ebergstrom95 Posted August 20, 2013 Posted August 20, 2013 In Black Powder Manufacture, Testing, and Optimizing by Ian von Maltitz, Maltitz talks about a method of making black powder in which the charcoal and sulfur are milled together, the KNO3 is milled separately, and the ingredients are then sieved together. Out of curiosity, has anyone had experience with this method? Would this be able to make serviceable BP? From a safety perspective, it seems like it would be best to avoid milling all three. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
pyrokid Posted August 20, 2013 Posted August 20, 2013 With proper equipment, milling all three components together is perfectly safe. As far as unmilled powder goes, you could do a number of things with it, but I think producing usable lift and break would be a bit of a challenge.
Mumbles Posted August 20, 2013 Posted August 20, 2013 With a good quality charcoal, you can made okay quality BP from it. The real secret is good integration of the components after milling the oxidizers and fuels separately. Below is a PDF written by a friend of mine in the WPAG on how he does it. I've been told the very fine screen is actually very helpful toward making this work well. Having seen this powder in action, I'd suggest starting with more than the recommended amounts based on milled powder, and perhaps using a very hot charcoal like willow or paulownia. Also, his "2FA" and "4FA" are off. 2FA is +4-12, and 4FA is -12+20. http://wpag.us/learn/How%20To%20Make%20Black%20Powder.pdf
ebergstrom95 Posted August 20, 2013 Author Posted August 20, 2013 Thanks Mumbles, the PDF is very helpful.
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