My homemade black powder

[DoubleBuck]

I still keep wondering about using a vacuum chamber to dry the pucks, powder, and/or ingredients. I kinda want a vacuum chamber to entertain my daughter and I, (blow up marshmallows, etc.), anyway, so I'll probably make one at some point and test it.

The evaporation under vacuum will cool the substance, but adding a bit of time under vacuum should accommodate that. Or else if need be, I could warm the base of the chamber...

Vettepilot

Vettepilot;
We've discussed the vacuum deal before. I think it's an excellent idea. Especially if a guy could open a can of powder and use some, and then re-seal it under vacuum. I would think it would pull all the moisture out, on short order; which would basically extend the life of powder, indefinitely.
Another thing I've thought on the vacuum deal.... If a guy could come up with a proper chamber which say bolted a lid on the chamber, with a sure seal of some sort; you could cook charcoal, and it looks to me like it would retain near 100% of it's volatility. I could be wrong, and regularly am, but a vacuum chamber heated to 550°F. would not even allow the wood to smoke, would it? There would be zero air and a negative pressure. Looks to me like the wood would cook and all the moisture would be pulled off, which is probably 80% of smoke. I definitely think it's at least a very intriguing idea.
To carry the idea a step further... it seems to me that you could cook charcoal many degrees cooler, too. If wood tries to spontaneous combust at 450-500°F, while under a vacuum, water boils at less than 100°F., it would seem to me that 450°+- would cook charcoal all day.

[maillemaker]

Hi all. Glad to see everyone is still cooking along with BP!

Steve

[Vettepilot]

I had wondered about this idea of making BP for shooting, but never really found any good info on it, and was very concerned about jumping in and trying it solo without much, much more info than I had at the time. Then, I found this thread. It was a god-send!! I would go so far as to say this wonderful thread should be required reading for anyone wanting to do this. An absolute wealth of practical knowledge exists here, along with experiments that illustrate what works and what does not. Major kudos to all contributors, and thanks!!

Vettepilot

[ogre]

I had wondered about this idea of making BP for shooting, but never really found any good info on it, and was very concerned about jumping in and trying it solo without much, much more info than I had at the time. Then, I found this thread. It was a god-send!! I would go so far as to say this wonderful thread should be required reading for anyone wanting to do this. An absolute wealth of practical knowledge exists here, along with experiments that illustrate what works and what does not. Major kudos to all contributors, and thanks!!



Vettepilot

True this!!!

[DoubleBuck]

Hey Maillemaker!
Vettepilot and Ogre, I agree!

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Have you guys found the cleanest burning charcoal yet? I think the most powerful is already well known but I'd really like to make a cleaner burning formula. Should I start with Oak or some other hardwood?

[DoubleBuck]

Have you guys found the cleanest burning charcoal yet? I think the most powerful is already well known but I'd really like to make a cleaner burning formula. Should I start with Oak or some other hardwood?

Steve, you probably want to avoid hardwoods. They are dense, generally slow burning; with high ash content. Even though I think clean burning is a bit of a misnomer when referencing Black Powder; there are fast, high energy and reasonably clean powders. And, I agree with Indian Joe on the compression/bullet size/density etc., thing.
Refining your home made powder is a combination of so many things; I would suggest you finding a light, low density, fast growing, low ash content wood, and then start refining the ingredients, process and grading until you get happy with your results.
If you want shootable powder, that is one thing. If you want to give Swiss powder a run for their money; you have to bring your A game from ingredient quality, to Charcoal excellence, through the milling process, through the corning process (or screening process) through the grading process; through the moisture control process; through the long term (or not) storage process.
Now, a bit more direct answer to your wanting a clean burn.
Low ash wood is #1 concern. Your wood has to be low ash, or your charcoal will be dirty. Speaking of clean charcoal, care has to be taken at every step to avoid dirt and contamination. Wood is generally prone to be dirty, and powder has to remain as absolutely clean as possible.
Other than the above, contributors to this site have offered a lot of reliable information on not just clean burn, but type of burn residue different powders produce. In my opinion, that is one of the biggest positives of low temperature charcoal cooking. The powder may not be that much cleaner, but it is a LOT more moist and uncharred.
Some really good burning powder bakes on the inside of your barrel, and causes immediate and growing fowling problems, simply because it is not easily swabbed and continues to compound.
Lower temperature charcoal, to an extent; retains more volatiles, which are generally expressed as moist fowling; which is very easily swabbed and slower to build-up.
If you take the time to get serious, research this site and the best known woods will all be discussed from nearly every region of the country and in some cases, even the world. There are many links to some really informative, even critically informative reading.
Good luck and I hope you find that clean burning powder that no one else has. If and when you do, post all your results here and help the community grow and prosper!

[maillemaker]

Have you guys found the cleanest burning charcoal yet? I think the most powerful is already well known but I'd really like to make a cleaner burning formula. Should I start with Oak or some other hardwood?

This table provides information on which wood are good for black powder:

https://pyrodata.com/chemicals/Charcoal

Generally speaking, hardwoods are not as suitable as soft woods.

[Linstrum]

Have you guys found the cleanest burning charcoal yet? I think the most powerful is already well known but I'd really like to make a cleaner burning formula. Should I start with Oak or some other hardwood?

DoubleBuck's post 6107 above pretty much covers it, what follows are just a few more things.

You will have to do some searching through what has already been posted, but several of the regulars here have already found the most promising kinds of wood to use, and among those kinds of wood, there are several that are not all that hard to obtain. Or, if you are the adventuresome type, go looking for your own kinds of wood, which is what I did. But if you go looking for your own wood, be prepared to like doing it, plus have a powder scale and be able to do some math so you can do ash content assays to find The Holy Grail of less than 1.5% ash. Just saying, my cut off point for charcoal ash is below 4%.

But beyond that, it is HOW you roast wood that is important, too. Making charcoal is an art, besides a science, just ask all the other guys who make charcoal! Roasting wood is temperature sensitive, and to some degree time sensitive, and there cannot be any air in with the wood while it is roasting. What I mean by time sensitive is that the wood may become overcooked even though the temperature never goes above a certain point, if the wood is cooked too long. Not cooking long enough is just as bad. This is the art part of it.

Some of those who have posted here have already done the grunt work to discover how to equal the performance of commercial black powder, which is not a simple process. Far from it. It goes well beyond finding the right kinds of wood, and then carefully roasting it into charcoal. But charcoal is just the first of many more important steps.

For a bit more very basic but important information, go back to page 210 of this thread, post 4192.

Have fun, we do!

[DoubleBuck]

Guys;
I'm going to post a short off topic post, and hope not to offend anyone, but feel it is important to our cause, hobby, habit or what ever it is to each of us.
I've been watching the annual fund raiser for Cast Boolets and a few weeks ago, when it started, I gave a donation. I also pay a fee as we all do; to be able to use this forum and find it well worth the price.
This is the most informative forum I personally use, on the internet. I have learned more than I ever set out to learn, on home manufacture of the Holy Black and it's multi related topics, which are covered at length; discussed, proved and disproved.
I feel a close kinship to each of the regular posters and newbs asking the basics and I so much appreciate each of your inputs on our subject.
That said; if the goals are met and this whole site can continue, we all win. And, if all of us who have got this same satisfaction and knowledge gained as a group, donate just the price of a single pound of commercial powder, this one forum can probably meet the goal, in and of ourselves.
To the creators, owners and admins, thank you! This has been a great place to invest time, research and words, for me! I hope the goal is surpassed and the site is here in years to come, for the next generation of people like us; willing to do something for ourselves, and the satisfaction that comes with it!
Thanks to all and carry on!

[LAGS]

Thank you DoubleBuck.
I have to agree with you.
My donation has been mailed last week.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I got some incredible consistency using screened powder last weekend.

Using 90gr by weight with a 590gr boolit I shot this string 998fps, 997fps and 996fps out of a 50cal.

[LAGS]

I too have found that I can get consistantly with Homemade Screened powder if you load it per actual Weight rather than Volume.

[indian joe]

I too have found that I can get consistantly with Homemade Screened powder if you load it per actual Weight rather than Volume.

yep!!

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I too have found that I can get consistantly with Homemade Screened powder if you load it per actual Weight rather than Volume.

Yes, I weighed each charge before heading out. The height of my charge tubes can vary quite a bit depending if I'm scooping out the small bits at the bottom of the batch or taking the bigger ones at the top. By weight it all evens out.

[glockky]

Does anyone know of a commercial source for charcoal made from soft woods. Wanting to make my first batch and noticed the suppliers charcoal is all from hardwoods.

[swamp]

What size batch? I have some extra willow. Not ground, in small pieces. PM if interested.
swamp

[Linstrum]

Does anyone know of a commercial source for charcoal made from soft woods. Wanting to make my first batch and noticed the suppliers charcoal is all from hardwoods.

Welcome to making black powder!

One thing about buying charcoal is you will have to assay the charcoal for its ash content, which isn't hard to do if you have a powder scale for accurately determining weight to 1/10 of a grain.

Charcoal can vary in ash content all over the place, depending on what kind of wood was used, along with how hot the wood was heated. I've had charcoal that was a whopping 16% ash. That's 1/6 of the charcoal that was unburnable ash.

The guys here are using charcoal with ash content running somewhere around 2.5% to 3%. My cut-off point for ash is 4%. I doubt if charcoal with less than 1% ash exists, ash is just something that plant material has in it, since plants require minerals in order to grow, and ash is the remains of those minerals after being heated.

Why I mention ash to begin with is because it dilutes how much fuel there is in the charcoal, along with it interferes with the powder burning and it is the source of hard barrel deposits. As far as diluting the fuel content in charcoal, when the ash content is below 2.5%, compensating for the loss of fuel content isn't worth the bother since other factors, such as the unknown weight of the moisture content in the charcoal and potassium nitrate, will have more effect in changing how well black powder burns. When I talk about the moisture content of the charcoal and potassium nitrate, it is in reference to accurately weighing out how much of the dry ingredients to use to make a batch of black powder. The charcoal and potassium nitrate should be as dry as possible, since both absorb moisture from the air. Because of that, when they are weighed, the amount that is weighed out won't have enough, since part of what is weighed out is water (that was absorbed from the air while the charcoal and potassium nitrate were in storage). But that is getting into splitting hairs, personally, I never worried about drying my ingredients. BUT I DID compensate for ash content when it was above 2.5%.

I wrote a bit more very basic but important information back on page 210 of this thread, post 4192. It is pretty long, which I apologize for, but it has the procedures and math explanations used for assaying charcoal for ash content, along with how to compensate for ash in charcoal by adjusting the black powder formula so it still burns as efficiently as possible.

Others here have also posted the method for testing how efficiently powder burns, by burning a small amount of powder on a piece of paper, where the powder burns so fast it doesn't scorch the paper. That's fast powder, and a good test for powder that is made correctly!

Work safely, and Good Luck!

[sailcaptain]

Does anyone know of a commercial source for charcoal made from soft woods. Wanting to make my first batch and noticed the suppliers charcoal is all from hardwoods.

I’m not sure if this will help you but I’ll put it out there.
I’ve been buying my charcoal (for grilling) from Cranston Coal Co. in Rhode Island for years. It’s clean, burns better than ANY store brand I’ve ever found and is a little known source for charcoal in RI.
But I do know others have used it for Black Powder.
This company has been around here for decades. I do know a local mall was built on an old coal mine in Cranston. (Just thought I would throw that in for a fun fact)
You can try and see if they will ship charcoal. But you can check and see if there is a coal supplier near you that makes charcoal as well.

[glockky]

I found a good patch of willows in the pasture that’s pretty easy to get to. I’ll just have to find me a paint can or something and cook up a batch of charcoal.