Making blackpowder.

[scrat]

im going to have to agree with jct especially when there is about a hundred or so videos on all video hosting networks showing people make it this way. im not going out to make a 5lb batch. im going to try to make as small amount as possible im going to try to see if i can duplicate or make better than goex. Im sure its possible. but id rather start out small. then if it works get a mill. Same time people have been making black for thousands of years. only about for two hundred years was man using a mill. Mills im sure were first powered by water then steam then gasoline then electricity. but before that it was mortor and pestle. Same time there are so many different mortors and pestles out there to do the job. Safety of course is my main concern and will be followed.

 

[scrat]

Todays WALKER shooting



i have to remember to stop aiming on target and aim lower. all were done at 20 yards



Would have stayed longer. I wanted to put up another target but she kept jaming up on me. Then was not setting off any of the caps. Had to come home with three cylinders full of powder and balls. Once i got home i completely took her apart. there were about 4 pieces of old caps in the works. Now she is already for next week. I think i must have had to much oil on the works to around the cylinder that made the caps jam up in the inside. I wish they made caps that would not fall apart on you when you pulled the trigger wouldnt that be great. Im thinking about ordering some new nipples to get a better fit. so question i have for you guys whats a good brand of nipples for a Uberti

woops wrong thread.

WALKER

 

[berkmberk1]

I've been following the debate pretty closely as I am interested in eventually making some of my own BP. I assume many of us have been cruising the internet looking up things like "gunpowder", "blackpowder", "explosives", and the like.......and probably found some pretty interesting sites, too!!!

I'm just wondering how many of us are now on some sort of FBI/NSA list!

 

[scrat]

hahahahahah fbi

female body inspectors. who makes up those names anyways.

i mean the atf
alocohol tobacco and firearms.

sheeeeeiiit you add nudy bars to that and i bet you will have a 10 year waiting list to join. Thats a pure redneck dream job. What kind of bourbon should i drink while shooting a cannon and smoking a stogie

 

[JCT]

I can only hope our tax money goes towards real problems and not towards watchful alphabet agencies that over regulate harmless hobbies....I can only hope... The CPSC is one to watch out for, they've done serious harm to hobby pyros by regulating sale of oxidizers and fine mesh metals.
Too many of the people seem to equate terrorism with inanimate objects and not the actual terrorists. Me making BP is never gonna harm a thing, but I'm sure some feds think that making BP will gravitate you towards harming people....real logical :banghead: That's like the idea that if you give a good person a gun , they'll somehow become bad, like the gun carries some curse :banghead:

 

[Macmac]

Still reading, still learning... If anyone doing this is anywhere NH, I sure would like to know about it.

I got a hard laugh too, as about this time Easter Sunday I should have about 1 gallon of that dangerous Maple Syrup fresh off the stove.. My trees are a running a tad slow or I would be making my 3rd gallon about now.

 

[lgsracer]

Check out this site lot of good info:

http://fogoforum.us/tools.php

http://fogoforum.us/blackpowder.php

These are some very good links to check out too:

http://www.pyrotechs.org/component/option,com_weblinks/catid,15/Itemid,23/

http://www.pyrotechs.org/component/option,com_weblinks/catid,14/Itemid,23/

 

[scrat]

good info. i read it. however it seems more geared to making fireworks. I am more concerned about making a usable black powder to shoot with.

 

[lgsracer]

Well it is true that he is into making fireworks but he does compress and corn his black powder. By compressing doesn't he bring quality to commercial levels?

 

[JCT]

Scalper, I had typed all this, but your thread got closed!!:

There's at least 2 or 3 recent threads all about making your own BP. At least a few people here and at TFL make their own.
The most important variable is the charcoal. Low density hardwoods seem to be the way to go. I use Willow, but Alder, Balsa, Paulownia and Grapevine work great ( I've tried all but Paulownia myself ). Willow makes fast and hot BP. Hot BP= clean BP since the combustion leaves little residue.
There's no need to make anything other than the standard 75% 15% 10%, KNO3, Charcoal, Sulfur. You could leave the sulfur out, but it's there for a reason. It lowers the ignition temp of the oxidizer/fuel mix and regulates the burn for a consistent and even reaction. This is where products like Pyrodex and 777 can have issues and non fires at times. They have very high ignition points, good BP doesn't.

 

[scalper]

Thanks JCT. Yeah, I saw that it got closed. I did a search for it before posting and didn't spot anything. I should have just looked at the top of the BP page.

This is fantastic! Like minds!

 

[Macmac]

JCT said:

Thought this was funny; description from a manual on making BP, being sold on gunbroker;

*DO-IT-YOURSELF GUNPOWDER COOKBOOK by Don McLean Learn how to make gunpowder from such items as dead cats, whiskey, your living room ceiling, manure and maple syrup with simple hand tools and techniques that have been used for centuries. This is a practical and safe approach to making the oldest propellant/explosive known. For information purposes only. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, softcover, illus., 80 pp.

.............................................................................................

JCT, I understand willow and alder are the best woods to char, but yesterday I was burning white pine to make maple sugar from sap. I got to wondering if I shou ld be saving the charred wood left over after the burn as there is some.

Also I got to wondering if the sugar sand, seemingly minerals that accumulate also called 'Niter' are something I should be saving.

Is that book serious about maple sugar? I took it all as a joke, but now I am not so sure it is really a joke after all.

 

[scrat]

ok Where is a good place to purchase the charcoal. I can not seem to find any willow or alder out here to make any. Does anyone know of a good source for charcoal

 

[zxcvbob]

ok Where is a good place to purchase the charcoal. I can not seem to find any willow or alder out here to make any. Does anyone know of a good source for charcoal

Try using white pine or cedar. Some people use balsa wood. Basswood might be good, it's very light and soft.

 

[scrat]

ok cedar we have. its the red type though does that matter much.

 

[zxcvbob]

Aromatic cedar, or just plain red cedar? (white would be better)

I used a cedar fence picket to make charcoal and it worked really well. I still haven't been able to properly test the gunpowder because of the weather. (the first time I tried it, in .45 Colt cartridges, they sort of went "Thbbbt!" instead of "BANG!", but the powder was still damp)

 

[campbell]

I've had good luck with United Nuclear for supplies, and Skylighter also has a great selection, so long as you don't mind 5 lb. minimum orders on some products.

http://www.skylighter.com/

Skylighter has a very fine mixed hardwood charcoal powder they call "air float" for blackpowder and such. Look under "C" in the chemicals section.

 

[Macmac]

scrat, List as many types of trees are are common and I might be able to help. I am far from familar with Cal, being I live in NH. I was in Cal 18 days and in the sothern half.

I am pretty good at telling woods by the bark, wood milled, and alive.

I have no idea what trees you have though.

Once I worked with red wood the real stuff and that is as good as white ceadar. I have no idea if you have that. I have no idea where in Cal, Monrovia is.

 

[campbell]

I have no idea where in Cal, Monrovia

Monrovia's in the San Gabriel Valley, So. Cal. Heading east from downtown L.A., it's just a bit past Pasadena and Arcadia.

 

[JCT]

If you want to buy good charcoal: http://www.micropyrotechnics.com/willowcharcoal.htm

If you're rich and have too much money, www.unitednuclear.com

Otherwise, www.firefox-fx.com or my preferred supplier: www.ihaveadotcom.com


White pine will make hot BP, it's a great charcoal for glitters and tails in rockets/comets or stars in pyrotechnics. It will be a dirty BP though.

 

[scrat]

yep got it san gabriel valley. by pasadena, where the rosebowl is. trees, oak, eucalyptus, pine, then a lot of fruit trees, orange, lemon, avocado, ya we have trees that you cant do much with. like palm trees. so not much of a selection. cedar would have to get from lumber yard.

 

[Macmac]

JCT, Whats the deal with maple sugar then? Everyone uses white pine to boil of the sap. So is the 'niter' sugar sand something to save?

scrat, Fruit woods are usually hard, real hard, and make good mauls and wood chisel handles, besides good woods to use in a smoke house.

I never got to play with any of eucalyptus, or even read about it, so I can't help on that score.

Knowing the properties of alder, a shrub like tree right where I hate them fly fishing, and willow are, I would bet that some desert cactus would make dandy charr.

I have linden wood also called bass too. One I wonder about is larch, also called tamarack. This looks like an ever green but isn't. amd once dry works well for a bow drill.

Making charr is what you do with a bow drill to get fire, so I suspect stag horn sumac might also make good gun powder char.

I just don't know if there is any in cal.

With that said I wonder if the stalks on mullien wouldn't make a good charr for BP in guns too?

So many little plants, so little time..

When I was in Cal, it was on a big fat bike, a Nomad. Traffic in Cal is a tad fast to look at trees too. Never the less, I managed a good long glimpse of a brown bear just the same!

Willow, Bass, Alder are not resinous woods, and not very hard woods either. More or less cedar isn't really resinous.

I wonder if eucalyptus might be in the cedar family? I hear cedar like trees in different names than I am accustomed to hearing, and so I wonder if this might be one of them?

If you can get a stick from one and whittle on it some, maybe inspect the tree for pitch, and find none, it could be something with in reason.

You could charr pine, what ever that means as we have a lot of different pines here.

That way you can see how light pine is and compare to that with eucalyptus and a little store bought cedar. Can you buy real red wood anymore? I once worked with that wood and while it was rot resistant, I never found any pitch.

 

[JCT]

I would think the sediments and debri while boiling sap are just silicates and dirt from the tree. I don't think it's of any use.
There's plenty of concord grape in NH though, grapevine makes good BP. I think any low density hardwood ( sap, not pitch ) should work good. I made one small batch with store bought balsa once, it might be the hottest BP I've seen, but the balsa is so light, it's hard to work with and to mill real well.
The only problem with Willow is that it's not native here. Usually willows are in peoples yards. You can check golf courses, they always have them and trim each year. Swamp alder is easy to find and is just as good as Willow. Swiss BP is made with Alder.

 

[Macmac]

Yes there is a yard willow here, that I could get branches from.. Alder is more common. No native grape right here in my woods, but i know it is around. It was common wild in the area in Mass north of Boston.

When I can get grape vine bark I will collect it as a good source if tinder.

The coment I was wondering if it was real came from you and the bit on cats and maple sugar. I just washed my filters so that mung is gone.

I guess it was more a joke than any real recipe for maple sugar at all, but since I am making maple sugar, I wanted to be sure it wasn't the sand that forms at about 217' degrees.

I hear ya on balsa, and while I don't know, after charring that I might dampen it and mill it alone, just to give it weight.

My idea is to learn and mimic your way as best I can, then take that education and work it in reverse for a no power what so ever tech, so I will bnever again be with out powder for so long as the wind blows and the rivers flow..

What I like best is the fact you claim I can make better powder than I can buy. I can't beat that with a stick 10 feet long.

I will have no choice but to buy KNO3, and sulfer. A small problem just now is being between any decent work. I get by finding odd jobs right now, but when summer comes I hope to find better working conditions.

Then get the tools I have learned about reading all this information.

I am sure there is alder right here along side the brook, just now that one for me is hard to tell from witch hazel. Not to mention I have something everywhere call snow 3 to 4 feet deep! Most of those little trees are 7 feet tall and only the tops show today.

 

[scalper]

This thread is very thorough about making BP, however, I guess I am puzzled about how to make the various powder sizes F, FF, FFF, and FFFF. I understand that you use screen with bigger holes and you will get bigger pellets of powder.

Can we get a bit more specific? I am after BP for my revolver so I am kind of after FFF. If I make it too fine like FFFF, what will happen to my revolver? Will it still work? How will this increased burn rate affect me (accuracy, residue, etc)?

I guess I am just looking for more direction on this aspect of powder manufacturing. Maybe screen sizes for various powder sizes or something more specific?