My homemade black powder

[HighUintas]

Thanks for that helpful information, doublebuck and hamgunner. I'll have to look into that violet flame but. I found Waltham Abbeys book on Amazon. Is it this one?

I would think it would be available somewhere on the web for free. I'll look for it.

https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Manu...93622951&psc=1


Edit: of course it is! The full book is available in pdf form through Google books sometimes, the internet is great

[DoubleBuck]

HighUintas;
I clicked on the link and actually it is listed below that book, in 'Frequently bought together'. It is called Like Fire And Powder; Black Powder for the Modern Shooter.
I got it on Kindle and am going to check into the other book which you linked, as well.
Edit: I just spent about 4 1/2 hours reading your link and I think it is as informative or more so, than the book I spoke of above. They both have a correlation to the same information; just related differently. Both cover all the important aspects of making powder, for sure. Thanks for the link. It's a really good one!

[shaman]

It's tumbling now. I put 1.5 oz of charcoal in with 1.5 lbs of .715 lead ball-- that's all I had free and it's raining; I can't cast anymore until tomorrow.

The speed on the little tumbler goes from 1 to 9. I set it for 2 days at speed 3.

I checked after 1 day, and I think I've achieved what's needed. It's about the consistency of talcum powder. I put another batch of the charcoal in and set it to grind.

[HighUintas]

I'm excited to see the shooting results of that southern red cedar powder that Brimstone had the fantastic assay numbers from!

[dondiego]

What is the consensus on the ideal amount of time to ball mill with a Thumler or Harbor Freight tumbler of a 200 gram batch of 75-15-10 black powder?

[LAGS]

I do my final tumbling for 4 to 6 hours.
But all the chemicals that I am using are previously fine ground before I do the BP batch.
Tumbling them longer might be better.
But the green powder comes out almost like Air Fly after 4 hours of tumbling.

[DoubleBuck]

What is the consensus on the ideal amount of time to ball mill with a Thumler or Harbor Freight tumbler of a 200 gram batch of 75-15-10 black powder?

dondiego;
If you are unsure of proper mill time, take a small sample of your meal, and do a burn test. Take a sheet of paper (white is best), and put a small uniform mound (a gram is more than plenty) in the middle. Light it with a match or something that won't scorch or burn the paper. After the flash, check the paper out. If it does not burn a hole in the paper, that is a really good sign. If it burns a hole in it (an indication of slow burning powder) don't worry about that, as green meal can be slow. Look instead for very small white balls in the residue, and for "clumps" or streaks of black that stand out more than average. White specks are Nitrate that has not incorporated. Black streaks, or sparks when the powder flashes are either contaminates, or unincorporated charcoal. And/or a combination of both. Unincorporated sulfur can cause a bunch of tiny holes or hot spots on the paper. Hot spots can be from either sulfur or charcoal. If the flash scorches the paper, and throws debris fairly equally in every direction, with no sparks, or unusual burn marks, it should be good to go. This is how I check mine. Hope it helps you.

[Eddie2002]

Not making any BP right now. Just bought a house up in New Jersey and am working on the move up from Florida. Hit 70 years old in August, the heat down here along with taking care of a 2 1/2 acres property is starting to get too much. Downsizing before I can't.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

What is the consensus on the ideal amount of time to ball mill with a Thumler or Harbor Freight tumbler of a 200 gram batch of 75-15-10 black powder?

Everyone is going to give you a different answer. It matters what kind of media you're using, how full your container is, how fast your mill is turning, humidity and probably a lot of other factors. With my system, an unmodified Harbor Freight tumbler with brass balls and lead filled cartridges 8 hours is what I landed on. Some will say 2 is enough and others no less than 24 hours. When I was using larger (62cal) lead balls it seemed to mill faster.

[Swineherd]

dondiego;
If you are unsure of proper mill time, take a small sample of your meal, and do a burn test. Take a sheet of paper (white is best), and put a small uniform mound (a gram is more than plenty) in the middle. Light it with a match or something that won't scorch or burn the paper. After the flash, check the paper out. If it does not burn a hole in the paper, that is a really good sign. If it burns a hole in it (an indication of slow burning powder) don't worry about that, as green meal can be slow. Look instead for very small white balls in the residue, and for "clumps" or streaks of black that stand out more than average. White specks are Nitrate that has not incorporated. Black streaks, or sparks when the powder flashes are either contaminates, or unincorporated charcoal. And/or a combination of both. Unincorporated sulfur can cause a bunch of tiny holes or hot spots on the paper. Hot spots can be from either sulfur or charcoal. If the flash scorches the paper, and throws debris fairly equally in every direction, with no sparks, or unusual burn marks, it should be good to go. This is how I check mine. Hope it helps you.

This advice seems spot on. As SSS has pointed out, there are so many variables any hard and fast rule concerning milling time is impossible.
Learning to assess your powder; wether it's milled to completion or needs more time tumbling, would appear to be the way.

[Swineherd]

What are the supposed advantages to moistening meal before compressing into pucks?
I've been pressing dry maxing out a 20 ton press and achieving 84% weight by volume of GOEX, 80% vs Scheutzen. It's faster than GOEX, haven't tested speed against the Scheutzen yet. Will adding water help increase density? And if not, what advantages might it offer? Just aiming for the best quality possible here, any opinions will be appreciated.

[HighUintas]

What are the supposed advantages to moistening meal before compressing into pucks?
I've been pressing dry maxing out a 20 ton press and achieving 84% weight by volume of GOEX, 80% vs Scheutzen. It's faster than GOEX, haven't tested speed against the Scheutzen yet. Will adding water help increase density? And if not, what advantages might it offer? Just aiming for the best quality possible here, any opinions will be appreciated.

Having more moisture in the meal when pressing will allow more density with less pressure. Too much though and you'll lose some kno3 squeezing water out of the meal

[Swineherd]

Having more moisture in the meal when pressing will allow more density with less pressure. Too much though and you'll lose some kno3 squeezing water out of the meal

Thanks for the input. I just pressed a few pucks moistened with only enough distilled water to keep the meal from throwing dust while stirring. Coaxed it through a screen to distribute the water evenly throughout. I ground the pucks immediately after just to see if I'd have any trouble from the added moisture. They ground without issue nor any discernable difference in appearance from those processed dry. I'll give the resultant 2f a few days to dry before checking their relative density.

[henryinpanama]

Link to the book. Free to read.

https://play.google.com/books/reader...=GBS.PA4&hl=en

[HamGunner]

What are the supposed advantages to moistening meal before compressing into pucks?
I've been pressing dry maxing out a 20 ton press and achieving 84% weight by volume of GOEX, 80% vs Scheutzen. It's faster than GOEX, haven't tested speed against the Scheutzen yet. Will adding water help increase density? And if not, what advantages might it offer? Just aiming for the best quality possible here, any opinions will be appreciated.

All of my ingredients are dry (oven on low heat) before I weigh them for mixing and milling so my meal is very dry when finished and mostly clump free. Before compressing, I moisten my meal slightly with a spray bottle and then mix and spray a few squirts again and mix and then leave it sealed for a bit so that the water can saturate the meal a little more evenly. Just enough moisture to allow the meal to just start clumping in your hand with fist pressure.

Using a 3" diameter die and five layers of meal under likely 12-15 tons of pressure from my 20 ton press gives me 1/8" thick pucks. I was using a 12 ton jack in my press, but it was taxing it a bit to give me the needed pressure for a 3" die i think, so I went to the 20 ton jack, but do not max it out. I just maintain the same level of compression by monitoring the depth of the mandrel into the die and I hold that pressure for a few minutes each time for consistency.

I do let the pucks dry a bit before grinding, but I am not convinced that being dry is all that important. I have ground and screened right away and then dried the screened powder and it actually seemed to get a slight amount fewer fines. Just depends upon the method of grinding I think.

Anyway, I get around 92-94 % of the density of Goex, but I get a bit more velocity per weight. I have about settled upon Sassafras charcoal. It is low in ash and the speed is good. Plus it grows along about every fence row in my part of the world.

[Swineherd]

That's a dang good density, HamGunner. I'm using Alder charcoal, which, though I haven't done any experimentation of my own in that regard, I understand to be one of the better choices. I'm trying to isolate any possible improvements I can make to my process, and the only two I can think of are wetting the meal for compression and here soon I'll employ an old pottery kiln for making charcoal under highly controlled conditions.

I would like to try a number of other possible charcoal feed stock, anyone tried wool?

[LAGS]

I tried wool.
It was just hard to make it into charcoal consistently.
For making wool into a fire starter worked great.
But to make a bunch at one time for BP just was difficult as if not watched very carefully.
It turned into Ash very easily.

[Swineherd]

I tried wool.
It was just hard to make it into charcoal consistently.
For making wool into a fire starter worked great.
But to make a bunch at one time for BP just was difficult as if not watched very carefully.
It turned into Ash very easily.

Sounds like a kiln will come in handy.
I dried my most recent granulated black, from the moistened pucks, they came out at 96% GOEX density. Now to figure the most efficient wetting process. Misting and screening is a real time consumer.

[Swineherd]

Thinking on trying human hair, cause why not?

[LAGS]

Cotton worked better than wool.
But again , not that great.