On May 12, 7:50=A0am, richardcas...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Richard Casady)
wrote:
> On Mon, 12 May 2008 06:32:55 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
>
>
>
>
>
> <lloydspinsidemindspring.com> wrote:
> >"dan c." <dancut...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> fired this volley in
news:d61ff31a-2343-=
> >4ee6-adb6-008e05feb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> >> Wow, I just opened my ball mill of strontium nitrate and nearly
gagged
> >> on the ammonia! =A0I washed out the mill jug three times, media too,
> >> before milling the S.N. =A0Anyway, the only other thing I've ball
mille=
d
> >> is black powder. =A0The strontium came out warm to the touch and I
> >> whisked it to the north forty in a hurry! =A0Am I missing something
> >> basic here? =A0Dan
>
> >Everybody gave you an incorrect answer that might also cause you to do
> >something unsafe.
>
> >What was your media? =A0I suspect it was lead.
>
> >Lead reacts with moist nitrates to form lead salts and ammonia.
=A0Becaus=
e
> >strontium nitrate is often fairly damp as received, it's a common
> >offender.
>
> >There's nothing unsafe about some partially-reacted strontium nitrate
--
> >it won't explode on its own. =A0However, it's not good practice to mix
it=
> >with fuels (especially metal fuels) when it is damp enough to react
with
> >metal milling media.
>
> I thought strontium nitrate was hygroscopic. In any case isnt it
> possible to oven dry the stuff? 2 hours at 180F or something?
>
> Casady- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I dry it in a drying oven and then mill it. I seal strontium nitrate
stars in baggies with desiccant. I store the rocket compositions in
plastic freezer boxes - also with desiccant. The rocket formula
(Stoddard and Steinberg's MgAl version) is fairly stable - I've stored
it for a year without problems. I suspect the Naphtha helps a bit.
I have some strontium nitrate that was stored outside in a metal drum
for several years - a long time. It is like a lump of cement. I have
to break it up with a hammer and then rough mill it (beat it to death
with a ball bat), dry it, and then mill it. Any composition made from
it is thoroughly dried and stored as above. I usually only make what
I'm going to need for the immediate task.
I mill it with ceramic media so I've not had an odor problem (with
strontium nitrate ;-} ).
Some strontium nitrate versions are less prone to absorbing moisture
(Lloyd alluded to this). B&C's stuff is supposed to be good. I have a
large cat litter tub of mil spec stuff that also has been stored for
years and it is starting to cake but it isn't too hard to scoop.
And on a completely different topic - did you notice that cat litter
boxes seem to be the container of choice for many pyros? I don't even
have a cat and have a half dozen of the large ones.
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