buy sulfur at a store?

[The-T]

i think i might have read somewhere, that you can buy sulfur at a store and that it might be in the gardening section, is this true? ,and if so, will it just be plain sulfur? because i might make some blackpowder.

 

Thanks for the help.

[frogy]

Please please search before posting stupid things like this...

 

At least post it in the random thread instead of a new thread...

 

 

You can get "dusting sulfur" at many hardware stores in the gardening department... It may also be called "sulfur pellets" or something like that.... Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and some other common stores have been known to have it, but I rarely see it...

[Gottagotomoz]

In addition to frogy's post, i'd like to say that I have seen it at Lowes. Although i'm not sure if it's pure enough, it was under the name of organic sulfur in the gardening section. It is 90% sulfur.

[hst45]

The sulfur you get from a garden center will work fine. It's typically 90% sulfur, 10% clay. In your typical 75/15/10 BP formula that gives you only 1% inert material and it won't make a rats ass of difference. Your charcoal and your milling process is much more important to the quality of your product.

 

Just for shits and grins I recently made a batch of BP using stump remover, cowboy charcoal milled in a coffee grinder, and garden sulfur, and corned it through a window screen. It worked fine. It was nowhere near as fast as BP made with pure sulfur, poplar charcoal milled for 24 hours and pure KNO3, but it was perfectly serviceable for our purposes.

 

Don't get caught up in the fasted BP mania, you only need BP as fast as YOU need it. The joy of our hobby is that it's a journey of discovery. There is no best, no absolute. Don't ask what's best, experiment and tell us what's best in your experience. That's what adds to the datebase of our hobby; people who try different things, fail, try to figure out why, and try again. Don't ask for an answer, SEARCH for an answer and report back on your work.

 

Damned, after re-reading that last paragraph I hear the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing in the background............. Goddamn , what a preachy asshole.

[Mumbles]

All wood is not created equal either. The willow from around here is going to have a lot more ash than say texas or something. I live on a giant bed of limestone, and the soil is quite full of calcium and magnesium. The well water is delicious though. Probably what makes all the farm boys into linebacker types.

[mormanman]

I would like to add to the sulphur part and a question on the spelling. What is the true and correct spelling of sulfur? is it "sulphur", "sulfur", "sulfer", or "sulpher?"

 

To buy sulfur go to mom and pop garden shops.

[pudidotdk]

I would like to add to the sulphur part and a question on the spelling. What is the true and correct spelling of sulfur? is it "sulphur", "sulfur", "sulfer", or "sulpher?"

 

To buy sulfur go to mom and pop garden shops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#Spelling

 

and sure I hate when people spell it with an "e"

[mormanman]

Thanks.

[Pyroblast]

I just bought 5 pounds at Lowe's for $6. Quite a deal if you ask me. It's "Espoma" brand Garden Sulfur. It comes in little pellets which can be easily ground down to powder. A BP batch I made today with stump remover, this sulfur, and cowboy charcoal burns pretty fast after milling for 12 hours. I'm gonna leave it in the mill for several days just to see if it makes a difference.

[hst45]

I just bought 5 pounds It's "Espoma" brand Garden Sulfur. It comes in little pellets which can be easily ground down to powder.

That's the same brand I used in the batch I refer to in my previous post. I did find that these little half-circle pellets don't mill very rapidly; after 6 hrs in the mill there were still plenty of un-ground pellets. I let it run for another 12 hrs. IIRC, and made this meal into decent, if not spectacular BP.

[Pyroblast]

I ground my sulfur down in a mortar and pestle before putting it in the mill. I let the mill run for 24 hours and then granulated the meal into coarse powder. It isn't as fast as BP made with pure chemicals, but it's not bad at all.

Also, you can't beat 39 cents for 200 grams of black powder.

[ITCHI]

Can you over mill your BP? Kinda thinking if 24 hrs is good then three days should be great.

[Pyroblast]

There's really no such thing as over milling, but after 24 hours, 3 days will make barely make a rat's ass of a difference.

[LGM]

From an economic standpoint, go with the soil sulfur. I can get it for about a dollar a pound at the local garden shop.

[Phildo]

Before using garden sulfur, you might want to get a MSDS and check the acid content.

[Gottagotomoz]

I checked an MSDS on some Organic sulfur. IIRC, it was something around 90% sulfur, and 10% aluminum sulfate.

[Xtreme Pyro]

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:o0LGnP.../greenlight.jpg

 

I also have a question about garden sulfur, i was at a Garden / Farming store the other day and ran across "Green Light Wettable Dusting Sulfur" As in the link above, i am wondering if this stuff is ok to use for black powder?, i know it contains about 90% Sulfur and 10% of something else which i am not sure of.

[Mumbles]

That link is for a "blossom-end Rot spray"

 

I think you mean this stuff "http://www.cooperseeds.com/images/lveg_WettableSulphur4.jpg"

 

The other 10% is lime. Calcium Hydroxide and Magnesium Hydroxide. I think if you were so inclined, you could remove it with household vinegar. Even if you dont, it should still be just fine for BP.

[deadman]

I guess I'll throw this in there. I'm running low on dusting sulfer. It is expensive compared to these 90% alternatives. I am in no way looking for competetion-grade BP's so these should do fine for me/us.

 

I can't remember. What is the high acid content sulfur? Either flowers is good and flour is bad or something to that effect. If someone knows what I am trying to say, please clear this up.

[crazyboy25]

flowers of sulfur is no good you want flour

[Phildo]

Rather than try to figure out if a certain brand/type of sulfur is acceptable, why not simply buy a quality product so there's no questions?

 

99.9% Sulfur

[hst45]

Phildo, I wonder where that link leads? (Shameless self promotion is the backbone of capitalism.)

 

I usually just use good quality materials, no matter what the components are, but sometimes it's fun to try to use the "field expedient" approach. Have you ever lit your campfire with a magnifying glass, or with a knife, flint and tinder even when you had a lighter in your pocket; of course you did, just to see if you could. That's why I often hunt with a revolver when I could use a rifle, just to make it more challenging. It's like brewing beer from grain rather than malt concentrate, or making your own jerky; it's fun to do the retro thing sometimes. Just my .02$

[Mumbles]

If someone want it, I think I have a 5lb container of sulfur from skylighter sitting around at home. Say $12.50. I happen to know the source, and it's rubber maker sulfur, 99+% pure, and low acid. I think it something around 99.98 or something, but I don't remember exactly. Probably the same stuff Phil has. I have some other sulfur that is definatly 99.98% so maybe I'm just thinking of that.

 

I have a bag of the same sulfur, and it is great. I got this S for someone else with an order of mine, and they never said anything about getting it. It's just taking up space for the time being. I should probably check and make sure I can still find it before really offering it for sale.

 

Contact me privately.

[Phildo]

Shameless self promotion? You bet!

 

Mumbles is offering a heck of a deal and someone needs to jump on it. Rubbermaker's Sulfur is about as good as it gets and does run 99+% with a very low acid content. The other benefit is the particle size. It typically runs around 300 mesh or smaller.

[rev.redneck]

I just seen a 1 Lb. bottle of "sulfur Plant fungicide" its 90 % the brand is "Bonide" its very fine, like chalk almost. it was at farm king for about $5 here in IL. is that good enough though?