Making black powder
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2024 3:41 am
Who makes black powder? How?
1. Must make Charcoal out of the following wood.
Willow, Alder, Birch, Fir, Oak, Beech, Ash, Pine, Balsa
Use a one gallon new metal paint can and drill a 3/8 hole in top of lid. Place your wood chunks into paint can and place can into an open fire for two hours.
Instead of an open fire I use a charbroil big easy turkey fryer.
After charcoal is made step two is grinding the charcoal to a fine dust.
2. To grind the charcoal use a vintage manual meat grinder with a Crumb grinding attachment and sift the charcoal # 30 mesh
Keep running the charcoal through the sifting screen until all complete.
Store your charcoal in a mason jar
3. Mix the following together in a plastic mixing bowl
potassium nitrate (saltpeter), sulfur and charcoal.
Use chart for correct measurements.
4. Place the green powder in a rotary tumbler with hopper filled 1/4 full of .50cal lead round balls.
Tumble for 72hours.
Do not tumble close to living area.
5. Take the green powder out of tumbler and store in a plastic airtight container. Now it’s time to make pucks.
6. You will need an 8ton or above press and a 30mm Rosin round press mold. Use small plastic container add 7 TBS of green powder and a plastic fork to mix add 70% alcohol and until green powder starts to get slightly damp.
Add green powder inside of the rosin mold and press for 30 seconds. Pucks should be 1/4 in thick. Follow these steps until all green powder is used.
7. Next place pucks in food dehydrator for 24hours.
8.Take pucks and break up into bean size pieces and run through a ceramic burr coffee grinder
9. Separate by using the following mesh size picture will be attached. With everything smaller then what you need can be re-pressed again.
Make sure to use all plastic hardware or rubber mallets.
No metal to metal.
Never store final powder in Masson jars only plastic air tight jars