Garys Blackpowder making thread

[RocklockI]

Lets just say the other post will be allowed to die a slo death .

This one will be active and I'm not interested in a monolog .

Here are some repost pics


Paint bucket smoking away



The garden shop ingredients .




The tree the the limbs came from . In my yard .

I welcome all participants ..IF there is no interest I will let this one die a slo death as well . BUT I will be doing it .

Gary

[Double D]

Go for it Gary!!

I would look at the purity of your source materials. 

[KABAR2]

Well if you find popular works I guess I will save my scraps.... I use a lot of it
in projects at work.

[RocklockI]

"I have heard" it works , "I have heard " that the North and South both used cottonwood after they ran short of willows . I have two cottonwoods in my yard !

I will see , and I'll let yous guys know about it . Anyone else in doing this ?

So far it has been very cheap , 5 bucks for stump remover 1.5 lbs , and 5 or 6 bucks for the sulfer 2.0 lbs

charcoal ....free except for my time .

The MSDS on Hi yeild stump remover says it is 95.2 to 97.5 % pure Potasium Nitrate .

The sulfer is 90% with a 10% filler , I believe it is bentonite . "I have heard" that the bentonite acually helps the stuff stay bound together , exactly the way a "binder" might do 

[RocklockI]

The bucket quit smoking ,at @2.5 hrs . It cools pretty quick and here it is .....Not much to see .





Here it is in the lid . It looks like charcoal to me .   but not much the full bucket boils down to this .

I'll keep them seperate so I can tell any differances .

eta Bucket full of branches gave me 4ozs of charcoal

[Spuddy]

OK Gary I am going to be your student.  The dusting powder and stump remover are easy enough.  The charcoal making proces is a different story.  I see a one gallon paint can full of willow branches short enough to get the top on.  Hole in the top of the can.  Then I assume that the paint can goes on a bed of coals for about 2.5 hours, or until no more smoke.  Do I have the charcoal making right?
Spuddy.

[Smokin Joe]

You can get the pure stuff here for 1.30 a pound:


http://www.seattlepotterysupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=72345-10&Category_Code=

[RocklockI]

Thanks Smokin Joe ! good to know .

Yes Tim you are on the same track i am . I will add a couple more holes in the lid because i think it pressurred the lid right off . Either that or I just hadnt tapped it closed enough .

One hour of mortar and pestal work I have 2 ozs of very fine charcoal dust . Half a small Ball jar full .

 

ETA Although I think Max Caliber idea of a colman stove is a good one .

[Zulu]

Do we need to write some rules about how to not fall out of a tree?
 
Zulu

[RocklockI]

Thats a Darn good idea Zulu !
 
You are now in charge of all research , development and writing of it .

 "How to not fall out of a tree" by ZULU .... I think it may fall into the .....  .618 section of the dewey decimal system ............wait I think that was the wieght of Tims cannon .

No on second thought I will stand pat at 618 .82 IIRC . "Trees and how to not fall from them !"

I can not fall from a tree because I do not climb trees .

Any More Requests ? Hummmm? 

Gary

 

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

How about how not to fall off a ladder while trimming/harvesting a tree for BP production... 618.85...or is that filed under ladders...

I'm reading both of these threads with interest.  I don't know that I'd make my own BP, but if the need should arise, it certainly would be nice to know the details of how not to blow oneself up while making BP for self defense after the government outlaws legal acquisition of it.

Sure...you can have your guns...just no ammo...

[Eyes Of Death]

This is what I use to make charcoal. I'm in the propane biz so old bottles are easy to come buy. The outer one is a 20 # (5 gal)  the inner is 8 # (2 gal). With a propane burner in the bottom. I use the outer one to help move the heat all the way up and around the 8 #. This makes for a nice all over heat. The lid for the 8 #  kind of cam locks and their is a 1/8" hole in the top. I like to light the gas coming out of the vent and when it go's out the charcoal is dun. This will build up some presser. And spray out like a torch. It's not to hard to make just be consistent in your approach. And your powder will be consistent and you will be able to adapt to it. 

[RocklockI]

E O D  ...That is a GREAT idea ! Propane ,lord knows i have burners for that !
And you can scare up about 6 million old bottles without the ..."overfill thingamaroo" now required .

@ 1 buck each at a junkyard !

Is the burner something like a water tank heater burner ?

[Eyes Of Death]

That one is from a water heater. I should take a pic of the tank bottom. You will need to cut some air holes in the bottom of the 20# tank. So the burner will burn right.

[RocklockI]

Please do post some ,THIS is the kind of USEFULL INFO I'm LOOKING for !

NOT an endless posting of  , Be CARFULL , SMALL BATCHES , No Steel Tools ! BLAH and more BLAH !

Thank you Eyes Of Death !     Darn that is a cool handle . EOD baby !

Gary

[Eyes Of Death]

Well the Eyes Of Death  is another name for my job when I was in the Army. I was a Forward Observer for an 82nd airborne artillery unit. And I will post some of my other tools tomorrow.

[RocklockI]

Sweet  , I was a 2531 in the Marines ....radio humper . Prc 25's and 77's .

 I got to go out with an FO one time . I liked it plenty !

But only one time ....maybe they didnt like me as much ? 

Hide and slide 1/6  .

[Double D]

This is my tumbler. I think it was easy to make. The speed reduction is the tricky part. Some wear in the 30 to 40 RPM range is a good target speed. To slow and the stuff in side slides down the walls. To fast centrifugal force holds the stuff to the sides and makes it off balance. Then it will go flying off the tumbler. I drive doth rods the container sits on. This way it has to roll and cant just slip on the drive roller. The rollers are nothing more the 3/4 rod with 3/4 heater hose slid on them. Like you would find from the heater core to the radiator in your car. The rollers turn on bronze bushings and are held in place by collar stops or shaft stops welded in place. The container is PVC pipe one end caped and one end has a reducer to 4". And a 4" rubber test cap. I don't tighten the 4" cap on just friction fit. The large section is 6" PVC 16" long. I can fill it completely full with charcoal and 3 brass rods 15" long and have a fine powder in one hour.

EoD,

I split this off as it seemed not related to Gray's powder making thread.  Then after splitting off, I realized it is relevant to powder making.  Sadly we have no undo or merge function to put it back...

My apologies.

[RocklockI]

 

14ozs of potasium nitrate ! 5ozs charcoal , and dusting sulfer .



Time to mix some up .

Saltpeter
parts Charcoal
parts Sulfur
parts
Marcus Graecus (ca. 1250) 100 33 12
Canton of Zurich (1775) 100 16.7 16.7
Swiss Army (1849) 100 17.3 16.0
Modern Swiss blackpowder 100 20.0 13.3

I think I shall make some "Canton of Zurich" powder .

more later .

[RocklockI]

ok ,I now have a blob of the stuff in the sun drying .

now just let the blob dry out and corn it up ! I tried a little bit dry ....it fizzled !

Gary

[dan610324]

1250 is very close to the date when the mörkö was made

why not try just a very small batch of authentic serpentine powder for the mörkö
just a dry mix as they did the original powder

in very old cannons they had powder charges of the same weight as the cannon ball because of the low quality of the powder

[RocklockI]

Dan that would be a good idea ...... but I dont have a morko .

[dan610324]

   I know a guy who make them if you are interested 

[RocklockI]

Tonight the first little batch was done .... with much anticipation I shot off a my Lovrens VOC gun .......

SSsss ooo hoooo sishhhish .

Bummer dude   

But tommorrow is another day ! 

In the end of the making , when it was wet I noticed some saltpeter pieces that where too big ,quite a few too  . So more time grinding next time .

Today I just got my "Best" Potassium Nitrate in the mail . It's kinda granular too .

I am fast becoming a believer in Eyes Of Death's method ! 

Machines are good , Good machines are better . My wrist hurts .......

Gary

[Victor3]

  I know a guy who make them if you are interested 

 I have a freshly bored one I can rent out for a (phe)nominal fee. 

[Eyes Of Death]

If your powder fizzled could be two things. Powder is still damp or not mixed well. Hard to tell witch with out looking at the burn mark left from powder. A finely mixed powder will make smudge like the one at top. So fine it fills in the pores of the paper. And no grit feeling under your finger when rubbed. The bottom smudge is my charcoal out of the tumbler after an hour. But you can fill the grit under your finger when rubbed.

[RocklockI]

It fizzled and I got a sulfer bubble !

[Eyes Of Death]

Keep mixing 

[RocklockI]

I have been remixing .....yesterdays powder dry . I have mixed and mixed and ground with mortar and pestel .

Can I remix the other batch like I am without making a new batch .

[GGaskill]

Make yourself a ball mill.  You will run out of patience before you ground it fine enough by hand.