My homemade black powder

[SeaMonkey]

Quote from Eddie2002:

...you might want to keep using Peppertree for charcoal, it's in the same family as Sumac which has been identified as a source of excellent charcoal...

Yes, I agree. That is my plan. It is very abundant here and it grows very quickly.

I do believe that by Temperature Controlled Charring such as Almar has shown us I may be able to optimize its good qualities.

Another tree that is very abundant here is Eucalyptus. It too has been reported to produce very good charcoal for Black Powder.


Quote from Mmb617:

...I have a good quantity of .45 caliber 230 grain FMJ bullets which are copper jacketed around a lead core. Any reason these wouldn't be suitable as tumbler media?

They should work very well. Copper has an interesting characteristic that it "work hardens" as it is used.

The media that I use is Brass that I ordered from Kmac Plastics back in '93 and it is still just as it was then. Very, very little wear.

Once you've experienced the "poof" of your own powder and smelled the smoke, "it" changes you forever more!

[ChrisPer]

mmb617, I like the idea of the CU pipe media but I went with casting 14 kg of .690 musket balls and called it a start. Others eg Skylighter just bought .490 balls from Cabelas. I didn't even go to hard boolit alloy.
I am going to weigh them and estimate the loss of Pb into the powder. One day soon.
I am uncertain how the cylindrical media would behave, but the balls are pretty good so far.

Those FMJ .45 would be awesome media I imagine.

[ChrisPer]

Another tree that is very abundant here is Eucalyptus. It too has been reported to produce very good charcoal for Black Powder.

Don't rush to use Eucalyptus(its a family, not a species) - its VERY hard wood by US standards. Most common over there is E. globulus, the bluegum which is a very good plantation tree. Saw a lot of bluegum plantations in Zimbabwe too and I hear they are a popular plantation in Portugal and many other countries too.

OK for sparks for the pyro guys but not a good bet for shooting powder.

I know a pyro guy who is very keen to try Eucalyptus wandoo, which is an excellent firewood - very hard and heavy, and very high energy density, like coking coal. I will report his results when he eventually cooks some.

[SeaMonkey]

I look forward to your report on how well your friend's experience with one of the Eucalyptus varieties goes.

I haven't tried it yet because of the abundance of easily harvested Peppertree but I have heard from others that it is quite good.

I often wonder if all woods can be of possible use for Black Powder; if that it is simply a matter of knowing how best to char each one to find its best properties.

It doesn't seem so though since there is so much historical evidence that certain types are definitely much better than others.

Ulrich Bretscher's work with differing woods and charcoals seems to indicate too that certain types are much better than others.

But I don't know if anyone has actually tried the different kinds as Russet or Brown Charcoal instead of the more completely cooked Black Charcoal.

The ongoing work of those here who are now making such investigations should be very interesting indeed!

[almar]

This is the way I understand it so far. All wood is combustible but not all wood burns the same and not all wood contains the same proportion of quickly combustible material after pyrolysis. A leaf for example, will leave a high amount of ash behind per weight compared to the trunk. If it was possible to extract the most useful substance from the charcoal and not incorporate the incombustible material that would make a really optimized powder. Different woods come from different trees that adapted to their environment in different ways, causing them to contain more or less of the “desired materials” we seek for this specific purpose. In my view, optimizing the charring process is simply to “not destroy” all the useful stuff in there all while doing it.

[ChrisPer]

... I have plenty willow and happy with the results from that.
Aint broke dont fix it remains one of my mantras ..................whadayathink??

Heck yeah. If your method works, changing it just for curiosity requires investment, measurement and testing. When my powder does the job I will settle, and its pretty close.

[mmb617]

mmb617, I like the idea of the CU pipe media but I went with casting 14 kg of .690 musket balls and called it a start. Others eg Skylighter just bought .490 balls from Cabelas. I didn't even go to hard boolit alloy.
I am going to weigh them and estimate the loss of Pb into the powder. One day soon.
I am uncertain how the cylindrical media would behave, but the balls are pretty good so far.

Those FMJ .45 would be awesome media I imagine.

I'm definitely going to try the .45 bullets as media since I have a good supply of them. I have a decent supply of lead round balls also but replacements for those are hard to source in the .490 size these days. I go through a lot of them and don't want to run out. I've given some thought to casting them myself but of course molds for them are also unobtainable at this time.

[rfd]

Maybe powder coated lead balls for a ball mill?

[LAGS]

Powder coat flakes off.
I know , I tried it

[ChrisPer]

Hm. Weighed ten new and ten old balls. 0.6% lead lost. Over That's 6g per batch of powder. Too much! I hate the idea of that much superfine lead in the wind. Probably as much as a single .223 bullet hitting a ringing disk.

[ChrisPer]

Molds are easy no? Lee double cavity with handles $20 at Track of the Wolf last time I got one.

[Eddie2002]

I was thinking about using the rounded copper caps found in plumbing supply and soldering them onto short pieces of copper pipe for tumbling medium. Cut the the middle piece of pipe short enough so the edges of the caps touch so there's no gap and solder it all together. Drill a small hole in one end when done then fill it with lead. It would be sort of like filling copper tubes with lead then hammering the ends over but give a more finished product. It might be a little more expensive gettiing them together but once made the should last forever.

[rfd]

Brass nuts?

[almar]

At first I had clumping in the ball mill too.

Then I very carefully oven dried my Potassium Nitrate and Charcoal for several hours before milling and it remained powder throughout.

When I first began making BP back in early '93 getting good information on the processes was quite difficult.

I did order several pamphlets from an outfit in Pennsylvania which advertised in several magazines and followed their recommendations while learning.

Seventy two hours is probably extreme "overkill" on the milling time but the result was always quite good.

Even the Sulfurless Powder or very low sulfur powders turned out well and were fun to experiment with.

Back then I made my Charcoal by open burning the sticks until the flaming char looked good then I'd quench the sticks in water to extinguish and air dry them.

Surprisingly, as if by "beginners luck," the Charcoal was quite good. I made it from limbs taken from the local Peppertree which is very abundant in Very Southern California.

Now I'm itchin' to get a kiln put together such as Almar has done to try some precision temperature control.

I haven't made any powder for more than twenty years due to situational changes and am now very eager to get back to it.

I really appreciate the input we're getting from all here who are actively engaged as well! Never too old to learn new tricks and procedures!

When I first began I was very busy with trying various BP compositions and still have quite a lot of the powder I made back then.

I'll have to break some out and test it to see if it still has ooomph.

SeaMonkey or anybody, what are your thoughts on ball Milling extremely dry components and static buildup?

[Eddie2002]

I'm in Florida with high humidity so static isn't something I worry much about. I would think that a grounded wiper that rubs on the tumbler container would dissipate any static buildup. It might be a good idea if you are worried about static to incorporate a ground contact inside the tumbler that contacts the green powder as it tumbles to reduce any charge buildup along the lines of the ground wire found in wood dust collection systems. Even something as simple as a screw mounted through the side of the tumbler would work as long as it makes contact with a ground or a wiper. It would just be a place to bleed off any charge as it builds up kind of like a pressure relief valve for static. Most studies I've seen show static doesn't have enough heat to ignite BP but the studies were performed on granulated powder not the extremely fine green milled powder which would probably have a lower ignition point. Not sure if it's needed but an ounce of prevention is worth it when working around things that can go BOOM.

[SeaMonkey]

I haven't seen any evidence of static buildup with my dry chemicals and brass ball media.

It would be very easy to test a tumbler with a sensitive Electrometer to determine if static buildup is a potential problem.

[mmb617]

Molds are easy no? Lee double cavity with handles $20 at Track of the Wolf last time I got one.

Near as I can see nobody has molds for 50 caliber (.490). I did see one used double mold set on ebay being auctioned. It's already at $56 and there's 5 days left on the auction. I'm watching it just to see what it goes to.

Sorry to go off track. I'd guess this discussion belongs elsewhere.

[almar]

Near as I can see nobody has molds for 50 caliber (.490). I did see one used double mold set on ebay being auctioned. It's already at $56 and there's 5 days left on the auction. I'm watching it just to see what it goes to.

Sorry to go off track. I'd guess this discussion belongs elsewhere.

you can also order it ready made if you want, says the lead is very hard and 0.490.

https://www.woodysrocks.com/store/c1...Milling.html#/

Your harbor freight might struggle with the containers filled half way with lead.

[LAGS]

If you are using a HF tumbler , Then calculate or weigh out your tumbling media to weigh 2 1/2 lbs.
That with a half pound of powder too reach the designed working limit on your tumbler.
That is how I do it , and it mills good.
But if you go with the jug Half full or greater with media, it will start turning too slow and overheat.

[almar]

Near as I can see nobody has molds for 50 caliber (.490). I did see one used double mold set on ebay being auctioned. It's already at $56 and there's 5 days left on the auction. I'm watching it just to see what it goes to.

Sorry to go off track. I'd guess this discussion belongs elsewhere.

If you are adamant about making your own, you can order from this guy

https://www.ballmoulds.com/

He will make any sized ball mould, i ordered a 0.460 some time ago and they make good balls but these molds are not fast to mold with like modern type molds, you need to cut off the sprew afterwards.