Mario1 Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Ok so I made alot of Charcoal today. I made 2 bags of bark charcoal, 1 bag of pine needle charcoal, 2 bags of pine charcoal, and 1 bag of Maple Charcoal. Now I just need Sulphur and Potassinum Nitrate. Where can I get those for a good price. Not skylighter they are too expensive and there is a minimum order of $30.00. I also need a digital scale. Thanks!
Seymour Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Ok so I made alot of Charcoal today. I made 2 bags of bark charcoal, 1 bag of pine needle charcoal, 2 bags of pine charcoal, and 1 bag of Maple Charcoal. Now I just need Sulphur and Potassinum Nitrate. Where can I get those for a good price. Not skylighter they are too expensive and there is a minimum order of $30.00. I also need a digital scale. Thanks! You may have trouble if you do not want to buy much, but get a good price. It is usually very cheap in large bags, but in small amounts, often many times more. I personally buy 25kg bags from an agricultural supplier. Sulfur is often for sale at the same places Potassium nitrate is. Ebay is good for cheap digi scales.
Swede Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 If you just want to do some quick experimentation, a pound of "Spectracide" stump remover is a good source of reasonably pure potassium nitrate, the consistency of table sugar, but it'll cost $6. Garden sulfur is some pretty low-grade stuff, but it can be used. If you simply mix the components together without any sort of mill, be prepared to be seriously disappointed. It'll barely burn, and it'll leave behind glassy slag and all sorts of crud. There are a couple methods to make BP without a ball mill. Mortar and Pestle is traditional but not especially recommended. Look up the "CIA method" which is a precipitated BP that actually (kind of) works. There's also a method somewhere on Skylighter's site that discusses a form of green mixing that is supposed to work well, although I have never tried it. If you just want to make a few grams of BP, then mortar and pestle will do it, just wear safety glasses, and I recommend you wet the components into a mash with 50/50 water and alcohol, then spread to dry. Be safe, please. There are dozens of ways to make BP, and most are not especially effective.
Mario1 Posted July 20, 2009 Author Posted July 20, 2009 Im going to buy KNO3 and Sulphur online so they will be good quality chems. But I dont have a mill and I dont have the money to buy one. On youtube I say a video where Nighthawkinlight made BP just by mixing them and it worked. Heres the link. Im only trying to make a fountain.
Ventsi Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Buy the scale at www.cannonfuse.com I have one and its great ,you can get decently priced chems at www.undergroundgadgets.com/shop/ .And swing by your local harbor freight and get a mill , they are $30 a pop, thats what I'm doing this weekend at least. Edited July 20, 2009 by Ventsi
NightHawkInLight Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Im going to buy KNO3 and Sulphur online so they will be good quality chems. But I dont have a mill and I dont have the money to buy one. On youtube I say a video where Nighthawkinlight made BP just by mixing them and it worked. Heres the link. Im only trying to make a fountain. That will work for a fountain. However, not for much else. What I made for that video was a BP sort of composition, but not the sort that could be used to lift a shell.
tentacles Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 If he's got a local harbor freight, they sell some .1g scales for very reasonable, and NO shipping cost involved. Also, there's nothing wrong with stump remover KNO3, it's typically the greenhouse/techinical grade stuff. "dusting sulfur" is definitely good enough for making your first couple batches of BP, and you can avoid paying expensive shipping costs in the meantime.
justanotherpyro Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 If you are in an agricultural area you can get KNO3 from companies that sell fertilizers generally. I get it for $65 for a 50lb bag. If you go this route make sure you get the water soluble kind and not the prills as it will save you a lot of effort in grinding it down. When I first started I got 1lb cans of it as stump remover for a reasonable price as well. If you are serious about starting some pyrotechnics you wont get very far without a ball mill and the harbor freight ones are a great way to go. Just be sure to get a spare belt or two since they are usually the part that breaks first.
Mario1 Posted July 21, 2009 Author Posted July 21, 2009 Whats harbour freight? I live near a home depot and Ace. Any luck there??
Swede Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) Whats harbour freight? I live near a home depot and Ace. Any luck there?? Home Depot would have everything you need to make a ball mill except the motor, but it sounds like you are on a tight budget. Harbor Freight sells dirt-cheap tools and stuff. They have a Rock Tumbler that just about everyone has tried at least once. They also have one with two drums for a few bucks more. Get that one. The drive belt WILL break in a couple of days, guaranteed, just replace it with a big O-ring from a pool store. I wouldn't buy their replacement belt, it'll just break too. This is about as cheap as you can get for a mill, but it is small, slow, and will take at least 12 if not 24 hours of tumbling to get an optimum mix, whereas a real ball mill can do it in 3 to 5 hours. Home depot will have the stump remover and the sulfur, but don't bother looking at the fertilizers... nothing good there. Edit: Home Depot also carries "Cowboy Brand" lump charcoal. It's decent stuff and will make serviceable BP. Just be sure it is Cowboy Lump Charcoal, and NOT Briquettes. So there you have it. Home depot has the ingredients for decent BP, you just have to figure out how to get the intimate mix required! Edited July 21, 2009 by Swede
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