My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

Sulfur, aluminum powder, and an oxidizer make flash powder, an explosive. Please don't try adding Al to black powder. You may be very unhappy with the results.

^^^^THIS---^

!!!

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Ironically, I ran across something about aluminum in black powder as used by the pyro crowd in their burst charges. It surprises me, as those are indeed also the ingredients for flash powder, which can be very touchy. Mix it by the diaper method and hold your breath type of touchy from demos I have seen. Of course there are various recipes for flash powder...

I am actually at the hospital for tests--> I'll post more later. Anyway, be careful guys. One good accident could shut us all down in today's world, besides someone getting hurt or worse. Aluminum powder is spooky!

VP

[almar]

Yeah the more i read about it the worse it gets...forget it. Mainly the unpredictable pressure curve from adding even traces of aluminum in the mix.

[Vettepilot]

I don't know... I am rather of the opinion that if a fellow refines things till you're getting performance of Goex to Swiss spectrum, life is good, be happy. If you really have to have more, switch to smokeless operations. It really worries me when guys get to experimenting with exotic black powder. If there was a magic improvement that was viable and SAFE to use, I really feel like the intense time, money, and energy applied to that very thing by governments, armies, and huge corprations with unlimited resources----> would have found it!!

Effin Google admonished me when I tried to research flash powder. I guess it should not surprise me, but I HATE this new world we live in!!!

Grrrr...

Vettepilot

[ofitg]

Effin Google admonished me when I tried to research flash powder. I guess it should not surprise me, but I HATE this new world we live in!!!

Grrrr...

Vettepilot

Good source of info on various pyrotechnics, gunpowder developments, etc -

http://www.gunshoplosangeles.com/Pyr...osives_Ocr.pdf

[Vettepilot]

Good source of info on various pyrotechnics, gunpowder developments, etc -

http://www.gunshoplosangeles.com/Pyr...osives_Ocr.pdf

Ah yes, that's a quite good one. I read it once some time ago. Good to have it on file again. Thanks!

Vettepilot

[DoubleBuck]

Somewhere in the last few discussions, BPJake was about to glaze and then polish with Graphite.
I just thought of something I don't think was mentioned when using Graphite.
Some of us have had better luck polishing powder damp, to get that sheen quickly and efficiently. However, the information I have sourced says the Graphite is tumbled with the powder AFTER drying completely. If it is done before, it will seal the moisture in the grains and cause a breakdown of the grains in short order. And, it makes the powder very hard to dry.
While I touted polishing damp, I never thought to scream don't do graphite damp. So, I'm screaming it now, after the fact. Sorry about that. When I tried the graphite, I did dry the powder first. Never thought to remind anyone about it.

[Vettepilot]

Good catch Buck. Yes, the powder must be completely dry before using graphite. Then the graphite will help against moisture.

I don't use graphite, but I am fanatical about keeping my containers tightly closed with a dessicant pack inside. I also use smaller containers of powder so that my large container won't be opened so frequently. That is arguably safer too.

I sometimes make my own dessicant packs with rice and unscented kitty litter in little pouches made from coffee filter paper. I have heard drywall makes a good dessicant too. From my drywall work in the past, I know that when fresh it contains some moisture and is softer/easier to use. Once dried out, it becomes harder to cut. So if using as a dessicant, dry it first.

Of course, one could always just get silica gel from Amazon...

Vettepilot