Blasting and Rock Breaking

[Mad Machinist]

Found it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrCD_MjIKf0&t=568s

 

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[Mad Machinist]

Found it

 

[Reed Lukens]

That was a good legal blast
What brand was the little trigger that he was using?

 

[JosephT]

So now the question is if the sierra blaster company will sell you just the cartridges if you don't buy the blast heads.

 

[BlasterJ]

That was a good legal blast
What brand was the little trigger that he was using?

I believe that is the blasting machine Sierra Blaster used to resell. It was made by a man who does professional fireworks. But he unfortunately passed away and they can't source it now. They are working on their own version. If you need something quality now, Blaster's Tool and Supply has affordable used equipment, FYI.

 

[Reed Lukens]

That was a good legal blast
What brand was the little trigger that he was using?

I believe that is the blasting machine Sierra Blaster used to resell. It was made by a man who does professional fireworks. But he unfortunately passed away and they can't source it now. They are working on their own version. If you need something quality now, Blaster's Tool and Supply has affordable used equipment, FYI.

Thanks, I knew that he had passed an that they aren't selling them anymore, I hadn't seen that exact brand of trigger. I was talking to them the other day and they gave up on making one for now. I've adapted my Sierra Blaster trigger to work and we have 200' of their cord that we use in our 130' tunnel.

 

[JosephT]

I wonder if my old wooded box DuPont blasting machine would work with the sierra blasting cartridge?

 

[BlasterJ]

I wonder if my old wooded box DuPont blasting machine would work with the sierra blasting cartridge?

Probably. If you want to check, pull a strand or two out of a pad of steel wool and screw it down across the terminals. It should light right up with a good push on the handle.

 

[BlasterJ]

So now the question is if the sierra blaster company will sell you just the cartridges if you don't buy the blast heads.

I don't think they will. Part of their ATF exemption (i.e. no federal license required to buy/use) is that it be used according to their training. So if they know you're using it without the tooling, they would probably be out of compliance if they kept selling you more. Sierra Blaster has to have a federal explosives license in order to make these, so they are keen on staying legal.

As @Mad_Machinist has stated before, the ATF is an interesting animal. They technically regulate all explosives sold in the US, including the ones you can buy over the counter. They have the power to exempt materials from licensing depending on end use. So you can buy up to 50lbs/year of black powder for "sporting and cultural use" or an unspecified amount of smokeless for reloading. The airbags in your truck also contain a few grams of regulated high explosives.

But as soon as you want to use gunpowder for taking down rock, they do assert authority and require you to have a federal license and keep that same material in a low-explosives magazine instead of a drawer in your garage.

 

[Reed Lukens]

So you can buy up to 50lbs/year of black powder for "sporting and cultural use" or an unspecified amount of smokeless for reloading.

Is there a reason for Black powder to be used in blasting over smokeless? Does it do more damage?

 

[BlasterJ]

Is there a reason for Black powder to be used in blasting over smokeless? Does it do more damage?

Black powder was the first explosive for mining. It's considered a low explosive and is extremely sensitive to sparks and is somewhat dangerous to handle. Smokeless powder is a propellant and is made of nitrocellulose and/or nitroglycerine. If it's well-confined in a blasthole, it can develop much higher pressures and is safer to handle. It's the main ingredient in Autostem, Royex and similar non-exploding cartridges you can buy for breaking rock. It creates less noxious fumes and is a more modern product.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Have you tried the non-neutonian fluid yet by chance?

 

[BlasterJ]

Have you tried the non-neutonian fluid yet by chance?

I have not, but I just got some empty caulking tubes in that I can try with various stemming materials:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G4C55LH/

 

[Mad Machinist]

Black powder was the first explosive for mining. It's considered a low explosive and is extremely sensitive to sparks and is somewhat dangerous to handle. Smokeless powder is a propellant and is made of nitrocellulose and/or nitroglycerine. If it's well-confined in a blasthole, it can develop much higher pressures and is safer to handle. It's the main ingredient in Autostem, Royex and similar non-exploding cartridges you can buy for breaking rock. It creates less noxious fumes and is a more modern product.

I know what they are using and I can tell you it is not smokeless gunpowder. It was once experimented with as a solid rocket fuel and I wouldn't recommend making it even if you did find out what it was unless you want visited by people with absolutely no sense of humor.

 

[BlasterJ]

I know what they are using and I can tell you it is not smokeless gunpowder. It was once experimented with as a solid rocket fuel and I wouldn't recommend making it even if you did find out what it was unless you want visited by people with absolutely no sense of humor.

I was wrong - it looks like smokeless is only a minority ingredient. At one time, Autostem was rumored to be using surplus artillery powder from South Africa. I'm not sure if they are now all virgin materials at this point. Royex has an awesome long-period delay system for tunneling and bigger blasts, and I think that is going to be a better product for most folks.

You can build a magazine for these products for about $300. Much cheaper than getting into dynamite.

 

[Mad Machinist]

I was wrong - it looks like smokeless is only a minority ingredient. At one time, Autostem was rumored to be using surplus artillery powder from South Africa. I'm not sure if they are now all virgin materials at this point. Royex has an awesome long-period delay system for tunneling and bigger blasts, and I think that is going to be a better product for most folks.

You can build a magazine for these products for about $300. Much cheaper than getting into dynamite.

Yea, simple two lock job box with Rhino lining bolted down so it can't be easily moved. Great thing about Royex and Autostem is if you do try and set it off outside of a borehole, it simply catches on fire and burns instead of detonating.

Edit: ya'll should see what I can do with C-4 shape charges. Boulder? What boulder? Oh you mean that pile of dust over there?

 

[JosephT]

Yea, simple two lock job box with Rhino lining bolted down so it can't be easily moved. Great thing about Royex and Autostem is if you do try and set it off outside of a borehole, it simply catches on fire and burns instead of detonating.

Edit: ya'll should see what I can do with C-4 shape charges. Boulder? What boulder? Oh you mean that pile of dust over there?

You sound like a blaster I used to work with named shorty. We had this boulder about 35 or 40 feet around and the drillers poked it full of holes. After about 8 or 10 boosters and just as many bags of ANFO I said don't you think we have enough shorty his answer was who is the blaster around here. Once we were done loading I sat on the back of the truck spooling out the duplex as we drove away. We crawled under a loader bucket for cover during the shoot and there was nothing left to load.

 

[Mad Machinist]

You sound like a blaster I used to work with named shorty. We had this boulder about 35 or 40 feet around and the drillers poked it full of holes. After about 8 or 10 boosters and just as many bags of ANFO I said don't you think we have enough shorty his answer was who is the blaster around here. Once we were done loading I sat on the back of the truck spooling out the duplex as we drove away. We crawled under a loader bucket for cover during the shoot and there was nothing left to load.

Explosives used properly can savebtou a great deal of money in crushing costs. The trick is to use just enough to get the job done without over blasting. The math behind it can get pretty disgusting at times if it is a tricky blast.

Most rock has a "grain" to it, much like wood. Of ya.learn hownto read it and work with it, things can get real productive at times.

 

[JosephT]

Explosives used properly can savebtou a great deal of money in crushing costs. The trick is to use just enough to get the job done without over blasting. The math behind it can get pretty disgusting at times if it is a tricky blast.

Most rock has a "grain" to it, much like wood. Of ya.learn hownto read it and work with it, things can get real productive at times.

In road construction in my area the idea is to break it up into 3 foot pieces or smaller since a 3 foot deep lift of fill is what is allowed at a time. I have been on jobs where I think the blasters were try to place the material for us instead of just busting it up.

 

[Mad Machinist]

In road construction in my area the idea is to break it up into 3 foot pieces or smaller since a 3 foot deep lift of fill is what is allowed at a time. I have been on jobs where I think the blasters were try to place the material for us instead of just busting it up.

That can actually get down right deadly using that much explosives. Fly rock can travel a long damn way if the charges are too large.