All10Fingers Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 You want the gas to escape. You want to keep the oxygen out so your charcoal doesn't combust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMat Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 On 4/26/2024 at 11:48 AM, Craigo said: I got the saltpeter, it's in tiny tiny balls, white as snow, so I imagine this is the good stuff. Only charcoal left I guess, thanks to everyone who helped me! That's exactly what you want! Those tiny balls are called "prilled" form and is usually a sign of good quality potassium nitrate. The only problem is that it requires a bit more effort to grind up. You are on the right track! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 Use 3 layers of aluminum foil as I suggested. It’s tight enough. The issue is- you need to STOP air getting in when the smoke stops coming out. You won’t be able to do that with an opened can lid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigo Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 Sorry for the delay, but I finally got the can. Sadly, I don't think it worked well enough, I ran out of wood to burn for the fire.. The upper layers of the newspaper went dark brown but didn't reach high enough heat for it to become charcoal. For the lower layers (given that the fire was burning literally under it), I think it worked out. The paper is brittle, I guess? Or crunchy.. I don't know what to call it but either way I think it's good enough. I'm going to start grinding it either today or tomorrow and hopefully I'll have my own black powder by the end of the week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 12 hours ago, Craigo said: Sorry for the delay, but I finally got the can. Sadly, I don't think it worked well enough, I ran out of wood to burn for the fire.. The upper layers of the newspaper went dark brown but didn't reach high enough heat for it to become charcoal. For the lower layers (given that the fire was burning literally under it), I think it worked out. The paper is brittle, I guess? Or crunchy.. I don't know what to call it but either way I think it's good enough. I'm going to start grinding it either today or tomorrow and hopefully I'll have my own black powder by the end of the week Yep... you need the heat at least half way up the can. The flaky stuff should be OK.Toss it all in a gallon baggie and rolling pin it. What don’t powder toss out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigo Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Finally, I have done it. I made the blackpowder work. Although it wasn't igniting as easily and burning as fast as the demonstrations I saw online, it still burnt well enough to cause that familiar firework smell and that's enough for me. Thank you all for helping me with this!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumber Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 (edited) Black powder has very huge history it is developed years by years and trials and errors. All that I have learnt so far is 1- you need right materials (not equivalent or substitute) to prepare good bp. For e.g. you cant substitute agri grade kno3 for pure pyro grade , Charcoal plays important role ( I prefer wood charcoal than paper charcoal) 2- How you process It includes how fine your material is, degree of mixing ( screening, ball milling ,CIA method , wheel milling or mortor and pestle mixing) every method has different burn rate , this is just example dont attempt without reading safety notes like dry milling can be done in remote area. 3- how you granulate This include pressing, corning, granulating or just rolling like micro stars. Again each method affect burn rate. 4- Very important note is purity of chemicals. 5- Grain size. 6 -Formula for black powder . All these factors affect quality of black powder, god bp can be done by considering all these factors and by experience. More you experiment more experience you get. Edited May 12 by Zumber 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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