to mill or not to mill

[fred815]

I've been reloading (shotgun shells, centerfire ) for a long long time. But I'm not really sure if I want to go the ball mil route. If I choose to go the purchase route ( Yah I know its expensive and a hassle) just what grade BP am I a wanting. Been Looking at GEOX FFg . Does that seem about right, Or go finer?? Yah I know your question What am I looking for??? Lift burst etc. This is the newbie area remember. Maybe FFg and some FFFFg . Or how about that ????a stuff? Damm I can load stuff that'll take a grizzly out at a 100 clicks but this stuff?? A whole new ballgame.

[DeepOvertone]

Making your own black powder is far cheaper than buying it. Making fantastic black powder does require a mill. The biggest reason I can give you to make your own is the sense of accomplishment you get out of making your own, not to mention the skills you will learn while making BP are invaluable for the rest of the pyro hobby.

[jwitt]

Making BP can be a hobby unto itself. You'll be glad you did once you finally do a test burn that goes up instantly and leaves little residue. It doesn't take too much experimenting to get there- just use good charcoal, a good mill & media (and a proper mill charge), dry your ingredients, and you'll get good BP.

[AdmiralDonSnider]

If you still wanna buy some, I would say you want FFg or Fg; you want a rough 4FA equivalent.

[Mumbles]

If you're going to buy it, I'd go no finer than FFG, and probably stick with Fg if you want to make anything larger than a couple of inches. Once you get into larger stuff, 4,5, 6", the finer grain powders are just too violent. Here you'd want to go even coarser, probably cannon grade if you can find it. That is approximately 2FA, which you will see quoted very often. As you may be aware there are a few different grades for BP. There is sporting powder which you are probably very familiar with that has the XFg designations, and there is blasting powder which usually has XFA designations. Unfortunately the number of F's doesn't equate size or use between the two.

 

Most people do make their own BP. It's cheaper, and provides a sense of accomplishment. A ball mill is also useful to have for powdering other chemicals. Not everything comes finely powdered.

[fred815]

OK quick and sensible answers. So a few more questions for you. Am I correct in assuming that bar milling done correctly will yield a high grade BUT very fine BP.? Correct?? Soooo Will I need to granulize (Bigger Grains) right? Mesh screens dexitrin alcohol?? Or don't worry about it ??? (which is impossible with me considering my reloading experience) with those haz-mat fees a few orders and I've payed for a mill. Looking better all the time. Thanks and thanks again. PS Is it just me or should half those folks on you tube be DEAD by now. ten yr old kids F------g with BP on their desk in their bedrooms?????

[Mumbles]

Yes, out of a ball mill you get a product called "mill dust". In order for it to be in any way useful for lifting or breaking shells, you will need to granulate it. The powder is useful for making fountains, certain stars, and star primes though. To granulate it, yes typically you add dextrin, however you'll need water to activate it, not alcohol. Pressing it through a screen will yield granules, and it is often helpful to grade the granules once they're dry to get a consistent product, something I'm sure you're intimately familiar with.

 

For break it will depend what you intend to build. Cylindrical shells typically use the same kind of granulated material as you'd use for lift. For ball shells, some still like the granulated BP especially in smaller shells. When you go to larger ones however, it becomes quite inefficient and uneconomical to use granulated BP. At this point it is quite common to coat it onto a burst media. The most popular one is probably rice hulls. However many other things can be used including puffed rice cereal, cork bits, cotton seed and other seeds, vermiculite, grass seeds, etc. The list goes on and on. Anything lightweight and relatively non-compressible will likely be a good candidate.

[dan999ification]

mill !

 

dan.

 

 

[Peret]

You don't need dextrin to granulate - dextrin slows the powder down. Just moisten the mill dust until it sticks together in a lump and push it through a 10 mesh screen. Then when it's dry screen it again with a finer mesh to get the dust out, and regranulate the dust if there's enough. The grains come out quite hard and difficult to crush. I only get a few percent finer than 20 mesh and I use it in other comps rather than re-gran it.

[Bonny]

You don't need dextrin to granulate - dextrin slows the powder down. Just moisten the mill dust until it sticks together in a lump and push it through a 10 mesh screen. Then when it's dry screen it again with a finer mesh to get the dust out, and regranulate the dust if there's enough. The grains come out quite hard and difficult to crush. I only get a few percent finer than 20 mesh and I use it in other comps rather than re-gran it.

 

 

With no binder, do you ever have problems with the powder crumbling from handling? Not sure how large of batches you make, but if you have a bag of 10 mesh, by the time you use it up is there a lot of fine powder on the bottom ?

[stckmndn]

I've noticed batches of rocket mix granulated with no binder or alcohol turn out surprisingly hard. Just water. Why is that?

[Peret]

With no binder, do you ever have problems with the powder crumbling from handling? Not sure how large of batches you make, but if you have a bag of 10 mesh, by the time you use it up is there a lot of fine powder on the bottom ?

I make batches of a pound of so at a time and usually screen it into 10-20 and 20-40 mesh cans. There's a little dust at the bottom of the can when it's gone, but not a significant amount. What passes 40 mesh goes into another can for use as prime and these grains are pretty hard to crush without damping first.