Lift Charge.

[Swede]

There is one benefit from using commercial BP, especially when just starting and that is consistency. You have a product with absolutely known performance, and your 15 grams of Goex FFG will perform the same today as it will 3 years from now.

 

Until your homemade BP becomes consistent, each batch requires a bit of testing, trial and error, to see what sort of lift power it has.

 

I have been pressing and corning because I like the grain strength. I tried making 250 grams of polverone yesterday, using a 10 mesh screen, and it seemed to work OK, but the grain strength is nowhere near the pressed, then sieved, stuff. I am concerned that with handling, the grains will break down, and the lift will tend to vary slightly. But it's infinitely easier than pressing, no doubt.

[TrueBluePyro]

...

I tried making 250 grams of polverone yesterday, using a 10 mesh screen, and it seemed to work OK, but the grain strength is nowhere near the pressed, then sieved, stuff. I am concerned that with handling, the grains will break down, and the lift will tend to vary slightly. But it's infinitely easier than pressing, no doubt.

 

Yes that is very true with polverone, but after you have marsted it (getting the very right amount of water) and then pushing it through a screen ( I just use a kitchen sieve) and a good dextrin (if homemade, might not be the best, I make my own tho) you can have rock hard little granulas, I remember I had made a batch of polverone and thought that it was no good, so I put it back into the ball mill with some more BP and dextrin and after the I check it, the polverone was still very much polverone and it didnt grind them down by much if at all, these where rock hard and you couldnt break them inbtween you fingers or with a few taps of a hammer. What I am saying is that polverone is still very good and easy to make compared to pressing, tho, I havent tried pressing it, it just seems there is alot of extra work for it.

 

But yeah, polverone probs isnt better then pressed, but they are still very effective.

[Mumbles]

Sounds like you have an inefficient ball mill to me, or huge granulation. I also suggest that since you haven't made any pressed BP, that you shouldn't be making assumptions. In my tests pressed preformed much better, even with a larger granulation. I need to repeat them with my screens, but I was personally surprised about how big of a difference it made.

[TrueBluePyro]

yes that is why I said I havent made it before and and I did say that pressing it would be better, didnt I? and I forgot to mention that, that polverone batch was pushed through a 1/4" screen. Nope my ball mill works pretty well for me, I really dont think it is the ball mill. Edited June 28, 2009 by TrueBluePyro

[firetech]

I don't own a press but I have hand rammed my own pucks. They turn out pretty hard but not as hard as I'd like. My best powder is about 10 mesh.

[Swede]

It's hard to beat a hydraulic press. The cheapest from Harbor Freight might run $100, but they can be made as well if you are handy, using a regular car bottle jack.

 

Perfect for rockets AND BP pucks. It may be overkill, but I really like pressed and corned BP, sieved, sorted, and bagged. It's better than Goes, and handles the same. Still, polverone is quick and easy.