Thread: Proper black powder

Originally Posted by Tommy

I have a couple of small gem tumblers, what would be good to use during a wet tumble as milling stones? Glass (ie marbles)? Stainless balls?

Wooden barrel for tumbler or plastic is the best idea. Metal really is a no no.

Just found a pound of curtis and harvey locally but will have a serious look at holy smoke as its important to support local.

Originally Posted by Cordite

Most people out there use large lead balls as they do not increase risk of sparks. Long tumble times are not as necessary when you wet tumble.

The problem with steel balls is the tiny risk of sparks.

Glass is really bad worse idea - remember your physics teacher use of a dry glass rod and a dry animal skin (claimed it was a cat skin!) to create static electricity?

I'd consider grounding the tumbler unless it is properly wired up with a return/ground wire through the plug, even use a little brass brush touching the tumbling cylinder as it goes round. You can get those out of an old tumble drier.

But keeping the mixture wetted is the main thing in avoiding static electricity charges building up.




It is illegal to buy or store black powder (legal definition: mix of salpetre, sulfur and charcoal) without a FAL, and you may not have more than 1.5kg of it sitting about.

But is it really illegal to manufacture small amounts of black powder IF you have a FAL + lawful purpose? I don't think so, but someone PLEASE correct me...

Most legislation I could find rightly (and practically) focuses on possession and establishing that someone has a lawful purpose for her possession of black powder. It's of course hard to prove someone manufactured the BP she was found in possession of, so more practical to focus on the element of her possession-without-lawful-reason of black powder. Likewise as with other explosives, the pertinent question is lawful possession and purpose. There are sensible health and safety rules for handling, storage and transportation you must adhere to.

I got that from Van Tiel pyrotechnics.
id be surprised if it was not illegal to do so.
I had my pyro ticket and know that to manufacture pyro stuff you need the right ticket etc and magazine to store it in, and an exclusion zone for the manufacturing site etc etc etc etc etc
lots of rules, and im sure they are the same for powder too. Best to check on it if you are keen though.

I've seen the results of powder made in a kitchen blender. He would do each component separate, then measure them out and give it a quick run (30 secs) to mix them together. He did do the last mix at the end of a 20m extension cord out in a paddock. All dry!
Then that would go in a pack howitzer brass case.... and it went well

I did mention about wetting it, the answer was ' I haven't had a mix catch yet.....'

I know of a guy who has been professionally manufacturing powder for bloody years. with all the know how and safety etc in place, yet still he had one load in a ball mill go off and blow a double garage sized building to pieces. actually stripped the concrete slab of all the framing etc.
So it would pay to do any mixing in a very remote area and do so in very small batches.
Not saying that it would be fun or a good idea to make some.

IF you lot took the time to read the instructions PROPERLY..... you will see that you mix it wet ONE component at a time added to your "stale pee" or warm water.....the sulphur and charcoal are pretty safeish its the salt petre that makes life interesting.

Originally Posted by 40mm

I know of a guy who has been professionally manufacturing powder for bloody years. with all the know how and safety etc in place, yet still he had one load in a ball mill go off and blow a double garage sized building to pieces. actually stripped the concrete slab of all the framing etc.
So it would pay to do any mixing in a very remote area and do so in very small batches.
Not saying that it would be fun or a good idea to make some.

I would simply NOT make black powder. I would make a different product with same ingredients except leave out sulfur. Sulfur is the demon in the triple mix that renders it so unstable and easily ignitable -- properties you simply don't need if you use a percussion lock/primer, or if you anyway pour a separate FFFG triple ingredient blackpowder into the pan of your flintlock. Sulfur also makes most of the smoke. Losing all those disadvantages is worth that 10% power drop incurred by not using sulfur.

so you would be making "brown powder".....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so you would be making "brown powder".....

Nope, that is made by incomplete charring of wood when making charcoal, and also a source of premature ignitulation. I think a US warship blew its load in Havana harbour due to cocoa gunpowder, setting off the Spanish-American war.

The Spanish ambassador to Washington tried in vain to blame it on Russian hackers, but the Yanks did not even understand what he was on about...

That said, the extra vigour of brown charcoal may be safe enough without devil sulfur in the mix. Nah, not worth playing with that.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Just found a pound of curtis and harvey locally but will have a serious look at holy smoke as its important to support local.

RU going to Awapuni? I have some FFFg as well, holy smoke

https://web.archive.org/web/20110520....ch/index.html

Originally Posted by Cordite

Nope, that is made by incomplete charring of wood when making charcoal, and also a source of premature ignitulation. I think a US warship blew its load in Havana harbour due to cocoa gunpowder, setting off the Spanish-American war.

The Spanish ambassador to Washington tried in vain to blame it on Russian hackers, but the Yanks did not even understand what he was on about...

That said, the extra vigour of brown charcoal may be safe enough without devil sulfur in the mix. Nah, not worth playing with that.

Originally Posted by Cordite

I would simply NOT make black powder. I would make a different product with same ingredients except leave out sulfur. Sulfur is the demon in the triple mix that renders it so unstable and easily ignitable -- properties you simply don't need if you use a percussion lock/primer, or if you anyway pour a separate FFFG triple ingredient blackpowder into the pan of your flintlock. Sulfur also makes most of the smoke. Losing all those disadvantages is worth that 10% power drop incurred by not using sulfur.

Black powder without the sulphur and less smoke? What an abhorrent notion

Originally Posted by MSL

Black powder without the sulphur and less smoke? What an abhorrent notion

By Jove... imagine missing those reddish sulfur granules in the barrel afterwards, cleaning will never be the same again. I say, highly irregular, ol' chap.

Originally Posted by Maca49

RU going to Awapuni? I have some FFFg as well, holy smoke

Yes, got some stuff entered and my eye on a couple of things. It may be prudent this time to talk first bid second haha.
Would be keen on some holy smoke so bring a pound or 2.
Who knows it could be used to proof any new aquisitions in the car park.