My homemade black powder

[FLASHMAN]

Thanks Nobade ----
the black damp dough has yielded a pile of black worm-like spaghetti

its rather large --2 mm thick strings --1-2 cm long
but they dry easily ---crumble into pellets --like bat guano --or lizard droppings

see fotos
however --a light crushing in a wood mortar --& much sieving --yields a variety of conical granules

AND THE IGNITION IS INSTANT!!-----
will keep on till a uniform 0.5 mm is obtained - grateful for the help
Flasman

[Boz330]

Here is how I do it, break up pucks, then grind in coffee grinder, sift through different size screens for grade I want. Anything too big goes back through coffee grinder and sifted again. For me 3F gives the best accuracy and velocity. The screens are 16, 20 and 30. That is openings per inch or 25.4 MM.
By using the pressed puck method you get a denser or more energetic powder. In a muzzle loader you can load your screened powder by weight and get good velocity, it just takes up more room in the barrel.


Bob

[FLASHMAN]

Appreciate the great fotos BOZ --
Good back up idea ---
how does one press a puck ?
and do you throw away the liquid that is squeezed out ? surely the liquid contains dilute KNO3?

I will try the coffee grinder for dry chunks --
I assume no sparks from the SS blades?---wonder why stainless does not create a flash --/spark?

but u would not be here if it did --so must be OK

many thanks
F

[Fly]

We never wet powder as to get water coming out when we press it. We lightly mist it to where
it will just stick together in a tight fist of your hand. I sell pressing dies for pressing pucks.

Fly

[Texantothecore]

9 grams of water per 8 oz of mix is one of our members recipe. Not much at all.

[Whizzer]

Bob, that is a great post!!

The Louisville Slugger was a nice touch too. No other choice of baseball bat for a Kentuckian, or anyone else for that matter...

Did you source your screens from Skylighter?

Thanks!
Stan

[Boz330]

Flashman that is a ceramic grinder, no metal involved, DO NOT use metal.
Whizzer, I got those from one of the industrial supply places, can't remember the name but were very reasonable.
Flashman, I use 2 inch PVC and aluminum pistons in a bench vice, but hardwood would work as well.

Bob

[FLASHMAN]

Here is how I do it, break up pucks, then grind in coffee grinder, sift through different size screens for grade I want. Anything too big goes back through coffee grinder and sifted again. For me 3F gives the best accuracy and velocity. The screens are 16, 20 and 30. That is openings per inch or 25.4 MM.
By using the pressed puck method you get a denser or more energetic powder. In a muzzle loader you can load your screened powder by weight and get good velocity, it just takes up more room in the barrel.


Bob

Wonderful ! thanks BOZ -- Great fotos ---that's what I needed !

problem now ---is the larger granules --fail to detonate ---50 grains tamped down --hard
cap fires --nothing

then --the finer dust ----less than 1/4 mm ---does fire
( but one second delay )

is there a way of measuring the ideal or average BP granule?
no idea-- what size sieves are used
but finely powdered flashes slowly--poorly OUTSIDE the barrel ( on a steel platter)
the HEAVY 1--or 1/2 MM granules ---flash very fast ---OUTSIDE the pistol BUT are silent when hit with a percussion cap ---blast---weird --

I need to find why fine dust fires INSIDE the barrel --more reliably -yet has a weak "flash off externally ----so how to measure the ideal pistol powder granules???

maybe someone had this problem --sure appreciate a solution
many thanks --- F

[Whizzer]

Flashman, If you have been ball milling good charcoal and the right ratios with KNO3 and sulfur, it is gonna go poof, period. I don't care what size your grains are.

You can get it too wet if you are screening it damp. Don't overdo the moisture.

But pressing pucks gets a more energetic reaction FOR ANY GIVEN VOLUME of powder charge. It's denser, thats all. For cartridge revolvers, or even cap and ball, its the bees knees. For a smokepole, grating dampened "green meal" through a screen will knock Bambi (or even a lazy Kudu I suppose) dead enough. Pucks or no pucks. So I'm guessing you've got another issue. Charcoal is key. Don't bother buying it. Unless you buy charcoal from a hardcore pyro, you are gonna get junk. MAKE. YOUR. OWN. (see below....)

And hardwood is a poor choice in the US. Dunno squat about African trees, but we have many species of softwoods that are better than ANY Hardwoods for BP. Western Red Cedar comes in lizard bedding packages and is easy (but dirty). And white pine can be bought easily here. Pawlonia is good, but I don't have access to it here. Cottonwood may well have helped our Colonial Patriots defeat the Brits, but I'm not a great historian. I read somewhere, that the Britains were surprised at the power (and effectiveness) of our Gunpowder during the Revolutionary War.

Let me post this again. The site is pretty old and no longer updated, but Brian Redmond kindly hosts this fabulous info on BP and tooling. Anything you don't find (or understand) in the 74 pages (!!!!!) of this thread is likely to be answered in the Dan Williams site, below.

Stan

http://www.brianredmond.net/dwilliams/top.html

[FLASHMAN]

Wow --very grateful Whizzer !
suspected this bush made resinous hardwood charcoal was dodgy ---will make a new start --

I know a dude who makes pine( Oregon or some pine species) charcoal here -from off cuts at a sawmill

additionally --you say pressed pucks ? - I have access to a 5 ton hydraulic press
will make a pipe with holes in base --thick robust metal --discs ontop to squeeze the wet dough cakes
how long for ? 2 0r 3 minutes ? --till water stops flowing thru holes in lower plate?

ok --forearmed with this supa knowledge ---will make fresh --- GP--USING SOFTWOOD CHARCOAL
_( The magnificent hardwood forests are disappearing faster than ice cream in a heat wave --here
in Zambia / Malawi - Zululand--these locals are so ignorant ---but ignore sage advice from whitey -
to stop destroying your oxygen supply /shade trees --for a bag of cheap hydrocarbon lumps ==
idiots
--I wont be buying bush charcoal from them ---so shud others boycott them --but its an old tradition -
amongs tribes here----poor trees --!

many thanks
Flash

[Nobade]

When you press pucks, use the smallest amount of water you can and still get the green meal to stick together. If you have water coming out of your die, you have used way too much water. Let the pucks dry for a few weeks at least before you go breaking them up. They will be hard like ceramic so will be difficult to break and grind.

-Nobade

[Fly]

Like I said BEFORE, pine burns way too dirty for fire arms. Yes we use it in fireworks, but in fireworks
who cares to how dirty it burns.

Fly

[FLASHMAN]

OK many thanks Nobade --
off to purchase Kno3 --- got a 5 ton hyd press ready
just got to find softwood charcoal --

( I collect the yellow sulphur from hot springs in the National park --
stinks like hell --must be hydrogen suphide --)

KNO3 Is found naturally in salt lick big game areas --
the saltpetre can be seen at night ---it spontaneous combusts in flashes here and there over the
plains --startles the buffalo herds--
one client told me its the dry hot clay /grass fires -that set off these deposits
as the ground is dry ----its certainly not marsh gas --
just have to dig up the crystals --filter somehow --evaporate ---

or buy the chemist **** !
regards FLASHMAN

[FLASHMAN]

OK thanks FLY ----
scrap pine -----I see it contains pine oil /tar etc--which is responsible for so many wildfires

lotsa other softwoods here ---jacaranda -mahogany ---South American Syringa etc
will try them --see what results obtained
appreciate ---Flash

[Boz330]

OK thanks FLY ----
scrap pine -----I see it contains pine oil /tar etc--which is responsible for so many wildfires

lotsa other softwoods here ---jacaranda -mahogany ---South American Syringa etc
will try them --see what results obtained
appreciate ---Flash

If it grows fast it will probably work. I believe that the Blue gum trees grow pretty fast and there seemed to be plenty of those when I was in Jo-burg.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

As a very rough guide willow is about 28 lbs per cubic foot and it makes terrific powder. Our western red cedar is 22lbs per cubic foot and works well. Eastern cedar is 33 lbs per cubic ft and is good also.

Just a rough guide though.

[Texantothecore]

Some other tips:
Field corn works well.
Our pioneers used all types of softwood so experiment. They couldn't just whip down to the lumber yard and stuff the 78th 79thwagon with fence slats (western cedar).

[FLASHMAN]

Now that's very enlightening ---USA Willow & Cedar ----weighs circa 28 -30 LBS !!
problem --how do I measure-----ONE CUBIC FOOT ? cardboard box 12 x12 x12 inches
--ok how do u pack the logs /chips into that box --without airspaces ruining the weight estimation

I suppose its trial & error

one thing is very clear --a box 12 /12 x12 ---filled with local HARDWOOD BLOCKS packed tightly --
weighs 48 -54 lbs ---a clear indication of HARD vs Soft wood
now to chop soft SAmerican ( Bolivia ) syrings chunks to fit into that same box
compare average weights --with your cedar or willow
feels lighter --will let u know

[FLASHMAN]

FYI --- am busy building a mini charcoal twin drum diy affair --for small quantities -back yard lab !

astounding all the ideas from the fabulous internet !

no more long trips to dreary city libraries !

[Texantothecore]

There may be a chart with local species that shows weight on the internet. A lumber yard may also know the weights.

Weights below 28 may be very good. Western cedar is a good example.