Improvised press

[xoo1246]

A press constructed from the tool used to squirt silicon sealants and such(you know what I mean).
<a href="http://w1.478.telia.com/~u47802930/Press01.jpg" target="_blank">http://w1.478.telia.com/~u47802930/Press01.jpg</a>
<a href="http://w1.478.telia.com/~u47802930/Press02.jpg" target="_blank">http://w1.478.telia.com/~u47802930/Press02.jpg</a>
Used in combination with a thick rug(with a hole in it placed on top of the box) to reduce sound and fragmentation if things go bad when pressing caps.
I constructed it several weeks ago and this far I have only used it once. It's simple to make and can be constructed cheaply, no need for hydralic presses for simple pressing aplications.

Comments, ideas?
How do you press caps? With a pensil hoping the God of AP are with you this day too? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[Eliteforum]

I had this same idea many months ago, but thought nothing more of it, as you have to physically remove the pressing "ram" and while removing this, it will add friction. And that's not something you want when your pressing AP caps.

<small>[ September 01, 2002, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: Eliteforum ]</small>

[nbk2000]

No reason why you couldn't have a cord attached to the ram so you can pull it out remotely.

[stanfield]

let's start by throwing away your AP, this is a shitty explosive ! DDNP or Lead Azide haven't many chance to detonate when pressed in a cap...

[kingspaz]

ok, heres my detpress
it needs a slight modification to the handle to avoid possible hand injury and a blast shield screwing to the handle end then it is done!....also i designed it so it can be constucted without metal working tools. the tools i used were a hammer, wood block and drill. and a few simple tools aswell.

copy and paste the link please.

<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/kingspaz/detpress.JPG" target="_blank">http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/kingspaz/detpress.JPG</a>

<small>[ September 01, 2002, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: kingspaz ]</small>

[Eliteforum]

NBK, you couldn't pull it out with a string without some sort of pully system, as it have to pulled upwards. Not to the side.

[NERV]

Currently I press my caps by hand (praying to the explosive gods that they will have mercy). I have been drawing up different ideas for cap presses but none have been reliable for me. I think I am going to try and make a press like yours xoo since I have a couple of caulking guns at hand.

<small>[ September 01, 2002, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: NERV ]</small>

[xoo1246]

Stanfield, I'm not using AP, actually I have never made it. It was aimed at people who use AP and don't use a press. Usually use HMTD since I'm sitting on a nice amout of methamine. But that will eventually change since I have started studdying to a chemical engineer. Will read mathemathics to x-mas, and after that the chemistry courses will start.
Anyway the press is ok if you compare it's price to a 250$ hydralic press. And the problem with removing the piston that has pushed the primary into the cap will be thesame with a hydralic press.

[THErAPIST]

I use HMTD and have never had a problem with pressing it. i wear a huge paintball mask. i use plastic drinking straw for the case with a piece of masking tape on the end to close it. i hold it with a pair of pliers, i dump a small amount of HMTD in, i press it with either a wooden rod or my glass stirring rod. then i dump in a little more and press again. i do that untill i have about 2 grams in the straw. then i wrap some masking tape around a piece of fuse so that the tape fits the straw kinda snug. push the taped fuse in, put the cap in whatever, light the fuse and stand back. my stirring rods are 8 inches long and the wooden rod that i use is 12 inches long. if a cap was to detonate my rod would be destroyed but my hands and face would be fine. so personally i find no need for a press. ill probably still make one one day when i get bored though.

[Eliteforum]

Pressing it with a glass stiring rod isn't my idea of safe! Use another thinner straw with the end taped or something, that way if it does go off, you'll only hard shards of plastic, not spears of glass in your hands.

[THErAPIST]

no... glass isnt all that safe. i usually use the wooden rod, (i had to resort to usin the glass the other day when i misplaced my wooden rod) and i forgot to point out that i wear leather gloves.

[Rat Bastard]

When I press my CTAP into a straw, I just use a q-tip. The soft eges don't create any scraping on the walls or anything.

For bigger cases I use a dowel with coton glued on the rounded tip of the dowel. Same principle.

[THErAPIST]

yea. i pressed my hmtd one time with a q-tip. when i was done I decided to go outside with it and a lighter. "hey lets see how big of a fireball this will ma... BANG. my q-tip had a plastic middle between the little cotton ends which was a big tube. i didnt realize it till the q-tip detonated but the plastic tube had filled about a fifth of the way up with hmtd as i was pressing. i wasnt too stupid about burnin the q-tip though. i held it with a pair of 6 inch long tweezers that i got from the school chem lab and i lit it with ona those long grille lighters, so i didnt get hurt.

[Ctrl_C]

My dets?...just funnel some AP/HMTD/whatever into a 30-06 brass, filled to top, tap brass on a table gently, about an inch from the table each time, a dozen times (come on it's not THAT sensitive). Fill back up to top, repeat until 1cm from top. Insert fuse/nichrome pushing it into AP/HMTD/whatever. Clean chosen explosive from mouth of brass, crimp around fuse with pliars. Steel shells crimp better than brass because brass is so soft. Works EVERY time.

Good press you have going there. I bet a rig for a line to disengange it wouldn't be hard.

[Rat Bastard]

C, I thought steel and brass reacted with HMTD, hmm....mabey im wrong. p.s: check your email?

This test was made from pressed (with a q tip) HMTD in a plastic tube:
<a href="http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap1.jpg" target="_blank">http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap1.jpg</a>
<a href="http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap2.jpg" target="_blank">http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap2.jpg</a>
<a href="http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap3.jpg" target="_blank">http://members.shaw.ca/raydawg/pics/hcap3.jpg</a>

I am starting to favor HMTD more than CTAP.

[xoo1246]

HMTD and metals are not suitable, especially not copper(as i brass), but this has been discussed before. There has been accidents. So I wouldn't use it, but it's up to each and everyone to make their own jugements. Personally I use thin plastic pipes that can be found at electricians. Used to install electrical cables.

[THErAPIST]

i wish i had a digital camera. i have an altoids mint can that got shredded when i put a 1 gram cap (green plastic straw pressed with wooden dowel) into it. i put ahole in the side of the can for the fuse to pass thrue. i put the cap in, threaded the fuse thrue the hole, closed the can, put it in the mail box, lit the fuse and ran to the side of my house so that i could hide behind the brick wall. i heard a bang. wasnt all that loud but it was slightly louder than a regular ole everyday factory made firecracker. i went and looked at the can. there was a huge ass dent in the top of my mailbox where the top of the altoids can popped off and dented the top. i found pieces of the altoids can outside the mailbox layin on the road. i went and looked in the mailbox. theres a huge ass dent in the bottom of it (it broke the inch thick pine board that the mailbox is mounted on which is pounted to the wooden post) and there was a flatened out and extremely jagged altoid can bottom with a huge dent in it also. that was the first thing i ever did with HMTD. when i can get a cam ill take pics and put em up.

[spydamonkee]

i was thinking of making me a press outa of a G-Clamp supported in some sort of blast box with a hinged extention handle kinda like what pushed the old steam train wheels around only smaller, this way you could wind down the clamp to press the det then wind it back up when done and remove pressed det.

but i dont see the point it only take me 2 minutes to make each det the way i do it, similer to Ctrl_C's method except i use blu-tack to hold the wire inplace and i dont crimp it as i dont think it makes much difference my charges still go off.

oh and THErAPIST... nice site u have ACB, links to totse and queerpier but not here? :rolleyes:

<small>[ September 23, 2002, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: spydamonkee ]</small>

[kingspaz]

THErAPIST has links to those shit holes because thats where he comes from originally. the only reason he is tolerated is because he obeys our rules and actually posts a little useful information.

[andreas]

I use a hobby drill press in wich you normally install a hand drill.
Instead I installed a roud shaft with a flat surface.