pillyg Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 has anyone ever made CIA black powder? its kinda like r candy. you mill the C and S, then dissolve the KNO3 in water. Then you add the milled C and S, then stir and let it dry.i am wondering, is it worth the extra time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algenco Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 not worth the effort and cost. Mix all your ingredients and add boiling water,work the water into the mix, it will cool quickly.Probably the most knowledgable pyro alive today does it this way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Ah, ok just looking at youtube. it looked fast but it is a lot of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algenco Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 the quality of your ingredients is more important than the method you chose. Start with the best quality available to you, mill everything as fine as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Oki am using stump remover KNO3, homemade charcoal, homemade dextrin, and garden sulfur (90%, could use improovement) another question, is it better to mill the chems separate then all together for a short bit, or not separate but together for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algenco Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 If you have non-sparking media mill them together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 ok. so its better if they are together for long i am using some lead fishing weights and a bunch of nickels (light the sky said it was ok) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrojig Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Ditch the nickles .... Id stick with the lead media. I mill for a few hours, but my mill is very efficient. Cheaper and slower mills require a longer mill time( 6-12h), while a good mill needs 4-6h. I mill all ingredients together, and end up with faster than commercial stuff. As said above whats most important is the quality of your chems and how fine they are. Most of my chems are really fine to start with (air float)/ or premilled [kn03]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Oki am using stump remover KNO3, homemade charcoal, homemade dextrin, and garden sulfur (90%, could use improovement) another question, is it better to mill the chems separate then all together for a short bit, or not separate but together for a long time. Garden sulfur is fine. I used it for quite awhile until I found a better source and never had any problems making goo dlift and breaking powder. As noted though, if ball milling, ditch the nickels. Go with straight lead if that's all you can get. Fishing weights will work, but are soft and will wear with time (adding lead to your BP). I use brass personally, some use SS or ceramic media. The CIA method works, but is a lot of work IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 i have found that the nickels work fine. I speed up my tumbler by increasing the diameter of the spiner rods. it spins like 2x faster. its pretty good. and you dont have to pay for shipping on the nickels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdmiralDonSnider Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) Whether CIA is advisable or not depends on your milling capacities and BP consumption. Where people use large or multiple jars and where milling times are of subordinate importance there really is no reason to abandon the 3 component method. When this is not the case, CIA (using ballmilled C/S) is a way to go. It certainly CANNOT be blamed for giving inferior perfomance outcomes; I have made numerous batches following the combined method suggested by von Maltitz and the powder is more than good enough, probably up to par with any conventional meal. I don´t consider the "effort task" that striking, I mill the C/S in 2hrs and sit in front of the pot for another half an hour. This gives my a pound of BP. Worth to be taken into consideration; but there are good reasons to stick to conventional ballmilling when having the means. Edited January 23, 2011 by AdmiralDonSnider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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