153 replies to this topic

[pyrodude]

Its the stuff from garden Chemicals. I have run out of GD KNO3 so i used the one from Garden Chemicals. It hasnt been contaminated with anything else.
Cheers Kyle Spooner

[PanMaster]

it has to be the charcoal, potassium nitrate will always have the same ignition energy depending on room temp of course. MAke sure the charcoal is reactive, does it instantly start to glow red and burn away in a flame or does it slowly char? Did you know BP is in theory 3 times faster in the summer than winter?

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Edited by PanMaster, 25 February 2004 - 10:50 PM.

[pyrodude]

I never really tested the charcoal as i only made it on sunday. It is willow charcoal as is recomended but i wouldnt have thought that would have made too much difference.

[Phoenix]

I have found that perfectly good BP can be difficult to light with a normal lighter (yellow flame) as the flame isn't really that hot, and raising the outside of a pile to ignition temperature with a flame that wants to head upwards can be difficult. The same could apply to a match. It will light instantly with a blue gas flame though. Black match will have no problem at all igniting it. It burns far hotter than any lighter flame, or a bit of burning wood, and showers burning crap onto whatever it touches, something a match won't do. The real issue is whether your powder burns well once it is lit. If you got the S and C the wrong way around, it will probably burn too slowly for lift, and leave a fair bit of dross, but you should be able to use it for fuse, spolettes, maybe fountains etc. Failing that, add an additional 50% by weight of charcoal, and an additional 4% dextrin (eg 100g of BP, 50g of C, 4g of dextrin), then cut streamer stars from it.

[lord_dranack]

It's interesting what you say about lighters and matches not being hoe enough- I have found even the worst green meal will light from a match. Even a glowing bit of paper is enough to set my powder off.

[pyrodude]

Even a spark should set a reasonable black powder off. Its only not too good BP which takes quite a bit too ignite. But i still have ordered a butane torch lighter so i can light harder to light compositions.
Cheers Kyle

[Matt]

Did you mill the stuff wet?
( i always look for the stupid answers)

-Matt

[pyrodude]

A slight misting of the powder before milling should be done as it helps the kno3 soak into the charcoal.
Cheers Kyle Spooner

[Creepin_pyro]

I have just made some BP from willow drawing charcoal. It takes fire instantly from a smouldering twig. Burns rapidly, leaving very little residue. All ingredients were screened and screened, then put into my experimental shaker mill. Plastic container 1/3 full of .22 lead pellets, filled to 1/2 with screened ingredients. I shook the mill for a good while, until contents were milled to dust.
All in all, it turned out to be some great BP. Will try granulating the stuff to see if I can get some lift out of it.

[Matt]

Plastic container 1/3 full of .22 lead pellets, filled to 1/2 with screened ingredients

Wrong way around!! oh well, if it worked......

-Matt

[alany]

Shakers are like planetary mills they are not dependant on media cascasde to work, so they likely have different optimal charges.

[lord_dranack]

What design did you use for the shaker mill?

[Creepin_pyro]

The mill was a child-proof vitamin pill container, and I just guessed at the amount of lead media to add. Worked pretty darn well, I think. I was bidding on a Griffin sample shaker to save me the bother, but the sellers e-bay account was cancelled.

[BurlHorse]

The mill was a child-proof vitamin pill container, and I just guessed at the amount of lead media to add.  Worked pretty darn well, I think.  I was bidding on a Griffin sample shaker to save me the bother, but the sellers e-bay account was cancelled.

The sellers account was probably cancelled due to his demise at shaking a comp.... The method you are describing sounds like russian roullette with a hand grenade, nicely loaded with 22 size fragments, c'mon dude. I know, I know, here comes Bear again, over cautious to a fault, but never burnt or fragged.

I read an interesting article on things you can get away with....for awhile, if you were using fertilizer grade Pot. Nitrate, there are all kinds of other goodies (Trace Chemicals) in ALL fertilizer grade Nitrates, I feel therefore that beyond the risk of shaking up a container of buckshot with Unknown elementally contaminated Nitrate BP, in your hand ,you might want to consider another method of reducing your BP to an ignitable form.

FYI, Fertilizer companies are not bound to disclose trace contaminants on their labels, some do, however most don't. I have stressed Purity and doing everything you can to prevent cross contamination for predictable, repeatable results in other posts, just something to think about.....

Regards, Stay Green,

Bear

[BigG]

Creepin_pyro.

While shaker mills are used in the industry to utilize smaller (both size and quantity) of milling media – they do use vibrating plates to shake the milling jar around. Holding a milling jar during a milling operation can cost you a limb or two… So – back to your ball mill drawing board…