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Thread: Here is the write-up "My homemade black powder"

  1. #81
    Boolit Mold phuphuphnik's Avatar
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    Just a little reminder to be careful. I still have nerve damage, and new skin from forearm to fingertips. This was 2 weeks after catching fire making rocket fuel.


  2. #82
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    What propellant were you making, black powder or nitrate-sugar based?

  3. #83
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    Ouch...That had to hurt like heck. Hope the recovery is complete.

  4. #84
    Boolit Mold phuphuphnik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trooperdan View Post
    What propellant were you making, black powder or nitrate-sugar based?

    Potassium Nitrate and sucrose. 45 miles down a logging road to the hospital. Got lucky, the ER Dr there just got back from Afghanistan, and had plenty of experience with this sort of thing.

    Proper lab hygiene would of saved my hands. Always keep the airspace above your work clear. I reached over to turn down the heat and foom. Cooked Chris. We actually got audio of it!
    I give talks at amateur rocket launches about my stupid, stupid mistake so that others won't make it.

    Sad thing is that engine would make 150 newtons (30 pounds) of thrust for 3-4 seconds. sending it up around 3000 feet. Spent weeks making the DeLaval nozzles. Never got to see it go. Stopped messing with rockets about that time. (shrug)

  5. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by phuphuphnik View Post
    Potassium Nitrate and sucrose. 45 miles down a logging road to the hospital. Got lucky, the ER Dr there just got back from Afghanistan, and had plenty of experience with this sort of thing.

    Proper lab hygiene would of saved my hands. Always keep the airspace above your work clear. I reached over to turn down the heat and foom. Cooked Chris. We actually got audio of it!
    I give talks at amateur rocket launches about my stupid, stupid mistake so that others won't make it.

    Sad thing is that engine would make 150 newtons (30 pounds) of thrust for 3-4 seconds. sending it up around 3000 feet. Spent weeks making the DeLaval nozzles. Never got to see it go. Stopped messing with rockets about that time. (shrug)
    Burns sure are painful.
    Sorry to hear of your mishap.
    I have friend that fly rockets but I prefer wings, a seat and stick and rudder for my flying.
    I did rockets when I was in my teens but we had very limited supplies to use and even less info.
    Can you tell us what happened,,,
    Did a mixture ignite?

  6. #86
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    I made my first attempt last week. I have an old rock tumbler that I added about 50 45cal lead balls to. I took some of the charcoal bits and pieces out of the wood stove and pounded them with a hammer until they were fairly small pieces. I used sulfer from the pet and garden supply that is 90% pure. It was in little pellets so I smashed them with the hammer as well. The KNO3 also came from the pet and garden store and is apparently fairly pure. So i weighed out the stuff and threw it in the tumbler and ran it for about 6 hrs. It was a really fine powder to which I added just enough 50/50 water /alcohol to make a putty like goop. I put some of this goop in a steel tube with a steel piston and put it in my 12 ton press and took it just about to the max. Most of the liquid was squeezed out and I had a pellet that looked a lot like the new BP pellets you can buy for your muzzle stuffer. I cut about 15/20 grs off, chopped it up and let it dry over night. I didn't bother to weigh it as I was in too big a hurry to see if it would work. So I poured that dried pile in the cyl of my Pietta 44 and ramed a ball on top. Looked like it filled the cyl about half way. I set up a couple of 2x4s capped it and pulled the trigger. I was plesantly surprised by a nice bang and a ball a little over half way through the first 2x4. SWMBO came down stairs and informed me I was done experimenting in the basement. So, until I get time to hit the range with the chrony, I'm just guessing. But it looks like I've made a very usable BP. I'm still going to add some dextrin to keep the powder from turning to dust but other than that I think I'm good to go.

  7. #87
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    how i made it was with store bought potassium nitrate sublimed sulfur and made my charchoal from red oak, mix the ammounts together then wet it with uric acid, my own brew, if ya can get bull pee it has alot more ammonia in it, but the pee in a bottle will evaporate the water and leave behind the acid which adds alot of pow to the mix,i let the mix dry in the sun, it would be a solid block of dark brown powder, then break it up to desired sizes,1f to 4f,they used to sell these chemials at the drug stores next to witch hazel, glycerin, camphor, wets and dries.my first post. wierd?

  8. #88
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    gamma50, Welcome to CastBoolits!

    Yes, a little weird using your own urine in the mix. I guess that you can say that you really put yourself into it.


    Custom Cast Boolits Google Search


    The Learning Never Stops!

  9. #89
    Boolit Buddy H.Callahan's Avatar
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    I wonder if they can trace the DNA from the powder residue?


  10. #90
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    Quote Originally Posted by H.Callahan View Post
    I wonder if they can trace the DNA from the powder residue?

    Depends on how completely the powder burns. OTOH, they'll know they're looking for homemade powder almost immediately due to lack of taggants (micro-particles introduced into all explosives made in the USA to allow tracing of the material after it's served its intended purpose -- though perhaps not for the intended end result).

  11. #91
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    The taggants never got passed. Non-starter.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  12. #92
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    Quote Originally Posted by waksupi View Post
    The taggants never got passed. Non-starter.
    They were in some brands before BATF (then without the E) even started to consider them. I recall the stink about how they might alter the behavior of some materials etc. -- last I heard, the thinking was that if DuPont could put 'em in without messing up the product, so could Hercules. Must have missed the lobbies winning the day.

  13. #93
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    So tell me, when all this dry's, how do you go about classifying it all into f,ff,fff,ffff, or do you just measure, load and shoot, staying on the light side of charges.

  14. #94
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I'd like an answer to that also. I'm trying to get all the ducks in a row, but there are still a few spaces. No use in me making the same mistakes others have already over come.

  15. #95
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    I use a set of screens. I have screens from 1/4" all the way down to where only talcum powder will pass through. Just screen it to the size you want. Don't ask me where to buy them as they were given to me. They're about 10" in diameter.

    Roger

    My screens are kinda like this one. It works good.
    http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Stee...ds=soil+sifter
    Last edited by Rojelio; 08-30-2012 at 05:22 PM.

  16. #96
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    Check out these mesh strainers. http://restaurant-supplies.etundra.com/search#w=mesh strainer Don't know anything about them. I've been following this thread, saw the last post, wanted to contribute.

  17. #97
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    Well, I just made my first official batch of home made black. I used the amounts (in grams) specified by the OP, but omitted the boiling and alcohol. I simply reduced all chemicals to powder and CAREFULLY dry mixed all three, adding stale urine. I manufactured some dextrin by roasting a pound of corn meal and added it to the wet mix with the intention of keeping the granuals intact.

    I made four mistakes.....

    I should have ground the potassium nitrate to a fine powder. I left it in its granular state and it probably didn't completely incorporate.

    I got the mix too wet and had to wait for it to dry before proceeding. It doesn't take much to soak it! My "bisquit dough" looked more like runny mud. Oops.

    The sieve I bought was far too fine. Along with the overly wet mix, the powder stuck on the outside and had to be scraped off resulting in clumps. These were easily broken apart when dry, but the granulation is uneven. Looks like a mix of cannon powder and FFFg.

    I should have used more dextrin......the larger clumps break apart too easily in my opinion.

    Despite all this when the powder was dry I touched a half teaspoon full with a match and, although it took a second, it ignited and burned quite rapidly...as in "WHOOSH!". It WILL drive a projectile down a barrel, that's for sure. Lots of nice sulphur smoke too.

    I did this out of natural curiosity and the fact that there's no store within 200 miles that carries black powder. When I did find some it was $22/pound!
    Last edited by 3006guns; 09-20-2012 at 08:02 AM.

  18. #98
    Boolit Buddy Rojelio's Avatar
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    dextrin

    3006guns, your roasted corn meal didn't make dextrin (unless that was a typo). You have to use corn starch.

    Roger

  19. #99
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    Thank you Rojelio.....it was indeed corn starch. I usually check my posts very carefully and I'm glad you caught that. Might have given someone some grief!

    I tried a batch today using the same ingredients, but using a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and water instead of the urine. Mixed it very thoroughly and squeezed out the excess liquid through some T shirt material. I found a sieve that produces a nice, uniform grain size that can be further reduced to about 3fg size. The powder seems to ignite with the same speed as my first batch, that is, perhaps 1/2 second to burn a pile about an inch in diameter and not the "poof" I was hoping for. It DOES ignite in a flintlock pan though, so perhaps I should actually shoot a few rounds and see how it behaves.

    One other thing......I notice that after burning, the powder leaves globules of something fairly hard. Possibly melted sulphur? There's no noticeable smell of sulphur during burning either (I'm using an agricultural quality sulphur that looks pretty clean and is a very fine "talcum powder" consistancy).

    Any ideas from our more experienced "pyro fans" out there?
    Last edited by 3006guns; 09-20-2012 at 05:55 PM.

  20. #100
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    The small, hard globules left behind are probably potassium sulfate or unreacted sulfur, with a slight chance of potassium hydroxide. If you can drop a globule into water, it's potassium sulfate if it dissolves quickly, sulfur if it does nothing, and potassium hydroxide if it makes a little crackle as it boils water directly in contact with the globule.

    If you're getting unreacted sulfur, you could try increasing your saltpeter a little (adding oxidizer); if potassium hydroxide, a little less oxidizer might be good. Potassium sulfate is the normal corrosive salt left by burning black powder (in a gun, most of it is blown out in the white smoke cloud).

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