My homemade black powder

[Boz330]

AR may I add one more thing.Nether Boz or I use the CIA process.I'm not saying
it's bad.But some time,s people try to many things.Bob & I both mill our powder
dry in a ball mill.

Our powders are very fast.I use a binder whether than press mine in pucks.
Nothing wrong with pressing powder for I have & sometimes still do.But I,m
lazy & find thats to much work (wink).
Fly

Fly, you need to fill me in on your process. I'm lazy to and still having to grind out a living.

Bob

[AR-15 Cowboy]

AR may I add one more thing.Nether Boz or I use the CIA process.I'm not saying
it's bad.But some time,s people try to many things.Bob & I both mill our powder
dry in a ball mill.


Fly

I'm getting a ball mill from Harbor freight. The only reason I used the other method is because I didn't have one and my son was convinced that I'd blow myself up. He is like some of the earlier posters who drew a conclusion without research. I've read every post on this subject on this forum and others and actually believe the ball milling stage is very important. I'm making up some .50 cal balls now to put in the mill when it gets here.

[zxcvbob]

Has anybody tried using the powder (in cartridges) right from the ball mill without pressing it into some kind of grains? The powder I made a couple of years ago, without any binder in it, has gone mostly back to dust. I've been thinking about loading it in .45 Colt cartridges just like that without reprocessing it.

I also might put a light charge of Red Dot smokeless powder under some of them.

[Fly]

Bob you have forgotten, for we talked about using a binder instead
of pressing.But by using a binder the powder is lighter by volume & must
be weighed instead of volume measure.

You were going to use some in a 40-70 sharps round & did not think it
had enough volume to use the binder powder.

Fly PS Binder powder is faster than corned (pressed)

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I got my ball mill from Harbour Freight today and just finished my first batch. How do I granulate it. Do I use water to dampen it and run it through a screen? Or do I use alcohol? Any tips will be appreciated.

[Longwood]

There are a few ways to make powder and all of them seem to work pretty well.
I sure would be nice if someone, smarter than I, would start a poll on how people do their home-made black powder.
Ingredients including percentages, use of binders and types, and manufacturing processes.
Milling, pressing, binders or not plus the types, etc etc?
A poll where people could put a percentage into more than one choice would be better than most polls that limit people to one choice only.

The info is out there, but sorting through it all is a bear.

I would attempt it, but first, I need to put new tires on my band saw so I can cut some pieces to make special parts for my shooting stick that is almost finished and some brass balls for my mill, and a cannon so I can test the batch of powder I made and the set collars, so I can finish the mill I have almost all of the parts for, so I can take back the borrowed one, then,,,,
And,,,, I forgot to get some Cornstarch at the store yesterday.

Who said you have time for everything when you retire?

[Boz330]

Bob you have forgotten, for we talked about using a binder instead
of pressing.But by using a binder the powder is lighter by volume & must
be weighed instead of volume measure.

You were going to use some in a 40-70 sharps round & did not think it
had enough volume to use the binder powder.

Fly PS Binder powder is faster than corned (pressed)

OK you are talking about wetting the powder and then screening it to get granulation. The powder I did that way has quite a bit less weight and velocity in the fixed dimensions of a cartridge case. Worked fine in my .40 ML but not so much in the 40-65. The pressed worked much better (200fps faster) in the 40-65.
I'd like to try Atom's method to see if that would work in cartridges. In the ML I can add as much powder as I want.

Bob

[Fly]

I got my ball mill from Harbour Freight today and just finished my first batch. How do I granulate it. Do I use water to dampen it and run it through a screen? Or do I use alcohol? Any tips will be appreciated.

Well remember you must use binder in the mix to keep your grains hard.
Dextrin is nothing more than corn starch cooked in your oven at 450 degrees
for about 4 hours or till it turns golden.

Mix it in your mix real good at about 2% before you wet & screen.Don't
over wet.Just wet enough to get it to stick together when you squeeze
it into a ball with you hand.

Any more questions, just PM me.

Fly

[AR-15 Cowboy]

Thanks Fly, Thats the information I'm looking for, I'll get some corn starch in the morning and make some dextrin and give it a try. By the way, between the two methods I tried, Atoms method, and yours, the ball mill is the winner hands down. It was much easier to do, didn't stink as bad and the powder is much, much better. Really burns faster in a side by side comparison. I wont use nothing but the ball mill from now on. AR

[Longwood]

I decided to make some Dextrin last night. It is a good thing I tried half a box on my first try.
I did not look up this thread and forgot about the "four hour" baking time.
My oven does not get very hot and thing were going slowly so I put it on convection.
It was working well until I forgot to check o it for too long.
The cloud of smoke coming from the kitchen was a dead give away that I had gotten it a little too hot. I think I can save some of it by sifting but a lot of it is "Toast".

[Fly]

I decided to make some Dextrin last night. It is a good thing I tried half a box on my first try.
I did not look up this thread and forgot about the "four hour" baking time.
My oven does not get very hot and thing were going slowly so I put it on convection.
It was working well until I forgot to check o it for too long.
The cloud of smoke coming from the kitchen was a dead give away that I had gotten it a little too hot. I think I can save some of it by sifting but a lot of it is "Toast".

I hope you never invite me over for dinner (WINK), that's funny!

Fly

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I just finished my first batch also. Since I'm old, whenever I put something in the oven everyone in the house keeps checking it for me. So no problems with burning it up. I stirred mine every thirty minutes and it turned out golden brown. I used the smallest package I could buy. One pound. At 2% per batch this should last me a long time. AR

[FRJ]

About 60 years ago my best friend told me about a formula for making B/P. Being curious kids we went about making some. Didn't have fuses so we put it in shotgun shells and threw it in fires. Some flash but nothing impressive. Then we found a pipe with threads on both ends and some caps to close those ends. As I remember it was about 8" long and 2" in diameter. Filled it with our powder and capped it off. Back then people built big brick bar b q's to cook in. We got a fire going in his dads bbq and threw the pipe in. Then we got scared!!!! Darn thing didn't go off for about 20 minutes as I remember but when it did it leveled the bbq and shattered windows and did other damage to houses on both sides of the bbq. Needless to say we had some pissed off parents. Back then it was perfectly all right to tan a kids backside when he screwed up and I dont think I was able to sit for a month or more. That was the very last time I even thought about making my own black and the last time I made a bomb. Today we would both have probably gone to prison even though we were only 8 years old at the time. FRJ

[Longwood]

What a pain in the,,,
I finally had success with making the Dextrin.
I hope!
The oven is a big counter top oven with hot plates on top. It took me a while to realize the oven was not getting hot enough unless I put it on convection. Unfortunately, that caused it to get too hot on top and burn the corn starch.
I put some foil on top and it finally did turn light brown.
I hope I did not go too far,,, it smells sort of like burning matches or something I can't quite place. It is about the color of that fake coco they make chocolate milk with now.

Well,,,, Since I got no response about my Nesquik colored Dextrin, I decided to try again.
I baked it at 350 degrees (measured with meter and oven thermometer) until it turned nice and golden, then a tiny bit more tan than the color of the inside of a piece of cornbread.
That is where I decided to quit.
It took a little over two hours and I could see it was going to turn more tan, then as dark as the first batch if I did not stop. I did not try to cool it and stop it from over cooking after removing it from the oven,,,,, hence the slight tan color.

[Fly]

What a pain in the,,,
I finally had success with making the Dextrin.
I hope!
The oven is a big counter top oven with hot plates on top. It took me a while to realize the oven was not getting hot enough unless I put it on convection. Unfortunately, that caused it to get too hot on top and burn the corn starch.
I put some foil on top and it finally did turn light brown.
I hope I did not go too far,,, it smells sort of like burning matches or something I can't quite place. It is about the color of that fake coco they make chocolate milk with now.

Dam Longwood I will send you some my friend, it's really not hard.Give some
corn starch to a friend that has a oven & ask them to cook it for you.If not
PM me & you pay shipping & for corn starch & I will make you some.

Fly

[Longwood]

Dam Longwood I will send you some my friend, it's really not hard.Give some
corn starch to a friend that has a oven & ask them to cook it for you.If not
PM me & you pay shipping & for corn starch & I will make you some.

Fly

I am way too stubborn to do that yet.
I know I can make it, when I go about it correctly.
All I have to do, is do it with proper equipment.
The next batch I will do in the kitchen oven.
Maybe what I made is OK. It sure is not what I started with.
What is it supposed to look/smell like?
I hope to have time to launch some tennis balls or something for a test of what I already made this weekend.

[Fly]

Kitchen oven works for me.450 degrees & 3 1/2 hours to 4 should give you golden
dex, you will be proud of.

Fly

[Longwood]

Kitchen oven works for me.450 degrees & 3 1/2 hours to 4 should give you golden
dex, you will be proud of.

Fly

Mine turned out to be almost the color of Nesquick.
Do you think it is ok?

Enclosed is a photo of the drum I am piddling with for my large quantity mill.

A friend who works for a super market had the two short buckets with the big flanges around the top. They are quite a bit shorter than the five gallon buckets.

I had one, smaller yet bucket, that would be perfect, but I only have the one and my new puppy ate a chunk out of the lid.. Some oak or aluminum angle for lifters and I think the big one will do just fine.

I don't have a lot of money in it yet and could have saved over $20 by using a couple of pieces of oak with 3/4" holes for the shafts, instead of the bushings, which cost about $6 each. As short of a time as these mills run, oak bushings would work quite well.

I found some 1/3 horse garage door motors at the scrap yard for $2. I bought two in case of a bad one and they both work fine. I had to buy the whole thing and take out the motors but I can recycle the rest if I decide not to use it for another project.

[Fly]

Well you seem to be doing good.But that looks like a mighty big drum.I made mine
from a 10 inch pvc pipe.Remember it should be filled 1/2 full of lead balls.Also needs
to run no more than 70 rpm.

Fly

[Charlie Sometimes]

In order to make that thing roll, seems you would have to have rubber rollers to maintain a viable surface with enough friction to turn it once it is filled and the weight is completely engaged. As big as that is, it might be too heavy to turn if filled half way with lead balls of any size.

The plastic and rubber combo might build static charge on the bucket and I wonder about static build up in that size plastic drum. Would it not be prudent to attach a ground wire or some sort of pressure contact that rides against the drum to drain the static charge from it before you fool with it? Just thinkin'......

I would not be so sure that device could not build up enough static to be hazardous, but I wouldn't take any chances either.

I still have to get reorganized in my shop before I can attempt this process. Dang divorces anyway............. LOL