BP Pipe Cannon

[Algenco]

For classification sake, FA is corned and glazed with graphite

 

that would be FG, G for Graphite

[dagabu]

For classification sake, FA is corned and glazed with graphite

 

that would be FG, G for Graphite

 

I dont know what you are talking about

[dan999ification]

1.7g psi come on dag lol. we all know its 1.7g cc and not always better

i couldnt make a post that long with only one mistake.

dan.

 

 

[TigerTail]

Wow thanks a lot for the great answer.

 

I was about to say I just needed a 'yes/no' answer for the first stupid question but I was wrong. I never knew pulverone wasn't milled and it didn't use a binder!

 

So can I simply use '3. Milled BP' matching 7FA in size for the cannon?

 

And dan999ification, its 1.7g per cc

[dagabu]

1.7g psi come on dag lol. we all know its 1.7g cc and not always better

i couldnt make a post that long with only one mistake.

dan.

 

 

 

Fixed, thanks

 

-dag

[dagabu]

Wow thanks a lot for the great answer.

 

I was about to say I just needed a 'yes/no' answer for the first stupid question but I was wrong. I never knew pulverone wasn't milled and it didn't use a binder!

 

So can I simply use '3. Milled BP' matching 7FA in size for the cannon?

 

And dan999ification, its 1.7g per cc

 

I just fixed that as well (sorry, the post was over a year old and I did not proof read it) 2-4% dextrine in pulverone. It wont stay together without a binder.

 

Straight from Mike Swisher:

 

" Mike Swisher Sep 19 2002, 9:51 am

 

It isn't really necessary to ball mill your polverone. I never do. Here's the

recipe:

18 lbs. saltpetre

4 lbs. airfloat charcoal

3 lbs. sulphur

1 lb. 12 oz. dextrine.

 

 

Sieve saltpetre, sulphur and dextrine individually through 40-mesh. Blend

with the hands, then weigh out the charcoal. Sieve the mixed

saltpetre/sulphur/dextrine onto the charcoal through 20 mesh. Blend by

hand; sieve the resultant mixture 3 times through 20-mesh.

 

 

Have two galvanized wash tubs ready for damping the polverone, a large

metal scoop (like used by bakers for flour), a 2 x 3 foot screen made with

3x3 hardware cloth for granulation, and half-a-dozen 2x3 foot

screen-bottom trays lined with 30# kraft paper for drying.

 

 

Weigh out 6 lb. of water and place in a closed pot. Set this on a hot plate

or stove to boil. Place the mixed composition in one of the wash tubs.

When the water is at a rolling boil, add it to the composition and stir with a

stick till the mixture has cooled sufficiently to be handled with the hands.

This will happen quickly as the dissolution of saltpetre in water is highly

endothermic. Make sure that the water is evenly blended into the

composition. It should be thoroughly wet but not soupy. Using the hands

form softball-sized pieces and rub them through the 3x3 screen into the

other tub.

 

 

When all has been passed through the screen, place it atop the first wash

tub and, using the scoop, start running the graulated mix back through the

screen. Do NOT mush it back up into balls, but handle it carefully so as to

keep it loose and granular. When it has all been passed through the

screen back into the first tub, repeat the process a third time as before.

 

 

When this is done, granulate a fourth time onto the paper-lined screens.

By this time it should be forming up into nice round granules that have

little tendency to stick to each other. After it has been put onto the screens,

allow to set for 30-40 minutes; finally, re-granulate it a last time onto fresh,

dry paper. One batch should fit on five 2x3 foot screens; the sixth is for use

in the final granulation, as this is the first to be lined with dry paper and to

receive the powder on the final re-granulation. The just-emptied screen is

then re-lined and receives the powder from another, etc., leaving five

screens filled and one empty.

 

 

I processed 3 batches of this size last Sunday afternoon, taking about 3

hours, start ing with laying out the equipment and finishing with it cleaned

and put away. I will do the same this weekend and the next. One never

has enough polverone!

 

 

Allow the polverone to dry in a shady, dry place. When it is dry it should not

stick to the paper and should be relatively free flowing, without clumping

into hard masses that require effort to break up. If it has been properly

made it should resemble 2FA in granule size, and be quite fast. I have

used it (not as regular practice, but as an experiment) to lift 3" and 4"

mines and 1-break shells. You just have to use a little more than you

would of 2FA.

 

 

I divide mine into three "cuts" - coarse, which passes 3x3 and is retained

on 8x8 hardware cloth; medium, which passes 8x8 hardware cloth and is

retained on window screen (16x18 meshes); and fine, which passes

window screen. If you end up with too much fine, it is certainly possible to

re-granulate it by adding a suitable amount of boiling water. "

 

-dag

Edited July 20, 2011 by dagabu

[optimus]

I was about to say I just needed a 'yes/no' answer for the first stupid question but I was wrong. I never knew pulverone wasn't milled

 

Is it just me that considers milled / granulated meal as pulverone?

[dagabu]

Milled, not milled, boiled water, warm water, SGRS, no SGRS, Dextrine, no Dextrine...

 

Definition for polverone:

(Italian, "big" or "coarse" powder): a type of handmade black powder used in fireworks, coarsely granulated by a wet process.

 

-dag

[Algenco]

coat rice hulls and eliminate all the definition problems

[dagabu]

coat rice hulls and eliminate all the definition problems

 

They are SOOOO easy to make too! Following a thread on Passfire, there is an argument about pulverone vs puck and corn. I kept out of it but I completely agree with you Al, I would rather coat rice hulls for both lift and burst. It takes less motor to lift the shell, less lift to thump it out of the mortar. I am still wondering why more people dont use. it.

 

-dag

[r1dermon]

up to what size shell do you lift with coated rice hulls as lift? interesting...

[dagabu]

up to what size shell do you lift with coated rice hulls as lift? interesting...

 

Any size, you would use less KNO3 in the mix is lifting large shells and would boost them for small shells.

 

I know that this is like swearing to the hard core traditionalists but tradition for tradition sake is awful.

 

-dag

Edited July 20, 2011 by dagabu

[Algenco]

Ned G uses 7:1 RH to lift his 12" shells

 

I'm beginning to think coated RH are stronger than other forms of BP, more uniform in size/shape

[TigerTail]

I just fixed that as well (sorry, the post was over a year old and I did not proof read it) 2-4% dextrine in pulverone. It wont stay together without a binder.

 

-dag

 

Milled, not milled, boiled water, warm water, SGRS, no SGRS, Dextrine, no Dextrine...

 

Definition for polverone:

(Italian, "big" or "coarse" powder): a type of handmade black powder used in fireworks, coarsely granulated by a wet process.

 

-dag

 

Now I guess yes/no was enough

 

 

They are SOOOO easy to make too! Following a thread on Passfire, there is an argument about pulverone vs puck and corn. I kept out of it but I completely agree with you Al, I would rather coat rice hulls for both lift and burst. It takes less motor to lift the shell, less lift to thump it out of the mortar. I am still wondering why more people dont use. it.

 

-dag

 

For lift, can rice hulls perform better than pulverone?

[dagabu]

GAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Yes/No....

 

-dag

[Dresden]

There is a big difference between pipe and mechanical tubing and hollobar

Pipe is made for fluids and gasses, mechanical tubing is listed as Dom, drawn over mandrel, but classified as to be seamed or seamless. Hollowbar is seamless and listed as to type of material i.e.you can get 4140, the same stuff gun barrels are made of. Many barrels are made of 4140 seamless as well as actions, the bolts are made of 4330, these steels are heat treatable. The problem with all of this cannon stuff is people who do not understand pressures and loading ratios to projectile weight to powder weight. I am a shooter, gun builder, and pyrotechnician of many years experience and hand loaders sometimes blow up guns. Cannon armatures have the "Fill the barrel with powder" mentality combined with the laziness of not doing any research and getting help. There is a price to pay not understanding syntax and substance.

E

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Back from the depths this thread had been revived.

[MrB]

It's a good thread. It deserves a new lease of life.

B!

[toolbox]

Dresden

What is your projectile to charge weight formula?

And the materials for projectile and powder comp.

[shouldnoteatindat]

i have a cannon made from a 1 inch steel pipe i put the smallest pinch of bp in it along with a piece potato for a projectile.

 

 

 

also if you go ahead and make a marble cannon ( which is a bad idea) make sure you use very little powder and WADDING or your marble can spark as it goes down the barrel. along with that if you put to much powder your pipe cannon could go to a pipe bomb in under a second, or your marble will shatter and make glass shrapnel all over your yard

[gun410]

ok, whatever

Dude when some tells you you might die you don't do it

[Mumbles]

You might want to take your own advice on that one.

[MrB]

I wont go asking why we are digging up threads about how to make BP canons from pipes... But i will point out that the thread is quite old, and the post you commented on is 6 years and counting. If the fella haven't killed him self by now, then he probably started reading up before playing around. He's not been active on here for the last 3 years or so, so who knows, he just might have blown him self up...

B!

[Bobosan]

B, just say