6 replies to this topic

[r.burgy]

just a beginner. ive been making flash powder for years. now i want to get a little more creative. first thing first. im using just a small report, to be safe at first, in a 2inch morter. im using store bought black powder for lift. about 5 grams. with a 2 inch homemade wading to protect the shell. should the shell have to be pushed into the morter, or should it fall in? its lifting only about 6 feet. is this the best chemical for lift? Ive been reading forums about manufacture of bp and it seems a little complicated. besides im not able to find a ball mill. are these readily available aor hard to find. any help is appreciated. this is my first post
THANKS for info
R.burgy

[Yugen-biki]

A lot of your questions are found in this forum! Try to search them.

If you are using comercial BP, I don't think that the problem is hard to solve.
Is the BP granulated or a fine powder? Fine power will not work very good. It has to be granulated some how.

About the fitting of a shell in the mortar:
If your lift BP is bad the shell has to be fitted tightly. If the lift BP is good the fit is not a big consern. A gap of about 1.5 cm will not have a great impact if you use good lift on a 3-4" shell.
If you use a very short mortar the ammount of lift BP needs to be increased a bit.

KNO3+S+C is the only recommended way to lift shells.

[r.burgy]

A lot of your questions are found in this forum! Try to search them.

If you are using comercial BP, I don't think that the problem is hard to solve.
Is the BP granulated or a fine powder? Fine power will not work very good. It has to be granulated some how.

About the fitting of a shell in the mortar:
If your lift BP is bad the shell has to be fitted tightly. If the lift BP is good the fit is not a big consern. A gap of about 1.5 cm will not have a great impact if you use good lift on a 3-4" shell.
If you use a very short mortar the ammount of lift BP needs to be increased a bit.

KNO3+S+C is the only recommended way to lift shells.

is the mixure stable? mix with lead balls correct?

[RegimentalPyro]

Blackpowder is fairly stable in terms of friction sensitivity [ie: You won't set it off by hitting with a hammer] but *will* take fire from the smallest of sparks.

As long as you use non-sparking milling media then you should be fine. Lead balls at least half an inch in diam are found to be best, but half inch diameter brass rod cut up into half inch lengths also gives good results.

Please do use that search facility. You'll get your answers a lot quicker.

[karlfoxman]

The difference between granulated and powder is so big, i was amazed! Powder will make a quick whoosh! Granulated will thump. I must be granulated to be much good for lifting. As the others have said many times search before you ask, i have been a member for a while and nearly always find what i am looking for. It may take a while but so does repeating things time after time.

[Phoenix]

just a beginner. ive been making flash powder for years. now i want to get a little more creative. first thing first. im using just a small report, to be safe at first, in a 2inch morter. im using store bought black powder for lift. about 5 grams. with a 2 inch homemade wading to protect the shell. should the shell have to be pushed into the morter, or should it fall in? its lifting only about 6 feet. is this the best chemical for lift? Ive been reading forums about manufacture of bp and it seems a little complicated. besides im not able to find a ball mill. are these readily available aor hard to find. any help is appreciated. this is my first post
THANKS for info
R.burgy

1) The shell should slide freely into the mortar, maybe with just a little "bouncing" using the leader. If it needs to be forced in, it is too tight. The gap around the shell should be just wide enough for the leader to pass beside it - probably about 5 or 6mm. If the mortar is bottom fused then the gap can be a little smaller, so long as the shell is able to slide easily into the mortar.

2) Is your black powder black powder or is it the infamous "Pyrodex?" Black powder and Pyrodex are not the same thing at all, and the latter is not well suited for use as a lift charge. I have no experience with Pyrodex, but people who have tried it say it is poor to useless. Some people report that it can work if you use plenty of it and pack some sawdust or similar wadding above the projectile, but if I recall correctly this was for propelling stars, not 2" shells. Tightly packing wadding over a 2" shell is probably asking for trouble, or at least hinting that you would like to come your way. You could try cautiously increasing the lift charge.

3) Assuming what you have is real BP, is of good quality (which bought BP should be), and the shell is not excessively loose in the mortar, then it may be that the BP is too coarse. I use homemade BP, so I tend to think in mesh sizes rather than "fg" or "fa" grain sizes. The general rule of thumb is 1 ounce of 2fa per pound of shell weight. You could probably start at about 7 or 8g and then adjust from there.

4) Finally, it is a very good idea to use weighted dummy shells when experimenting with lift charges, not anything live.

[BigG]

We are reinventing the wheel here. This questions have been discussed many times before. Search before posting. Thise thread is closed.