253 replies to this topic

[alany]

Well my pyro testing is on hold for a while, I managed to get pneumonia :-(

The crossettes I couldn't break were very solid composition and I suspect I over-taped them. I made some more traditional charcoal based ones, but I think I used contaminated KNO3, they barely burn at all and give off a foul stench.

Gotta get myself a new batch of saltpetre and try again I think.

Worst thing is I ruined a large batch of meal by mixing into it a contaminated batch. Guess I can use it in gerbs or something unimportant, I wouldn't risk making match with it.

[Firefiend]

This book by Ian Von Maltitz was very briefly mentioned elsewhere.
http://cgi.ebay.co.u...&category=29373

I though others may like to see it as it has a link to the entire 10th Chapter on Turbocharged Black Powder.
http://www.fireworks.....SAMP CHAP.htm

I expect it will disappear after the item has sold.

[spawned]

Finally i got my normal BP (with BBQ charcoal) to work, there was no problem apart from the size of my kno3.i bought a coffee grinder and within 10 mins had made acceptable BP which to me is astonishing.i am now well on my way to using my willow so watch out .

[spawned]

can graphite be used for BP because it is pure C and is easily available but only in small quantitys.

[Phoenix]

You could use it, if for some reason you really wanted too, but the BP would be pretty poor. Graphite is basically not a very reactive form of carbon, I think because it is made up of layers of carbon atoms, which only react easily at the edges. Whilst charcoal is mostly graphite, I think that the graphite molecules are smaller in charcoal, so have more of the reactive edges, wheras in mined graphite, the carbon atoms form very large molecules. The fact that charcoal is not quite pure carbon, whilst graphite is, is also important. The volatiles in charcoal help with ignition of the BP and whilst you don't want too great a quantity of them, a bit helps.

Basically, no, you can't really use it to make good BP, although it is good for lubricating rocket spindles.

BTW, Good to hear you've got your BP working, but it is _very_ important not to mill the mixed ingredients in a coffee grinder. Coffee grinders are fine for milling seperate ingredients, but there is a considerable risk of accidental ignition, and since you will probably be holding the grinder, that means a really bad hand day.

Edited by Phoenix, 28 June 2004 - 05:00 PM.

[Richard H]

You cannot use graphite. It is completely useless. The only thing you might use graphite for is polishing black powder grains for rifle powders.

Charcoal contains volatiles and has a greater surface area. These make it ideal for black powder manufacture.

[spawned]

thank you and yes i do use my coffee grinder with sepertae ingredients and i will buy another one for fuels as i am running out of 12 hour ball milled charcoal.

[spawned]

My new pine charcoal and cherry charcoal mixes both burn at roughly 1.1 seconds for a 30cm long 50g train is this any good? This is meal powder and if this is any cood should i consider making this my normal BP and also corning it? thanks

[paul]

http://www.freepgs.c...aul/bp_paul.mpg

That?s my blackpowder. I hope this link works a bit longer.......

Its ball milled for 2h. The charcoal is poplar charcoal. I use chemical pure sulfur and fertilizer-grade KNO3.
It is pressed and broken into pieces....

EDIT: The link works now....

Edited by paul, 08 September 2004 - 12:24 PM.

[spawned]

sorry the link dosent work

[paul]

I actualized the link......

[Yugen-biki]

That is some fast BP!

Only 2h?! Your mill must be very efficient!

[paul]

It its?nt too efficient

This is my mill....

But I milled only about 40g of BP at once, so it took not so long to get really good results..... The charcoal/sulfur was milled to airfloate state before!

Otherwise it would?nt be possible to get this results... For normal I make ~100g of BP. Then I have to mill it much longer. About 6-8h!

Edited by paul, 08 September 2004 - 06:03 PM.

[Yugen-biki]

Ah ha!

I mill my sulphur and charcoal at the same time for about 60h. I mill about 100-150g at once.
Then later I add the KNO3, as in the method discribed in Best of AFN II (super pulverone).

[mleech]

Ah ha!

I mill my sulphur and charcoal at the same time for about 60h. I mill about 100-150g at once.
Then later I add the KNO3, as in the method discribed in Best of AFN II (super pulverone).

60 hours? SIXTY? Are you sure you meant that? Six hours seems more than adequate
(particularly for only 150g of BP!).

I pre-mill my charcoal blend for about 2 hours, then throw in the KNO3 + Sulphur and
mill for a further 3-5 hours. I find that pre-milling the charcoal (first by busting it up
into little pieces, then milling in the ball mill) helps quite a bit with producing an
overall short milling time.

I had previously tried simply throwing the dry ingredients (including chunky charcoal)
into the mill, and letting it go. Even after 10 hours, there were significant chunks in the
mill (constituting perhaps 3% of the total mass of composition).

My latest batch is an experiment. Based on what I heard here, and reading some BP
history material, my latest batch is:

o 75% KNO3 (98.75% pure)
o 7.5% Trembling Aspen Charcoal
o 7.5% Field Hay Charcoal
o 10% Acid Control Sulphur (agro grade)

The mill dust came out after 5 hours, and testing just the mill output indicates that it's
faster than any of the other batches I've made (using just Aspen or Willow). I've
got one 60g pressed puck drying at the moment, which I'll corn tonight.

I live on a farm, and raise a few sheep. I have ready access to old field hay to use
as a feedstock for my charcoal habit, along with a goodly stand of Trembling Aspen.