Skycastlefish Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 I saw a video where sugar was being added to the standard black powder ingredients. After a few hours of milling the meal powder burned really fast. Have you guys ever heard of this? I don't trust the video because I also saw him run the entire bp mix through a coffee grinder. Any thoughts?
Seymour Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 I saw a video where sugar was being added to the standard black powder ingredients. After a few hours of milling the meal powder burned really fast. Have you guys ever heard of this? I don't trust the video because I also saw him run the entire bp mix through a coffee grinder. Any thoughts? On the world of youtube I have seen weirder things. Was it replacing the sulfur? This is usually the case. The best I can understand the thought process behind it, is that both have names starting with "S", so they are probably similar... The fact that it still burned well demonstrates two things, that sugar burns quite well, and that BP is able to work even when very abused.
Skycastlefish Posted October 12, 2009 Author Posted October 12, 2009 Was it replacing the sulfur? It was actually in addition to KNO3/C8H4O/S. If I remember correctly, it was about 6g of sugar in a 28g batch. It seemed odd to me, but like I said, the meal burned pretty fast. Almost fast enough to lift - or so it appeared.
Arthur Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Good BP is simple and easy! Willow charcoal and retail KNO3 and S chose your proportions near the usual mix, and mill for hours! Good willow charcoal makes nice fast BP Other woods may vary (few are faster!) It simply isnt BP if you start making additions.
Richtee Posted October 13, 2009 Posted October 13, 2009 It was actually in addition to KNO3/C8H4O/S. If I remember correctly, it was about 6g of sugar in a 28g batch. It seemed odd to me, but like I said, the meal burned pretty fast. Almost fast enough to lift - or so it appeared.But nasty dirty and don't smell right I'm sure LOL! 2500 or so years is hard to argue with as far as BP goes.
Skycastlefish Posted October 13, 2009 Author Posted October 13, 2009 2500 or so years is hard to argue with as far as BP goes.Yea, really! If sugar somehow improved BP you'd think somebody would've figured that out by now. "we've made beautiful blues with reds and greens with all kinds of sh*t in them, but we never tried sugar."
NightHawkInLight Posted October 13, 2009 Posted October 13, 2009 I saw a video where sugar was being added to the standard black powder ingredients. After a few hours of milling the meal powder burned really fast. Have you guys ever heard of this? I don't trust the video because I also saw him run the entire bp mix through a coffee grinder. Any thoughts?That's the problem with YouTube sometimes. One inexperienced individual makes up a batch of BP using sugar instead of sulfur, because hey it's in the cupboard, why not? Then other beginners see it and start a whole wave of people who think it is a suitable replacement. In reality, sugar does absolutely nothing similar to sulfur and will in fact slow the BP. It would be better off to make BP without sulfur entirely than to replace it with sugar. The nitrate/charcoal ratio must be adjusted slightly for best results. Don't waste your time with sugar.
firetech Posted October 13, 2009 Posted October 13, 2009 I can't say anything degrading to whoever came up with that, because...well...I tried it In my initial stages of pyro when I had no idea what I was doing. Now I understand why it doesn't work. And Nighthawk, a video I saw on youtube was a kid rolling up loose composition into little tape balls because he didn't want to get his hands dirty. His lift powder was golden powder and his break was chlorate flash. Sheesh...
Mumbles Posted October 14, 2009 Posted October 14, 2009 I can think of no legitimate pyro composition (besides smoke and Rcandy), that uses sucrose. It's sticky, hygroscopic, and not that great of a fuel. Everytime I see someone posting compositions with sucrose it them, it makes me want to slap them upside the head. Lactose has it's own uses, but even that I feel is being kind of phased out, save for where it is neccesary.
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