Just wondering?

[Fly]

This is a very loaded question because the different amounts used with each.But when you make your

Black Powder,just how much do you make at one time?How much of it is meal & how much lift?

 

Always wondered this

Fly:blush:

[BJV]

This is a very loaded question because the different amounts used with each.But when you make your

Black Powder,just how much do you make at one time?How much of it is meal & how much lift?

 

Always wondered this

Fly:blush:

 

I have a batch of BP going right now, 1000grams. It all for coating rice hulls.

BJV

[OneEyeCharlie]

Usually I make 1000 gr batches. Just recently did a kilo. Keeping it all meal. I decided to make up a bunch of aerolites, along with some 3/4" core burners

[Cookieman]

I usually make 1kg batches. Need a larger ballmill. Made 3 batches and had enough BP for 10 6"ball shells, 20 3"inch ball shells, 6 2"cannister shells, 8 2"mines, and still had some leftover to use for prime and spolette's.

[Peret]

I make only small batches now, 200g usually. Two of those do me for a month or more. I don't use it for lift though, I prefer to have something predictable like Goex. I can't spare the time to calibrate my own powder. For hulls I don't granulate, just use the mill dust to coat. The rest I granulate and screen 10-20-30, probably less than 10% falls through the 30 mesh.

[Skycastlefish]

Like Peret, I have 2lbs of goex 2ff that I plan on using for lift (although I've yet to lift any shells.) I make green mix via the turbopyro method of three, 8 oz batches. As gunzway has shown us the hard way (poor gunz) it's possible to survive 16 oz of BP going off in your hands. For me, 8 oz batches are a perfect balance between what I need and safety. Folks like Mumbles and Nighthawk have mentioned that making small batches of BP isn't always practical for what they do. Its a toss up between length of exposure vs. degree of exposure. If you make 8 oz batches for 6 hours vs. a large batch for 40 mins, well, you might be more likely to make a mistake working for 6 hours than 40 min. As a newbie, I think the best way to do it is to make whatever amount you need for the likely projects you will do within a reasonable period of time. I know, its an obvious answer and a run on sentence but It makes small projects and storage a pleasant experience. If you know your going to need a pound of pulverone, enough green mix to prime 160 3/4in stars, and some leftovers for a couple meal/charcoal fountains then a 24 oz will be just fine. I define a reasonable amount of time as about 1 1/2 months. Yours might be 2 years.

[Peret]

I don't need a lot because I only make small shells, 3 inches and under. I'll be needing a bit more this month because I'm making a 50 shot cake. I decided to try pressing my last 200g batch, but not having a press, I wrapped the slightly damp meal in foil, stood on it with all my weight to flatten it, then and ran the car over it to finish the job. I figure that pressed it to about 300psi. The result was a flat cake about 3 by 2 inches and 1/4 inch thick, hard as stone after it dried. I wouldn't risk that method with any larger batch. The results are promising - I'm having the devil's own job breaking it up and 1/4 inch chunks burn really fast with no residue.

[Bonny]

I don't need a lot because I only make small shells, 3 inches and under. I'll be needing a bit more this month because I'm making a 50 shot cake. I decided to try pressing my last 200g batch, but not having a press, I wrapped the slightly damp meal in foil, stood on it with all my weight to flatten it, then and ran the car over it to finish the job. I figure that pressed it to about 300psi. The result was a flat cake about 3 by 2 inches and 1/4 inch thick, hard as stone after it dried. I wouldn't risk that method with any larger batch. The results are promising - I'm having the devil's own job breaking it up and 1/4 inch chunks burn really fast with no residue.

 

 

You could use a vise or even a good size c-clamp to "press" the powder. I also remember reading an article (somewhere) where you can pound the damp powder witha 4x4 or 6 x 6 wood post to compact it.

[jwitt]

I should have had better discipline when doing my last projects, I could give you some good numbers. Ack.

 

Anyway, since I don't have super-easy access to the shoot site where I also do my milling, I spend a weekend out there milling BP. I do 1kg at a time, although I might step back to 750g to see if I get a better product. I mill for 8 hours with a 6" PVC jar, 10 pounds of cheap (used) ceramic media, and oven-dried crushed charcoal in the 4-10 mesh range. I came upon the 8 hour mark because that's when the mill dust forms a giant BP ball in the mill.

 

My red gum / alcohol granulation technique isn't perfected yet, so I end up with about 25% 2FA, 50% 4FA, 10% Meal D, and 15% fines. Depending on my needs, the fines are either re-processed or thrown in with green mix prime. I figure a little red gum in the prime isn't gonna hurt anything.

 

What I recommend to you for planning future needs- Mill up a kilo or two. Make 2/3 to 3/4 of it into lift and coat the remaining 1/4 to 1/3 onto hulls. I think that's a good ballpark. Then you can make shells until that supply is exhausted and record your results so you'll know what to do different next time. (If you make hulls by weight, then you ought to be able to figure out how much leftovers you had, if any). I'll be doing that on the next batch, so I can plan for X amount of shells.

[pyrogeorge]

i mill 400g each time.

 

what size of jars has you got for milling 1kg composition?can you post a pic of your jars?

thanks

[Bonny]

i mill 400g each time.

 

what size of jars has you got for milling 1kg composition?can you post a pic of your jars?

thanks

 

If you read his post, he is using 6" PVC jars.

 

I usually mill 500g at a time, but have done 1kg batches. My mill is (always) way overfilled (and undercharged with media) so I run it for closer to 24 hrs. I might be able to stop it much earlier, but have never tried, and it doesn't really bother me, start it up and go do something else. A bit of planning accounts for the extra time needed.

 

I don't produce any "ratios" of lift. I specifically mill (willow charcoal) for lift and (SPF/pine) for "general purpose BP", which I use for ALL other needs.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Bonny

[Mumbles]

Most people milling 1kg at a time are using this type of jar, or something very similar. It was a design made by Lloyd Sponnenburgh.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/15-lb-cap-1-gallon-Rock-Tumbler-FREE-4lb-grit-kit-/260650405315?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

 

I generally will mill 1kg at a time for 4hr, and have to break up clumps every hour or so. A normal production sized batch for me is 3kg granulated, and 1kg coated onto whatever media I need. I've been trying to transition over from KP based mixtures to BP. From the 3kg I granulate on a good day I get approximately 2kg 2FA, 700g "4FA", and 300g of fines that I use as meal D. My "4FA" has a pretty wide range on it, -12+36.

[jwitt]

Mumbles- what screen mesh do you use? I need to grab something bigger than 10 mesh so I can make 2FA- it seems to perform better for lifting ~160g 3" shells. I noticed more "punch" in the sound of 2FA vs 4FA. 2FA made my ears ring, same charge of each. I guess those little air spaces really do matter!

[dagabu]

1000 gram (1 kilo) per batch. I make what I will use immediately, I don't like to have extras sitting around my mag.

[Mumbles]

I use the following granulations:

 

4-12 - 2FA

12-36 - "4FA"

Passing 36 - meal D

 

If I want a little more oomph out of my lift, I change the lower end down to 16 mesh. I made a big batch for PGI, and I'd have to see what I really used, but I think it's 12 mesh bottom cutoff. I actually use 4FA for 3" shells and smaller for both lift and break, especially ball shells.

[dbryceman]

I am still working out a BP that I can make with the tools on hand and still achieve a respectable lift powder. I am milling small batches of 120 grams, which gives me about a quarter pound of granulated powder when all is done.

 

Generally, I am averaging 81% 2FA, 9% 3FA, 9% 4FA, and 1% or less in fines. So far I have been using the red gum/alcohol method to granulate the powder using a 4 mesh screen instead of pressing pucks, since I have no press.

 

Currently, I am screening the granules this way:

 

2FA: 4-10 mesh

3FA: 10-12 mesh

4FA: 12-20 mesh

Other: Passes 20 mesh

 

To make lift for small 2" shells, which is what I am using for testing, I may start granulating on an 8 or 10 mesh screen to get more 3FA-4FA out of the batch. As someone else said, I get a big ball of powder in my mill after a while, so I am narrowing my milling time to hopefully finish around the time the powder starts caking into a ball. My time range is somewhere between 4 and 12 hours. My 4 hour batches make crappy lift, and the 12 hour batches make nice landscaping stones. I'm guessing my optimum milling time will be around 8 hours, but I am still testing the mill and the powder coming out of it. I guess I'll be able to launch a shell properly after another 2 lbs or so of BP milling/testing, which would go a lot faster if the humidity here would drop a little.

Edited August 23, 2010 by dbryceman

[Bonny]

 

 

2FA: 4-10 mesh

3FA: 10-12 mesh

4FA: 12-20 mesh

Other: Passes 20 mesh

 

 

 

Mine is quite similar-

2FA: 4-10

"4FA" : 10-20

20-40 for breaking 1" shells and priming slurried comets

Everything else I call meal D use from prime and into comets if they call for meal