253 replies to this topic

[Plays with Fire]

A fine lightly coated hemp paper would probably work well, like those used in Rizla (v. v. expensive) or in old Bibles (expensive and blasphemous! ).

Bibles, eh? Well I would be offended if half of the pages in my bible weren't already burned as rolling paper ! Obviously, I'm joking (partially).

[EnigmaticBiker]

Bibles, eh? Well I would be offended if half of the pages in my bible weren't already burned as rolling paper ! Obviously, I'm joking (partially).

Hence comparison with Rizla

I think it would make crap charcoal ,it would always be number two to willow ,cheap though you wouldnt have to spend a penny ,I'd try but I'm ENGAGED in other projects

I give up, you win, I've been trying to come up with a suitably funny answer to that for days.

[shadowpyro]

A while a go i managed to procure a couple of kilograms of KNO3, i ordered it from a garden website (taking the risk that their chemicals may contain fire suppressants). i havent used it for a while but when i started using it again the black powder i made seemed to leave a red coloured residue. Coul this be some fire suppressant? the powder is really rather slow and at the moment completly useless for lift powder or salutes.
So has anyone got any ideas on how to remove this fire suppressant?- i wouldnt normally care but i have a good few kilos left so dont wanna waste it. I have thought about using alcohol but have non handy at the moment.
any ideas welcome
thanks

[karlfoxman]

A while a go i managed to procure a couple of kilograms of KNO3, i ordered it from a garden website (taking the risk that their chemicals may contain fire suppressants). i havent used it for a while but when i started using it again the black powder i made seemed to leave a red coloured residue. Coul this be some fire suppressant? the powder is really rather slow and at the moment completly useless for lift powder or salutes.
So has anyone got any ideas on how to remove this fire suppressant?- i wouldnt normally care but i have a good few kilos left so dont wanna waste it. I have thought about using alcohol but have non handy at the moment.
any ideas welcome
thanks

How are you making your BP? What type of charcoal? Plus from what your saying it sounds like your BP used to be ok. Where your getting your Kno3, GD?

[Rhodri]

.....leaving a red coloured residue.

May I ask, what is your mix?

[shadowpyro]

well it never has really been that good since i bought the KNO3 from that garden centre, i use standard 70:15:10, very finely ground, wetted into slurry then screened into granules. totally useless at thte moment. im not sure what the red residue may be but it seems to be some kinda of plastic? this stuff is bad enough to not work on blackmatch either!
lol almost heartbreaking to see it burn so slowly.

[karlfoxman]

Try reading a bit on making decent black powder, either the CIA or ballmill method will work great. I dont know why it leaves red residue. Believe me, trying hard to make good blackpowder will unlock the door to very fast stuff. Many of us have produced black powder that can lift shells easily. All you need is time and patience. Save up and get a small ball mill, mill for 15+ hours and rice it. Then you have stuff that burns very very fast. Also the type of charcoal is important, willow is what we use. Browse the forum and find the key

[sizzle]

well it never has really been that good since i bought the KNO3 from that garden centre, i use standard 70:15:10, very finely ground, wetted into slurry then screened into granules. totally useless at thte moment. im not sure what the red residue may be but it seems to be some kinda of plastic? this stuff is bad enough to not work on blackmatch either!
lol almost heartbreaking to see it burn so slowly.

Are you simply mixing the KNO3, S and C together then adding water or are you using the full CIA method, I used to produce a nice fountain BP (probably about medium speed) by doing the same thing in boiling water, but as I found out you really need to ball mill to get good BP, use willow too, I tried lift with pine, it really doesn't work.

[shadowpyro]

Yes i am using the full method. These methods that i use have perfetly in the past. it was just the kno3 i got from the gardening company thats rubbish and i want to purify it somehow as i have such a large amount of it.
Please dont take me for an idiot, as i have been making using and researching into blackpowder for a while in the past and the stuff i have made have worked very well in salutes, as lift and in maroons etc, i was just wondering if any of you may know how to remove the fire suppressant.

thanks

shadowpyro

[adamw]

I don't think GD KNO3 contains fire supressant. I've never heard of anybody having trouble with it.

[shadowpyro]

Well its not so much as trouble rather than slight problem. Just that this BP is only good for rocket engines and i'd like it to be good for lift in smaller mortars.

thanks

[Andrew]

I don't think GD KNO3 contains fire supressant. I've never heard of anybody having trouble with it.

It dosen't. GD sell the "Krista K" brand of KNO3, 98%, 1.8% K2O.

I've used it for years, and I have some pretty fast bp. Unless it wasn't GD and then it could have been any old crap.

[pyromaniac303]

If you bought the KNO3 from herethen it definately contains fire suppressant. I am not sure of the percentage but its bad enough to make your BP burn really slow, and in some pyro formulas wont even ignite. They are also a rip off too. I never got much of a residue, but I suspect that if the fire supressant in yours is anything like whats in sodium chlorate weedkiller then it will be borax.

If this is the case you can purify it by looking up the solubility of both the borax and the potassium nitrate and then dissolving in hot water and collecting the precipitate when it cools, or evaporating the solution and getting rid of the precipitate, whichever one is most soluble.

[fishy1]

If you bought the KNO3 from herethen it definately contains fire suppressant. I am not sure of the percentage but its bad enough to make your BP burn really slow, and in some pyro formulas wont even ignite. They are also a rip off too. I never got much of a residue, but I suspect that if the fire supressant in yours is anything like whats in sodium chlorate weedkiller then it will be borax.

If this is the case you can purify it by looking up the solubility of both the borax and the potassium nitrate and then dissolving in hot water and collecting the precipitate when it cools, or evaporating the solution and getting rid of the precipitate, whichever one is most soluble.

i thought sodium chlorate weedkiller contained sodium chloride as a fire depressant?

[shadowpyro]

Yup that was the exact place where i got the kno3, it was a while ago when they still had reasonable prices. I think i will try out the precipetation method.
Thanks for the idea, its a great help!