Simple Black Powder process

In my previous post I described how to make black powder suitable for firearms.  If you want to use a simpler process you can eliminate the pressing BP into pucks.  After you have fully mixed the three chemicals (preferably using a ball mill) take the very fine powder and mix it with a 50/50 solution of water and alcohol until it is fully wet and can be formed into a ball.  Using rubber gloves kneed the ball until it has a slight sheen to it.  The amount of liquid needed to achieve that sheen is not very much so take it slow as you add the liquid.

For the next step you can use an $8.00 strainer from Wal-Mart (try to find one that has about 20 squares per linear inch).  Once the proper amount of liquid has been added force the ball through a stainless steel screen onto a cookie sheet or similar item.  Move the strainer around to allow the grains that drop through the screen to be scattered all over the cookie sheet.  Allow the grains to dry in a safe place away from any open flame.  Do not put them in an oven to dry them...please.  Once dry you have a usable black powder, place in a waterproof container to store until needed.

This BP can be used for various things and even for firearms.  However, it is not very dense and the amount to be used in a firearm must be carefully tested.  Basically it is quite fluffy and remember the finer the powder the faster it will burn.  Some discussions about using this form of low density BP claim that you should "weigh the loads of BP for your firearm.  I personally would begin with the minimum weight recommended.  For example my 36 caliber revolver suggests using 15 to 23 grains of BP.  Make sure you understand that the term "grains" refers to weight.  There are 7000 grains per pound so perform your calculations carefully.

I thought it interesting that the use of "grains" as weight referred to the count of "7000 plump grains of wheat" to make a pound.  Do not mix up grams and grains as measures of weight.

One use I have for this type of BP is splitting stumps and logs.  There are some interesting youtube videos demonstrating the use of BP for that purpose.  I have a large cottonwood tree that I would like to cut into planks for various uses but the log is over 4' in diameter and my sawmill will only allow a 22" log.  we are going to cut the log to length then split it with BP.  I'll post pics of that process later this spring.

Remember that BP is an explosive and your making and use of it is at your own risk.

Making Black Powder (gunpowder)

I recently became interested in black powder rifles and pistols.  I fired my first BP rifle a few times and it is just plain fun.  Years ago I read a comment about black powder shooting and it went something like this; black powder; it's messy, smelly, dirty, hard to clean and goes bang when you pull the trigger...what's not to like?  Its a guy thing.  I finally understand what he meant.  It's love at first bang!

Having a day that we are home bound, I get to organize my work area in preparation to make some more black powder.  It turns out that we are unable to buy commercial black powder within a 4 hours drive.  I could buy and have bought black powder substitutes and that is OK yet I really want to use real black powder.

Since BP is an explosive there is risk involved with making it.  Even a small batch (7 ounces in my case) must be approached with care.  The process is not overly complicated and can be completed with simple tools.  To make commercial grade BP requires additional tools, time and care.

My first step in making BP is to obtain the ingredients; potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal. Charcoal can be made fairly easily and a number of web sites and videos are available to show you how.  Fortunately, all three items can be purchased on-line.  Having not made BP before I sought assistance from a friend who has a fireworks manufacturer license and makes fireworks grade BP.

After making a small batch under his direct tutelage I obtained the needed tools and chemicals then setup a work area.  I needed a space that I can keep clean, provides cool dry storage, and ample space to move around.  

Keeping the area clean is very important to me.  I read one guys post claiming that he used a vacuum cleaner to capture spilled chemicals.  My mind immediately went to the thought of a vacuum cleaner bag full of all the powder needed to make BP and an electric motor.  It may not cause an explosion but I have decided to not follow his lead.

The tools I obtained included:

   ball mill (rock tumbler)

   1/2 inch lead balls for the mill (non-sparking)

   stainless steel screens to mix chemicals and separate various sizes of BP grains

   an accurate scale (all chemicals are to be calculated by weight, not volume)

   various storage containers 
   a 6-ton press to make BP into a dense puck with the needed dies

The chemicals purchased were 7.5 pounds of potassium nitrate, 1.5 pounds of charcoal and 1 pound of sulphur.  This are enough chemicals to produce 10 pounds of BP.  That should be enough to run my BP firearms for a long time.  I will be making small batches and using them as needed.  That way I will not be storing large quantities of BP.  Since my scale is in grams I have chosen to make a 200 gram batch (just over 7 ounces).  The proportion of chemicals is 75% potassium Nitrate, 15% charcoal and 10% sulphur.

The weight of chemicals for each batch is:

150 grams potassium nitrate

30 grams of charcoal

20 grams of sulphur

You can find numerous methods to make BP on the web and the process I have decided to use is basically what www.skylighter.com has in their guides.  They are also a good place to buy chemicals.  A good site to see the process in pictures is http://www.brianredmond.net/dwilliams/blackpowder/blackpowder.html 

To begin I ball mill all three chemicals separately.  Each is weighed to the proper portion and then screened together several time to mix as completely as possible.  At this time we have black powder and it is critical to follow all cautionary procedures.  When the three chemicals are well incorporated the batch is then placed in the ball mill and allowed to run 6-8 hours.  Some people simply place all three chemicals in proper proportion into the ball mill to begin with.  I may try that later and compare each batch for performance.

To maintain safety during this process the ball mill is placed in a container located 100' from anything I am not wanting to be destroyed if a blast should occur.

After the final milling is complete, the very fine black powder is dampened with a 50/50 mixture of water and alcohol, placed in the 3" die in the press and compressed over a couple of hours until the BP is in the form of a puck.  The puck is then dried.

When the entire batch is formed into pucks (I like about 1/8" thick while others use 1/2" or more) the pucks are crushed into smaller particles.  The particles are then run through a couple of screens including a #8, 8 squares per inch and a #20 screen.  This separates the particles by size.  

The particles that stay on the #8 screen are crushed and re-screened.  Those particles that stay on the 20 screen are then placed in the ball mill again without any ball media.  This step is to "polish" the grains of BP.  The material that falls though the #20 screen are reincorporated in the another puck and processed again.

Each batch is re-screened.  The 20 screen particles are used as FF (rifles) while the 30 screen are used as FFF (revolvers).  I do not expect to add graphite to the tumbling process as would be done with commercial powder.  The graphite added to commercial powder helps the powder flow which is beneficial for reloading brass shells.

To avoid all of this process, simply purchase any of a number of BP substitutes.  Some of us just like to do things to understand a little bit more of what it would have been like in the American frontier.  I'm sure most just bought BP but some brave souls had to make it. 

I will discuss a simpler method in another post to make black powder that is not great for firearms but can be used in fireworks and possibly firearms in a pinch.

Bad roads lead to time to work on projects

Early February and we are having a shocking warm spell.  The snow melted in a couple of days and the rain has been significant.  The result is water runoff that has moved much of my road down to the pasture.  Two foot deep crevasses run the length of the road and they are wide enough to make crossing them in my truck unlikely.   I don't want to break an axle.

We are now driving down a fence line that is not meant to be a road and is very soft from the excess water.  The drive out left deep ruts and back (uphill) required a slow process that dug deeper ruts and at times made me think we may need to walk home.  Not that the walk would be horrible, just slogging through mud is not high on my lift.

If we can have a couple of days without rain we might dry enough to run the fence line without sliding into the crevasse on the road.  When living in remote areas we are reminded often of why everyone does not want to live here.  We have been stranded only a couple of days at a time with heavy snow fall or severe mud and damaged roads.  Others have not been so lucky.  One of our neighbors had a substantial portion of his road washed out that required weeks of work and several loads of gravel to fix.

Having a day we cannot travel we get to do some things we have been putting off.

Frontier Living

Just over 4 years ago we moved off-grid.  The area we now call home is identified as frontier based on low population and the distance to urban life.  Living 45 minutes from a small town has provided some insight into how life might have been for my grandparents.

We do have power (solar) and a dug well with a solar pump that now allows us to water the animals so we are not quite at the level of living in the mid to late 1800s.  We plan to have water into the house this spring.  My wife will be particularly happy about that.

We have 40 acres with 7 acres fenced.  To fence the rest of the property will require nearly 1 mile of fencing and a few thousand dollars that will have to wait until the home is finished.  When we first moved here we planned on building a barn and a house.  As life plans often change based on...well life, we decided to build the barn and then build the house on top of it.

We wanted a barn suitable to house horses, goats and whatever else we might want plus storage for hay.  Our plan was for a 36x36 barn with a hay loft.  What we ended up with is a 36x36 barn with wings on 2 sides that are 11x36  for hay storage.  The house is larger than we originally planned and is 36x36.  It is basically the original hay loft with a 14' ceiling in the middle 12x36 section sloping down to 8' walls.  One unexpected result of building the home on top of the barn is the wonderful view.

We heat the home with a wood burning stove that also doubles as a slow cooker in the winter.  Among the "new" technology we have decided to use is propane.  We bought a propane cook stove and when we get water into the home we will have a propane water heater.  Not exactly off-grid but as I age it seems to be the better choice.

We have learned a lot since moving here and living in a 10x20 tool shed for the first 3 years.  The purpose of this blog is to share what we can about our experiences.  There have been challenges with failures and successes yet overall these have been the most rewarding experiences of my life.  One goal of mine is to be capable of living here as long as the Lord allows with my wonderful wife in a location that reminds me of God's awesome creation every single day.

God Bless