My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

Maillemaker: I sent you a private message.

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

Sneaky Steve, you said
"I know this method doesn't make durable grains so I guess that's the price to pay. Totally usable powder but next time I'm going to try corning so it can withstand more firm packing."
Just wondering if you added 2% dexrin to your ingredients before milling. The dextrin hardens up the grains and stops them from crushing when loading the firearm. I'm in the same camp as Indian Joe and only use screened powder for my front stuffers.
Maillemaker, looks like you have got it down for corned powder, way to go.

[brewer12345]

I do not seem to be able to find the 20% off coupon on the harbor freight website. Anyone have a moment to do a quick search and confirm?

[maillemaker]

Just Google “harbor freight coupon”.

[brewer12345]

Just Google “harbor freight coupon”.

I did. All I get are coupon codes for use on the website and harbor freight designates the jack as an in-store item only.

[maillemaker]

OK I guess they aren't running one right now. Every time I've gone to HF I just google up a coupon while in the checkout line. Usually it's good for 20% one item.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Sneaky Steve, you said
"I know this method doesn't make durable grains so I guess that's the price to pay. Totally usable powder but next time I'm going to try corning so it can withstand more firm packing."
Just wondering if you added 2% dexrin to your ingredients before milling. The dextrin hardens up the grains and stops them from crushing when loading the firearm. I'm in the same camp as Indian Joe and only use screened powder for my front stuffers.
Maillemaker, looks like you have got it down for corned powder, way to go.

No, Dextrin slows down the burn, or so I'm told. If I don't need it I won't use it.

As long as we are posing Amazon links. Here's what I'm going to use as a puck mould
.
https://www.amazon.com/iBudtek-dp-pm...-crafts&sr=1-1

They have round ones too if you prefer it. I went with Aluminum in a square mould so I could fit it in a bench vise or a hydraulic lift between my car frame.

If you haven't already download this short book on BP. EVERYTHING you want to know and more is here.
http://pyrotechnic.narod.ru/Black_Powder.pdf

[maillemaker]

Interesting idea for the puck mold - I had no idea such things existed. 24,000 pounds (12 tons) over 8 square inches is 3,000 PSI.

I just went back and re-read about half this thread. Found my last post in 2018 where I said, "I'm going to make some green meal this weekend and press it into pucks!" 3 years later I have finally gotten around to it.

I'm steadily grinding up my pucks. Can't wait to get to the range with a chronograph to see how it compares to Goex.

Steve

[ButchC]

No, Dextrin slows down the burn, or so I'm told. If I don't need it I won't use it.

As long as we are posing Amazon links. Here's what I'm going to use as a puck mould
.
https://www.amazon.com/iBudtek-dp-pm...-crafts&sr=1-1

They have round ones too if you prefer it. I went with Aluminum in a square mould so I could fit it in a bench vise or a hydraulic lift between my car frame.

If you haven't already download this short book on BP. EVERYTHING you want to know and more is here.
http://pyrotechnic.narod.ru/Black_Powder.pdf

So this got me poking around Amazon, and while I got some mesh samples from TWP Inc, they're too small to process a puck in one go. Now the 25 is one size larger than what will trap FF and 45 one size larger than FFF. FFFF should be caught on 66 but for the cost of https://www.amazon.com/ONSALE-Alumin...014TMQTIG&th=1 I'm willing to deal with one mesh difference and press that which passes through the 45 into another puck as I've been doing with my 46 screen. I'll have to report back as to the quality of these as the mesh size descriptor uses two different units.

[maillemaker]

If you look at my post about 5 posts up you can see the sifters I bought off of Amazon. 20 Holes per inch filter out anything that needs to be re-ground. 30 Holes per inch catches about 2F compared to Goex. 40 Holes per inch catches about 3F compared to Goex, though maybe a little finer than Goex.

Steve

[Vettepilot]

From my reading, you want a max of 2% Dextrin in screened powder, and of course water to activate it. Hot water is supposedly better.

I've got some Red Gum to try in my screened powder one of these days. It needs activated with alcohol.

Then there's this, which I also picked up to try:

https://pyrodata.com/PyroGuide/index...ice_starch.htm

https://pyrodata.com/chemicals/SGRS

Vettepilot

[Super Sneaky Steve]

If you look at my post about 5 posts up you can see the sifters I bought off of Amazon. 20 Holes per inch filter out anything that needs to be re-ground. 30 Holes per inch catches about 2F compared to Goex. 40 Holes per inch catches about 3F compared to Goex, though maybe a little finer than Goex.

Steve

I just purchased those very screens based on your recommendation.

If corning proves to be too much of a pain in the rear I'll try the dextrin.

[Vettepilot]

Here ya go guys! What a bargain!

;~)

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

And there's a built in reason for buying it! Tell your wife you want to help her with her "flour sifting!"



Vettepilot

[Hotfxr]

This is my grinder setup made a while back. Straight from grinder to screens. Faster and cleaner. Got the idea from Indian Joe.

[maillemaker]

I shoot .36, .44, .50, .54, .58, .69. I shoot 3f goex in everything. The 30 screen seems to catch 2f while the 40 screen catches 3f. The 20 screen catches anything bigger than 2f.

[Vettepilot]

I like the larger diameter screens so I bought these. They don't carry a number 40 though, so I bought that particular one in a different style/brand, but still large diameter.

[Vettepilot]

I think the official classification for ffg is pass through 16, hold on 30. At least that's the most common designator I've been able to find...

One thing that trips people up is that the pyrotechnic guys often go by the "FA" grading system. That system is different in grain size than the "FG" system which is often called "sporting" and is for guns.

Vettepilot

[ButchC]

I've seen a few different out there, I'm sure due to the FA grading, though even then more than just two pass through or retain sizes per classification are floating around the web. In fact I think Swiss and GOEX are different. I suspect like anything else, so long as it's close and consistent, all will work out in the end.

[ButchC]

So this got me poking around Amazon, and while I got some mesh samples from TWP Inc, they're too small to process a puck in one go. Now the 25 is one size larger than what will trap FF and 45 one size larger than FFF. FFFF should be caught on 66 but for the cost of https://www.amazon.com/ONSALE-Alumin...014TMQTIG&th=1 I'm willing to deal with one mesh difference and press that which passes through the 45 into another puck as I've been doing with my 46 screen. I'll have to report back as to the quality of these as the mesh size descriptor uses two different units.

OK, verdict is in, this is not the product to use. These are micron not mesh. I'll follow up with maillemaker's previous post.