My homemade black powder

[almar]

I pull my mill off the stand about every hour and turn the drum upside down and toss it around a bit to make sure that it is not clumping on the ends and to help mix it up a bit. I milled my last batch for 12 hours and could not tell much difference from the one before milled for only 6 hours. My drum is hexagonal shaped so it does seem to have a good noise to it of the lead balls dropping six times per revolution. 20 rpm seems slow, but might be enough. I will look in my junk collection to see if I have a slightly larger pulley that will fit on the shaft of the motor and see if I can speed it up just a wee bit. Not sure I want it too fast or the balls might not be able to fall before the next section of the hexagonal drum come up on top. The balls drop 120 times per minute as it is.

The mill i built runs at 80 or 90rpm but the jar is only 4 inchs inner diameter.

[SeaMonkey]

At first I had clumping in the ball mill too.

Then I very carefully oven dried my Potassium Nitrate and Charcoal for several hours before milling and it remained powder throughout.

When I first began making BP back in early '93 getting good information on the processes was quite difficult.

I did order several pamphlets from an outfit in Pennsylvania which advertised in several magazines and followed their recommendations while learning.

Seventy two hours is probably extreme "overkill" on the milling time but the result was always quite good.

Even the Sulfurless Powder or very low sulfur powders turned out well and were fun to experiment with.

Back then I made my Charcoal by open burning the sticks until the flaming char looked good then I'd quench the sticks in water to extinguish and air dry them.

Surprisingly, as if by "beginners luck," the Charcoal was quite good. I made it from limbs taken from the local Peppertree which is very abundant in Very Southern California.

Now I'm itchin' to get a kiln put together such as Almar has done to try some precision temperature control.

I haven't made any powder for more than twenty years due to situational changes and am now very eager to get back to it.

I really appreciate the input we're getting from all here who are actively engaged as well! Never too old to learn new tricks and procedures!

When I first began I was very busy with trying various BP compositions and still have quite a lot of the powder I made back then.

I'll have to break some out and test it to see if it still has ooomph.

[ChrisPer]

Last night I turned out my meal from the mill. It ran for six hours, and I leave the mill for a day or so before emptying as I think that reduces the risk of stray reasons for it to go off. There was an end clump formed against the lid, big in the middle and thin around the circumference. The clump grated easily against the mesh I use to separate the mill balls (.690 soft lead). The brew seemed to have have gained some mass, I have to weigh the balls and see if they are losing. I have a cleaning fluid spray bottle and weigh it between squirts, adding to get H2O 30ml/500g meal or 6% added moisture for pucking.

I really want to up my drying game, both for materials weighed into the the mill barrel and for pucks to be ground. I am planning to try a damp tumble of final corned powder too, which will also need drying.

[SeaMonkey]

Those who have the Harbor Freight Dual Drum Tumbler may find this video interesting.

An innovative way to do more. With some modification of course.

Would some of these types of Nylon Cap Nuts placed strategically on the inside surface with externally countersunk screws aid the tumbling?

[DoubleBuck]

I'm pucking the first batch of 'brown' Black Willow. Powder came out of the mill, in four hours, 1/2# at a time. It was as fine as flour, and no clumps. I always weigh the puck powder in small 'Dixie Cups'. The one shot ones. They hold one ounce perfectly. I started with 3/4 gram of water per ounce (2.6%). It was a tad too much, and a small amount of water seeped. So, I dropped it to .66 grams water (2.3%), and it was nearly perfect. All the rest I've used .5 grams (Ml/C.C's) water (1.75%). 20 tons for an hour, two cycles. They are turning out like ceramic. I'll finish them tonight and start drying them. Should be able to make a test or two tomorrow. I can't wait! The green meal was blazing fast and very clean! Maybe the cleanest I've ever made.
The picture is one gram on aluminum foil.

Edit for reference: When I pulled the powder out of the mill, it was 71°F and 73% Humidity. Right now, on my 11th and 12th pucks, it is 61° and 93% R.H. Getting froggy out....

[DoubleBuck]

SeaMonkey;
cool video! You post some great stuff! I wonder what media he used? He may have said, and I missed it. I have to keep quiet so sleepers can sleep. Had the sound pretty low, and I'm hard of hearing. haha

[ChrisPer]

I ordered some toys; a small electronic scale 3000g max, 0.1g precision; its smaller than I assumed. 4" square! My buckets may weigh, but not allow reading the result!
The other was a strap type luggage scale; if I can measure the pull-down on my jack handle I have the ratios worked out in leverage and hydraulic advantage, to estimate the pressure I am using. The press is not fixed, and I think fixing it down will help a lot.
Also just printed my own sticky labels for the powder.

[almar]

Did you test it yet double buck?? Hurry up !

I got an ohaus mechanical scale, i prefer it personally to digital. My digi scale turned off in the middle of a reading a few times and was inconsistent. But it was a cheap one, personal choice i guess, i tend to trust mechanical or analog more.

Im going to try a charr at 550 deg next time around. With my 77-13-10 ratio. And go for enev more ball milling time.

[mmb617]

I decided to jump ahead to the end of this thread simply to say how much I appreciate all of you sharing your information like this. I started out yesterday intending to read this entire thread and still plan on doing that but I'm presently 1000 posts in so I have another 3500 to go yet and didn't want to wait any longer to say thanks.

I'm getting ready to make my first ever batch of homemade black powder and have been researching for a couple weeks. This thread contains all the information I could ever hope to find on the subject.

And as a bonus, it sure seems like the members here are pretty much in my peer group and I'm sure I'll like hanging out with you.

[almar]

I decided to jump ahead to the end of this thread simply to say how much I appreciate all of you sharing your information like this. I started out yesterday intending to read this entire thread and still plan on doing that but I'm presently 1000 posts in so I have another 3500 to go yet and didn't want to wait any longer to say thanks.

I'm getting ready to make my first ever batch of homemade black powder and have been researching for a couple weeks. This thread contains all the information I could ever hope to find on the subject.

And as a bonus, it sure seems like the members here are pretty much in my peer group and I'm sure I'll like hanging out with you.

Hey Welcome mmb617! I'm relatively new to this forum as well, i hope to see you successful. Feel free to share your experiences on the subject or ask questions. This is how the thread/forum improves.

[DoubleBuck]

mmb617;
come on in! The water is F I N E!!!

[DoubleBuck]

Almar;
I was up till 4 AM getting it all pucked. It took me 8 hours to do 16 pucks, two at a time. I have them in the dehydrator, as we speak. I have to take a little trip this afternoon, to North Central Oklahoma, to my wife's brother's house. They are buying new furniture for their new house and are giving us their old new furniture, they just bought before they bought the house. haha Some people can afford to do that. We can barely afford to go pick up the free stuff. haha
When I get back home the powder will have been in the dehydrator for probably 8+ hours and should be bone dry and ready to bust up, if I can get that done. I left the last puck in my press, under full pressure, for over six hours. I whacked it on my press frame, and it nearly broke the frame. Didn't even dent the puck.
It may be a couple of days before I can set up and shoot. I have been planning a motorcycle trip to see my family in central Oklahoma and the next three days are looking delicious. I'd like to squeeze that in, before the cold weather gets here. We'll see. The good thing is, it will also be perfect shooting weather. I can barely wait, to test this powder!
I'll put it this way, I'll either try to test it tomorrow, or in about three days.
Good luck to everyone with the myriad of projects! Keep posting results, and ways and means! Buck

[Vettepilot]

I was going through my "goodie storage" last evening, getting out my grading screens. I ran across a bag of Alder chips I had bought at a yard sale a good while back, and totally forgotten about!! That will be interesting to try, and I'll do that next.

Anyone puzzled at my glee at finding that doesn't understand my situation. Nothing grows in this desert for many miles around.
:~(

Anyway, I'll let you all know how it works.

Vettepilot

[almar]

Vette i had a look at havasu city in AZ on the internet pictures...you aren't kidding...it IS like mars. We live in diametrically opposed climates...i'm in the sub tropical swamp lands. Its one of the reasons i like this country so much, you can go from swamp to desert to mountains all while staying domestic.

[Vettepilot]

Yeah, it's dire and depressing here, and it's quite curious why anyone would live here. I only came to take care of my sis who had terminal cancer. Hopefully all business will be concluded soon, and the ONLY time I will ever see this place is in PICTURES!

Again, congrats on your great work. That's mind boggling how much such a tiny recipe adjustment changed the results!

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

Seamonkey, you might want to keep using Peppertree for charcoal, it's in the same family as Sumac which has been identified as a source of excellent charcoal and I've used Brazilian Pepper which is closely related to it in my black powder with great results. A quick search shows that all three are all in the order "Sapindales" and are fast growing. The powder I made with Brazilian Pepper seemed just as good as the stuff I made with Carolina Willow.

[MUSTANG]

Vettepilot; try some of that Tamarisk/Salt Cedar along the Colorado River/Lake Havasu. It's classified as an invasive species, if it made great Charcoal maybe you could get a couple Million $$$ Federal Grant to harvest it and make Charcoal from.

Seriously; it might be interesting to see Tamarisk/Salt Cedar would do making charcoal. Won't be in the Southern Nevada area for quite some time so not something I can give a try at till next Spring or so.

[ChrisPer]

mmb617, welcome!
(Has anyone told him about... you know... it yet?)

[mmb617]

mmb617, welcome!
(Has anyone told him about... you know... it yet?)

Well that sounds rather ominous. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

Alright I have my first question. I started reading at the beginning of this thread and I'm only 1381 posts in so far so maybe it's answered later, but the section I'm on now several guys have talked about making media for their tumbler out of sections of copper pipe filled with lead. I take it the theory is that the odd shape mills better than the round lead balls. I'm a reloader so I have a good quantity of .45 caliber 230 grain FMJ bullets which are copper jacketed around a lead core. Any reason these wouldn't be suitable as tumbler media? I'm using the Harbor Freight tumbler that seems to be prevalent here.

[almar]

I think it was more about finding a media that wouldn't wear away into the powder. I have personally switched to ceramic sometime ago so I cant speak to the other forms of media.

I think many started with the Harbor Freight and then ended up building their own. Harbor Freight is just too weak too small too slow and heats up too fast for our purposes. A few of us posted pictures of our ball Mills in recent post. But if you're stuck with the Harbor Freight for now, there are ways to make it a little better.