My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

I haven't used it yet to make charcoal.
But I have a Wood Chipper for my garden.
I am going to try chipping some Debarked branches and make some charcoal just to kind of speed up the cooking time.
I figure the smaller chips should cook faster and you can pack more chips in a smaller charcoal cooker.

Well now there's an interesting idea. It would save a lot of work "munching" up the charcoal sticks for grinding into powder too. Good on ya Lags! Let us know how it works out. I can't think of any possible downsides, so this could be a good thing.

Good luck,
Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

To Lags again: Did you ever find Willow and/or Tree of Heaven along the river as we discussed/pondered??

Vettepilot

[LAGS]

The chipper I have is just a Cheap Electric one from HF.
I bought it to grind up branches on my Mesquite Trees that the windstorm blew down.
Due to some family issues I have not made it up to Verde River to look for Willows.
But spring is here , and time to get out in the field more.
Look around yard sales for a chipper.
I bet you can find them really cheap , since people buy them and use them only once

[ButchC]

I haven't used it yet to make charcoal.
But I have a Wood Chipper for my garden.
I am going to try chipping some Debarked branches and make some charcoal just to kind of speed up the cooking time.
I figure the smaller chips should cook faster and you can pack more chips in a smaller charcoal cooker.

Wonder if the significantly tighter packing will lead to it taking a longer time. Should be an interesting experiment.

[maillemaker]

I have made up about half a peanut butter jar of willow-based green meal. Need to get some time to press some pucks.

[Vettepilot]

I have made up about half a peanut butter jar of willow-based green meal. Need to get some time to press some pucks.

As I recall, you're using the Harbor Freight single mill presently. How much powder at a time in that?? (I'm assuming the standard 1/2 half jar of media, right?)

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[LAGS]

I use a single HF tumbler and make 1/2 lb batches at a time.
I can load it up a little more and maybe up to 1 lb.
But I would have to cut down the tumbling media so I don't overload the motor for running such a long time.
But when I get a 1/2 lb batch done , I set it aside and wait to screen it or press it until the second 1/2 lb batch is finished tumbling.
Then the two batches get mixed together so the whole pound of powder is consistent from pound to pound.

[Vettepilot]

Ok, that's about what I figured. Going to use mine for 1/2 pound test batches, then my big setup when I want to get serious.

;~)

Thanks!

Vettepilot

[Trapper-Jack]

I received my 20 pounds of potassium nitrate today in the mail from MBFerts. I also see they credited my credit card $22.75 for the shipping. That makes the 20 pound bag $1.73 a pound. I'll get some weighed out and begin milling it tomorrow.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Today I tried using a blender to grind my char. It worked OK for a little bit then it broke. Back to the meatgrinder.

[swamp]

Trapper-Jack,
Is your nitrate prilled? If it is you will need to break up the prills. Mine would not break down in the ball mill. I used my powder grinder to break up the prills. Same setting I use on my powder.
swamp

[Trapper-Jack]

It came in a flat rate box with two large baggies with 10 pounds each. The consistency is not like little pellets but more like a fine sand. I think I'll run it through the blender first and see if it will reduce down to more of a flour consistency.

[Trapper-Jack]

Sounds great! That's what I'll do. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[MisterStyx]

Howdy folks. First post on this encyclopedia.

I made my first batch of powder the other day. I made a half pound. 75-15-10. Ball milled for a long while, then pressed on 3 ton jack and held for 5 minutes or so. I definitely added too much water to a few of the pucks. Some of them still aren't dry. They seem dry, but they still powder my fingers when I touch them.

Some are hard as ceramic, and I crush those up with a ball peen hammer on a 2x6 piece and sieve for size. That takes a long time. Some of you were using grinders, so I'll definitely take recommendations on those. Some of the roughly 3f sized powder I get (after a long time of crunching) seems dusty and crumbly itself. Would that be because of my drying time, or puck density or what?

Anyways, this is a great thread. Glad I found yall.

[Vettepilot]

I would hazard to guess drying time. Some here let their pressed pucks dry for a very long time. Some use dessicators. I'm thinking of using a vacuum chamber, and/or a dessicator.

Vettepilot

[MisterStyx]

Burned some tonight.

Put a .38spc case full of Goex 3f and weighed it. It came out to 23.3 grains.

My 3f came out to 15.5 grains.

The Goex burned way cleaner. Mine kicked up a lot of smoke and a few stray sparks.

Ordered a coffee grinder with ceramic burrs. Will try to find a better way to dry the pucks I have now.

[Trapper-Jack]

I weighed mine out and put it in the mill tonight. I'll take it out in the morning and see what I've got. I'm not set up with a press yet so the first go round will be the screened powder.

[TheOutlawKid]

Misterstyx what type of charcoal did you use? That plays a huge part on how clean your powder burns

[MisterStyx]

I made the charcoal myself. I used some willow my father in law delivered to me. I threw it in a paint can with a hole punched in it and left it in my burn pile while I cleaned up pine needles. It wasn't an overly scientific job.

[MisterStyx]

And as for finding uses for FFFFg, I don't even need the FFFg. I'm going to have to start shooting more to get rid of the extra powder I make trying to perfect this process.