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2. Literature
To promote the understanding of how our ancestors made black powder and how they looked at its chemistry, I recommend the following literature: 1) Intendance federal des poudres, Bern (1980)
An introduction, how the Swiss powder mill in Aubonne makes black powder today, narrated step by step. This booklet contains many photos. (Visitor groups are welcome)
3) J. R. Partington: "Greek Fire and Gunpowder" (1960) 4) John Maxon Stillman: "The story of Early Chemistry" (1924) 5) Bruno Zschokke: "Handbuch der militrischen Sprengtechnik" (1911)
Handbook of Military Explosives
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But there is a simple - not to say a primitive - way, that leads to a fairly good charcoal: Build a fire in your fire place or in your barbecue grill. Wait till there are no more flames, only embers, the kind you use to broil a steak. Then take a tin can with a lid which you can secure (by winding a wire around it, for instance) so that too much gas development won't blow it open. Drill a little hole in the lid, about the size you could push a pencil through. The hole should be large enough to allow the wood-gas to escape without building up too much pressure, but small enough to prevent the entrance of air. Fill this can with branches of wood about 2 to 3 centimeters in diameter. The wood should be very dry with the bark completely peeled off. It has to be young branches, not old wood from split logs. Willow or hazel wood is best. (See Fig. 1)
Fig. 1: Dried wood sticks from a willow branch before charring in the can. On the lid lies the needle I use for securing the lid.
Then set the filled can into the embers and wait until wood gas is beginning to escape through the vent-hole. Set this gas afire, you need the flame as an indicator. Note: If lighted too early, the can may explode! So wear eye-protection. Frequently turn the can from one side to the other. Wait until the flame escaping through the vent-hole has just extinguished. Than take the can out of the embers, close the vent-hole (e.g. with aluminum foil) and wait till the can has cooled down. Don't open the can before the can is cold! Otherwise the charcoal might reignite.
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Strongly burning gas, escapeing from the vent in the lid of the charring can.
That's what comes out of the charring can when opened after cooling. The charred wood has shrunk considerably.
For storing you may crush and grind the charcoal coarsely and put it into an air tight bottle. I have investigated the rise of temperature inside a piece of willow branch with a diameter of 3 centimeters. I put it into an oven, preheated to 600 C. (This temperature is normal for barbeque embers). Inside the wood I placed a temperature probe. The following graph shows the readings on the electronic thermometer. (See Fig. 4)
Fig. 4: The rise of temperature inside a branch of wood exposed to an environment of 600 C
Up to 200 C, the core of the wood obviously was protected by the evaporating wood gas. The developing gas led the heat away from the sample. At 350 C the smoke stopped coming from the oven. I take it from this, that you can make a fairly good charcoal in a tin can placed in barbecue embers. When the smoke ceases, the charcoal has reached the ideal temperature of about 350 C.
5. Grinding:
Fig. 5: Ingredients for one black powder batch, before mixing and dry-grinding
My grinding tool is a mortar and pestle made of porcelain. The mortar is a rather flat tray of about 30 centimeters in diameter, with a slightly rough surface. If you purchased a mortar and pestle with a smooth surface, then rough it up by grinding some crude quartz-sand or carborundum.
Fig. 6: The wet grinding in a mortar with pestle. Note: Grind small portions only!
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It's important, that you first finely grind each ingredient separately. Then mix them all together. Don't overload the mortar. You will finish your job quicker if you grind a couple of small portions rather than a single large one. Don't worry about spontaneous ignition. It won't ignite. But refrain from smoking, when doing it! But anyway, you do it at your own risk. After you have mixed and ground your black powder for a while (say ten minutes), then add about 8% water. Add it in small portions and rub and beat it, until it is the the texture of pottery clay. Pound and rub it for about 15 to 20 more minutes with the pestle. Then form it into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Note: You also can grind the mix of black powder ingredients dry, without water. This black powder flour usually is called meal powder. This kind of powder burns slowly. By adding water the ingredients are better homogenisated causing an improved burning. So mixing blackpowder wet acts like magic.
6. The Corning
The black powder dough you have formed into a ball is corned by rubbing it through a sieve. A kitchen sieve with about 1.5 millimeter mesh will do the job. The grains then will correspond to Swiss powder CH2 or GOEX 3F. Spread the sifted flakes equally and loosely on a writing paper and let them dry. After the flakes have dried, sift them again through the same sieve. You can assist the process by useing fingers till all is sifted through. Then separate the fine dust by sifting the powder again through a sieve with about 0.3 millimeter mesh. In the kitchen such a sieve is commonly used as a flour sifter. Finally, add the discarded dust to a new batch of powder so nothing will be wasted.
Fig. 7: My homemade black powder on a 5 mm grid. Grains between 0.3 to 1.4 millimeter.
Your homemade black powder is now ready for use. It will perform like the best powder I tested in chapter "Recipe" and will beat all commercially manufactured powders.
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considered this seriously, other than for scientific reasons. Prices in Switzerland: (when bought by the kilogram) 1 kg Black powder Swiss CH2......Fr. 65.00 (in 2010) 1 kg Homemade powder: 0.75 kg Saltpeter 0.13 kg Char coal (homemade) 0.12 kg Sulfur 1 kg Homemade bp Fr. 22.25 Fr. 00.00 Fr. 02.80 Fr. 25.05
Combustion of three samples of black powder - Factory made - Homemade regular - Homemade sulfurless Sample: 1.0 g each
9. Legal Aspects
In Switzerland the handling of black powder is regulated by the "Sprengstoffgesetz" (Explosives law). If black powder is used for shooting purposes only, it is considered a "propellant" and hence not subject to the explosives law. Most, but not all, black powder is sold by gun shops. Anyone can get it informally, but has to sign a list provided by the shop, stating it will not be used as an explosive. There is no law that forbids the making of black powder for your own use. But you may not enter a road tunnel with more than five kilograms in your car. And you may not cross the border to a neighbouring state with it. In any case, all European states, save Switzerland, request a permit issued by their governments, for anyone entering with black powder. At muzzle loader competitions, homemade black powder may not be used as long as the competition is governed by the MLAIC-rules. (Muzzle Loader Association International Committee). Rule 520 states: "Only factory made black powder may be used. And no black powder substitute may be used." In all European countries, save Switzerland, it is strictly forbidden to make your own black powder. A violatior may be sentenced to a prison term. So watch out or immigrate to Switzerland! Last updated: 29. 6. 2010.....
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