fireworkscharcoal.com

[ronmoper76]

I received 5lbs of paulownia from them and made a batch of bp. I can definitely notice a difference from what i usually make,and

wanted to share.Its the fastest i ever made yet.

[TheOrb]

There is no question that lowly CHARCOAL is THE most overlooked and contributing variable to BP...and of course effects in other applications. I actually found a bag of Willow Charcoal Lumps from "Phils" in my Misc. bin 2 days ago and milled up a batch of Straight 75/10/15 with it. WELL ! Guess that's what my new hot break will be for a bit. Very very quick. In all honesty it's the fastest BP - 75 I have ever made in my life .

Edited June 23, 2021 by TheOrb

[SharkWhisperer]

I received 5lbs of paulownia from them and made a batch of bp. I can definitely notice a difference from what i usually make,and

wanted to share.Its the fastest i ever made yet.

Nice quick burning-- but I think maybe you can get it even faster than that. I'd guess those granules might have some water in them still. Those sparks suggest a slight cooling of the burn (or not-quite-optimal milling).

 

Even after sun drying for hours (weather permitting), I always seem to have a small amount of water left in my granules. Overnight in a sealed tub with a few color-indicating silica desiccant packets confirms this pretty much every time. You might try desiccating them if only out of curiosity.

 

Though your new BP is for sure fast enough for anything pyro, I think maybe it could be even faster. Although subjective only, the test batch i made with the exact same charcoal seems to burn (disappear) slightly faster than your granules, and without a discernible spark. That last observation really caught my attention because even my hottest willow and ECR BPs always spit off a few sparks, but the Paulownia I tested--nada...

 

Mighty fine BP, nonetheless!

 

I was so pleased with their paulownia coal that I went and bought a bunch more. Trying some of their ERC too, though that's just laziness because I have a bundle of pet bedding laying about getting old!

Edited June 24, 2021 by SharkWhisperer

[SharkWhisperer]

UPDATE June 25: Made 4 small (200g) batches of 75% paulownia milldust in my ancient HF mill--and they all burn super hot!! Unhardened lead shot 0.49" shot, for media. I'd recommend hardened lead for newcomers--though it's been years, my soft lead sheds metal with use. It's visible.

 

The charcoal is milled and is quite airy. Note that it's possibly super-sensitive to moisture. First batch had clumping after several hours and again every hour until the 6 hr terminus. I attributed this to possible moisture in either the charcoal (a month sitting in a bag in a box) or my KNO₃ (unlikely; desiccated after cooking a week prior).

 

No prob. Dried charcoal and nitrate in the oven at 200F for an hour. Gas oven so vented water vapor burn product occasionally; heated to 250F at 45m and then turned off fire, vented oven off potential water vapor and then left product inside until cool enough to handle bare-handed (maybe another 20 minutes...)

 

Second batch with dried chems had zero clumping through 6 hrs milling.

 

Third batch used rinsed/"dried" lead media, which I suspect had surface moisture even though it looked dry. Exact same chems and saw minor clumping after 1h, and again occasionally until 6h.

 

Fourth batch zero clumping through 8h (lost track).

 

All batches of mill dust are very airy, even after milling for long duration. All burn super hot and super fast. A 4" line disappears as though it's a 1" line. But this stuff remains very lightweight; it will be interesting to see how it compares after wet granulating +/- dextrin for binding. I expect the "fluffiness" will disappear. Then I'll have the material to do head-to-head quantitative comparisons with ERC and willow BP.

 

No matter what, this paulownia charcoal is good stuff. Pre-milled is nice. But it's almost as fluffy as balsa charcoal might be expected to be (never seen balsa charcoal, so guessing), but it's less dense than my hot willow, ERC, and alder airfloat charcoals.

 

We'll see. It's $15/pound, which is an important consideration because our homemade is a fraction of that cost for materials. Labor, not so much. Fuel? Depends on if scrap wood or a paid-for canister of LP gas... But this is a hobby. That said, sometimes it's ok to pay for the convenience, especially when you know it'll work really well. And all indications are that this charcoal is hot as hell and makes outstanding BP. The comparisons of granulated BPs will be the deciding factor.

 

So far, I'm impressed.

 

Thanks Michael at fireworkscharcoal.com !

 

My opinions are my own. I haven't been offered free/discounted product, nor would I ever accept product for free for a favorable review. Just saying so because it's so common...

 

SW

Edited June 26, 2021 by SharkWhisperer