Making black powder
#91
Posted 19 February 2005 - 11:02 AM
As you no im new to the forum
Well im about to make my first batch of Black Powder and i have all the chemicals nesicary but i cant seem to get any willow charcole so BBQ charcole will have to do for the first batch.
I've made my Ball Mill, not bad for a weekend make, and now im waiting for some non rainy wheather to place my ball mill in the safety of my garden and mix the chemicals. Im wondering one thing though about my mill. This question has been asked before but im confussed due to hearing different answers for my milliong media is it allrite to use marbels as ive heard some peole say its fine and others saying its dangerouse what is the real answer??
Also once i have my first batch of Black Powder done what shall i make that is a easy starter to pryro?
Thanks
Ben
#92
Posted 19 February 2005 - 01:07 PM
And for a great first pyro item, a fountian of course! Get yourself a tube, plug one end with clay, ram your composition into it until you have a bit of extra space and finish it off with another clay plug. Plugs should be as long as your case is wide. Next drill a hole (very slowly and carefully) about 1/2 to 1/3 the width of the case into the center of one plug. Add a tiny bit of loose BP and insert fuse! I would reccomend you mix your BP with and extra 15-20% charcoal for nice golden sparks. Makes a nice fountian!
No clay? Just grind up some cheap kitty litter, works great.
#93
Posted 19 February 2005 - 01:12 PM
Makes great, hard wearing, and non-sparking media.
#94
Posted 19 February 2005 - 06:33 PM
Edited by Andrew, 19 February 2005 - 06:34 PM.
#95
Posted 19 February 2005 - 06:34 PM
Also when al93535 mentioned ussing cat liter instead of clay i prisume you grind it up and then add water and paste it on like ussing glue or clay?
Thanks
Ben
Edited by Ben, 19 February 2005 - 06:52 PM.
#96
Posted 19 February 2005 - 08:57 PM
#97
Posted 19 February 2005 - 09:00 PM
Thanks Ben
#98
Posted 22 February 2005 - 08:15 PM
#99
Posted 27 February 2005 - 09:12 AM
#100
Posted 16 March 2005 - 09:41 PM
Another way of making black powder would be to mix all the ingredients as you have done grind them aswell if they are quite corse,And then add just boiled water,Mix to make the whole mixture into a paste and so it is all wet,Then leave to dry once dry grind as you normaly would,Doing this should cause the potassium nitrate to disolve in the water,Then as the water evaporates it will form crystals of potassium nitrate onto the atoms of sulphur and charcole which should make the whole mixture burn quicker as the atoms have there own supply of oxygen from the saltpetre.
in theory.
Hope this helps.
#101
Posted 16 March 2005 - 11:50 PM
#102
Posted 01 June 2005 - 12:07 AM
Anyhoo, I made a miscalculation about how much potassium nitrate to mill meaning I had 25% too much so when I mixed the chemicals together (using a big spoon and some tupperware) I only used three-quarters of it. Although this was a really rough and ready guestimate at three-quarters, I figured that as this was my first whack at the pinata that I'd be happy with anything that burnt whether it be fast or slow.
To test it, I made a small pouch of a few grams in a tiny plastic bag which I fused with visco. It disappeared in a split second with an audible "woof!" and a cloud of white smoke. *very* encouraging. Tomorrow, when it's light, I'm gonna' try it on some paper to do the scorch test but fingers crossed, I might have blundered into a decent batch of powder. Next up will be ricing it. Not sure whether to use a binder of some sort or not.
#103
Posted 01 June 2005 - 12:43 AM
Hi RegimentalPyro.
Another way of making black powder would be to mix all the ingredients as you have done grind them aswell if they are quite corse,And then add just boiled water,Mix to make the whole mixture into a paste and so it is all wet,Then leave to dry once dry grind as you normaly would,Doing this should cause the potassium nitrate to disolve in the water,Then as the water evaporates it will form crystals of potassium nitrate onto the atoms of sulphur and charcole which should make the whole mixture burn quicker as the atoms have there own supply of oxygen from the saltpetre.
in theory.
Hope this helps.
That's the method I found. What I found suugests that after you dissolve the nitrate and add on the C and S, add in some isopropanol to help ensure that the nitrate precipitates out of the solution.
#104
Posted 06 June 2005 - 09:47 PM
#105
Posted 07 June 2005 - 08:38 AM
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