My homemade black powder

[Dieselhorses]

Attachment 309009

Although my picture seemed to upload on it's side, this grain/corn grinder is the same type grinder that Dieselhorses has pictured above and is the same grinder that Willard McBain uses on his U-tube video. I have been using this grinder to bust up my pucks, but not nearly as fine as McBain. I only set the grinder on a very coarse setting and then like McBain, I also use it for just busting up one puck at a time. I do my finish grinding with my ceramic burr coffee grinder.

A slow steady crank is all that is needed to bust up the pucks and I feel that there is a 99.99 % chance that a spark WILL NOT happen because the metal parts of the grinder are not even touching. If it should, I only loose one puck and perhaps some arm hair as I keep my face away from the hopper.

I found that out of all the processes involved in making and then corning BP, busting up the pucks was the part that I just hated the most, before I started using this grain grinder that is. I get coarse granules from this grain grinder that are more the size of coarse rock salt and that size is so much easier to reduce down with the little ceramic burr coffee grinder than the stuff I was ending up with before after busting up the pucks with a mallet.

I hate busting up pucks too. So this "ceramic burr coffee grinder" is a hand crank or electric?

[HWooldridge]

did you load equal scale weight for your comparison to goex ?? I would hope NO because the clean burn is a big deal (my opinion anyway)

I would say normal that homemade takes more compression --

I mount my compression die in a little direct linkage press sos I can feel whats going on and for comparison I use a luggage scale attached to the end of the handle

what I found doing that is the same amount of compression force on an equal scale weight of both powders gave so close to identical column height in the case that I couldnt see a difference - this despite the homebrew being only about 92% of Goex density in a measure.
I have given the willow powder what appears to be some pretty serious compression and have not messed up velocity at my standard of shooting.

Joe,

Do you ever do a double press on powder? In other words, fill the case and compress as far as possible, then add more powder on top of the column and press again?

TIA - Hollis W

[HamGunner]

I hate busting up pucks too. So this "ceramic burr coffee grinder" is a hand crank or electric?

I use a hand crank ceramic burr coffee grinder for my finish grinding. It has a little plastic hopper and screws onto a glass container. It is easy to adjust the grind setting. This one is right around $20 on Amazon. Mine however was a Hario brand, which might be Japanese.

https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Coffee.../dp/B07F2CFSHR

[LAGS]

I have the same type of ceramic grinder.
I see no reason to take off the crank and spin it with an electric drill.
But I have heard of some people doing that to try and speed up their grinding or make things easier and more modern.

[indian joe]

I have the same type of ceramic grinder.
I see no reason to take off the crank and spin it with an electric drill.
But I have heard of some people doing that to try and speed up their grinding or make things easier and more modern.

Lags I reckon the drill thing is a dumb idea too - I made a wooden frame to mount my grinder on the bench - got rid of the glass bottle - fitted the grinder head to a piece of 3 " pvc pipe that clamps to the wood frame - put a large plastic or stainless bowl under it and go - a major improvement over trying to hold the unit and turn the handle

[mmb617]

In talking about the ceramic burr coffee grinders I'm guessing the hand cranked ones mentioned are something like this:



I started with that and the oblong hole for the handle wallowed out which is why it has a vise-grip on it in the picture.

I switched to this little electric one and really like it as it has ceramic burrs and a lot of adjustment for coarseness:



The first one of those electric grinders I bought broke and while I was able to rig it up to work again I thought there was a design flaw in that two plastic pins held the burrs in place and when one of them broke the grinder quit working. I then found out that the manufacturer had acknowledged the flaw and changed the design. When I contacted them they sent me the upgraded part which fixed it good as new. I was impressed with that level of customer service.

[HamGunner]

Lags I reckon the drill thing is a dumb idea too - I made a wooden frame to mount my grinder on the bench - got rid of the glass bottle - fitted the grinder head to a piece of 3 " pvc pipe that clamps to the wood frame - put a large plastic or stainless bowl under it and go - a major improvement over trying to hold the unit and turn the handle

I don't mind the hand cranking, but I too have found that holding the grinder down with one hand and cranking with the other to be very tedious. I may have to come up with something similar to do away with the glass container and mount it permanently onto a frame. It did reduce the amount of grip that I had to keep on the glass container when I started crushing my pucks in my grain grinder for their first reduction in size, but it still is a pain to have to hang onto the grinder while cranking the handle.

mmb617 mentioned that he had trouble with the crank handle and I also got tired of the little round cap nut that secures the handle constantly loosening up or getting so tight that I needed pliers to loosen it. I replaced it with a small lock washer and a wing nut, which makes it more secure as well as easier to loosen for adjustment.

I also found the spindle above the burrs to have way too much play in the plastic housing resulting in uneven burr pressure and spacing from side to side, so I fashioned some bushings out of water faucet repair washers and that improved the alignment of the burrs a good bit. Not a bad little grinder, and it does a decent job of grinding, but you get what you pay for. Always a few things that one can improve for their own use.

I have noticed that some similar grinders have a centering plate that helps center the grinding burr with each other, although I read some reviews and they did not think it helped much.

[HamGunner]

I started out crushing my charcoal with a hand crank #10 Enterprise meat grinder that is about the size of the one first posted by Dieselhorses. It had a larger handle and lots of power and crushed the charcoal really well, leaving mostly fine dust. But, I guess charcoal is a might bit harder than meat to shove through the plates and the nose bolt sticking out of the front of the auger that turns the knives broke.

I may be able to remove the broken part of the bolt from the auger and fashion another bolt out of some #8 hardness stock, but without proper tooling, it will be a challenge. But I may give it a try. I did fashion a nipple wrench for my revolvers out of a #8 bolt only using files, my drill press, and some emery cloth, so it can be done if I get energetic enough.

I also have a medium sized Keen Kutter hand crank meat grinder, so I can still crush my charcoal. It is a might bit slower and takes more effort on the handle. Hopefully this smaller grinder will hold up to the task at least until I fix the larger grinder. I guess this old 70 year old feller still has some muscle, so I better tone it down a bit.

[FrankJD]

In talking about the ceramic burr coffee grinders I'm guessing the hand cranked ones mentioned are something like this:



I started with that and the oblong hole for the handle wallowed out which is why it has a vise-grip on it in the picture.

I switched to this little electric one and really like it as it has ceramic burrs and a lot of adjustment for coarseness:



The first one of those electric grinders I bought broke and while I was able to rig it up to work again I thought there was a design flaw in that two plastic pins held the burrs in place and when one of them broke the grinder quit working. I then found out that the manufacturer had acknowledged the flaw and changed the design. When I contacted them they sent me the upgraded part which fixed it good as new. I was impressed with that level of customer service.

Great scoop, just ordered that 'lectric ceramic burr grinder, thank you for sharing.

[HamGunner]

Well, I think I fixed my #10 Enterprise meat grinder that I broke. Managed to get the broken off bolt out of the front of the auger. The threaded bolt end that screws into the auger had just enough thread left to tighten back up into the hole, so perhaps as long as I do not over do it, I might be back in business with the larger grinder that has a #10-12 knife & plate. I still will have the smaller #22 Keen Kutter for back up.

I sure was dreading hand fabricating another bolt. It has threads on one end, a square shank in the middle that turns the knives, and a rounded nipple that centers the plates. Not a big deal to make in a machine shop, but not in my radio/reloading/casting shack.

[HamGunner]

I got to checking grinders on Amazon again and found that I actually bought the Hario brand and there are many similar ones. The other similar brands are likely the same, since they are probably all made in China, but I am not certain of this as Hario is a Japanese brand. Anyway, there are similar ceramic grinders that sell for as little as $10. Looks like I might have paid more than $30, but then the video of this grinder below shows that they also have some with the adjustment for the size of grind located on the bottom of the burrs rather that on the top like mine, so they may be a better grinder, although the cheaper ones likely will do the same job.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXZACFB...rinder-20&th=1

[LAGS]

The Hario is the grinder that I have.
The adjustment is on the upper part of the shaft right under the hand crank.
The moving Ceramic grinder is held on to the shaft with a nut.
Not pins like I have seen on others.
I like the set up that Indian Joe described.
If I made powder more often , I would consider building the same kind of jig.

[HWooldridge]

I have that same manual grinder and a few things I learned pretty quickly:
- The pucks must be initially broken into small enough pieces that they can easily fall between the ceramic burrs; otherwise you’ll crank a lot of air passes with less grinding. That’s typically no larger than 1/4” square. I cut the pucks to size with a pair of side cutter wire nippers.
- I don’t just crank forward on the handle, but go back and forth using a fraction of a full turn, which rocks the burrs against the puck pieces and breaks them down enough to eventually run the handle forward with less effort.
- On the first grind, I open the burr spacing so a good amount of daylight is visible and the pieces come out in a very coarse cannon grade size. I run one pass and screen on a #20 sieve over a #30, then grind two more times at the same setting, followed by more screening. There will be a good amount of powder that goes through the 20 and stops on 30. I don’t tighten the burrs until after those first three passes.

It’s currently under construction and not finished, but I’m building a pair of adjustable brass rollers to do the initial puck breaking, and may even be able to use it to final size. Basically an oversized grain mill - I’ll post a pic when done. The roller spacing will be 0-1” or thereabouts and hand operated.

[indian joe]

Missing Vettepilot
he used to be regular here hasnt posted for ages does anybody know anything ? Hoping he is ok

[DoubleBuck]

indian joe;
I have Vettepilot's email and will shoot him one and see if he responds. I was wondering the same thing.
Edit: I got no response. Hopefully everything is OK.

[Vettepilot]

Hi guys. Haven't been feeling great nor doing much lately. Nothing serious nor different wrong, but getting old really does suck. Guess I need to quit putting off getting the third back surgery, and get on with it...

Tin cans and such. Guys, I just love my Dutch Oven/Turkey Fryer charcoal cooking setup.

One other comment. I've been using those Red Cedar pet bedding chips from Walmart I told you guys about. Man do those things cook up quick/easy and process so nicely. SUPER easy.

It makes me wonder if you guys shouldn't maybe try running your chosen wood through a garden wood chipper, then cook it up. I'm serious, with these pet bedding chips, all of the charcoal work/processing is child's play.

Note: Pics of my charcoal cooker on post # 6179.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...powder/page309

Thanks for thinking of me, and you guys take care too.

Vettepilot

[HWooldridge]

Hi guys. Haven't been feeling great nor doing much lately. Nothing serious nor different wrong, but getting old really does suck. Guess I need to quit putting off getting the third back surgery, and get on with it...

Tin cans and such. Guys, I just love my Dutch Oven/Turkey Fryer charcoal cooking setup.

One other comment. I've been using those Red Cedar pet bedding chips from Walmart I told you guys about. Man do those things cook up quick/easy and process so nicely. SUPER easy.

It makes me wonder if you guys shouldn't maybe try running your chosen wood through a garden wood chipper, then cook it up. I'm serious, with these pet bedding chips, all of the charcoal work/processing is child's play.

Thanks for thinking of me, and you guys take care too.

Vettepilot

Glad you’re feeling better - we all need to take better care of ourselves as we age. Do you like the quality of those cedar shavings in the final product? Does it make good BP?

[LAGS]

I have run some different woods thru my garden chipper to make charcoal.
It sure speeds up cooking the charcoal and grinding it up.
But with chips it is very easy to Over Cook it unless you pay attention .
But make sure all the bark is off your branches before chipping it up.

[dondiego]

I have run some different woods thru my garden chipper to make charcoal.
It sure speeds up cooking the charcoal and grinding it up.
But with chips it is very easy to Over Cook it unless you pay attention .
But make sure all the bark is off your branches before chipping it up.

What is the result of NOT debarking the limbs? I have a buckthorn alder that I want to use but it has many small limbs and I am concerned as to how I am going to debark them????? Should I dry them and then debark or debark while still wet/undried?????????

[LAGS]

The bark cooks at a different temperature than the wood.
I debark the branches when they are fresh or recently cut off the tree.
I then let the bare branches dry.
But you can make charcoal out of sort of green branches.
It takes longer and smokes a lot more if still green.
And green wood doesn't cook as even as dried branches.
I clamp my branches in a vise and debark them with a Spokeshave or a draw knife.
It don't matter if you cut a little deeper as you skin off the green bark or dried bark.