LadyKate

It was deleted becuase the question was totaly covered about 6 times. Maintaining that would have just brought legitimate duplicate answers covering the subject seven time. It would have added nothing to the forum. The member was notified.

Ok.. While I don't want to anger the folks who bring us such a good board, I would like to see six posts on the forum that compare black willow to weeping willow charcoals. Or even one - the search I did for black willow got quite a few hits and even one posting where someone asked the questions about relative strengths. However, no one answered the question. I dread saying what I just did because one can easily be proved wrong on such things. I searched using 'black willow' as the target.

To some extent, discussion is what a forum is all about. While fireworks has limited major topics, the nuances of the topics are infinite. One can always answer every message with 'that's been discussed before, so we're taking it off.' There are many nuances to the threads and it might be ok to back off on the whacking a bit. The forum wouldn't be hurt and the users would enjoy the social aspects of a good clean board. However, the rules are yours as always.

May I assume that there is no technical problem with moving a message or new thread into another thread?

Here are three fountains in a small fan. I used two stages - first was charcoal and steel turnings, second was Fe/Ti, both with purple microstars. All three fountains were 3/4" ID, with a large choke of about 1/2".

Nice! How long were the tubes? You got a great burn from them - nicer than most of the consumer versions.

I saw one guy in the back of an AFN newsletter, or PGI bulletin or something that was selling Paulownia charcoal, but I would of have to driven to Florida for it because he wasn't shipping.

I have a large supply of pine that I need to convert. I have been trying to find a metal drum, but it hasn't been going well. 55gallons it too big. 15 gallons would be probably best. I have a suitable metal drum of Mg, but I need to get rid of all that first.

Steve emailed me back and said it was ok.. He just wants to remind everyone that he only ships in the USA. Email csworks@netzero.net and ask for a price list. He will email you and he can ship ORM-D which means surface transport only - he takes a couple of weeks to get the order together and he only accepts money-orders/checks. He does make a good product - my paulownia airfloat is incredible.

I have two retort sizes: See http://www.wichitabu...s/charcoal.html Mine are variations on Dan Williams' versions which are here: http://www.wecreate4...l/charcoal.html

On my charcoal page (the link above) at the bottom is my slightly improved version of a retort and cooker setup.

All commercially available charcoal is mixed hardwood. It is really no different than the lump charcoal(not briquette mind you), that is available at the store. Only the stuff you get from skylighter is a powder instead of big chunks. You have to look long and hard to get anything specific.

Steve Baron sells all kinds of softwood charcoal - Stateside only I think. I got some black willow and paulownia from him the other day - both are superb. He is just a tad pricey but I think that is because he is making small batches and he's probably not making that much. When I ordered, I got the distinct impression that he started up his retort specifically for my order. PM me for his email address since I don't know if he wants lots of folks bugging him. I'll send him an email in the meantime and ask. If he's ok with it, I'll share openly.

One of my big disappointments early on was thinking that I should be able to easily make lift powder from Skylighter stuff. I tried several different methods until I figured out the charcoal was just not going to cut it. A 20 pound bag of lumpwood costs 1/20 what the Skylighter stuff does and it works just as good - I tested it several ways (my charcoal tests link which I've already posted in other spots has the data) and it performed almost exactly like the Skylighter stuff. And it still sucks as lift powder - but great for other things.

the paer tube was made from 2 sheets of A4, taped together(not pasted). when lit, there was a flash, and the tube was lifted over 30 feet. very hopeful. this was an open tube, which was not weighted. about 1g of BP was used.

We may be greying the line between a driver formula and a lift formula. Slower BPs are required for most rockets/drivers and they will work remarkably well. For instance, my Skylighter charcoal gets an F when making lift powder but it makes very good driver formulas and stars - most of my BP rockets use a variation of it.

So, if your powder doesn't make good lift, it may make an excellent rocket fuel - just have to try it. The biggest thing is to make your powder the same way each time so you can depend on its properties. Make small batches until you get the process down right - don't adjust a batch that is already made, use it up for quickmatch or stars or something. My lift is made with more reactive charcoals (or benzolift) and my driver fuel gets Skylighter charcoal (which I'm almost convinced is merely ground up lump charcoal ;-})