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Trouble with my rocket fuel seems dusty when granulated


insutama

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I have made about 4 batches of black powder all which i have granulated with 99% isopropanol alcohol and left to dry over night and they all turned out great now i just made a batch of rocket fuel with all the same chems i used in the previous batches of black powder but i could only get 91% isopropanol so i wet the meal powder made a ball with it then granulated it threw the same screen i used before and it has been sitting on kraft paper dryin for 3 days now and it just seems like when i touch it it really makes my hands black and it really dusty is this because i didnt use enough alcohol when i was granulating it or is it because its not dry enough what should i do should i try and wet it again and granulate it again do i need 99% alcohol ? i use no binders just alcohol im using it for rockets.

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thing is it was fine last few times just not this time is it because im not using 100% alcohol or is it because i didnt wet it enough before i granulated it ?

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Probably the alcohol. I get dusty propellant just using alcohol too. If you want a dust-less propellant, use wax or mineral oil. If you don't want to, go back to the 99% stuff.

 

From my understanding, the sulfur dissolves somewhat in the alcohol and that's why you can somewhat granulate it that way.

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Ah I c I'm having trouble finding 99% isopropanol is there any other type of alcohol I can use that's easy to find ?
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so last night i re wet all the black powder with 99% alcohol and left it to dry over night and this morning its the same as it was before it sticks to my hands and is super messy i dont get it is this batch ruined should i throw it out or how can i save it ? i was gonna leave it for a couple more days out to dry see if this helps but it doesnt seems wet because its really dusty. maybe ill try using mineral oil do i use alcohol and mineral oil or just mineral oil ? i dont wanna add a binder because im gonna be using this powder to ram into my rockets so dont want it real hard i just want it so its not so messy

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I wish I had an answer for you but I don't, you have sparked my interest though, are you sure you did everything exactly the same as the other batches. I add mineral oil to my BP rocket powder but use lacquer thinner to disperse it and it sort of granulates it also.

You can use just the mineral oil but its not quite as nice and free flowing as when using the lacquer thinner.

2% mineral oil and the lacquer thinner at 10 to 1 to the mineral oil.

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listen to oldspark, he's a mineral oil expert. Hell, he even drinks the stuff...

 

http://lifeshifted.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/drink-the-kool-aid.jpg

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I just bought some mineral oil can I use it with alcohol to granulate if so is it still 10 to 1
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From Danny Creagan's site.

"Mineral Oil and BP. My new personal favorite is to use super hot BP with +3% mineral oil added. Mix the mineral oil with lacquer thinner and then mix that with the BP and dry for 24 hours. Typically, I use 10 parts lacquer thinner to 1 part mineral oil. The thinner is to make incorporating the mineral oil into the BP easier. The BP is not granulated or made to pulverone, rather it is used as it comes from the ball mill. The mineral oil keeps the dust down and the small grain is *very* easy to compact."

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it says to mix the mineral oil with the lacquer thinner but how much do i mix i have 100 grams of comp how much laqour thinner do i mix with mineral oil for this amount ?

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The only difference between this batch of delay mix i made and my other black powder i have made is i ball milled the first 3 batches of black powder for 4 hours then this batch of delay i ball milled for 20 minutes is this maybe why it doesnt granulate as well as the black powder i milled for longer ?

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it says to mix the mineral oil with the lacquer thinner but how much do i mix i have 100 grams of comp how much laqour thinner do i mix with mineral oil for this amount ?

100 grams of powder so 2% mineral oil= 2 grams

10 to one of solvent to oil=20 grams of solvent

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The only difference between this batch of delay mix i made and my other black powder i have made is i ball milled the first 3 batches of black powder for 4 hours then this batch of delay i ball milled for 20 minutes is this maybe why it doesnt granulate as well as the black powder i milled for longer ?

That could be it, cant explain why exactly but when changes are made in the procedure and it does not turn out the same I always question the difference in procedure.

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I love Paul's videos, he makes it look so easy making large batches.

It is easy making large batches, if you have the space and tools.

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Also my other batches were all 75 15 10 and milled for 4 hours

this batch 60 30 10 and no 20 mins mill just to mix it

anyway i ground it up again mixed it with 3% mineral oil and dryed it now there is no dust at all it almost seems wet still but it has been drying for 3 days so i know its dry much better but very soft no hard granuals at all

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