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More test results....
Having read that Swiss uses a "Sporting" powder recipe of 78-12-10, while the 75-15-10 is a blasting powder blend, I made a 1/2 pound batch of each, using the same batch of...

My next batch will be willow at 78-12-10, to test with the 75-15-10 Willow. Heck, I could mix them all together and still have great BP

To continue my BP testing from message 7246, I made a batch of "Sporting BP", using the same Sumac charcoal, but at 78-12-10, instead of 75-15-10. The choice of Sumac was random, as its performance...

One needs to be able to plug the hole when the distillation is complete. Also the observation of the smoke being omitted, or the lack of smoke is an indicator of the progress of the process. The...

Lags, after Balsa, the next most soft charcoal, by a wide margin, was from Staghorn Sumac. The widely spaced growth indicate rapid growth, and the BP performed rather well. I did not note that I...

You are absolutely correct, Lags, the Balsa was very clean. I dry patched the bore between shots, and could not feel any fouling near the breech. The White Pine is fast, but I got my dry patch and...

SHOOTING RESULTS ! The Cedar chips came from bagged landscape chips. Who knows when the Balsa was harvested, all other woods were harvested locally this spring, when the sap was up, debarked...

Observations.....The soft .45" lead balls used as tumbling media are out & gone. I was ending up with 5% more product out of the ball mill than I had put in !! A weight check of 50 unused balls...

Yes, but this wood is Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus Cathartica), with stout thorns. The inner bark is bright yellow, while the heartwood is orange.
John

Some volume statistics... I set my measure to deliver exactly 100 grains of Goex. I next weighed a measure full of the three batches that I have ready for shooting. Willow powder = 87.0 grains, ...

My press is a two stage 45 ton. The pressure gauge is graduated in "tons on a 3 1/2" cylinder, the diameter of the cylinder of the press. I don't quite know how to interpret that . 7 tons of force...

Thanks for the info, Trapper. I failed to mention that my 600 degrees was in Fahrenheit. Was your 400 degrees in F or C ? I would assume that it is 400 deg C, as 400 F wouldn't even toast the...

What am I not doing, as my density is only about 83% of Goex ? ...24 hours of ball mill, pucks are pressed to a gauge pressure of 7 tons, dried, and are as hard as peanut brittle. Pucks are...

[QUOTE=HWooldridge;5602685]I’m in the camp who makes only about 200 grams at a time, and I work inside my almost entirely steel farm shop. Subsequently, pretty much everything is grounded - e.g.,...

This report goes back to message 5888 and my use of Red Elderberry low ash (1.8%) charcoal. These results are all 70 grains by weight, fired in a T/C 45 Seneca, w/ Maxi Ball, and chronographed,...

OK, guys, I enjoy all of the math and percentages. I have Red Elder BP ready to test, but the weather is all overcast and rain.
My 1880 Appleton's Cyclopedia references Willow, Alder, and...

[QUOTE=Linstrum;5393137]Hi jmh54738. Thanks for your response.

Taking an educated guess about your mystery plant, from your description it might be one of the eastern elderberry species....

Linstrum, I feel that knowing the ash content of the charcoal is quite reasonable, and I will run another sample of the Quaking Aspen charcoal. Today, I gathered a batch of an unidentified woody...

Right on, Linstrum. While the undisturbed ash was snow white in the beginning, it was light grey after repeated stirring to get air to the charcoal.

Thanks, DoubleBuck, for Linstrum's post location. I am currently burning off a carefully weighed 100 grain sample of coarse crushed Quaking Aspen charcoal. The ash is snow white. I will have an...

Linstrum, have you detailed your ash assay process, if so, What post #. If this is something that I can repeat, I will test the ash content of my Quaking Aspen.
jmh54738

I just learned this...


"The Aspen tree is a deciduous tree that belongs to the genus Populous. Primarily it belongs to the willow family. As with...

[QUOTE=mmb617;5376509]Well now this is really interesting to me. Your pressed and screened but not polished powder produces 83% of the weight per volume of a commercial powder. My homemade powder is...

Easy request ,...with your powder measure set for 50 grains, what does a measure full of your powder weigh. With my pressed powder, I have been only to achieve about 83% of the weight of an equal...

I was a state licensed blaster for 25 years and have had my share of nitro headaches. 50% straight nitro ditching dynamite was bad, the ammonia dynamites, less so. I have never had my head pound...