16 replies to this topic

[neo]

my chemicals were "ready powdered" when I bought them.. So I just screened them together to break any lumps.
I haven’t got time to make CIA stars yet.. but tomorrow I will

edit:
another fast question, I have two types of charcoal, one air float super fast charcoal and one not so air float, maybe 100-500 microns made from BBQ charcoal. which is to prefer?

Edited by neo, 23 March 2008 - 08:30 PM.

[Arthur Brown]

Lots of things help towards good BP. Fine milled components is a start. these need mixing, this is green powder. No matter how fine the ingredients this stuff burns badly. Green powder needs further milling - often done wet under very big stone rollers, this incorporates the C, S and nitre as single grains of three ingredients. This milled powder is pressed into hard pucks further compacting the ingredients together, then the pucks are broken (corned) into grains of BP. then these are size graded.

Green mix is a very poor burning mix. the CIA method is possibly a little better but doesn't come close to properly corned powder.

The pressing can be dispensed with if you add 3 - 4% dextrin to the milled BP mix and rub it damp through a sieve - letting it dry into granules.