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

[bbs428]

All sounds good so far.
I'm interested how you corn the product without the distilled water.
I'm guessing that the pressure from the 20t press does the same thing without the water???

[super6]

Good guess bbs428, The sulfur will (flow) at those pressures and become a plasticizer. The pucks will ckink when struck against each other sounding similar to red clay garden pots. Today is not a good day to finish this thing. I will be back tomorrow and finish to the end. Thanks to all who was interested enough to read through it!

[Lee]

So.. I can use an empty peanut butter jar with grinding media and "stuff" and have it last 2-3-4 hours??? Great news. I've priced ceramic ball mills, and the prices are way out there. (Used to work at a place with 200-300 of the 1 quart d*** things. Should have asked for a couple of the damaged ones!!!)

[super6]

Lee get yourself a peice of pvc and a washing machine moter, And some pullys. Do some researh brother. LoL.

[super6]

Lets finish this thing up. So far I assume you followed along. Theres one thing left to do, Make a substantial vessel to carry the 20 tons of pressure your gonna put to the powder. I found some scrap aluminum barstock a one foot piece, bought some alum 3" quarter walled tubing, and enough band clamps to cover the entire length. Buy the best clamps you can find! Find someone who will let you borrow a band saw thats big enough to cut the lenght down one side. Some 1/4 inch x 3" seperaters are handy at this point.The powder has to be pressed to 1.7 grams per cubic cm. Or close. I press 600 grams at a time and use the quarter seperaters as a guage . I found that useing 600 grams of green powder divided into 100 gram incraments, 6 divisons will produce 1/2 inch pucks if the space being consumed is three and 7/8 of an inch. You can use beer can stock as dividers, You wil have to adjust the math. To make things simple, Pump the jack till you can't pump no more. If there are are any questions on how to corn the product and screen to size just ask!

[bbs428]

TY super6. fascinating stuff. Finding scrap aluminum around here is I bit dicey as every resourcfull citizen for miles around has scraped any metal for cash.
But it does sound like the way to go as this method is the same the pro's use. I'll keep my eyes open for that aluminum pipe. Might come in handy.

All this sure sounds like a bunch of work. You really need to shoot a lot to justify going this route, or anything resembling what we have done in this thread for that matter! Lol

Lee - There's a good write-up on a homemade ball mill in this link. http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fire...ckpowder2.html

The same (link) article also states you can use a reinforced 1 1/2 in. pvc tube for pressing the pucks. No details on the reinforcing.
Still... I think I'll give it a go and report back at the results and how it stacks up to the process I described earlier. Got a few ideas on how to reinforce the schedule 40 PVC pipe. I have plenty of that on hand.

I did like the method I used. The results were good, it was fairly easy to accomplish and reasonably safe to make.

I shot some yesterday and I'm still quiet happy on the performance of my homemade powder. Got off a dozen or so rounds in the TC .50 Hawkin and the Remington pistol. I shot some Swiss BP also along side it and I feel my BP is a scosh on the weak side... but not by much.

Price-wise, I like mine mucho bettero. (some really bad Spanish lingo)


Cheers

[super6]

bbs428, the website you refered to: http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fire...ckpowder2.html Belongs to danny creagan, Read the whole site if you already have not, lots of good pyro info. pvc can be used with what's called clamshell supports made of two steel halves bolted together around the pvc, Half dozen one 6 the other. If you do not use this method right off the rip at least you have the knowledge to do so latter.

[super6]

Once again, Thanks to everyone for being patient with me. I,m sure not cutting anyones elses method for making bp for their guns, Just an alternative thats been around since old roger did the same.

[Jamesconn]

Is this more cost effective than buyin BP yourself or is it just a hobby?

[PhilS]

It is most assuredly less expensive to make your own. You can make 3 pounds for under $40. If you buy your components in larger quantities or make your own charcoal, the price drops considerably.

http://www.ihaveadotcom.com/cart/ind...roducts_id=414

[super6]

Good to see you here Phil.

[jimbull34]

Good to see you here Phil.

I am a black powder shooter and make my own bp, however I do it alttle bit differently. Heres how I do it: potassium nitrate 80%, sulfur 10% and charcoal 15%. Mix all throughly, pour out in a cookie pan and sprinkle with stale urine, you own! mix the goop up until it forms a ball and then let sit until dry. Then run it thru a grate to get it "corned". This is the important part, bp has to be "peened" as say the brits when they first started making it and it is this process that has caused it to be very dangerous. Lots of missing hands, arms etc from peening too hard. So, what I do is put my mix in my rock polisher along with a hand full of marbles and turn it on and leave it to run over night. I actually have less smoke with this mix then I do using white hots! My very first batch I did without peening and it would not fire, so the old timers are right, the powder has to be peened! This method is not anywhere near as dangerous as using alcohol and heat!!!!

[Garyshome]

Good Info although I don't DO black powder....yet.

[jimbull34]

Just a little up date on the bp, this is what I have swaged for shooting with my .50 cal. These are made from .45acp brass in the swages that I made. These are 325g slugs and they shoot great, a 1" round at 50 yds. Form me with open sights, I can't bet better then that. BP deer season opens on the 18th and I can't wait!!!!!

[Blizzard63]

I think it's very interesting how the molecules stick together ,, the Kno3,charcoal and sulfer to form something so powerful like the BP.

[chrissy4560]

KNO3 stands for potassium Nitrate
K for the periodic symbol for potassium
N for Nitrogen
O3 for 3 Oxygen molecules
It is an oxidizing agent. 15 or so years ago it was available as a fertilizer at landscaping supply places. The government has since virtually eliminated it under the banner of fighting terrorism. Its sad I am 23 and was one of the last that got to play with it as a kid.

[chrissy4560]

Thanks for sharing i will have to try it out. where can you still get potassium Nitrate from?

[trooperdan]

It is still available as fertilizer, look for 13-0-46 as the type. For example a 52 pound bag on Amazon is about $80... and that is too high!

[ACrowe25]

Okay, two questions. I am a chemist by trade, thus this is of interest for me. I don't should BP yet unfortunately. Remember theory and practicality from less than pure ingredients changes thing.

It looks like the entire process is just a form of recrystallization? Both of my suggestions lead me to a higher "pure" product yield within the lab. I spent a lot of time performing recrystalizations in the lab during my undergrad.

1.) you mention just enough water, not too much, etc for kno3. Excellent point. My suggestion... Use about 1/2 you need, in one pot... Bring it to a boil or just under even... And have another pot of boiling water. Slowly add excess water to the kno3 and stir well. Give it time, the kno3 will rapidly dissolve completely into solution "out of nowhere".

2.) another trick I've learned is don't immediately add to the ice bath. Slow cooling is optimal for proper crystallization. Give it 10-15 minutes on the counter to come to room temp... And THEN hit the ice bath. It allows crystals to more easily crash out of solution.

[ACrowe25]

As in the end, my goal and your goal are the same. Producing pure products at the highest yield. Good luck.