jtspyro Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I have been using airfloat charcoal from Skylighter to make BP and have had okay results, my burst charge seems to be good but my lift powder needs help. After reading several topics here on BP and using different charcoal to make BP I decided to make some myself. I fly radio control planes and am in a club so I have access to a lot of balsa when there is a mishap with a plane, most of our planes are mostly balsa and from what I have read it is a good wood for making charcoal. The method I used is I put a lot of balsa and some white pine in a gallon paint can with 3 holes in the top then using a charcoal chiminy and a propane burner I made my first batch of charcoal. I have not used it yet because of the question I have about it. From what I have learned it should have taken about 90 min or so to make it using this method, this only took about 40 min and it had quit smoking so I took it off and sealed the air holes off and let it cool. Later I opened the can and it look like really nice charcoal, it has a good snap to it, but being it finished so fast I am woundering if it is any good or not. One site it said not to cook it to fast. So I thought I would ask here for advice and if I should try using this or make another batch and cook it slower. Thanks for any help or advice.
Mumbles Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 It will likely be just fine. Cooking time is going to be dependent upon the amount of wood you're cooking, variety of wood, temperature, and how dry it was initially. Balsa is pretty light, so there is less actual wood to cook per volume. I suspect that was the major factor in your quick cooking time.
jtspyro Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 Thanks for the quick response. So is balsa a pretty good wood to use for charcoal?
Bobosan Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Thanks for the quick response. So is balsa a pretty good wood to use for charcoal? Balsa wood ranks high on the list for making fast BP needed for lift and breaks.
Jakenbake Posted February 16, 2014 Posted February 16, 2014 I too have used some crashed r/c wing and tail feathers to make charcoal with. Glad to see I'm not the only one.
mikeee Posted February 16, 2014 Posted February 16, 2014 If you visit Danny Creagan's website he has a complete list of charcoals that have been tested for BP purposes.
proopfor Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 I do the same thing. I use a can with holes in the top. But I use willow wood.
bprocket Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 I recently had some scraps of Butternut that I turned into charcoal. Now, my gut feeling is that it is faster than airfloat from Skylighter but not nearly as fast as the videos I've seen of Willow charcoal. Am going to try some Spruce next time.
VikingPyrotechnics Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 Spruce is better than many think. Here's a video where I have spruce BP coated onto rice hulls. It´s pretty fast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NktY-BfhWGE Good luck on your next BP 1
falcon62 Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 I've read that willow is a good choice for charcoal as well. Is the consensus that lighter woods give a better lift? Is there any benefit to using harder woods for fireworks?
FlaMtnBkr Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 Black willow is a great charcoal and can be found along just about every permanent body of water. Lighter weight, light colored 'white wood' usually makes hotter BP. There are also many woody weeds and shrubs that make good charcoal. But not all of them that I have tried. Your best bet is just try what is readily available to you if there isn't any info on it. Just make sure it isn't poisonous. It seems everyone is focused on the absolute hottest charcoal available. But for many things the hottest BP isn't needed or even desirable. The commercial BP industry uses what is available and don't use all these 'boutique' charcoal and they make plenty hot powder. With a good ball mill just about any charcoal can be made into BP as fast as the commercial stuff. Slower charcoals are used a lot in stars because they make better sparks.
Shadowcat1969 Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 Agree FlaMtnBkr, hotter isn't necessarily better. Consistent and reproducible are probably much more important in the long run. If you can make something hot enough for lift, keep making the same thing for that purpose and get THAT product dialed in for your use. Same goes for spark production, burst, etc, etc.
paddy Posted April 13, 2014 Posted April 13, 2014 first off, i have pine and willow available. Im making it in a one gal. can. i am having problems with lift and burst being a little light. my shells are reaching about 150 ft. i have adjusted the time fuse to 1in. trying to avoid problems...thinking back, i left the coal unattended while cooking.is it possible to over cook? and could this be my problem..i might add i ball mill for 48hrs. for all my bp..my charcoal looks good to me..but what do i know????please help me out. my stars almost hit the ground..im not shooting any more till i figure out my problem....paddy
FlaMtnBkr Posted April 13, 2014 Posted April 13, 2014 Are you using the retort or TLUD method? What is your mill and how are filing the jar? Media? 48 hours should make hot powder With willow charcoal and even a terrible mill. Have you tried adding more BP get the right height? How do you know for sure your powder isn't any good?
mikeee Posted April 13, 2014 Posted April 13, 2014 Paddy, Try making a batch of powder with commercial charcoal and a batch out of your home made charcoal.Put a teaspoon in a dixie cup and light it with a fuse, you should see which one is making good powder.You can also shoot a baseball out of a mortar and see how high it flys to compare the strength of the powder.
Blackthumb Posted April 17, 2014 Posted April 17, 2014 I have great success with cedar and cottonwood charcoal....plenty fast. Just made a batch of KNO3 and Charcoal (cottonwood) and burns almost as fast without the sulfur....makes great rocket fuel...
Respirator Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 I always use Tasmanian oak for burst, MCRH and stars but balsa for lift. Balsa is quite expensive where I live ( $10 for 150g) but makes wonderful lift, even after rudimentary ball milling for only a few hours. The problem with balsa is that it's very easy to burn by overcooking. I've also had balsa charcoal ruin itself during cooling just with the O2 that comes in through the holes in the lid - very reactive. Blackthumb, I have found cedar only to be good for sparks - might be my mill times, but as for the cottonwood, looks very promising. I might look around for some as balsa tends to eat up most of my budget.
spitfire Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 first off, i have pine and willow available. Im making it in a one gal. can. i am having problems with lift and burst being a little light. my shells are reaching about 150 ft. i have adjusted the time fuse to 1in. trying to avoid problems...thinking back, i left the coal unattended while cooking.is it possible to over cook? and could this be my problem..i might add i ball mill for 48hrs. for all my bp..my charcoal looks good to me..but what do i know????please help me out. my stars almost hit the ground..im not shooting any more till i figure out my problem....paddyBoth will make great BP for lift. If you are milling for 48 hrs and it ain't good compared to commercial powder there must be something wrong with your mill (the media?) for example, i use my own cooked willow charcoal and mill my BP for about 4 - 6 hrs. Gives lift powder so horribly fast, i have to make sure i don't overfill the lift-charge cup. When you give us more details of your set up and method, we can help you out i'm sure.
crazz2323 Posted June 7, 2014 Posted June 7, 2014 Spruce is better than many think. Here's a video where I have spruce BP coated onto rice hulls. It´s pretty fast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NktY-BfhWGE Good luck on your next BP Cool vid thanks for sharing!
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