Richtee Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/docum...ok/redalder.htm Hmm a "nitrogen fixer" eh? I wonder if that has anything to do with it's charcoal quality?!?! Peas and most beans do that too... might have to try Jack's beanstalk! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 It's a fungus on the roots of the tree. Many actually have them. They actually sell tablets or fertilizer with it in it. I suspect there is possibly some of this in those "miracle" grass seeds. "mychorizae" would be the key googling term. I'm not sure how much it actually helps, most of the nitrogen is located in the leaves, which arn't used for charcoal cooking. Think green parts of the plant for nitrogen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Here's a random thought, but is related to charcoal and Nitrogen. Soybeans are one of the few plants that can draw Nitrogen directly from the air. I wonder what kind of charcoal Soybean chaff (stalks, husks, etc) would make? (Hey, I SAID it was random. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPinthemorning Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Jesus, mumbles! I've given you plenty of links justifying my love of Pawlonia. There are plenty of documentations and testimonies supporting what I posted. You're an amazing pyrotechnician and an inspiration to all aspiring pyros, but you need a reality check. You're not God. This is a forum. All ideas are equal, and unless you can prove I'm not correct you can chill out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 I wasn't speaking of the fact that Pawlonia is good stuff. I am quite aware of this. I believe even Shimizu praises it. My problem was with the statements about it "owning" willow and being faster than balsa. The only head to head test I know of is by Dan Creagan, of which I assume you are referencing. I'd suggest checking out footnote #15. He used the lowest value he got for the hangtime testing, even though he got multiple values exceeding 10 seconds. The burn rate test were on two separate days, and probably too close to say anything definite. I didn't mean to get you all riled up about this. In the future a link to Danny's site, or where ever you are basing the statements off would be helpful. Without said link the statements are still unsubstantiated. It doesn't mean they're not true, or at least relatively true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefox77 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Okay, I'm sick of making BP that is marginal at best, and am planning on buying some from PowderInc.com. My plan is to dump $150 and get 10lbs which should last me just about forever at the rate I'm using it up. It may sound expensive, but if you factor in time cost, I'm pretty sure I've wasted at least that much on non-usable powder that I've made. Mostly I'm going to be using this for shooting small shells, mines and fire-balls. So what would be the best for me to buy? At first I was thinking of 4 cans of F (for mines) and 6 of FF (for everything else). However I see they have something called Meal-D which is a mix of "black powder flour" and FFFF, and is supposedly specifically for pyrotechnic use. Advice appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankie Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 F might be a bit slow dont you think? i use FFF for pretty much everything, from breaking shells to shooting starmines/guns I made a puck of 75:15:10 Pawlonia charcoal that had been milled for roughly 12 hours, it had been drying for about 24 hours and i couldnt wait any longer, I chipped the corners off as these parts would be dry and tested it against my store bought FFF and it was faster than it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Okay, I'm sick of making BP that is marginal at best, and am planning on buying some from PowderInc.com. My plan is to dump $150 and get 10lbs which should last me just about forever at the rate I'm using it up. It may sound expensive, but if you factor in time cost, I'm pretty sure I've wasted at least that much on non-usable powder that I've made. Mostly I'm going to be using this for shooting small shells, mines and fire-balls. So what would be the best for me to buy? At first I was thinking of 4 cans of F (for mines) and 6 of FF (for everything else). However I see they have something called Meal-D which is a mix of "black powder flour" and FFFF, and is supposedly specifically for pyrotechnic use. Advice appreciated. Hmmm. I've always used my smaller powder for lift for cakes\mines... You want to keep most of the BP to Fg and FFg... 2Fg is probably the most used lift in unlicensed pyrotechnics... Cannon grade (0Fg? )/ 2FA are often used to lift the bigger shells... Though the 4-12 mesh powder can normally lift anything. 1Fg / 4FA are used quite often as lift... 4Fg / 7FA are used a lot in candles, cakes, and small shells... Sometimes it is used to fill shells as a break, though most of the time smaller shells use KP\BP coated rice hulls instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 2Fg is most often used because it happens to be a popular size that many happen to have around, not because of it's usefulness. While it certainly will work, it is not ideal. 1Fg will be fine for EVERYTHING. I've used it to lift everything from 3/4" comets to 6" ball shells. 1Fg is about equivalent to 4FA. If you're planning on making any shells bigger than 1 or 2" in diameter for the life of that 10lbs of powder, I'd go heavy on the 1Fg. 7lbs to 3lbs of 2Fg. When 2Fg is better to use, you will be using a very small amount so it will last a long long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 For 1" shells I still use about 1Fg powder but, I've gone to coarser lift (-4+10 mesh approx 2FA/cannon grade) on my 3" shells and some comets/mines. I had problems with blowing the shells apart in the mortar using -10+20 mesh (approx 4FA/1Fg). Although I think the problem was more to do with using way too much... I also like the duller thump of using a coarser lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gods knight Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I found a guy on eby that sells "PAULOWNIA FORTUNEI DRAGON TREE SEEDS" in 50,10,1000, and 10,000 seeds per buy, i might get the 1000 or 10,000. LINK:http://cgi.ebay.com/10-000-PAULOWNIA-FORTU...Q2em118Q2el1247 Sorry its so long. I was wondering if these were the right species to buy. Also: Another seller on Ebay is offering Desert Willow seeds. Link: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?f...eeds&category0= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankie Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Those flowers in the picture look the same as the ones on my Pawlonia trees. I'm not quite sure how reliable it is to grow them from seed, the best method involves digging up a tree and cutting the roots up into short lengths, but I would say out of a thousand seeds quite a few will grow. Theres no harm in trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superman1451 Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 My neighbor was making a diggeradoo out of a Yucca aloifolia. I noticed that the insides were like balsa in the ways that they were easy to pull apart and had a spongy sort of feel. I made charcoal out of it and later make BP and see how it performs. Yet another willow alternative http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff115/superman1451/DSCF4656.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Strangely enough, I am not concerned at finding faster alternatives to willow since I have found an abundancy of it and it's by far the fastest BP I've ever made. 45 minutes in the ball-mill, add a few % water and press to 1.7 g/cm³ density. After corning it's impossible for me to test anything in the backyard in a stargun, mine or such since it will always make a bang. The willow i use was harvested in fall last year, it was part of a energy-forrest sort of thing, It was well dried so that I didn't need to cook it for more then 40 minutes at relativly low heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Pressed BP shouldn't do "bang", 4FA or so should "plop". It's a misunderstanding pressed BP is the fastest BP you can make. In my opinion pulverone is the fastest burning BP you kan make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormanman Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I'm actually scared of corned bp b/c I have little to no experience with it and simple granulated screened works fine for me. I'm thinking about making more b/c even the corned powder is fast. Like the powder from when you break it up. I kneed to find my UHMWPE dowel again though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 BP isn't pressed for speed, it's pressed so it performs consistently. Some do notice a marked improvement in speed though. I suspect it is partially due to overwetting of the composition when just corning it. I would fully expect a bag from anything I am firing, especially at the 4FA granulation. It depends on a lot of things. Anything I'm firing tends to have a pretty tight fit which seems to increase the noise level quite a bit. Landscape will also contribute to echoing and sound propagation. The only things I have EVER gotten the "woof" or "plop" sound with were extremely loose fitting and with rather poor or low amounts of lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying fish Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 In *breaking* of tiny shells (3/4" M-80 tube cake shots) I find that GOEX FFFG basically makes a useless plop, where as any type of homemade pulverone (even lightly milled slow stuff made with skylighter charcoal) makes a bang. Of course, the GOEX outperforms the pulverone for *lifting.* I'm not sure if this is due to the graphite coating...pressing...or some other variable...but I thought I would put this in here since I was wondering myself, and thought it fit in here while we were talking about "Plop vs. Bang"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 The only things I have EVER gotten the "woof" or "plop" sound with were extremely loose fitting and with rather poor or low amounts of lift.That's what I ment, like in starguns or so, the only thing I should fire in my backyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Does the time that wood spends sitting out in the elements affect how good the charcoal made from it is? I just scored a bunch of willow from an old pile that is sitting in some woods a few minutes away from my house. I can get more, but it has been out there for a year or two now and the ends of some of the branches are getting the consistency of cork. Also, to keep the theme of this thread, I made some corn stalk charcoal the other day. It powders easily and is very light and fluffy, I will give the results of BP made from it as soon as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I'd say go get the wood, and just cut off the rotting ends. De-bark it too, as long as you're at it. The remaining wood should be fine. And do let us know how the stalk charcoal works. I'm curious about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Being a total buffoon I knocked all the stalk charcoal into my lawn, so it may be a day or two. I scored about twenty pounds of the willow, and there is a lot more. Once the ends and bark were removed, it looked very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 You're going to be surprised how little finished charcoal you'll get from 20 lbs of wood. If I were you, I'd go bag as much of the remaining wood as you can. Free willow is too good to pass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 I just finished a ten gram batch of BP from the stalk charcoal, it seems quit nice. After enough time with a mortar and pestle to get it to a flour-like consistency a few grams made a pleasing woosh. I will press some tomorrow to see how much power I can get out of it. That wood pile isn't going anywhere, the person who downed the trees just left them to rot. Looks like I will have a supply of willow for quite some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPinthemorning Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Still, its a good idea to begin moving it to your property. You never know... Plus its not good to let it rot for BP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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