Originally Posted by
DoubleBuck
HW;
First, my screened powder has 1/3 more volume than the same weight of pressed.
Did you do a typo here ??? my screened is always lighter (less dense) than pressed pucked
I get about 65% density for screened and 87 to 90 % for pressed pucked. thats compared to commercial Goex from last century
That is not unusual. If you pucked it with 30 tons, that is unusual.
If you think you lost a substantial amount of Nitrate in the process, you might try a different recipe, or that dry ice you spoke of. If it did lose a lot of nitrate, that would definitely make each grain light.
You might try burning a small mound on a typing or notebook paper. If it flashes and just tinges the paper, it is fast and close to correct. If it burns holes in the paper, it is slow and you either have an incorporation problem, weak charcoal, or not enough nitrate.
If you feel you are stuck with the wet method, which makes perfectly good powder, then you might think about dropping the CIA method and going with the way I mentioned yesterday. That will at least eliminate the loss of nitrate.
If you want high density, in my opinion, you need a mill. Even with the wet methods, the finer you get the ingredients, the better the final results will be. My biggest jump in density came from Brown charcoal. Cooked at under 600°F, it will have much higher initial density than black charcoal, which is very likely over cooked. At least pull your charcoal when it is still smoking heavily. If center pieces will break easily, and it has a brown sheen to it, that is what you're looking for.
My suggestion would be to get a mill and make SURE you get your charcoal air floated very well. I grind my charcoal to air float, and then mill it by itself for at least 2 hours before adding the other ingredients.
yeah - mine goes through a meat grinder then milled for two hours before i store it for use later on
Pulverize your KNO3 and Sulfur to face powder consistency. Then, until you get a good sample, mill it for at least 8 hours. Afterwards, if you want to cut back the milling time, experiment with it. Most guys say even with a good mill, it should mill for at least 4 hours.
If you want to go with pressed powder there is one more thing which is very easily overlooked, and is critical to density. Moisture content.
Press your pucks and then dry them dry dry dry. If you can, weigh them until you are positive you have them completely dry. A hot plate or slow cooker on low, or a dehydrator at 140°F., or another known method of raising their temp high enough to drive off the moisture is a good thing. Moist powder grains are soft, and give false weights. If they are moist when broken up, they lose the density you pressed into them. Think of each grain being like a sponge. Dry, it is big and very light, but damp it is big and very heavy. So, if you have moist grains, you will have far less grains telling you they weigh say that 40 grains on your volume charger. The same grains dry may add a third to your volume, to weigh the same 40 grains.
I hope I haven't confused you and helped you in some respect. Don't get discouraged and good luck!