DIY bp gurus: will I need to corn my black powder? for use in cartrides?

[Texantothecore]

I opened the can of compressed cedar last night and found that there was a core in the center of the can, maybe 1 inch to an inch and a half wide, which had not converted. I have a great deal more charcoal from this can than I did with the less compressed cans but it looks like I will have to leave it on the fire for more time or increase the heat.

Friday night I will take my cans of charcoal and pour them into my ball mill and run them for six hours or so. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of my handiwork and using some homemade powder.

[Monttexan]

I just read through this entire thread over the past couple of hours and have a question and a couple of comments.

I never saw where anyone answered the question whether or not Birch wood will make good charcoal?
There was a comment about being unable to find dry ice for cooling. You should be able to buy dry ice in any decent grocery store. I haven't needed any within the past 6 months, but have bought it within the past year.

Part of the safety discussion at one point involved comments about grain silos blowing up. When silos explode it's a particular type of reaction. If I remember correctly it's called a colloidal explosion. Basically, each dust particle is completely surrounded by air and can then ignite. No, I don't remember all of the specifics; I learned about it in high school chemistry class and that's been a while! We did make a flour bomb in class though. WE put a small amount of regular white flour inside a metal can with an alcohol burner. A blast of air was shot up underneath the flour via a hose to suspend it in the air, and boom, the lid of the can blew off! It's the suspension in air that makes it dangerous. Similarly, I've done the test, though don't recommend it that you can throw a lit match into a small puddle of gasoline and it will put the match out. Gasoline vapors are more volatile. All this long-windedness is about your fine charcoal dust being flammable, but much more dangerous if you let it get suspended in air.

[Texantothecore]

I just read through this entire thread over the past couple of hours and have a question and a couple of comments.

I never saw where anyone answered the question whether or not Birch wood will make good charcoal?
There was a comment about being unable to find dry ice for cooling. You should be able to buy dry ice in any decent grocery store. I haven't needed any within the past 6 months, but have bought it within the past year.

Part of the safety discussion at one point involved comments about grain silos blowing up. When silos explode it's a particular type of reaction. If I remember correctly it's called a colloidal explosion. Basically, each dust particle is completely surrounded by air and can then ignite. No, I don't remember all of the specifics; I learned about it in high school chemistry class and that's been a while! We did make a flour bomb in class though. WE put a small amount of regular white flour inside a metal can with an alcohol burner. A blast of air was shot up underneath the flour via a hose to suspend it in the air, and boom, the lid of the can blew off! It's the suspension in air that makes it dangerous. Similarly, I've done the test, though don't recommend it that you can throw a lit match into a small puddle of gasoline and it will put the match out. Gasoline vapors are more volatile. All this long-windedness is about your fine charcoal dust being flammable, but much more dangerous if you let it get suspended in air.

It appears that birch has been used for black powder and it may be pretty good. The reason you don't see much talk about it is that it is generally more expensive than cedar. Way more expensive...

The discussion on colloidal explosion was because I have worked in a number of industries in which it is a factor but it is no longer a threat due to the use of electostatic precipitation systems that clean the air rather well. In any case, an open garage door is better than the still air of 99% of factories so it should not be a factor at all.

The airfloat charcoal is not nearly as difficult to handle as I had thought it might be so I am quite satisfied with the setup.

[Texantothecore]

I just loaded the compressed cedar can into the tumbler and it turned out that the unconverted cedar was a shallow area and I did get nearly complete conversion. So the technique I used really worked quite well, fast and with fairly high production.

Boy do I have a lot of charcoal. It will keep the press humming for a while. Lol.

[Texantothecore]

Monttexan,

The birch appears to be too heavy, about the same as oak, and it will probably be too slow.

Most of the woods listed as good bp charcoals are about 27 lbs. Per cubic foot or so. Any wood around this number or lighter should work ok.

Engineeringtoolbox.com has a good list of species and their weights.

[Texantothecore]

Some questions for our experts:

1. I will be grinding my charcoal down to airfloat over the next few days. It is currently reduced to 16 or 18 screen for storage. I expect a six hour run in the tumbler will get it down to 350 size screen for airfloat.

1. I am using Spectracide for the KNO3. Should I airfloat it as well as the garden sulfur before the final mixing and grinding run?
2. I am expecting to expend 6 hours on the final mixing run. Does this match your experience? My current set up is a Thumler with one pound of .490 roundball and two pounds of 405 grain .45-70 boolits. It grinds very rapidly.

3. I will be picking up my 12 ton press on Friday. Are there any pitfalls or traps to watch for when I take the hydraulic cylinder apart to drill and tap it for the pressure gauge?

Thanks,
Mike

[Boz330]

I grind my CC in an old meat grinder, then put all of the ingredients together and ball mill. I have a Harbor Frieght tumbler which doesn't work as good as the Thumbler but gets the job done. The Thumbler is so big and I don't normally make that big of batches. Can't help you on the press, I just use a bench vice. Big problem is probably getting all of the chips out of the jack.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

Bob,
Both my monster bench vise as well as my meat grinder went out the door during a garage sale so I have had to replace those with some more equipment that turns out to be better suited to the tasks at hand.

I would love to drill and tap the hydraulic cylinder in place as I cannot find a schematic of the press anywhere but it looks as if I will have to take it apart to do the project. I have no idea what is inside the cylinder but looks as if I will become expert on the construction of this press

The reason I bought the Thumler was not the capacity but the thermal cut off on the motor which will shut it down if the engine overheats. The fast grinding that I have seen is just icing on the cake but I think that the Harbor Freight ball mill is quite good. You can tell I was in mfg for 35 years and that I attended every safety meeting offered.

Your comments tell me what I need to know about the final run and I thank you for your reply.

[Texantothecore]

I am getting, by weight, 30%
charcoal which is a bit of a surprise as I thought it would be closer to 20%. A nice surprise.

[cal50]

http://www.albroswift.com/jack.htm

[Texantothecore]

Thanks Cal,

That video does a great job in explaining the process. Going to get it going in the next week or so.

The structure of the hydraulic jack is very different than I had thought, a real education in that video.

[cal50]

Thanks Cal,

That video does a great job in explaining the process. Going to get it going in the next week or so.

The structure of the hydraulic jack is very different than I had thought, a real education in that video.

The other link has some good info on how to calculate the actual force.
Using a gauge is the only way to be repeatable and have consistent results.

[Texantothecore]

The other link has some good info on how to calculate the actual force.
Using a gauge is the only way to be repeatable and have consistent results.

The press is in and I pulled the hydraulic cylinder to drill it for the gauge.

Cal,
I can't seem to find nipples that will withstand 6,000 psi. Any ideas as to suppliers? This may be a matter of searching with wrong words but I haven't found any high pressure pipe or 90 degree elbows yet.

[Nobade]

Do you have a hydraulic repair shop in your town? They should have what you need.

-Nobade

[Texantothecore]

Sheesh. Of course. I will try them.

Thanks Nobade

[cal50]

What he said.

[Texantothecore]

I found a great store not too far from my place and the guys are very knowledgeable and the fittings are way cheaper than I expected. Cheap enough that if I want to change the configuration I can do so with pocket change.
Cal, how thick is the base plate on the cylinder? I am going to be taking the hyraulic cylinder apart next week and drilling.

I am also thinking of drilling through the bottom, installing a right angle fitting and bringing a hose (9600 psi) out the side through a hole drilled in the skirt. I will probably go shopping today to see if the parts are available.

If the parts stick out beneath the bottom skirt I might be able to use a Delrin spacer between the bottom of the skirt and the jack plate to allow the additional room needed for the fittings. Does that sound reasonable?

Having a lot of fun with this project.

[cal50]

Thickness varies with the jack brand and tonnage but nothing too thick a standard length drill bit cant handle.

Hole placement is really up to you and depends on how you are setting your press up. The one thing I did not do is get a cut off valve for my pressure gauge. I was pressing out some wheel bearings and ran almost ran my gauge out of range before they broke loose. Its nice to have but not necessary. I have a gauge that is smaller graduations and total PSI and easy to read.

[Faret]

How much water is everybody using to press their powder. I have heard anywhere from 4 - 8 % by weight.

[Nobade]

How much water is everybody using to press their powder. I have heard anywhere from 4 - 8 % by weight.

VERY little. I don't know the % by weight, but I have worked it out so that my die holds 6 heaping teaspoons of mill dust moistened by 5 shots from my pump spray bottle. That is not much water, when stirred in it just starts making the powder clump into balls. The deal is to adjust the water so that the pressed puck is uniformly moistened but no water runs out of the bottom of the die. If water runs out you are losing nitrate and the powder isn't as good.

-Nobade