Making Charcoal

[lead chucker]

When making charcoal for black powder how do you know when its done. I make two batches and they looked good. Made a third batch and after it cooled it still had a little that wasn't done all the way. it seemed to have stopped smoking so i figured it was done. Another thing is what do you look for when you may have over cooked the charcoal? I think that doing this correctly really improves the quality of the powder. Im using cedar shavings.

[JimB..]

I’ve only made lump charcoal and I always just go longer than I think it needs. Without oxygen I believe the carbon is fairly inert, so time doesn’t matter. For my application a little ash doesn’t matter, probably does for yours.

Shavings seems a curious way to start, I’d think lump so that it’s easy to grade and then grind the selected pieces to the desired size.

[Trapper-Jack]

When I cook my charcoal, I call it done when it the smoke begins to decrease. If you are monitoring the temperature, I've noticed that it will begin to climb. I don't let it get over 600 degrees. In my experiments, cedar shavings made powder, but it was the least energetic. I currently am using willow and am seriously looking at Juniper. Spruce also did well.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Cook time will depend on what you're cooking, how thick it is, how much moisture is in the wood, how much heat you're producing as well as many other factors.

What it boils down to is experience and having the same repeatable process.

I normally cook willow cut to the same dimensions. I put it in a crock pot which is then placed into a canning pot. The canning pot is filled to the top with wood that I burn as fuel. I know when that's burned all the way down the contents in the inner pot will be fully cooked.

[LAGS]

Using the toilet paper is really nice.
The paper is so consistent that you can almost set a time on cooking it as long as your heat is consistant.
My TP cooks perfect in 45 minutes to one hour .
But I do check it to see that it is right at the point that it is not totally chared and what they call still brown .

[lead chucker]

Does toilet paper make good black powder?

[2TM101]

Does toilet paper make good black powder?
Someone does not watch Youtube.

[dondiego]

Does toilet paper make good black powder?

It makes good charcoal.

[Sandro_ventania]

Does toilet paper make good black powder?

Imagine!!!

https://youtu.be/UTV5I8HDX1I?feature=shared

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I have some Cottenelle in the garage right now. I'm still undecided if I want to press or screen.

Back to making char. I found the lack of smoke to be a poor indicator. I always need to continue to cook a good while after. I do use pretty high heat. I'm cheap so propane and briquettes are rarely used. Old wood in the back yard is usually used.

[LAGS]

So far,
I have found that TP makes very consistent Charcoal.
It is very light and turns to Air Fly very easily.
It is consistent with the Charcoal that I made out of Balsa Wood before .
But a lot cheaper and available.
So far,
Cottonelle seemed to be the best .
But other TP ‘s seem to make very good charcoal that are faster , cleaner powders than things like Cedar Chip Cheacoal

[redhawk0]

I use a retort with two holes in the lid. Packed FULL of my wood. I put the retort in my patio fire pit and once it gets good and hot I light the two holes with a lighter to keep the flame going. (this keeps the air out ...which causes ash) Once things burn down to a point where the two lit holes go out...I pull the retort out of the fire. This generally takes about 2.5 hours. Then all the charcoal is done...no ash (or very little)...and run it through my ball grinder.

redhawk

324289

[LAGS]

So far what I have found is .
4 rolls of standard sized TP rolls with the cardboard tubes cut out will fit in a gallon paint can retort.
It will make almost enough charcoal to do a full pound and a half of BP .
Three larger size rolls will make the same amount.

[HamGunner]

What ever method we use, if it works, it works. Consistency from batch to batch is what I think is just as important as actually getting a Perfect char, whatever that is.

I use a fish/turkey fryer burner to cook my charcoal and is has a very nice control valve to control the heat. On the burner I char the wood or most recently (Toilet Paper), in a large pressure pan cooker. I have a baffle in the bottom to keep the wood from touching the bottom of the cooker and I have fashioned a round weld wire cage to contain the wood so that it can not touch the sides of the cooker.

I place a temperature gauge sensor down through the lid's steam release stem into the cooker and into the stacked wood. I turn the heat up just enough that I get a good blue flame and monitor the temperature closely. When the temperature has finally climbed up to 500 degrees, I start inching the heat control knob down a bit, because once the wood gets to that temperature, it wants to have a run-away if one is not careful and the temperature will suddenly jump well over 600 degrees. I shoot for 550 degrees.

This part of the control is not possible unless one knows the actual temperature of the wood. By tossing the retort into hot coals or a fire will work, but one can not get precise temperature control that way. By just judging by the amount of smoke being released or by the amount of flame, should you ignite the vent hole, you are only guessing at the actual temperature. It is a fairly close guess and I used to do it this way and I got decent strength powder. But I truly think one needs to have a temperature gauge to know for sure that the char is at the proper temperature and for when the char is actually done. The temperature will start dropping once most of the wood has reached it's charring point.

LIke Lags mentioned for his TP, it only takes me from 45 minutes to one hour to finish a batch of Toilet Paper to the point that it is still a dark golden brown color and not black. Black is over cooked. It can still make good powder, but it is even better if the charred wood still has a brown cast to it.

I have monitored many other's reports on their woods and I tried many types of woods myself and my best woods were Sassafras and Black Willow. But with the ease of making TP charcoal and the huge reduction in work involved, I really doubt that I will go back to woods unless we have another TP shortage. In case of a TP shortage, I think I can find a better use for the TP.:rolleyes:

[lead chucker]

How about the Kirkland brand TP?

[HamGunner]

I have been using Walley World's Great Value Ultra Strength and it seems to work as well as Sam's Club Member Mark TP. The Members Mark TP is lighter and softer, but makes less charcoal than the same amount of rolls of the Great Value Ultra Strength, so it is my thinking that the heavier the TP, the less you have to stuff into your retort to get the same amount of charcoal. One of the Great Value Ultra Strength rolls makes right about enough charcoal to make 1/2 lb. of powder.

Not proven by me or anyone else that I have read so far, but I suspect that TP is likely TP as long as it has not had something added, like skin conditioner or something such as that.

Heck, John Wayne TP might just be the best to use for charcoal. ;)

[dtknowles]

Has anyone tried the crap toilet paper, the cheap single ply rough stuff. You guys seem to all be using the multi-ply soft toilet paper.

While I agree that consistency is of great value, if you don't have consistency, you can just test what you make and label it as to proper application. At work when we have a lot of lot to lot variation we do what we call simulated service testing so we know the capability of every lot and then we cherry pick lots for use where best properties are most important. Use the strongest material in the most critical applications and use the lesser stuff where it is less critical. No waste except the extra work to test and cherry pick every lot but we would test every lot anyway. This would go off the rails if most lots tested low but thankfully that is not the case.

Back to black powder, if you make a batch (lot) than needs 90 gr. (volume) to get 70 gr. performance, just label it so and use 90 gr. If you get some stuff that is up to snuff label it as such and use that in cartridges and use the other stuff in front stuffers.
Tim

[LAGS]

I think that you can use Any brand of toilet paper and you will get good BP.
But same as using wood.
Each will perform just a tiny bit different.
Even all wood from the same tree,
Or how you cooked your current batch of charcoal.
Find what you are going to use, and practice so you and the charcoal are consistant.

[Delkal]

I have to admit I was always confused about how using hard to get specialty woods like willow would make better black powder vs just buying a bag of Fogo lump charcoal. But TP?

Is it just that starting from purer cellulose is better? So how about making it from old cotton T Shirts?

[lead chucker]

I watched the video and i will try the TP charcoal. I thought i was making good BP but am not getting the velocities he was getting. The only problem is i have probably 15-18 pounds already made from cedar and just pucked up another 5 pounds tonight and have to let dry for a couple weeks before i grind it and screen it. I might just make a special batch with TP and see how it goes. The BP i make seems pretty good and performs good and isn't real dirty. Always room for improvement.

[lead chucker]

Also in the video his uses 77-13-10 instead of 75-15-10 recipe. Any one else tried this?

[dtknowles]

I have to admit I was always confused about how using hard to get specialty woods like willow would make better black powder vs just buying a bag of Fogo lump charcoal. But TP?

Is it just that starting from purer cellulose is better? So how about making it from old cotton T Shirts?

Been tried, not better. Jury is still out on why TP is so good or why willow and balsa are the best. Charcoal is a simple but complex product, simple because for most applications any old charcoal will do.

Some people are very fussy about what charcoal they will cook with as it can make the food taste a certain way.

You see, charcoal is not even close to pure carbon, not like graphite or diamond.

Even pure carbon comes in variations, I just mentioned two but there are hundreds maybe thousands of kinds of carbon crystal structures.

Beside the different carbon crystals in charcoal there are compounds in charcoal, that is why it is called charcoal and not carbon. There are hydrocarbons and there is ash. Ash is a whole story on its own because ash is a generic term not a precise chemical term. Ash contains potassium and Calcium oxides and carbonates along with traces of other chemicals. One thing that is probably not present in TP is potassium carbonate as it is soluble in water and a strong base so the processing of pulp to make paper almost certainly removes the potassium carbonate. This will cause a reduction in ash in TP charcoal. Ash is not good for BP.

[lead chucker]

Definitely looking into it that's for sure. Like the guy in the video said, if you are going to go through the time to make your own you should take the time to make it the best you can. So if using TP is better than you should try it. How about paper towels?

[lead chucker]

Im in the mid 1300fps to low 1400s with a 54 round ball with 90 gr to 100 gr 3ff with my powder which i thought was pretty good. Seems my powder needs some work. Always something to improve on. I would like more speed which equals more foot pounds of energy down range where you need it. This stuff is so much fun. This kind of stuff keeps me awake at night thinking about it.

[lead chucker]

dtknowles if what you say is right that makes a lot of sense, when you make your own charcoal there is bound to be some ash. Im sure it can be minimized but is unavoidable. Thanks for the insight on this.

[Brimstone]

I use 2 paint cans with 3/8" copper tube bolted to the lids to vent outside my grill.
My charring rig is a lightly customized $100 grill with a sheet steel baffle completely covering the cast iron grill. There are 2 rows of 1/2" holes along the edge of the sheet allowing cooler blended gasses to pass through.

The idea is indirect heating of the retorts in a controlled and repeatable way with no guess work.

I'm able to tune all 3 burners to keep the grills 4 thermometers at 600°F with some periodic observation and adjustment.

I get char that is black with brown notes throughout the grain structure along with crystals of hydrocarbons, most likely creosote.

When milled, the brown notes blend to a dark dark brown black and the crystals remaining with an extremely fine glitter.

Depending on species, assays between 30 and 40% hydrocarbon content.

High hydrocarbon content char is hygroscopic, store it air tight and probably still best to cycle through a dehydrator over night before milling in a ball mill.

After made into powder, hygroscopic nature is of little concern to me, it stays in canisters in an ammo can in a copper reinforced lock box. Ammo stays in ammo cans.

[sailcaptain]

Now this was a good read. A while back I asked the forum about Goex Fg Cannon Powder, which is not available anymore. It’s what I always used in my cannon. And said I thought I would try making my own black powder for my cannon. Using the tried and true recipes found here.
I made a small batch and was at the range testing it out, and a blackpowder hunter asked what I used for the charcoal. I told him I just milled some from my trusted supplier of charcoal (for grilling) I got locally.
He told me he makes his own using toilet paper and has for years. I was shocked, never heard of it.
Simple design, just like the video mentioned here. Backyard fire pit, old thicker walled can than a paint can works great, if you have one.
Comes out clean and readily available.
Thank you for the post…Great read, as I said, try the process.

[dtknowles]

dtknowles if what you say is right that makes a lot of sense, when you make your own charcoal there is bound to be some ash. Im sure it can be minimized but is unavoidable. Thanks for the insight on this.

I think I was not clear, the components I am talking about the Potassium and Calcium carbonates (called ash) are not avoidable when making charcoal (at home or in a factory) from wood and they are not really ash while it is still charcoal they are trapped in the carbon crystal structures and aren't released while the carbon is still a solid. They become ash when the carbon is oxidized to a gas, they remain solid as ash you see when you burn charcoal. When a pulp mill treats and washes pulp to make paper they mix the pulp with water and other chemicals. This will remove the Potassium as it is soluble in water, the Sodium is not soluble but might react with any acid or maybe the other chemicals in the process and be removed, this I don't know. I think this is why the TP charcoal makes better BP, less ash more carbon per pound, purer fuel but with the somethings that are special in charcoal that are not in pure carbon that make charcoal better for BP than other forms of carbon.
Tim

[dtknowles]

Now this was a good read. A while back I asked the forum about Goex Fg Cannon Powder, which is not available anymore. It’s what I always used in my cannon. And said I thought I would try making my own black powder .......

You should keep making your own powder but know that Estes is back in production with Goex powder, I think the whole product line, I just got an order from Powder Valley that included Cannon.

324299

Tim

[HamGunner]

The only problem is i have probably 15-18 pounds already made from cedar and just pucked up another 5 pounds

LOL, I am in the same boat. I have a bunch of Black Willow and Sassafras canned up, thinking that I had some A-1 BP. Well, it is very good and likely good enough for my uses anyway. But yes, there is always room for improvement if one keeps looking for it.

I used to do all sorts of load work ups for my center fire guns and finally decided that I was chasing my tail. Like a dog or cat going in a circle, I was never going to get that most perfect load. There was always one out there that might beat what I had already found, but when does one pause and decide that good enough is, well, Good Enough.

I had already decided that my BP was good enough for me, but along came TP. While perhaps it is not all that much better actually, it sure is so much simpler to char and a way less nasty to work with since it does not need to be ground up and screened to get air float results. So, heck, here we go again.

Toilet Paper charcoal does test a very, very low % of ash. Another good reason to pursue TP BP.
Darn it, there is my tail again.

[dtknowles]

Additional research on my part found this:

"Hardwood ashes contain more potassium than those from
softwood."

This could be why softwood charcoal makes better BP than hardwood.

I have taken wood ash and leached the soluble minerals to create Potash. The leachate is called wood ash lye or Potassium lye (Potassium Hydroxide, KOH). Regular lye is Sodium Hydroxide NaOH. If you evaporate the wood ash lye you get Potassium Carbonate KCO3. This is useful as a fertilizer or bleach and can be used to make soft soap. To make hard soap you need Sodium Hydroxide.

I know, TMI

Tim

[Delkal]

When you leach wood ash you get potash (Potassium Carbonate, K2CO3) in the solution and not Potassium Hydroxide, KOH. To make Potassium Hydroxide you need to add lime (Ca oxide) to the solution which will precipitate out the carbonate as Calcium Carbonate (Ca2CO3) leaving Potassium Hydroxide in solution which is a much more caustic base. Its a good thing there is no Potassium Hydroxide in charcoal since it will absorb moisture and corrode any metal.

Has anyone tried leaching charcoal to reduce the potassium salts? It should be soluble. The chemistry starting from ash is already complex and I have no idea what is going on while it is still in the charcoal state. But if you add water to powdered charcoal and the solution is basic that will probably be from the Potassium Carbonate.

Will filtering this off reduce Potassium Carbonate enough to matter? I have no clue.

.

[dtknowles]

When you leach wood ash you get potash (Potassium Carbonate, K2CO3) in the solution and not Potassium Hydroxide, KOH. To make Potassium Hydroxide you need to add lime (Ca oxide) to the solution which will precipitate out the carbonate as Calcium Carbonate (Ca2CO3) leaving Potassium Hydroxide in solution which is a much more caustic base. Its a good thing there is no Potassium Hydroxide in charcoal since it will absorb moisture and corrode any metal.

Has anyone tried leaching charcoal to reduce the potassium salts? It should be soluble. The chemistry starting from ash is already complex and I have no idea what is going on while it is still in the charcoal state. But if you add water to powdered charcoal and the solution is basic that will probably be from the Potassium Carbonate.

Will filtering this off reduce Potassium Carbonate enough to matter? I have no clue.

.

I am not sure you can dissolve the salts out of charcoal, I think they are trapped in the carbon crystals, but I might be wrong.

You are correct that to get solid potassium hydroxide you would have to do as you described or use some other method but if you dissolve potassium carbonate in water it creates potassium hydroxide.

"potassium carbonate when dissolved in water, becomes potassium hydroxide and carbon dioxide."

K2CO3 + H2O -> 2KOH + CO2

Wood ash lye is an alkali metal hydroxide mostly potassium hydroxide KOH. It can be obtained by using rainwater to leach wood ashes, which are strongly alkaline and highly soluble in water.

If this is not correct, then my internet research is in error.

Tim

[LAGS]

Today I made a half pound of BP with that cheaper TP that I made a couple days ago.
After pressing it into pucks , and before it was totally dry , I tested some chunks.
So far it looks like one of the Fastest powders that I have ever made .
And flashes pretty clean .
Now I have to make some powder with the Cottonelle TP charcoal and see if is any better.

[2TM101]

Now this was a good read. A while back I asked the forum about Goex Fg Cannon Powder, which is not available anymore. It’s what I always used in my cannon.

If only you were local. I make so much 1F.

[lead chucker]

LAGS do you have a chronograph? If you do and next time you shoot the TP powder can you do a comparison to see what your velocity difference is between what you make and the TP? I will do the same but We are supposed to get 30 to 40 inches of snow in the next week here where i live and i won't be making any charcoal till the weather gets better. I cant wait for winter to be over.

[sailcaptain]

Admittedly, I haven’t looked for any manufacturers grade powder in a while. I have an ample supply for my needs right now. But thank you Tim for telling me Estes is making Goex. I will go later today and look.
If I were local to you 2TM101, I would become one of your best friend’s.
Making powder is a nice pastime though.

[indian joe]

dtknowles if what you say is right that makes a lot of sense, when you make your own charcoal there is bound to be some ash. Im sure it can be minimized but is unavoidable. Thanks for the insight on this.

ash comes from oxygen getting in the can - usually after its removed from the fire - I dont light the smoke stream - pull the can off as soon as the volume of smoke from the vent eases even a little - and cool it down as quick s you can - a cold day to cook it helps - i have dunked a can half way in water a couple of times (fine so long as it is still sealed at the seams) if the contents stays hot for long you will get spontaneous combustion inside as soon as enough oxygen enters to support burning = ash

[indian joe]

I am not sure you can dissolve the salts out of charcoal, I think they are trapped in the carbon crystals, but I might be wrong.

You are correct that to get solid potassium hydroxide you would have to do as you described or use some other method but if you dissolve potassium carbonate in water it creates potassium hydroxide.

"potassium carbonate when dissolved in water, becomes potassium hydroxide and carbon dioxide."

K2CO3 + H2O -> 2KOH + CO2

Wood ash lye is an alkali metal hydroxide mostly potassium hydroxide KOH. It can be obtained by using rainwater to leach wood ashes, which are strongly alkaline and highly soluble in water.

If this is not correct, then my internet research is in error.

Tim

if you gonna start messing with potassium hydroxide be VERY careful!!! that stuff, is multiple times more bite than caustic soda, a minor splash of concentrated KOH can cost an eye easy enough.

[Delkal]

I am not sure you can dissolve the salts out of charcoal, I think they are trapped in the carbon crystals, but I might be wrong.

You are correct that to get solid potassium hydroxide you would have to do as you described or use some other method but if you dissolve potassium carbonate in water it creates potassium hydroxide.

"potassium carbonate when dissolved in water, becomes potassium hydroxide and carbon dioxide."

K2CO3 + H2O -> 2KOH + CO2

Wood ash lye is an alkali metal hydroxide mostly potassium hydroxide KOH. It can be obtained by using rainwater to leach wood ashes, which are strongly alkaline and highly soluble in water.

If this is not correct, then my internet research is in error.

Tim

I believe your equation is backwards. KOH can absorb CO2 from the air to form K2CO3. This is the industrial way to make K2CO3. While theoretically if you had a KOH solution and boiled it down you might get a trace of K2CO3 from the CO2 in the air but you wouldn't get a fine powder. You would get a thick bubbly boiling solution of KOH that would instantly do major damage to anything it touched (especially skin).

My understanding is that wood potash is K2CO3 and it can be used to make soap but you have to cook it with the fat. Someone found that by adding lime (CaO) the calcium in it will react with the carbonate in solution (from the K2CO3) and precipitate out Ca2CO3 since it is insoluble. Then what is left in the liquid is KOH and that is a much stronger base. I will make soap at room temperature.

[dtknowles]

It is not my equation it is one from an internet search on what happens when you dissolve Potassium Carbonate in water.

I leached my wood ash and boiled the leachate to concentrate then set it aside to cool. I filtered the leachate to remove particulate that formed when it cooled, I repeated that process and then set the remainder of the liquid aside to evaporate to dryness. I now have a powder that I believe is Potassium Carbonate or a mixture that could be considered potash.

I think you are suggesting that I could leach wood ash, and add Lime (CaO), filter the particulate and then evaporate to dryness and I would have a powder that is KOH.

I might try that sometime. I think I can use mortar for Lime.

Tim

[Delkal]

It is not my equation it is one from an internet search on what happens when you dissolve Potassium Carbonate in water.

I leached my wood ash and boiled the leachate to concentrate then set it aside to cool. I filtered the leachate to remove particulate that formed when it cooled, I repeated that process and then set the remainder of the liquid aside to evaporate to dryness. I now have a powder that I believe is Potassium Carbonate or a mixture that could be considered potash.

I think you are suggesting that I could leach wood ash, and add Lime (CaO), filter the particulate and then evaporate to dryness and I would have a powder that is KOH.

I might try that sometime. I think I can use mortar for Lime.

Tim

When you boil down the wood ash you do have K2CO3. It is probably a little impure but it is Potash. Potash is a strong base and you want to avoid getting it on you but it is not that bad and you should have time to wash it off before there is any damage. It is very similar pH wise to washing soda (Na2CO3) that they sell in big boxes to add to your laundry (and most people don't use goggles and gloves when adding it to a load of laundry).

KOH/NaOH/Lye is extremely corrosive and when in a concentrated solution will burn your skin on contact even if you try to immediately wash it off. I don't know the specifics for making soap but if you do the CaO trick from the wood ash solution you might be OK since it is not that concentrated (still wear goggles and heavy nitrile gloves) but trying to boil it down is a recipe for disaster. Don't do it!

While they do sell lye as pellets it is never a powder and will start getting moist and sticking together when sitting in the open from sucking water from the air. The strongest KOH / NaOH solutions used in a normal lab is 50% water, the consistency is thick and almost like honey and no one would attempt to boil it down to concentrate it. You would end up with a super hot goo that would do major damage (like going to the hospital) if even the smallest amount touches you.

[dtknowles]

I understand the warnings about contact with strong alkaline. Thanks.
Isn't the electrolyte in alkaline battery potassium hydroxide?
I will have to check with the shop at work, we use sodium hydroxide to clean our friction stir weld pin tools, it dissolves the aluminum but does not attack the steel. I wonder what concentartion they use. They put it in a heated ultrasonic bath and add the pin tools but I don't know the concentration or the time.

How do you turn a potassium hydroxide solution into a solid. I would rather store my chemicals as solids.

Not pellets or powder but flakes

https://www.bulkapothecary.com/potassium-hydroxide-flakes-koh/?sku=B120-009-004&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsfXco4LrhAMVKkpHAR3c0AVYEAQYASAB EgJpUfD_BwE

Tim

[Delkal]

I don't know if it is used in batteries or the concentration.

NaOH and KOH can be "dried" to a solid but even then they contain 5-10% water and it is difficult to fully dry even under laboratory conditions. I have never worked with the flakes but I assume the KOH was dried in some kind of industrial kiln at high temperature either under vacuum or under a nitrogen atmosphere and when cooled was put thru some kind of chipper under Nitrogen. I don't think you will be able to get more than a thick goo trying to boil it down in a pot open to air. KOH is very hydroscopic and will even start getting moist when you are trying to weigh the pellets on a humid day leaving a wet oily mark on the weigh paper. So don't be surprised if the bottle gets opened a lot the free flowing flakes eventually start sticking together.

The bigger question is why? What do you need anhydrous solid KOH for and why bother trying to make it? I believe it is available online and is relatively cheap to buy pounds of it.

One more caution. If you pour water on solid KOH /NaOH it will rapidly heat up, boil, and more or less "explode" showering everything with boiling caustic lye. To make a concentrated solution you want to add the lye in small portions to the water and cool the container in ice water before you add more. Same warnings with diluting a commercial 50% solution.

It would be a good idea to ask one of your experienced shop guys how they handle it and make their solutions.

[dtknowles]

I don't know if it is used in batteries or the concentration.

NaOH and KOH can be "dried" to a solid but even then they contain 5-10% water and it is difficult to fully dry even under laboratory conditions. I have never worked with the flakes but I assume the KOH was dried in some kind of industrial kiln at high temperature either under vacuum or under a nitrogen atmosphere and when cooled was put thru some kind of chipper under Nitrogen. I don't think you will be able to get more than a thick goo trying to boil it down in a pot open to air. KOH is very hydroscopic and will even start getting moist when you are trying to weigh the pellets on a humid day leaving a wet oily mark on the weigh paper. So don't be surprised if the bottle gets opened a lot the free flowing flakes eventually start sticking together.

The bigger question is why? What do you need anhydrous solid KOH for and why bother trying to make it? I believe it is available online and is relatively cheap to buy pounds of it.

One more caution. If you pour water on solid KOH /NaOH it will rapidly heat up, boil, and more or less "explode" showering everything with boiling caustic lye. To make a concentrated solution you want to add the lye in small portions to the water and cool the container in ice water before you add more. Same warnings with diluting a commercial 50% solution.

It would be a good idea to ask one of your experienced shop guys how they handle it and make their solutions.

The shop "guy" is a young lady and I will be asking. She runs our chemistry shop, does etching, cleaning, passivation, sample analysis, air sampling, chem film application, macro sample prep and such.

I make chemicals for the same reason I make black powder, lead alloys, beer, wine and etc. To be sure I can always have what I want even if I have to make it myself. I want to learn what I can while I have to time, instead of learning when it becomes critical.

Tim

[LAGS]

Today I decided to compare the weight of different charcoals that I made.
I measured equal 3/4 measuring cups of each charcoal powder.
Here are my results .
Soft maple charcoal - 2.6 oz.
Red Cedar chip charcoal - 2.1 oz.
Willow - -1.9 oz
Bolsa - 1.6 oz
Cottonelle toilet paper charcoal - .9 oz

These results explain why my powders are less weight per volume then the Goex powder.

[JimB..]

I find this thread both interesting and informative.
Thanks all

[indian joe]

I have to admit I was always confused about how using hard to get specialty woods like willow would make better black powder vs just buying a bag of Fogo lump charcoal. But TP?

Is it just that starting from purer cellulose is better? So how about making it from old cotton T Shirts?

Willow is easy at my place we planted some "austree" = hybrid willow, twenty odd years ago on a duck island in the middle of our house dam (pond / water storage) several batches later and still using up dry deadfall limbs. those few trees will see me out and my offspring too ....................

[lead chucker]

Made some charcoal out of Kirkland brand TP and made a batch of BP and let it mill for 24 hours or a bit more. Today i pressed it into pucks. It had a strange smell to it. Different than the cedar i have been using which doesn't really have any smell. Any one notice a change in smell when using TP for charcoal? Looking forward to trying it once i get done processing it.

[lead chucker]

Supposed to get some nice weather this week so i had a bunch of cedar BP pucks to break up and get ready to grind. I took the fines after breaking them up and tested them And they burn really fast which is pretty normal for the cedar but im not getting the velocity or any where near what some guys are getting when i shoot. There must be a difference in open air burning and enclosed space burn (AKA) loaded in your rifle. Any one have any insight on this?

[LAGS]

I notice that the TP charcoal smells more like burnt cotton and paper.
So far , I think it will work good in my BP.
But the TP charcoal is not something I would press into charcoal briquettes to use in my barbecue.

[lead chucker]

I wounder if paper towels would work good for charcoal. Probably processed at the factory similar to TP.

[Graysmoke]

Lead chucker, I made my second batch of kirkland tp, no off smell. I shot off the first batch and it did well and soon I will try the second. I also dropped back the load by 10 grains that I used with cedar charcoal so it might be a bit more energetic. Don’t have a chrono so can’t say on veloscity.
Graysmoke

[lead chucker]

I have an old chronograph im going to dig out and hope it still works. Been 20 plus years since i have used it. I need to get a new battery for it and hope for the best. Im going to try to keep better records of what i'm testing and trying out.

[LAGS]

The next batch of TP BP that I am doing today is a little different.
Since the TP charcoal is so light , and the volume so big , I am mixing a batch with 78/ 12 / 10 ingredients.
I hope it goes well and will try and let you guys know how it comes out.

[lead chucker]

The guy in the video's I've been watching he does a 77/13/10 mix and its been working for him. Seems the 75/15/10 is the tried and true recipe and is what been used forever would be the best combination. Im going to try the 77/13/10 and try it. LAGS let us know how that works. It might be the next best secret recipe with TP charcoal. Back in the old days they didn't have the fancy TP of to day, im sure they took care of there business another way. Grass and leaves come to mind.

[lead chucker]

Shot my renegade 58 with The Kirkland TP and compared it to my cedar BP Two different combos and 80 gr by weight with cedar charcoal averaged 1150 fps the TP charcoal was high 1200 to 1300 fps. Notable difference. Went to 100 gr by weight 3f and was averaging around 1400 fps. Now i did a test batch with 77/13/10 recipe for BP with TP and was averaging 1550 with one that went 1604 fps so with the TP and the velocity am in line where is should be? Wanted to test my 54 Hawkin but like a dumb sob i for got the balls. Brought every thing else. Shot my new 56 SB barrel with Round ball and shot to see how it worked and the .550 balls averaged 1550 fps with the 77/13/10 TP powder. No accuracy test to day mostly chronograph work so see where im at with this powder.

[lead chucker]

The .56 SB barrel was a lot of fun. Shot balls and some shot out of it seems like a really versital barrel I will be doing a lot of testing with this one. So much fun.

[indian joe]

Also in the video his uses 77-13-10 instead of 75-15-10 recipe. Any one else tried this?

from the mad monk Swiss file
Blasting powder 75-15-10 (base recipe going back to year dot)
Artillery powder 74-13-13 (more sulphur for easier ignition ?)
fireworks powder 77.5-13.5-9
Sporting powder 78-12-10 (Swiss)