My homemade black powder

[DoubleBuck]

LAGS;
That's what it did to me. I had a quarter inch line running 4 feet in my 1" channel iron tester. I lit it, and it flashed so quick, it got me and burned basically the whole line, before I could move. Counting frames, it burned that line in less than .3 seconds.

[LAGS]

My test was only 2 ccs of powder sitting on the bottom of an old tin can.
It was limited space , but flashed BIG.
Also , I did not expect it to ignite so fast , so I was off guard.
This is going to work great for my 4 f priming powder in the flinter.
And I didn't even up the sulfer percentage yet.
But that will be a special batch just for 4f.
I have two more batches of powder out in the Arizona Solar Puck Dryer.
It don't take long for the pucks to dry out , even with our high humidity of 5% today

[LAGS]

Yes.
It is a cool day here today.
It might get up to 91 later today.
We will be over 100 degrees per day within a month.

[Nobade]

Well, my order for nitrate from Hort America came in today. Instead of the Haifa brand I have been using, this is from Chile but it looks identical - very finely ground and not prills. According to the bag it's pure, I'll make a batch of powder with it and see how it does. That is the best price I have found recently, $92 delivered for 50 lbs.

[LAGS]

That will make over 60 lb of powder.
That will keep you busy the rest of the year.

[Nobade]

That will make over 60 lb of powder.
That will keep you busy the rest of the year.

And well into the next!

[Linstrum]

Linstrum, I feel that knowing the ash content of the charcoal is quite reasonable, and I will run another sample of the Quaking Aspen charcoal. Today, I gathered a batch of an unidentified woody material from my woods. This woody shrub grows in a clump, the center trunk being about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and ten feet tall. It seems to die back every year. A cluster of 1/2" diameter plants which will be this year's growth are very green just under the bark, then a 1/16" thick layer of sap wood, with the center being a spongy pith. I will document the plants growth for identification.
The bark was easily removed from last year's 2 1/2" diameter dead growth. Both the sap wood and the heart wood is very soft and light. The center 5/16" diameter contains a soft spongy brown pith. I am going into this detail because the ash content of the charcoal is 1.8%. I am hoping that this will make an even better BP than the Aspen. What has been the ash content of your best charcoals??
Whereas the Aspen ash broke down to a fine powder during the ash assay cooking and stirring, the ash from this unknown charcoal retained considerable fluffy volume, shifting around slightly on the can lid, just from the air currents, though not a speck was lost
So, now I will process this charcoal and make a 1/2# batch of BP and run velocity tests and examine for fouling. What then remains is for me to determine the identity of this woody plant, which is quite common in my woods.
jmh54738

Hi jmh54738. Thanks for your response.

Taking an educated guess about your mystery plant, from your description it might be one of the eastern elderberry species. Elderberry is described as having light pithy wood. But whatever it is, at 1.8% ash, it sounds like it is another good one to keep working with.

Back in about 1988, I made charcoal using the native elderberry that grows in coastal Southern California. The charcoal from that elderberry had a high ash content, I seem to recall it was around 12%. So, I didn't go any further than just making charcoal, even though the charcoal was light and fluffy.

The best wood I've ever used is avocado tree wood. I knew it wasn't the best wood in the world, but is was pretty close. Depending on which tree and what part of the tree, it runs between 3% and 4% ash when the charcoal was heated up to about 900 ºF, which is "dead burnt". Red heat just becomes visible indoors at 900 ºF. Dead burnt charcoal has had all the desirable creosote cooked out of it, so, if it had been heated to about 600 ºF, the amount of charcoal produced would have weighed more, and the relative ash content would have been much lower, very likely below 2.5%. I used avocado tree wood because that was the best that was available where I lived at the time. I was surrounded by about 50,000 acres of avocado orchards, so, getting avocado tree wood was not a problem.

Avocado and sassafras are both in the Lauraceae family, so, the two tree species have many characteristics in common. The leaves of some avocado tree varieties even smell like sassafras, although the leaves themselves look nothing at all alike. Avocado tree wood is a bit more dense, except for new growth that can be like balsa.

I began using avocado tree wood right at the very end of when I was still making black powder. For my avocado black powder, I never bothered separating it into more than fffg and ffffg grain sizes, and I only made 100 grains or 200 grains at a time.

What I was doing was trying to find the best possible plant material where I lived to make black powder, and I found it in avocado tree wood. I also found out there was lots of it all over the place. So, I moved on to my next project.

[jmh54738]

[QUOTE=Linstrum;5393137]Hi jmh54738. Thanks for your response.

Taking an educated guess about your mystery plant, from your description it might be one of the eastern elderberry species. Elderberry is described as having light pithy wood. But whatever it is, at 1.8% ash, it sounds like it is another good one to keep working with.

You guessed correctly Linstrum, while my local university extension horticulturalist could not identify the plant, which is Red Berried Elder. My charcoal wood selection keeps getting better, from White Pine, to Cedar, to Quaking Aspen. About the Aspen; I have run the ash assay three times, averaging 6.0. Shooting about 40 shots yesterday with the Aspen powder, (36 cal RB, 35 grains powder), resulted in soft fouling which required just a dry patch after every 2 or three shots. I am satisfied that it is good strong BP. I was concerned with the amount of ash, but less concerned when I consider that around 55% of the powder charge is a residual solid. On the other hand, a high ash content would make the recipe carbon deficient. Thus, I am excited to experiment with the very low ash (1.8%) Red Elderberry charcoal. As stated before the elder wood is very light weight and its ash more white and fluffy when compared to the Aspen. The Red Elderberry is very common, especially around the edge of my woodland. I am now processing a batch of Elderberry BP, and will report the chronograph and fouling results soon.
jmh54738

[DoubleBuck]

jmh54738;
Good luck with the new wood! That is interesting, because we also have a lot of Elderberry here. If you can beat the birds and coons, etc., it makes excellent syrup and gummies, etc. It is very healthy and medicinal. The wood being good would just be another plus, for sure.

[Richard66]

used my first batch of homemade powder today it burned clean and fire ok but it was about 300 fps slower than the same charge of Goex is this normal or do I need to make adjustments it was made with 15 cedar charcoal 10 sulfur and 75 potassium nitrate it was all 2f also had some homemade 3f and tried it it was about 200fps slower than goex 2f

[LAGS]

What is the weight.
IE.
How much does your powder weigh per 100 grains of volume.
All my Homemade powder weighs less than factory stuff per a 100 gr volume measure.

[Richard66]

I will weight it tomorrow did not think of that should i weight the goex then weight the homemade to equal my weight and shoot that to see if velocity increases

[LAGS]

Most of my homemade powder is 84 grains to a 100 grain measure for corned powder.
My screened powder is about 69 gr to 100 grain measure.
All I do is increase the load to fit the actual weight of the powder , and it performed as well as factory stuff.
But I no longer have a Crony.
So Actual Velocity is not in my comparison.
It is just how much the ball drops in comparison to a load of factory stuff.

[Richard66]

THX I will try to check it tomorrow may be able to shoot and check velocity also that will most likely take care of the change

[Richard66]

You were wright I checked and a 100 grain measure was only 70 grain on scales so I was using a 60 grain measure and was only 36 grains so that was the velocity drop THX for your help

[LAGS]

So basically,
All you need to do is Add 30% to your load based on your findings.
But check all your batches of powder the same way to be accurate.
Is your powder Screened , or pressed and corned ?

[Richard66]

screened but I am building a press soon and have ordered a coffee grinder . So if it is pressed and ground will it have more weight because it will be dense from pressure

[LAGS]

My powder weighs more if pressed , pucked then let dry for at least a day.
Then break up the pucks and grind them gradually to the size of powder you want.
When I grind my pucks.
I grind them once and pour the powder thru a #10 screen.
Anything that stays on the #10 screen gets reground.
Then I sift my powder that passes thru the #10 screen thru a #20 mesh screen.
What stays on the #20 screen will be 1f powder.
If you don't have a cannon,
You can run that thru the grinder again to make it smaller.
Then I run the powder that passes thru the #20 screen thru a #30 screen.
Anything that will not pass thru the #30 screen is considered 2f.
Now take the powder that passes thru the #30 screen and sift it with a #40 screen.
Anything that doesn't pass thru the #40 screen will be your 3f powder.
You can take the powder that passes thru the #40 screen and sift it thru a #60 screen.
Anything that doesn't pass thru the #60 screen will be your 4f
Any of the dust that passed thru the #60 screen can be reprocessed and rescreaned or pressed into pucks.
If you don't use the 4f powder , it can be reprocessed again too.
I know my procedure is time consuming , but well worth it.
Also do not try to set your grinder tight to try and grind one size of powder.
Grinding lightly , and sifting many times produces more 3f and 2f and usually less 4f.

[Richard66]

THX for the information I will try to follow that process . I have lots of time so getting it right will be my biggest goal don't want to mess up. I hope to get mostly 3f but will use 2f and 4f I may need some more screen mine are #12 #16#20#30 I will see how it goes when I make a new batch

[LAGS]

You can use the screens that you have with no problems.
You might look for at least one more finer screen to separate the finer stuff from the 3f powder.
What passes thru a 30 but won't pass thru a 50 is the range for granulated 3f.