplings over the top of each other where you're pressing, or is it two next to each other to reinforce the entire thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potassiumchlorate Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Pirotecnia, if you just have a scale, it's easy to calculate the density. The volume for a cylinder is: 3.14*radius*radius*height. Then just weight it and divide the mass with the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) After the puck is crushed, this is the result, very hard grains !! It's my first corned powder and it's simple perfect ! Video: first_corned_BP.mpg Thanks! Edited March 26, 2012 by Pirotecnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Pirotecnia, if you just have a scale, it's easy to calculate the density. The volume for a cylinder is: 3.14*radius*radius*height. Then just weight it and divide the mass with the volume. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I use two next to each other so the entire cavity that is under pressure is reinforced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirotecnia Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 New Updates Bottle Jack Press: Engine Piston/PVC pipe system: Pucks drying in the sun: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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