My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

That's an idea, for sure. I actually believe I have a can of that, or a similar product around here somewheres. The PVC is excellent at creating and storing static. I cut up my PVC tubing on the chop saw, and the chips/dust happened to blow back all over me. It's was all but impossible to get it all off of me due to static cling.

However, lots of people make BP in PVC jars with no problems. It's me introducing a solid electrical contact/discharge point in the form of a bolt in the middle of the end cap that has me worried. It's an unknown factor. Could be nothing; could be a big Kaboom with dozens of pieces of copper clad lead flying about.

I don't think I'm going to use that cap. It would be a small convenience exposing a potentially huge risk...

Vettepilot

[LynC2]

It's not the normal static electricity from an electrical spark that one should be concerned about, short of some high amperage discharge from something like a lighting bolt generates. It's the mechanical spark from something like a red hot mechanical one generated from metal such as a flint lock generates.

[maillemaker]

I've read a few books on the manufacture and testing of black powder. I thought it might be useful to post a few resources for those interested in gaining a more in depth knowledge on the subject. This is a great book that you can download for free. I'll start with this one, and if you guys want more I'll provide more. Just let me know.

This one is by Ian von Maltitz, it's titled the "The Manufacture Testing and Optimizing Black Powder".

http://pyrotechnic.narod.ru/Black_Powder.pdf

Just download it at the link provided.

In return, I ask that anyone that has a good link, or perhaps a title or author worth reading, that they post that information here as well. I'm always interested in learning more.

Thanks for the link to this book! It is fantastic!

[perotter]

I worked in the Natural Gas industry for several years. In our plants, where there was a direct exposure risk, only brass/bronze hammers and hammer wrenches were allowed. According to OSHA, “Non-sparking”, “spark reduced”, “spark-resistant” or “spark-proof” tools are names given to tools made of metals such as brass, bronze, Monel metal (copper-nickel alloy), copper-aluminum alloys (aluminum bronze), or copper-beryllium alloys (beryllium bronze).
I think your bronze bolt would be perfectly safe. Someone may argue that fact.

According to some, one is never to have any copper or copper alloy that comes into contact with BP. A primary explosive can be formed. It is believed that the BP being in contact with the bronze or brass bearings that were used in the various BP plants created that primary and the reason that they mysteriously blew up.

Of course that was after some years of them being used. I'm just putting this out here so everyone knows and can make their own decision has to what they do.

[notenoughguns]

According to some, one is never to have any copper or copper alloy that comes into contact with BP. A primary explosive can be formed. It is believed that the BP being in contact with the bronze or brass bearings that were used in the various BP plants created that primary and the reason that they mysteriously blew up.

Of course that was after some years of them being used. I'm just putting this out here so everyone knows and can make their own decision has to what they do.

Then why do they use brass cases to load black powder ammo ?????

[DoubleBuck]

Thanks for the link to this book! It is fantastic!

Thanks to you, for reposting the link! As I was reading it, I had vague memory of reading some of it before. Especially, the plant tour, which the author had taken, and some other points. After seeing it was a repost, from earlier, I think I read the whole thing, a couple of years ago. Of course, my memory sometimes says two years ago were five years ago, or two years ago, was six months. I wake up in a new world every day, sometimes. haha. It was a very interesting read, for sure.

[Vettepilot]

Yes, thanks for posting that. I had a micro sd card malfunction, and lost a TON of my research and reference data.

Vettepilot

[brewer12345]

OK, so I read enough of this thread to get the basics, but I think after 40+ pages I am a little confused. Maybe the experienced can clear things up a bit. I understand that you mix up 75% KNO3, 15% charcoal (silver maple is abundant locally so I could use that), and 10% sulfur. Crush it (separately), weigh it, and toss it into a ball mill full of lead balls (I cast several sizes of ML balls so no issue there). Tumble for 4 to 6 hours and separate the powder from the balls. Where I think I am a bit lost is what you do after that. Can someone spell it out for me?

Harbor freight tumbler sufficient as a ball mill for little batches?

[swamp]

I use the HF tumbler. I make 1 pound batches. After milling the powder I test a small bit to see how it flashes. If it is fast and vigorous, I call it good. Then I press it into pucks and let it dry. Then break it up and grind. Then run it thru screens to size it. I use 3f. Fines go back into the meal powder and course gets ground again.

I have a puck die and press if you would like to try.
swamp

[brewer12345]

You wet it before pressing? How do you grind it? what size screen gets you to 3F size?

[Whiterabbit]

First, I use the double HF tumbler. One canister is for brass, one is a ball mill. I never run two cans at the same time. You are GTG there.

Next, I will defer to our other experts as to the efficacy of silver maple. I don’t know. I buy charcoal from the fine members here and it burns like goex.

After that, I don’t pre ball mill my ingredients anymore. Sort by weight and off it goes in the meal. That said, my ingredients now are already granular if not air-float already. If I were looking at large cakes or chunks of charcoal, by all means I would ball mill it to rice or smaller then go. The meal, when done, is totally air-float and otherwise finished BP. It more or less self clumps when not floating away. I store that in yogurt tubs while mixing 1/4 lb batches in the HF drum, about half full of lead balls.

After that, what to do? Press! I use a 20 ton bottle jack press and 2” die to press pucks. The thinner you go, the easier to grind into finished powder. But the thinner you go, it takes for-ev-er to press all your pucks. Use a tablespoon and press pucks at 1, 2, 3 tbsp and eval for yourself how to deal with them. The die is just a close-fit Al rod in an Al tube, about 1.5” diameter and 2” long. Roughly.

Now, you have a bunch of small pucks about 3mm thick. Let them dry, dry, dry! You probably spritzed the top of the meal with water to aid sticking (seriously, not much, a spritz), so it has some moisture to lose. They will seem like fired ceramics. If they seem like unfired, too much water and dry them longer. Dry them for days. Longer. Doesn’t hurt as long as they are in a dry place.

Once super dry, crush them. I use a mortar and pestle to chunk them, then a ceramic burr hand powered coffee grinder (that I power with a drill) to grind to 3F. All this gets stored in yogurt tubs when I am between steps at the end of the days work, by the way.

Once ground, the powder is still a mess. From Amazon, I bought screeners that I thought were for panning gold but they are about 4” diameter which is way too small. Anyways, I bought them “roughly” sized for 2F, 3F, and 4F, but in retrospect, that was useless. I just needed 4 Mesh to filter big pieces, then the size JUST bigger than 3F, then a tub to catch-all the remainder. All I make is 3F. If SHTF, I would also want some 4F, but NBD. Anyway, what gets caught by the 3F filter goes to my can, what passes through that gets re-pressed, and what doesn’t feed into the 3F screen goes back in the coffee grrinder for another pass. Eventually I end up with only dust left and a bunch of 3F. The dust usually waits around for the next ball milling because I’m done with this batch and want to go shoot.

[swamp]

Lightly mist it till it clumps. Then press. I use 97% alcohol. To grind I use a burr mill coffee grinder. Trail and error till I got the right size grind to get mostly 3F size.

I am not too far from you. If you would like to try before getting the equipment. I have meal powder that needs pucking.

swamp

[Whiterabbit]

Heres one for you guys.

I learned long ago to be a purity snob: good grade of sulfur, NEVER any dextrin, only KNO3, charcoal, S. Period.

Now I’ve shot enough and stared enough at mine and goex, I wonder if I can add a small qty of graphite dust in the meal and make it flow better, and if that works would it slow my powder down.

Anyone try that?

[brewer12345]

Thanks for the kind offer, swamp. I am in the learning stage from a reading perspective only right now. Already have too many half finished project.

So what screen size is 3f?

[swamp]

I have 20, 30, 50, 100 mesh screens. What goes thru 20 and stays in 30 I call 3f. The 100 I use to screen milled ingredients to catch any coarse stuff. Before I got the 30, the 50 was my 3f.

[Eddie2002]

Heres one for you guys.

I learned long ago to be a purity snob: good grade of sulfur, NEVER any dextrin, only KNO3, charcoal, S. Period.

Now I’ve shot enough and stared enough at mine and goex, I wonder if I can add a small qty of graphite dust in the meal and make it flow better, and if that works would it slow my powder down.

Anyone try that?

From what I understand about commercial BP manufacturing graphite is added at the end of the milling to the sized BP grains after a tumbling to polish them. I would think that adding graphite to the green mill powder would just slow it down a little since the reason graphite is added is to act as a dry lubricant on the exterior of the grains while pouring and incorporating graphite in the actual BP grains wouldn't act as a dry lube.

[trjones]

Fly, I just signed up today but have read almost 100 pages of this thread. I am a beginner but would like to say that I THINK YOU have helped more people on here than anyone and that it would be a real bad thing for this thread if you were to leave. I for one find everything you say wise and educational and trust your knowledge more than anything else. I don't know if you will get this but I hope you do. You may not consider yourself an expert but I sure do. YOU have probably forgot more about black powder than most people knw and I would be honored if ylu would continue to share your knowledge.

[henryinpanama]

I tested my first batch of BP today. I made the charcoal from cedar bedding chips, and it seems to be pretty fast. I granulated to about FFF. In my T/C inline, it shoots just fine, but refuses to light in my Uberti Remington NMA with SlixShot nipples and CCI #11 caps. As a control, I loaded Pyrodex RS, which did fire. I know I should try different caps, but none are available. Now I'm hoping to find some Willow to make charcoal.

[ButchC]

I just gun tested my third batch Monday. Previous batches made with pine (that in retrospect I clearly overcharred) performed terribly in an open burn test and never even saw a gun. I used some basswood that I charred much more carefully and the Sporting Grade ratios from the Mad Monk files. Pressed down to a 1.4 g/cc cake give or take which is the best I could do with my small press and sifting through some mesh samples from TWP Inc after grinding I was very pleased with a FF charge and FFF prime in my flintlock.

I later dusted my FFF with some graphite powder to try and keep it flowing through my prime dispenser, I have yet to try lighting it off in the lock nor have I been able to chronograph loads and compare to GOEX. I can say my FFF performed more reliably than some ancient FFFFg I had around but storage conditions and oxidative contamination from the prime dispenser were surely to blame.

I am enthralled with this new aspect of the shooting hobby. You all, in building this thread, have done a service.

[Eddie2002]

OK, so I read enough of this thread to get the basics, but I think after 40+ pages I am a little confused. Maybe the experienced can clear things up a bit. I understand that you mix up 75% KNO3, 15% charcoal (silver maple is abundant locally so I could use that), and 10% sulfur. Crush it (separately), weigh it, and toss it into a ball mill full of lead balls (I cast several sizes of ML balls so no issue there). Tumble for 4 to 6 hours and separate the powder from the balls. Where I think I am a bit lost is what you do after that. Can someone spell it out for me?

Harbor freight tumbler sufficient as a ball mill for little batches?

Brewer, once you are at that stage with everything mixed and ground up fine you can either press, dry, grind and grade the powder which will produce a denser powder similar to commercial powders. Most on this thread do that. The other choice is to add a little dextrin to it as a binder, dampen it, run it through a course screen and dry it which gives a powder that is less dense than commercial and needs a larger volume to achieve the same results at the range. I make and shoot screened with no problems in my rifles and single shot pistols. I adjust my screened load to match the weight of commercial to start with and work up a load from there. For me it's easier to make and shoot screened.