My homemade black powder

[Whiterabbit]

Also, anyone try spritzing graphite lube in their finished powder to help it flow? Another thought.

[Vettepilot]

I've read that you can mill your finished powder with bits of Levi material and graphite to polish and finish it. Note that apparently the graphite will slow the burn rate. Also, personally I would only do it with pressed powder; not screened. Screened powder might not hold up well to the treatment, but that's just a guess on my part.

ONE of these days, I'll probably try it. Just because I'm a tinkerer at heart.

Vettepilot

[Traffer]

Lags I,m still messing with them. But I think they will work fine. Just a little time consuming but once there done it will work fine.
I tried that hydraulic primer removal & all that did was swell the brass necks.That might work better on the steel cases. I ended up using your jig in my vertical mill to hold
them once I centered the cases & it has worked fine. I,m going to try the copper tube deal. Keep you posted.

Thanks Fly

I made a Berdan depriming tool like this and it cannot bulge the necks as the pressure on the outside of the case is the same as on the inside...

[indian joe]

What says the collective about using water vs a solvent (IPA?) to spritz over the ball-milled-air-float powder before it goes in the puck presser? Anyone try both and have a preference? I have only used water to date, and it gets very messy. I am wondering if I would be better off using another material like IPA or even acetone.

If your water mix "gets very messy" you are using toooooo much - just reduce the water quantity until it dont get messy

I used alcohol once in early stage - the grains were softer and the powder deteriorated over time (3 to 6 months) - less ooomph as the alcohol dried out of it I think - first and last time for me

[indian joe]

Also, anyone try spritzing graphite lube in their finished powder to help it flow? Another thought.

It will make it flow better ------and burn slower and burn dirtier - not where I wanna go ..................................

[LAGS]

The only time I used Alcohol to mix my powder was when I did Screened powder and used Acatia Powder ( Red Gum ) as a binder insted of Dextrin.
It worked good , but I shot up the powder quickly , and don't know how it would have lasted if stored for any length of time.
But now I corn most of my powder , so I don't have need for a Binder.

[Vettepilot]

It will make it flow better ------and burn slower and burn dirtier - not where I wanna go ..................................

Interesting. "Burn dirtier".

Thanks Indian Joe. Also thanks for your replies to my queries on that other thread.

Take care,
Vettepilot

[Boz330]

I added graphite to my power to help it flow through a powder measure better. I didn't notice any ill effects from it.

Bob

[Whiterabbit]

How much did you add per pound?

[indian joe]

I added graphite to my power to help it flow through a powder measure better. I didn't notice any ill effects from it.

Bob

Its not a big deal - a minor trade off is all - I dont use a rotary measure - been shooting ungraphited powder for 25 years so the extra bit of care needed in measuring is second nature - (thats the downside if you like to call it that) - payoff is a (tested) 5 to 8 % velocity increase, a little less fouling, and one less (complicated and time consuming) step in the making process - worth it for me .................

[Fly]

I made a Berdan depriming tool like this and it cannot bulge the necks as the pressure on the outside of the case is the same as on the inside...

Man I like that. I,m going to get on my lathe tomorrow & make one. Great idea.

Thank you Fly

[Whiterabbit]

Its not a big deal - a minor trade off is all - I dont use a rotary measure - been shooting ungraphited powder for 25 years so the extra bit of care needed in measuring is second nature - (thats the downside if you like to call it that) - payoff is a (tested) 5 to 8 % velocity increase, a little less fouling, and one less (complicated and time consuming) step in the making process - worth it for me .................

technically, I don't have any metering issues either, but improvements are improvements.

If I had to say I have any problem, since I've heard it discussed a bunch lately, is my powder is REALLY dirty. really, really dirty. But it shoots fast, it shoots accurate, it shoots great. But holy moly, it's dirty. no idea what I can do about that since I already corn tight. but if I could only choose two between fast, accurate, and dirty, I have the two I want.....

[indian joe]

technically, I don't have any metering issues either, but improvements are improvements.

If I had to say I have any problem, since I've heard it discussed a bunch lately, is my powder is REALLY dirty. really, really dirty. But it shoots fast, it shoots accurate, it shoots great. But holy moly, it's dirty. no idea what I can do about that since I already corn tight. but if I could only choose two between fast, accurate, and dirty, I have the two I want.....

Dirty - I would look to charcoal first - Fly posted some good charcoal info ages ago - I got lucky at the start - had Hybrid Willow here and plenty of it - its the cleanest burning powder I have had to shoot with since I started shooting.

the other thing is maybe sulphur - proper 99% elemental sulphur takes some finding - there is ag sulphur everywhere easy to get but has 10% clay in it - I wont use it -

blokes say wont make any difference because of the low amount ---10% sulphur and 10% of that is dirt - 1% of your charge is dirt that dont burn - I reckon it proly do make a difference --- anyway I have clean, accurate, and reasonable fast - somewhere between Goex and Swiss on the chronygraph

I have refined my process a fair bit but have not changed ingredients from the first batch - dont have any interest in changing. Got lucky !!!! aint broke - dont mess about fixin it.

[LAGS]

AG sulpher Can Be Cleaned and most of the clay removed with water.
Sulpher is not water soluble.
So if the AG sulpher is mixed in water , then the water is drained off , and the process repeated two or three times.
You will end up with Cleaner Sulpher powder once you dry it out again.
I would only do this if the AG sulpher was the ONLY sulpher you could aquire.
And that is common among many of the powder makers because of Money or where they live.
But I am with Indian Joe on starting off with the best to get the best results.
Even though I buy my supplies from a Pyrotechnical chemical supply , I do not limit my options.
I look for ways to have a Plan B if things change

[dondiego]

Clay is not water soluble either. Does it stay on the bottom or just go as silt in the water?

[LAGS]

The clay kinda floats or gets suspended in the water.
The heavier material will settle to the bottom.
So the water with the clay gets poured off gently
It isn't 100 percent fix , but it gets the bulk of the clay out.

[indian joe]

AG sulpher Can Be Cleaned and most of the clay removed with water.
Sulpher is not water soluble.
So if the AG sulpher is mixed in water , then the water is drained off , and the process repeated two or three times.
You will end up with Cleaner Sulpher powder once you dry it out again.
I would only do this if the AG sulpher was the ONLY sulpher you could aquire.
And that is common among many of the powder makers because of Money or where they live.
But I am with Indian Joe on starting off with the best to get the best results.
Even though I buy my supplies from a Pyrotechnical chemical supply , I do not limit my options.
I look for ways to have a Plan B if things change

Lags
Thanks for the tip ! I too am a plan B person - got a bag of that clay stuff stashed just in case - still able to get the proper stuff in garden shop/feed store

[Whiterabbit]

I ordered sulfur online. It is cheap and lasts forever. I got enough to fill a 1 gallon ziplock bag and I suspect it is enough to make 10-15 years worth of BP. It's the KNO3 that gets consumed fast.

[OldBearHair]

Quote:the other thing is maybe sulphur - proper 99% elemental sulphur takes some finding - there is ag sulphur everywhere easy to get but has 10% clay in it - I wont use it -
Once decided that I would try to separate sulphur from the clay. Using a large, tall glass container about five inch diameter, poured the sulphur in and added distilled water and began to stir it pretty vigorously and let it sit. Later the water was siphoned off carefully.
then removed the wet sulphur from the clay that was on the bottom. Put the sulphur in a large pan and more water came out until it was
fairly stiff. then put it in the dehydrator. When dry, break it down as small as you can and put in the ball mill. It looked pretty good , but I don't know whether any minute bits of clay was still in it, or if the drained off water had a percentage of the sulphur in it that did not settle out that would change the properties of the sulphur. Should one be desperate for sulphur, you might try this and let us know the true facts. No, I didn't make blackpowder with it.

[LAGS]

From my testing , cleaned AG sulpher worked very good in my BP.
I used it when I was first playing with making BP and did not want to order the perfect materials that were available.
But if push came to shove , I would use it again in a heartbeat.
I also used Stump Remover as my KN03.
But now order what I need from Pyrotechnic Supply or other chemical suppliers because it is far less expensive per pound and I can buy in bulk.