20 replies to this topic

[kitube]

hi,

i made some homemade blackpowder and tested it with some fire crackers, it worked fine.
then i took a pipe as a launcher to shoot fireworks, but when i lighted the blackpowder at the bottom and closed the pipe, nothing happened except smoking a bit.
but it should have no problem igniting since it has its own oxidizer, so why didnt it ignite?
i tried it a few times, no luck.
any ideas? does the smoke just suffocate the blackpowder and prevents it from further burning?

[Mortartube]

hi,

i made some homemade blackpowder and tested it with some fire crackers, it worked fine.
then i took a pipe as a launcher to shoot fireworks, but when i lighted the blackpowder at the bottom and closed the pipe, nothing happened except smoking a bit.
but it should have no problem igniting since it has its own oxidizer, so why didnt it ignite?
i tried it a few times, no luck.
any ideas? does the smoke just suffocate the blackpowder and prevents it from further burning?

What mixture did you use? Did you use accurate scales to weigh it all out? Was it ball milled? Was it riced or granulated?

Sorry for so many questions but these all can have a bearing on the speed and efficiency of the powder.

Is it possible that you used a different chem other than KNO3 as an oxidiser? Could your BP have got damp?

And finally, why did you close the pipe? It sounds as if you are trying to make a pipe B**B and that won't get you very far with help on here I'm afraid.

There are a lot of things you should learn before trying to make bangs. TRy making a small fountain first, that is a good starting point.

In answer to your smoke question, no it does not suffocate it.

[kitube]

1. I used. 75 parts KNO3, 15 coal and 10 sulfur.
2. I didn't ball mill it, I used a coffe grinder.
3. Hmm, I had a dump paste and then I granulated it.
4. Pretty sure. It was dry.
5. I used KNO3
6. I had a pipe filled it partially with blackpowder, igited it at the bottom and closed it, it was completely open at. The top, so no, I wasn't trying to make a pipebomb.

What mixture did you use? Did you use accurate scales to weigh it all out? Was it ball milled? Was it riced or granulated?

Sorry for so many questions but these all can have a bearing on the speed and efficiency of the powder.

Is it possible that you used a different chem other than KNO3 as an oxidiser? Could your BP have got damp?

And finally, why did you close the pipe? It sounds as if you are trying to make a pipe B**B and that won't get you very far with help on here I'm afraid.

There are a lot of things you should learn before trying to make bangs. TRy making a small fountain first, that is a good starting point.

In answer to your smoke question, no it does not suffocate it.

[Mortartube]

Strange. You did do the parts by weight not volume, i.e 75 grams of KNO3 as opposed to 75 spoonfuls.

What charcoal did you use? Was it briquettes? If so they contain clay as well so the proportions would be wrong. Other than that I am at a loss to explain what went wrong unless it was:

A. A problem with a chemical

B. It wasn't dry.

[kitube]

i measured them by weight not volume.
and i ussed proper chracoal and not pressed briguettes.
the thing that makes me wonder is that it worked fine when i ussed it in a firecracker.

[kitube]

ok, i just took normal charcoal from a shop, since i live in Chile i dont have the luxary of a pyro chemical supplier.
and looking at your video, my blackpowder doesnt burn not nearly as fast as yours, neither does it ignite that quickly.
its more like the stuff from match heads.

it might work in a firecracker tube as its confined, Bad bp will still produce gas but not quick enough to lift a shell , where did you get your charcoal from, charcoal is one thing that's very specialised in pyro, different woods are used for different purposes. even when making your own charcoal some willows wood are not the same. A friend of mine was looking for ages for the perfect willow wood and once he found it we both bought a lot because its nice to have something consistent. charcoal from the shops, ebay are no good (unless iv just been unlucky by all the ones i used from ebay)

buy from a known pyro chemical supplier like cooperman435 and you know everything will be fine

[Arthur Brown]

Kitube Start with the best ingredients and then use the best method, but stay within acceptable practise in your country

APC forum (http://www.amateurpy...rums/index.php?) tells you how the Americans work, maybe "drtoivo" on here would tell you what is best from his experience in Brazil which may have some of the same woods for charcoal. The charcoal really does matter.

[helix]

Kitube

I think your charcoal may be to course - a coffee grinder doesn't seem to be able to produce very fine particles. I would take a little of the stuff you have made, re-grind it using a mortar and pestle or similar and then dampen and re-granulate and see how you get on.

I doubt if you would be able to make fast BP using a coffee grinder as a mill.

[dr thrust]

agreed, coffee grinders will get you down to a certain mesh size, but there no ballmill as the mill has two functions, to reduce the chemicals to a fine powder.
but also the action of the balls falling on each other, pounds/ infuse's the kn03,sulfur into the charcoal,a process that take hours , not minutes
another thing i should point out, and i dont know your process , but a coffee grinder isn't fit for the purpose of making bp.
there ok grinding individual chemicals yes.. but not a composition ,as bp powder can work its way into the motor housing with disastrous results, there made for grinding coffee not bp!

[helix]

Proceed with caution if you are blending the whole lot in a coffee grinder - you may find that some of your bp makes its way to the innards of the grinder, ignites and ruins your day.

[kitube]

the problem is i dont have acces to a ball mill and building one myself would be a LOT of work.
have you got a guide, instructions or smth for black powder, id like to try them and see if i can make powder which is more like yours.

could you put a video up on a burn test of 5g loose comp

should be something like this
http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

[dan100]

Proceed with caution if you are blending the whole lot in a coffee grinder -

it may also ruin your face and your whole life
do not proceed if your using a coffee grinder i thought this forum would not allow that sot of talk, i know a guy on youtube made some things himself used the coffee grinder for nearly a year[it could have happened first day] and it went up in his face he now wont touch anything flammable and i dont blame him. if you cant build/buy a mill get a pestle and mortar to start with you can make lift quality bp in 30mins but your limited to batch sizes of 10g depending on the mortar[you dont need loads to start with anyway right] use the coffee grinder to airfloat the chems seperately grind the c and s in the mortar for ten minutes with heavy pressure add the k and ten percent water i used to wet the pestle this keeps the dust down and speeds grinding grind for 20 mins and test, it should be dry from grinding, once granulated with 5%dextrin or corned with 2%this has lifted 1/2 inch to 3 inch shells
dan.

Edited by dan100, 14 June 2011 - 09:36 AM.