Made my first batch of Black Powder

[AlaskanGuy]

My stuff shoots great... But i dont think you were talking to me were ya???

[Texantothecore]

The powder is still slow. I think it may need more milling but I will unload it first and put some bulk rice with it to make sure that it is dry. Rain has really been a problem this winter and spring and I do know one of the cans got some water in it during a torrential rainstorm so we will see what happens.

I am still on the front end of this project which has developed much more slowly than expected. We'll get the good powder, hopefully sooner than later.

I am going to start a new batch using Cal50s protocol for ball milling and see if that gets me closer.

[Boz330]

Maybe I'm just lucky but I never found that the milling time was all that critical. I always mill everything together and anything over 4 hours has worked fine for me. More hasn't made the powder any better. My CC goes in the mill after grinding in a meat grinder as is. Some of the chunks are fairly large but comes out as fine as everything else.
When you say that you are checking the speed of you powder it sounds like you might be testing the meal not the finished powder, if so it will be slow.

Bob

[w5pv]

I haven't done it since but when I was a kid I read some where about the 1/3 charcoal,1/3 sulphur and 1/3 salt petri mix made a batch of it and pulled the shot and powder from a shot gun shell and fired it off.The shot looked like it was traveling at about 300 to 400 feet per second.Being the dummie I was I didn't try it any more the reason being that a kid over the way blew half of his hand away packing some in a pipe he using to make a small cannon.People said that he was using a steel rod to tamp the pwder and ball in place and surmized that he made a spark that set it off.
I am going to learn the proper process and make some myself just to get the supplies and keep them stored for what ever happens.
With the government and their attitude there is no telling.

[Texantothecore]

Maybe I'm just lucky but I never found that the milling time was all that critical. I always mill everything together and anything over 4 hours has worked fine for me. More hasn't made the powder any better. My CC goes in the mill after grinding in a meat grinder as is. Some of the chunks are fairly large but comes out as fine as everything else.
When you say that you are checking the speed of you powder it sounds like you might be testing the meal not the finished powder, if so it will be slow.

Bob

Thanks for the info. I am indeed testing meal and it is burning at the rate of 4 inches in one second or so.

The charcoal was milled for two hours before mixing and the incorporation milling has run for 8.5 hours both at 20 rpm.

When the meal burns it shows the following characteristics:

It ignites easily
It burns aggresively at the rate of 4 inches per second
It leaves virtually no residue.
When burning there is a good deal of flame and smoke.

The possibility that I should compress for testing has occurred to me and I am going to set up the press and compress it and see what happens. I sort of suspect that it will turn out fast but I won't know for a week or two.

If it does turn out well, however, I will have a good feel for how the meal burns for good powder.

[Boz330]

Thanks for the info. I am indeed testing meal and it is burning at the rate of 4 inches in one second or so.

The charcoal was milled for two hours before mixing and the incorporation milling has run for 8.5 hours both at 20 rpm.



That possibility has occurred to me and I am going to set up the press and compress it and see what happens.

More time sure isn't going to hurt anything, just relating my experience.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

I may try to vise press a small amount to see what happens.

[Boz330]

I would think that your density would be better with a hydraulic press if you have one. I use a vice because I don't have one. It works fairly well for me. My velocity per grain of powder is better than Swiss but the case (40-65) doesn't hold as much weight wise.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

I am going to try and compress some tonight and try it out.

[AlaskanGuy]

Let us know what happens...

[Fly]

Bob right on in using a hydraulic press.It's not hard to make one up using a bottle jack.
Here is a small press that is fairly cheap & works very well for corning powder.
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-ton-a...ress-1666.html
Fly

[Nobade]

Harbor Freight often has sales on presses. I waited 'till the sale and got a 20 ton one for $159. Works great for making powder pucks and pressing bearings and steering stems on motorcycles. When I get started changing bushings on my Civic I think it will be pretty useful there too. They are well worth having!

-Nobade

[Whiterabbit]

I have a feeling im personally gonna end up using a combo of dexrin and vise compression.

started milling my kno3. wow, what a difference compared to sulfur! way easier to work with. Amazing. so I was transferring it to a tub, and spilled a bunch of it on the dirt. I thought "why not, I have the 'good stuff' coming, and this stuff is in the dirt anyways." So I scooped it up, dirt and all, mixed with my garden 'high acid' sulphur, and picked out some charcoal random bits from the hearth. No measuring, no fancy anything, this is just bogus materials not good for making BP. So I ballparked the amounts and mortar and pestle them together hal-fass. For just a couple minutes.

wet it with mineral spirits rather than water, and squeezed it by hand. Let dry, crunched up. It burns! slow, but it's looking good! Can't wait to do it for real, with measured ingredients, incorporated via mill, wetted with water, mixed with a smidge of dextrin, maybe pressed a little bit, and graded in real screens. Gonna be awesome!

[psychicrhino]

Wow, really interesting guys. I always wanted to tryrolling my own.

[Whiterabbit]

While I have no doubt it is one of those "lifetime to master" things, if you just want to see a flare on your bench, it really is as easy as a mortar and pestle with stump remover, soil acidifier, and remains from your hearth.

Just checked mine again. squeeze a grain, turns to dust. Check. Just like what everyone else here said would happen. definitely need some dextrin and a pipe for a press.

[Boz330]

Harbor Freight often has sales on presses. I waited 'till the sale and got a 20 ton one for $159. Works great for making powder pucks and pressing bearings and steering stems on motorcycles. When I get started changing bushings on my Civic I think it will be pretty useful there too. They are well worth having!

-Nobade

I know, it is on my roundtoit list. I even have one of those 20% off coupons in my wallet. And we have a retail store here locally. I have to be careful when I go there though. Like a kid in a candy store with a pocket full of money.

Bob

[Nobade]

I know, it is on my roundtoit list. I even have one of those 20% off coupons in my wallet. And we have a retail store here locally. I have to be careful when I go there though. Like a kid in a candy store with a pocket full of money.

Bob

Ya, I know what you mean. I just think about the smell of all that cheap Chinese stuff and it sort of turns me off and I don't get too carried away though.

One funny thing - they have ultrasonic cleaners identical to the ones Hornady sells without the red label on the front for about half of what the Hornady ones sell for. Hmmmm....

-Nobade

[Texantothecore]

I don't mind the Chinese stuff for machinery which is not under continuous stress and is used below its maximum stress limits.

The ball mill I use is much higher quality than most of the chinese stuff as it is going to be run for longer periods of time at its maximum load.

Mike

[Whiterabbit]

I do. That's like you saying you don't mind the crappy drill press just because you will take their 2hp drill press and use it as if it were a .25 HP drill press on occasion and call it good. But nevermind that the spindle wobbles out of the box, the chuck is barely 3/8" on a floor standing model, and the belt breaks after 3 months of occasional use that makes your shop smell like burning laquer every time you turn it on.

I digress, this is the making BP thread. I have my first dextrin sweetened puck drying on the workbench now, just under a quarter pound of material. Sadly my screens are on route but will not arrive till late Wednesday. Methinks a range trip on Thursday is in order.

FYI for those looking for a reasonable price on screen material, you can get stainless steel screen from grainger for $5 a sheet. Much better than skylighter for $30 a sheet.

[ofitg]

The charcoal was milled for two hours before mixing and the incorporation milling has run for 8.5 hours both at 20 rpm.

TTTC, a couple of suggestions - might be worth trying -

1) I run my tumbler/ball mill at 60 rpm - I've read other experienced BP makers recommend the same speed.

2) I also installed a pair of plastic riffles inside the rotating drum, at opposite sides of the drum - the lead balls and BP ingredients have to jump over these riffles twice per second. Increases the agitation/incorporation.

Thanks for the info. I am indeed testing meal and it is burning at the rate of 4 inches in one second or so.

Does this mean that the "flame front" takes one second to traverse a 4-inch length of loose powder?