Hello Friends!
What a boring name for a title, or so it may seem.
Chemistry was required to hear the shot heard around the world in the Battle of Concord on April 19th, 1775 leading to the American Revolutionary War.
Today, I will demonstrate a technique I use for such chemistry, the manufacturing of black powder. Like many good things out there, many chemical manufacturing processes are lengthy and it is my intention to make several posts about them. As it is a national holiday for those that engage in dulling thier senses with substances, I find writing about the manufacture of USEFUL products fitting. You are welcome to argue with me in the comments below.
Yesterday, I was gifted a Harbor Freight Rock Tumbler ITEM 67631 for my birthday and I was really excited.
I will use it to prepare airfloat charcoal for an upcoming science project I have planned.
The tumbler is relatively simple to operate. Fill the drum with the product and the media necessary to either polish or pulverize.
I use several different media for mechanically pulverizing raw materials. The ones I primarily use are lead shot, steel bbs, and glass marbles. Lead is the heaviest and the most practical but is unhealthy to handle without gloves and ventilation.
The charcoal will come from the World Renowned Campfire!
The pieces need to be smaller so I use a cutting board and a wood or rubber mallet to break them up.
After the peices are managable,
I put them in the barrel or container and weight the heavy media and the soft charcoal. It is important to be aware of the weight as you do not want to burn your motor out or break a pully belt.
Using the machine is easy. Flip the on switch and away it spins. I like to check on mine every couple of hours and sift the smaller particles by unscrewing the lid and pouring the contents into a strainer.
I add additional charcoal and repeat. This is the product I have so far.
This is not airfloat, but it is pretty small. Additional time would be necessary to make smaller particles.
Well, that is all today for my nifty Birthday present! I look forward to continuing these little projects in the future!
Author: Benjamin
Benjamin Thiel is a community leader, urban farmer, and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire. He might know a guy...
Outstanding title!
Super cool.
Ha ha! Over the course of a few weeks, it may be the spark of something bigger!
😄👍
I have nominated you for the Penable Award!
Hmm… I haven’t heard of that one before! Care to leave a link?
Sure! Here is the link: https://selinacraftsworld.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/the-penable-award
That’s cool!👊
👊 Yes Sir!
I didn’t know what that is till now. Thanks for the demonstration.
Ha ha! You are welcome! Most people polish semi precious gems with them!
This is so interesting. Thank you for sharing. 😊
Absolutely! I will manufacture a product with the rock tumbler down the road!
That will be great.!
Better make sure the Alchemist doesn’t find out about this. Fortunately he can’t find you in the Book of Faces. I suppose Theodore knows or at least has the concepts down.
No Doubt. I bet he has an old trick up his sleeve.
I am impressed. I honestly thought a rock tumbler was to polish rocks. I am learning something!
You can most assuredly do that as well!
A man with a plan! I shared a black powder recipe in one of my recent posts, funnily enough.
Really! I will be over soon!
March 28th. “Always be Prepared”.
Interesting!
Thank you!
You’re welcome
Haven’t read yet (drunk!!l). Thx for the flashback to my teen years redonk loud rock tumbler!!!
Hi Leendadll! My tumbler is very quiet!
Have no idea what you’re on about, lol
Oh, several things. 4/20 is unofficially a day to smoke controlled substances. I manufacture black powder using a rock tumbler and there is some contol in that substance as well.
Ohhhh!!!! Then another blogger’s post make sense now, too!
I did not clearly express myself… My apologies!
No, you’re fine.