DubaiAmateurRocketry Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Any one know how to make the best sulfurless black powder and best charcoal ? Can any one tell me if Wood charcoal is good, is Sugar charcoal better ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oinikis Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Take an empty can with a lid(like paint can), poke a hole in the lid, put small peaces of wood, and put it into fireplace. gasses should go out of these holes. When gasses stop going, (when it is still in fire) cover holes with something, and let it cool. You should get peaces of charcoal, which are all the way trought black. For fast BP i think soft wood should be used. Shop grade BBQ charcoal, is really slow, and can be only used for stars like C6, C8, and TT. Also it can be used for 6/3/1 rocket fuel, but might require serious ballmilling. BP with sulfur is much faster than sulfurless black powder, so getting sulfur would be best. Ballmill it for long enough (depends on the mill), then granulate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeee Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 A softer fast growing wood usually produces a better charcoal to use in black powder.Pine, Balsa, Red Cedar, Paulownia, Willow, Fruit trees, etc.Certain types of vines can also be used, Grape Vines, Hemp stalks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubaiAmateurRocketry Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 A softer fast growing wood usually produces a better charcoal to use in black powder.Pine, Balsa, Red Cedar, Paulownia, Willow, Fruit trees, etc.Certain types of vines can also be used, Grape Vines, Hemp stalks. I live in arab place, do u know if palm trees wood could word ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortartube Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 If you live in an Arab place, sulphur should be easy to get as it is a by product of petroleum refining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirCowPeacock Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Palm wood is no good for charcoal. (or so I've heard.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubaiAmateurRocketry Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Is sugar charcoal good then ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 A few people say that sugar charcoal works well. However most, if not all, reasonably respected people in the hobby will say that it's crap. You'll probably have to seek out some various woods you have available, and try them out yourself. It might be worth trying sugar and palm as well while you're at it. It's sometimes better to find out for yourself than accept someone else's claim. Much of the amateur pyro hobby happens in Europe and North America. Thus the recommended wood varieties are typically native to these areas, and quite abundant. It will take some experimentation, but I'm sure you'll find something suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubaiAmateurRocketry Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 A few people say that sugar charcoal works well. However most, if not all, reasonably respected people in the hobby will say that it's crap. You'll probably have to seek out some various woods you have available, and try them out yourself. It might be worth trying sugar and palm as well while you're at it. It's sometimes better to find out for yourself than accept someone else's claim. Much of the amateur pyro hobby happens in Europe and North America. Thus the recommended wood varieties are typically native to these areas, and quite abundant. It will take some experimentation, but I'm sure you'll find something suitable. Sounds good, Those picture are the exact type of trees and plant i have here. http://mirror-us-ga1.gallery.hd.org/_exhibits/places-and-sights/_more2001/_more07/UAE-Dubai-beachscape-palm-trees-BG.jpghttp://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles/Assets/Richmedia/Image/SaxoPress/AD2012101286656-Dubai,_United_A.jpg what do u think the palm is better or the normal tree ? cus i hate producting charcoal it produces too much fume and ill have to do it out side my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50AE Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) Experience is the key. Sometimes bullshit is written in the internet space. I have tried many woods and they have worked very fine for black powder. I think most stuff that is coarse with little density would do. P.S. I bet there are people who tried a given charcoal that could be excellent, but didn't do proper milling (or didn't perform another criteria well) and blamed the type of wood for this reason. Edited February 25, 2013 by 50AE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 You should really be doing all pyro outside of your home. Trust me when I say that working inside a dwelling is a bad idea. ... what do u think the palm is better or the normal tree ? cus i hate producting charcoal it produces too much fume and ill have to do it out side my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrodundee Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I'm in the process of collecting enough pucks of spent coffee grounds to trial "coffee grounds charcoal". Theres no pressing need other than the curiosity of seeing if it will work and what it would be good for ( have plenty of willow on hand for bp ). Has anyone else trialled this ? Am I reinventing a wheel that doesn't work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyco_1322 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I'm in the process of collecting enough pucks of spent coffee grounds to trial "coffee grounds charcoal". Theres no pressing need other than the curiosity of seeing if it will work and what it would be good for ( have plenty of willow on hand for bp ). Has anyone else trialled this ? Am I reinventing a wheel that doesn't work? I don't think I've heard of anyone trying that, but it does sound like an interesting idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirCowPeacock Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I think just a few pots worth of grounds would be enough for a trial run, you only need about 70 grams to make a pound of BP, 15 for 100 g (which is my batch size.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 If it burns decently, a before and after brewing comparison might be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan999ification Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 it produces a fair amount of hydrogen while being charred, i once saw a car powered with it that drove 400 miles Should be interesting, reducing it would be easy, if anything you get nice stars. Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrodundee Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Well at this stage I can say that I am underwhelmed at the result of the coffee grounds charcoal. Screened 75:15:10 was stuttering and had a tendency to go out, also left a heap of slag. Milled for an hour (usual time in mill to get my willow bp up to speed) it was more consistant and didnt go out - but worse than generic bbq charcoal - still some slag left. I added 10% 200mesh AL which helped with speed and intensity and cleared most of the slag (I assumed excess oxidiser due to incomplete burn) Next is to press a rocket with a long core and see if I can lift a "coffee rocket". Someone else may have more success with the charcoal conversion and get a better result - let us know if you do. I'll update on the success or dismal failure of the coffee rocket liftoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightSpark Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 (edited) I have been making some lovly charcoal i find the best to use im in australia is a soft wood now that is most pines Process 1x metal container i.e new paint tin metal biscit tin1x fire1x ball mill1x hammer1x sifterpunch 3 holes in the top of your container The process work quiker when you pine has been chopped in to ether long skiny peices or short wide peices. Place your pine in your container than place container in to the fire or on top of a camping stove. your charcoal will be ready once the smoke has stoped flowing out of the hole you punched in to the container. Remove from heat sit in a safe area where it can be allowed to cool. Once cooled remove your charcoal and lay it on an old peice of material. I use and old shirt. Fold your material over itself than hit with a hammer to break it down ready for the ball mill. Place your charcoal in your ball mill and continue to mill your charcoal till it is now a fine powder. Run your powder thorugh your sifter to filter out and large peice in your mix . throw your over size charcoal back in to your ball mill and continue to mill than repeat your sifting and charcoal that it not going to crush down throw in your garden cause your plants love it than your are left with fireworks grade charcoal . Edited March 16, 2013 by BrightSpark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 But how do I make the best black powder? Charcoal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowcat1969 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Ball mill, 75%-15%-10% and use Paulownia charcoal from Algenco! That's amazingly good BP. The various processes are covered in depth in many past posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codenameerik Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) I know this is a older thread but I'm currently in Afghanistan about to come home. Looking to start making my own black powder. I live on 10 acres and about 5acres is wooded. I have ALOT of Osage Orange trees (a.k.a monkey balls, hedge apples). Has anyone tried to make a charcoal out of one? I know it is a hardwood but I don't want to put all my eggs into one basket and it not pan out. I have quite a few pine trees as well. When making charcoal do you need to use just the trunk of the tree or can you use branches as well? Thanks a lot, Edited September 9, 2013 by codenameerik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiwanluthiers Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Can you get poplar? I use Paulownia because it's native to Asia (it's one of the four wood of China)... Someone told me poplar works well... if you can find some lightweight construction wood (Lauan comes to mind) you can try that too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 I remember someone talking about Osage orange tree wood for charcoal at one point. Unfortunately the searching function on passfire sucks, so I have no idea what the results were. There are a number of fruit bearing trees that work quite well, but I don't specifically know about orange trees. It's definitely worth a shot at least. As Taiwanluthiers alluded to, quick growing, softer woods popular in construction tend to be good wood sources. White wood 2x4's tend to be popular right now. Some varieties of pet bedding also work. These are mostly for if you don't have a suitable wood source on your property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algenco Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Osage Orange is very heavy/dense as such it would be good for sparks but sub par for BP I'll bet it would be tough to grind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giod Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Where is a good source to buy quality charcoal for BP other than "Airfloat" which seems to be hardwood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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