My homemade black powder

[Sandro_ventania]

Definitely not the same thing. I bought a bag of "pure vitamin C" from Amazon. I just looked for the cheapest kind they had that was pure. It's called Micro Ingredients brand. $20 for one kilogram.

I figure if my powder experiments don't pan out I can eat what's left.

Nobade, I was thinking today, you said that perhaps you used too little water to make the Golden powder... The amount of water has to be enough so that when it boils, it dissolves the components... this way the mixture will be completely homogeneous, the integration between the two components will be at the molecular level like this! It would be a dream if coal and sulfur also dissolved in water to mix at this level with nitrate.

[HWooldridge]

I'll post a photo of my 3F made from toilet paper. My syringe is 20ml. For complete impartiality, I say that I added the powder and tapped the table a few times to accommodate the grains.


FFFg toilette paper 10cc

I realize the photo is magnified but those grains look really huge for 3F. More like 1F or cannon powder.

[LAGS]

A question for you guys that are trying the Toilet Paper for Charcoal.
Has anyone tried making charcoal out of Kleenex or other Facial Tissues.
They look like they could make good charcoal like the toilet paper does.

[Sandro_ventania]

I realize the photo is magnified but those grains look really huge for 3F. More like 1F or cannon powder.

true! But that's not a dish, it's just the lid of a mayonnaise jar. My 2F is 16 to 20 mesh, 3F is 20 to 50 mesh, and 4F is 50 to 80 mesh.

[Sandro_ventania]

A question for you guys that are trying the Toilet Paper for Charcoal.
Has anyone tried making charcoal out of Kleenex or other Facial Tissues.
They look like they could make good charcoal like the toilet paper does.

Of the experiments I want to do, one of them is to put raw cotton in the ball mill until it turns into dust and use it instead of charcoal. I believe Kleenex paper will be similar to toilet paper. Let's continue experimenting... one day we'll discover the philosopher's stone... lol!

[dtknowles]

sandro
10cc of Goex 5FA =10.67
10cc of my FFG (pucked) = 9.75
10cc of my FFFg (screened) = 8.45

I wouldnt entirely trust any of our measurements as comparison, after all we are using a 10cent syringe - mine is a smaller diameter 10cc total - yours a 20cc or 50cc? - eyeball filling to the mark? I like the comparison back to commercial powder with known performance - but even that has a decent margin for error

my FFG 91% of the Goex weight
a little surprised at the screened powder density reading 79% but I have worked on that and it looks good powder (my screened is always noticebly darker than pucked)
.......

Using the syringe method I get the following densities

GOEX FFFg 1.04
GOEX FFFg (screened to remove fines) 1.10 g/cc
My Meal Powder (right out of the ball mill, cedar charcoal) 0.89 g/cc

I don't have any pucked or screened at the moment, I shot it all up.

Tim

[Nobade]

Of the experiments I want to do, one of them is to put raw cotton in the ball mill until it turns into dust and use it instead of charcoal. I believe Kleenex paper will be similar to toilet paper. Let's continue experimenting... one day we'll discover the philosopher's stone... lol!

The Youtube guy just did a video using cotton balls. His conclusion was that it worked pretty well, almost as well as the toilet paper but was considerably more expensive. It ended up costing more than a pound of Swiss.

[Nobade]

Nobade, I was thinking today, you said that perhaps you used too little water to make the Golden powder... The amount of water has to be enough so that when it boils, it dissolves the components... this way the mixture will be completely homogeneous, the integration between the two components will be at the molecular level like this! It would be a dream if coal and sulfur also dissolved in water to mix at this level with nitrate.

I will try that. I used enough water to end up with a cloudy liquid that got clear for a little while then got cloudy again then got solid. You say it is supposed to boil while it's a liquid? Mine didn't really do that but did start boiling as it dried out.

I loaded one round of 44 special this morning with that powder to see what it would do. It felt pretty weak, not anywhere near as powerful as black powder but it did fire, there was almost no fouling, and no pressure signs. I have been reading that the fouling will quickly destroy your brass but doesn't bother steel so I cleaned the fired case with a swab before I left. (had to travel this weekend.) When I have time I'll make another batch of powder, and shoot some of both over the chronograph.
I saw an old article by Mike Belliveu (sp?) testing APP powder. He said it was weak and inaccurate in handguns but good enough for cowboy action. But in rifles it worked as well as black powder. Maybe it needs more time to burn. I will continue experimenting once the weather gets a little nicer.

Here's the link...
https://www.mikebeliveau.com/magazin...after%20firing.

[HamGunner]

Looking at the syringe method of measuring powder volume by cc, I decided to give it a try to see why some of the weights posted seemed to be out of line to me. I had several 10 cc syringes on my shelf that were not used the last time I gave my dogs their shots. But try as I could, I just could not pour the same weight measurement two times in a row. Even tried it for an average and decided that it was such an inaccurate way of measuring that i gave up just pouring into the syringe.

Loaded up my Lyman 55 powder measure with Goex 3F and opened it up until it was throwing 10cc volume with the same weight consistently every stroke and screwed it down. I weighed the throw and recorded it. I then emptied the measure without changing the setting and loaded it up to exactly the same height with my Sassafras, Great Value TP, and just for the heck of it, Pyrodex RS (FFG equivalent). I ran several drops with each until they were finally consistent volume as well as weight from throw to throw and weighed them all.

Goex 3F (20 years old) weighed 155 gr. or 10.04 g. = 100% density or the very same as TIM's (dtknowles)
Great Value TP 3F surprised me at 144 gr. or 9.33 g. = 92.9% density
Sassafras 3F dropped less this time at 142 gr. or 9.20 g. = 91.6% density
Pyrodex RS 2F is really light weight at 107 gr. or 7.06 g. = 70% density. Of course, Pyrodex is not Black Powder.

Apparently the way I had always been comparing my volume to weight was flawed, because before, I found my Sassafras to be heavier than the TP. Perhaps this TP powder will give more surprises once I get to go chronograph all these powders. It might just beat out Sassafras, which is my favorite so far. Velocity and cleanliness tests will hopefully be done as soon as this Polar weather takes a hike back up North where it belongs.

[DoubleBuck]

Sandro;
I took three weights of each of these and averaged them, just to possibly give a more accurate measurement. I used a 10 CC syringe, and tapped them down, several times.
Cottonelle Super Strong TP 3fff tumbled 12 hours 1.597 Density = 10.623 Grams.
Cottonelle Super Strong TP 3fff not tumbled Density 1.597 = 9.94 Grams. Lots of dust in this powder.
Tree Of Heaven 3fff 1.7 Density one year old, not tumbled = 10.698 Grams. This powder is still looking good and is not very dusty as compared to the one above.

[Sandro_ventania]

I think it's the amount of powder I press at a time that is making me achieve a high density rate. My press is 10 tons, my mold is only 2 inches in diameter and I press approximately 20 grams at a time. If I increase the amount of powder, the density decreases.

[DoubleBuck]

I think you nailed it. I've always found that if I really want high density, I need to just do one puck at a time. I've never been able to press a column as dense as a single. I use a 2" die and a 20 ton H frame press. You have achieved some great numbers, as far as I can tell. If it has good burn qualities, I think you have a definite winner.

[indian joe]

I think it's the amount of powder I press at a time that is making me achieve a high density rate. My press is 10 tons, my mold is only 2 inches in diameter and I press approximately 20 grams at a time. If I increase the amount of powder, the density decreases.

I am lazy or impatient (take your pick) as a 1948 vintage thats unlikely to change any time soon.
Die is 3inch, 20 ton truck jack, I press 500 grams at a time in 100 gram discs ....chronograph and target tellin a good story

45/75 Uberti with a 330grain gets neat 1500FPS and Extreme Spread under 10FPS for a ten shot string with NO clean between shots .......I think it aint broke ............

[DoubleBuck]

A question for you guys that are trying the Toilet Paper for Charcoal.
Has anyone tried making charcoal out of Kleenex or other Facial Tissues.
They look like they could make good charcoal like the toilet paper does.

LAGS;
In reading some on the TP and paper products in general, I read that face tissues are manufactured basically germ free and are anti allergen. Not saying they wouldn't make good powder. They may make even better, actually. We need a guinea pig to cook a box of Kleenex, get some ash numbers and some density numbers and some chronograph numbers. I nominate you, right quick. Anyone second my nomination?
And, please hurry. Enquiring minds need answers!!!

[LAGS]

I would love to do that Testing.
But,
I never do my powders with doing any comparison of weight or density like some of you fine tune guys do.
And I no longer have a Crony to check their speed.
But when I make some more charcoal , I may give the Kleenex a try just to make some powder out of it.
I am not one of the guys that wants to make powder and constantly compare it to Factory Powders.

[HamGunner]

I am lazy or impatient (take your pick) as a 1948 vintage thats unlikely to change any time soon.
Die is 3inch, 20 ton truck jack, I press 500 grams at a time in 100 gram discs

About the same here. I have a 20 ton press and 3" die. I do four layers of close to 35 grams each, as that is all that will fit in my die. I give the press nearly all that the jack has and about all that my press frame can handle, wait a minute or three and hit it another stroke or two and then repeat one more time. When at it's peak, I then hold the pressure for about 4-5 minutes before release. Moisture is just short of squeezing out. Pucks are certainly hard.

And this lazy guy is a 1952 model. I turn 72 in a month. Actually has nothing to do with age, but I am happy with my results nonetheless. But then, I also like to experiment if something neat comes along, so if the TP charcoal works out, so much the better.

[indian joe]

I would love to do that Testing.
But,
I never do my powders with doing any comparison of weight or density like some of you fine tune guys do.
And I no longer have a Crony to check their speed.
But when I make some more charcoal , I may give the Kleenex a try just to make some powder out of it.
I am not one of the guys that wants to make powder and constantly compare it to Factory Powders.

Lags I am not fine tune - just sticking to basic procedure and aiming for consistent

diligent with screening - screen - screen - screen = low variation in my grades and low levels of fines / dust

blending - thorough with that - means I have batches of powder that will last me 12 months or more

drying - I want the least deterioration in storage I can get

the chrono velocity is my "how are ya doin here"

I found if I was really particular with assembling loads (cartridge) then the low ES came -- and I got a bit excited about that -- tell me I cant do something and my natural response is "you just watch me" ....one of the guys here (early days) said yeah we can make powder good enough for plinking and front loaders but we never get it good enough for long range (BPCR) ....why not? ....I bet theres at least a dozen guys here doin it - if not the main reason would be small lots and lot to lot variation - blending does away with that.
I'm watching the dunny paper thing with interest but at the same time I quite enjoy a few hours splitting willow sticks with a tommyhawk so would need to keep (or improve) the favourable residue characteristics and gain some ooomph to encourage a change

[DoubleBuck]

I was throwing some notes and junk away from my desk, and found some Mimosa notes I took some months back. It was cut in April and cooked in May and tested. I never tested the charcoal for ash, because I had ashed a debarked twig before cutting it and it ashed near 6%. I went ahead and tested it and it had great numbers and I didn't think it was that dirty. This evening, with nothing to do on a cold night, I pulled a piece of that charcoal out; that I have packed away; and tested the charcoal itself, for ash. 3% was the total content.
Over the course of my time on this forum, I've seen Mimosa discussed and nobody had tested it. It's a very light, fast growing short lived wood, that burns really hot and fast (in my wood stove). We have a lot of them in my area, and I have five or six in the front yard. They grow like weeds. Most of them winter kill, or die off within 20 years or so.
While looking over the numbers on it, and seeing it actually has a 3% ash content, I recommend Mimosa as a very good wood, to make charcoal out of. It gave good numbers on both velocity and accuracy, with fouling being very manageable. It actually out performed both Weeping and Kitty Willows, for me. They won't let me say Kitty Willow's real name.
If you have Mimosa, I think you'll find it is pretty rang dang good.
Now, back to the Toilet Paper...

[Sandro_ventania]

The possibilities of good wood for making charcoal are endless. And the best may yet be discovered. The challenge of making a powder with similar quality to the commercial one was achieved... and I'm very happy with it! The ball mill is what makes the real difference! And since we can't stop looking for improvements, now the goal is to make a powder better than the Swiss in every way. DoubleBuck, is that the mimosa you mean?
https://loja.paraisodasarvores.com.b...ia-mimosa.html

[HamGunner]

I imagine DoubleBuck has the same Mimosa that I have here in S.Central Missouri.

https://www.greenthumbsgarden.com/pr...n&gad_source=1