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How to make a super fast black powder in 4 minutes


kleberrios

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Here I pressed the wet BP and it burned very fast.The charcoal is air float 600/5000 mesh. The potasium nitrate is very very thin also.

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/65pPtbfH5MA

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Pressed?

yes.

I pressed the powder with the spatula before burning it

I pressed the powder with the spatula before burning it

Edited by kleberrios
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I got excited when I saw this thread's title, but then I saw the video was 7 minutes long and the thread was posted by kleberrios.
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Burn it (wet or dry) on a piece of paper. Bet it leaves char holes.

Incorrect, my fast black powder don't leaves char holes on the thin paper

 

 

https://youtu.be/6ay1ASggqRc

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Still quite a lot of residue and a wide scorch diameter. The wet looks faster than rookie mortar/pestle BP but the dry not so impressive. What kind of wood is that charcoal from?

 

Pretty certain it'd turn up the burn speed another notch if you at least wet-granulated/redried it. I also empirically evaluate my BP batches on a 1-10 scale (not scientific but repeatable by me), and I'd rate your wet as an 8/10 and your dry as a 7/10, versus slow flash (about the maximum I ever get BP to burn). I aim for 9/10 and achieve it regularly (wet granulated; 70% IPA) but would be disappointed with 7/10 unless I was going to try it as nozzled rocket propellant. For core burners I always have to slow down my main batch--easier to slow down hot BP than to speed up crummy BP. I use willow mostly, but have almost equal results with Walmart's pet bedding ERC.

 

Others have posted in depth on using screen-mixed BP (with and without water--mostly granulated vs not) for various purposes, and it does have uses. Even your slow/dry stuff would be great for gerbs and endburners, maybe.

 

Not bad for screen mix, though it did leave a lot of residue behind even if it didn't burn through the paper. It'd be interesting to see how well it lifts/bursts shells, or propels rockets.

 

Nice that you're actually sharing comps and %s, mostly. What kind of charcoal was that, again?

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Still quite a lot of residue and a wide scorch diameter. The wet looks faster than rookie mortar/pestle BP but the dry not so impressive. What kind of wood is that charcoal from?

 

Pretty certain it'd turn up the burn speed another notch if you at least wet-granulated/redried it. I also empirically evaluate my BP batches on a 1-10 scale (not scientific but repeatable by me), and I'd rate your wet as an 8/10 and your dry as a 7/10, versus slow flash (about the maximum I ever get BP to burn). I aim for 9/10 and achieve it regularly (wet granulated; 70% IPA) but would be disappointed with 7/10 unless I was going to try it as nozzled rocket propellant. For core burners I always have to slow down my main batch--easier to slow down hot BP than to speed up crummy BP. I use willow mostly, but have almost equal results with Walmart's pet bedding ERC.

 

Others have posted in depth on using screen-mixed BP (with and without water--mostly granulated vs not) for various purposes, and it does have uses. Even your slow/dry stuff would be great for gerbs and endburners, maybe.

 

Not bad for screen mix, though it did leave a lot of residue behind even if it didn't burn through the paper. It'd be interesting to see how well it lifts/bursts shells, or propels rockets.

 

Nice that you're actually sharing comps and %s, mostly. What kind of charcoal was that, again?

ok

Edited by kleberrios
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Still quite a lot of residue and a wide scorch diameter. The wet looks faster than rookie mortar/pestle BP but the dry not so impressive. What kind of wood is that charcoal from?

 

Pretty certain it'd turn up the burn speed another notch if you at least wet-granulated/redried it. I also empirically evaluate my BP batches on a 1-10 scale (not scientific but repeatable by me), and I'd rate your wet as an 8/10 and your dry as a 7/10, versus slow flash (about the maximum I ever get BP to burn). I aim for 9/10 and achieve it regularly (wet granulated; 70% IPA) but would be disappointed with 7/10 unless I was going to try it as nozzled rocket propellant. For core burners I always have to slow down my main batch--easier to slow down hot BP than to speed up crummy BP. I use willow mostly, but have almost equal results with Walmart's pet bedding ERC.

 

Others have posted in depth on using screen-mixed BP (with and without water--mostly granulated vs not) for various purposes, and it does have uses. Even your slow/dry stuff would be great for gerbs and endburners, maybe.

 

Not bad for screen mix, though it did leave a lot of residue behind even if it didn't burn through the paper. It'd be interesting to see how well it lifts/bursts shells, or propels rockets.

 

Nice that you're actually sharing comps and %s, mostly. What kind of charcoal was that, again?

 

 

Barbecue charcoal.

The secret lies in the fineness of coal and saltpeter. I used Agricultural potassium Nitrate

Edited by kleberrios
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Moistening the mixture certainly does support what Ulrich Bretscher had

advocated in his old web pages: Proof that moistening in the Industrial

Process of manufacturing Black Powder is an absolute necessity.

 

Milling the mixture to very fine texture before moistening certainly does

enhance its burn characteristics, but the point Kleberrios is making is that

moistening a less than "ideal" mixture makes a considerable difference in

its performance.

 

It is up to the experimenter to take the art to whatever level he, or she, desires

to attain the performance they are seeking. In certain applications the

amount and texture of the residue is very important.

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"though it did leave a lot of residue behind even if it didn't burn through the paper" Incorrect, my BP don't leave residue, only a light spot

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/sikcPcNcQco

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Yes, it's a well-known fact that commercial black powder manufacture involves water. Amateur pyros have tried to eliminate water from their black powder processes, with varying degrees of success. We are slowly re-visiting water as a component of BP manufacture worth understanding and taking advantage of.

 

It's possible that Kleberrios treated the paper with a sodium silicate solution to make it fire retardant ;)

 

Just curious Kleberrios; what is your intent here? Considering what you've shown, how would you apply this to making actual fireworks? I understand what you are demonstrating, just not the application for it. What happens if you dry the moistened powder and then light it, compared to 'fresh'?

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Yes, it's a well-known fact that commercial black powder manufacture involves water. Amateur pyros have tried to eliminate water from their black powder processes, with varying degrees of success. We are slowly re-visiting water as a component of BP manufacture worth understanding and taking advantage of.

 

It's possible that Kleberrios treated the paper with a sodium silicate solution to make it fire retardant ;)

 

Just curious Kleberrios; what is your intent here? Considering what you've shown, how would you apply this to making actual fireworks? I understand what you are demonstrating, just not the application for it. What happens if you dry the moistened powder and then light it, compared to 'fresh'?

 

 

 

 

"It's possible that Kleberrios treated the paper with a sodium silicate solution to make it fire retardant "

 

 

I made this vídeo to you

 

https://youtu.be/XgVfrFtSPpw

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Yes, it's a well-known fact that commercial black powder manufacture involves water. Amateur pyros have tried to eliminate water from their black powder processes, with varying degrees of success. We are slowly re-visiting water as a component of BP manufacture worth understanding and taking advantage of.

 

It's possible that Kleberrios treated the paper with a sodium silicate solution to make it fire retardant ;)

 

Just curious Kleberrios; what is your intent here? Considering what you've shown, how would you apply this to making actual fireworks? I understand what you are demonstrating, just not the application for it. What happens if you dry the moistened powder and then light it, compared to 'fresh'?

 

 

"Just curious Kleberrios; what is your intent here?" How to make a super fast and powerfull black powder

Not yet shown on this forum.

Edited by kleberrios
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Supposedly starting with 600mesh charcoal and nitrate is cheating! Most mill times quoted allow time for the ingredients to be milled down from inch lumps to dust in the quoted time.

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Supposedly starting with 600mesh charcoal and nitrate is cheating! Most mill times quoted allow time for the ingredients to be milled down from inch lumps to dust in the quoted time.

yes

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I appreciate your work. I suggest you look into some of the posts by DavidF or JustVisiting to see very similar methods. It is known that using very fine materials will yield acceptable results. The term "super milling" is often used for the charcoal portion if you're interested in seeing some of the other work in this field.

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I have personally Ball milled for a day, wet with 70/30 prop, granulated.. re-milled and re wet then re-granulated and gotten fantastic results.

 

-Mus

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I appreciate your work. I suggest you look into some of the posts by DavidF or JustVisiting to see very similar methods. It is known that using very fine materials will yield acceptable results. The term "super milling" is often used for the charcoal portion if you're interested in seeing some of the other work in this field.

DavidF or JustVisiting link please, I don't achieve find it

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