• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Black Powder Basicsand Manufacture Black Powder (Gunpowder) is the backbone of pyrotechnics.After all, it's Black Powder that gives fireworks the smell we all love so much.Black Powder is the main ingredient in a variety of firework and rocket formulas.You can easily make your own high quality Black Powder with just a few chemicalsand a Ball Mill.Black Powder BasicsBlack Powder is also known by a couple of other names. The most common, is GunPowder. Black powder is produced in large quantities commercially, and sold insmall 1 pound containers, mainly for use in antique Black Powder guns. It is alsonormally sold in different granulations, and they indicate how fine the BlackPowder is granulated by how many "F's" they put on the container. Coarsegranulations are called "FG or FFG" (aka "1Fg" and "2Fg"). Finer granulations are"FFFg and "FFFFg" (aka 3Fg and 4Fg).The more "F's", the finer the Black Powder... and the finer the Black Powder is,the faster it burns.Small (fine) granulations burn faster and are used in small bore guns, wherelarger (coarser) granulations, are used for larger bore guns & cannons... and forlaunching Aerial Shells out of mortars. Using a finer granulation for these jobsputs too much strain on the gun (or shell or mortar) because the powder burns muchfaster and creates a fast pressure increase that could damage whatever you'retrying to launch, or the gun/mortar itself.Coarser, granulated Black Powder that is used in mortars to launch shells, or inRoman Candles to shoot out stars, is sometimes called "Lift Powder".When Black Powder isn't granulated, and is in a super fine powder state (similarto that of Talcum Powder) it is called "Meal Powder".Just to confuse things even more, any granulated Black Powder is also sometimescalled "Grain Powder".Smokeless Powder is not to be confused with Black Powder. It is actuallyNitrocellulose, and cannot be used in place of Black Powder.Now, why they needed 5 names to describe one substance is beyond us, but just keepin mind that Black Powder, Gun Powder, Lift Powder, Grain Powder, and Meal Powderare basically all the same material. As far as fireworks are concerned, BlackPowder is used both in its finely powdered form (Meal Powder) for coating startsand for mixing in other pyrotechnic formulas, and in its granulated form (LiftPowder) for launching shells out of a mortar, or stars out of a Roman Candle.The formula for Black Powder is 75% Potassium Nitrate, 15% Charcoal, and 10%Sulfur... and like all chemical formulas, it is measured by weight only.However, you just can't mix these chemicals together and expect to have BlackPowder. The mixing process for Black Powder is just as important as the formula.Black Powder MUST be made in a Ball Mill to work properly.A Ball Mill is a rotating drum with dozens of lead balls inside. The 3 chemicalsare loaded into the Ball Mill, along with the lead balls, sealed shut and allowedto rotate for anywhere between 1 hour and 24 hours. As the Ball Mill rotates, thelead balls will crush the chemicals together, forcing some of the PotassiumNitrate into the pores of the Charcoal and Sulfur. At the same time, the entiremass will be reduced to a super fine powder. The longer the Ball Mill runs, thestronger the Black Powder will be. A general rule of thumb for all pyrotechnicmixtures is " the finer the powder is, the faster it will burn ".ONLY lead balls can be used in a Ball Mill as they are completely non-sparking.ONLY Black Powder can be mixed in a Ball Mill. Other pyrotechnic mixtures such as
 
Flash Powder, etc. CAN NOT, as they are too sensitive and will explode. Individualchemicals however, can also be Ball Milled into a fine powder, but the mill mustbe cleaned before this is done. If you are a do-it-yourself type of person, youcan build your own Ball Mill. For those that don't want to go through the hassleof building one from scratch, Ball Mills, complete with hardened lead balls areavailable from us. They can be found by Clicking Here.Once the mill has run for a while, it can be opened and the lead balls separatedfrom the fine Meal Powder.As we'll show you below, this Meal Powder can now be used to make all the otherforms of Black Powder for use in fireworks.Black Powder vs. Flash PowderA lot of people ask which is stronger, Black Powder or Flash Powder... or if BlackPowder can be used in Salutes (exploding fireworks).In short, there is no comparison. Flash Powder is a high explosive, a shatteringexplosive. It converts to a gas so fast, that objects near it, and containers thathold it cannot move out of they way (or vent) fast enough to release this gas, sothey are destroyed into fragments.Black Powder is a low explosive, a heaving explosive. It converts to gas much moreslowly than Flash Powder, and generally pushes things as opposed to fragmentingthem. If Black Powder is used in a small Salute like an M-80, it will just make aloud "pop", and push out the end plugs.Flash Powder in an M-80 will make a loud explosion and fragment the tube intosmall pieces. Flash Powder burns so much faster than Black Powder that in largerSalutes, it doesn't even matter if you've got end plugs on the tube at all, itwill still detonate and fragment the Salute, even with 2 open ends.You can NEVER substitute Flash Powder for Black Powder or vice-versa. If you wereto use Flash Powder to launch a shell out of a tube, or a bullet out of a gun, itwould barely move the shell or bullet, and completely destroy the mortar or gun,most probably injuring the operator.ManufactureYou will need 3 chemicals to make Black Powder, they are: Potassium Nitrate,Sulfur and Charcoal. Stay away from very low grade materials like "Dusting Sulfur"and Bar-B-Que Charcoal Briquettes. The Charcoal you use in a BBQ is not pureCharcoal. It contains other materials and chemicals that are designed to keep thematerial burning evenly and for a long time, but it will make lousy Black Powder.If you use low quality chemicals, you will undoubtedly get low quality BlackPowder.All chemicals necessary to make Black Powder can be found on our Chemical & Metalssupply page. The following is the standard formula for Black Powder:Black PowderPotassium Nitrate150 gramsCharcoal Powder30 gramsSulfur20 gramsOpen the lid to your Ball Mill and add the following: 150 grams of PotassiumNitrate, 30 grams of Charcoal Powder, and 20 grams of Sulfur ( if your lead ballsare not already in the tumbling barrel, go ahead and put them in now ). Rememberthat ONLY lead balls can be used because they are completely non-sparking.When complete, this will make 200 grams of Black Powder ( a little under 1/2 pound). You can make larger or smaller batches, just keep the percentages of all thechemicals the same. You MUST use an accurate scale to weigh your chemicals,preferably one that is accurate to 1/10th of a gram. If you do not have access toan accurate scale, you can find some for sale on our site here.With all 3 chemicals and the lead balls inside, put the lid on the tumblingbarrel and seal it, then set it in the Mill.Turn on your Ball Mill and let it rotate for 2 to 4 hours. As the Ball Millrotates, the lead balls will crush the chemicals together and reduce them into asuper fine powder. The longer you let it grind, the stronger your Black Powderwill be. Let the Ball Mill do its grinding in an uninhabited area, not in a place
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...