Corned BP- what is it ?

[CannonBall]

I'm pretty new to the hobby and while searching through the internet i found this stuff called " corned BP" but what is it?

I assume it's somekind of granulated BP but i'm not sure, as i saw it requires a ballmill-like machine to make.

So what is it? What is it made to be used in and how is it made ? Is it worth making ?

Thanks for any input.

[AdmiralDonSnider]

Black powder processed in a commercial wheel or ball mill has to be granulated for use as lift, break or shooting powder. While in commerce only corning is used to do that, there are two methods in amateur manufacture. One is called ricing and here the dampened powder (containing a binder) is rubbed though a coarse screen to produce granules resembling rice grains.

 

The other process is called corning. Here hydraulic pressure is applied to compress the slightly dampened BP (without a binder) to a known density, usually 1,7grams/ccm. The resulting cakes of powder are dried and then crushed and screened to produce very durable fractions of grain (denoted e.g. 2FA, 3FA etc.).

 

While the products of both processes can be used as lift powders etc. corning offers some advantages, which have nothing to do with speed gain. Corned powders can be volume measured (known weight per volume), are extremely durable and not easily crushed to a powder, essentially dust free, etc. More predictable results are possible with them. They can be glazed with graphite to protect them from moisture and improve shelf life.

[Mortartube]

Corned means crushed. Granulated BP is commercially made by milling to make meal powder. This is then pressed into a hard puck called a millcake. That is passed through rollers to break it up into granules and sieved into various grades. The crushing process is called corning.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Mortartube

[CannonBall]

Do you know of any tutorial where i could find out how to make corned BP as this sounds like a fun project.

Edited January 4, 2014 by CannonBall

[TYRONEEZEKIEL]

Cannonball. PM me. I corn all of my BP exclusively. I'd be happy to give you a detailed walk through.

[nater]

There is a good tutorial for corning BP on Passfire.com. The density and advantages were already mentioned by AdmiralDonSnider. The other advantage to corning BP is that is stores well for long periods of time without crumbling back down to dust. For my pyro needs, I granulating BP with a binder is good enough.

[CannonBall]

TYRONEEZEKIEL - i sent you a pm ( two actually, idk how )

I am always open to new ideas and suggestions .

Thanks everyone for your help.

[BrainDamage]

http://www.brianredmond.net/dwilliams/powderdie/powderdie.html

[patsroom]

There is one other thing.

Black powder when viberated for awhile the chemicals can separate, making the powder unrelieable and unpredicable. Pressed and corned black powder does not separate.

For powders that are store for a long time this may be a plus..............................Pat

[FlaMtnBkr]

If BP is left as a powder it could possibly start to separate into it's components over time. But powder is rarely used. Just about all BP has a binder and is wetted at some point. Instead of corning I wet and granulate my BP. If that is the case it won't seperate.

[patsroom]

Back in the day, when they made powder and moved it to the battle fields by wagon it would bounce and jar around. The road where petty bumpy as well back then. If it was not remixed when it arrived, the cannoneers could not trust their loads or maybe it was the musketeers (you know the ones over at Disneyland).

I do not think that they wetted the powder or even made it into pucks, they just used it as it was. Any way that was something I read about at one time.