Fastest burning "black Powder"

Post by Derek Nilsen
By "black powder" i mean using the same ingredients as black powder
but in different ratios. in the last few days I have been testing a
few different ratios some of which have burnt extremely fast compared
to 75:15:10 bp.
I am not asking to use as a rocket fuel but as a burst charge. I want
the fastest burn i can get from the three ingredients. If you have a
very efficient burst charge mixture from the three chemicals then good
help but also simply to know it i would like to know what the fastest
mixture is. Here are some of the mixtures i have tried(KNO3, C, S)
72:24:4, 63:27:10, 60:30:10, 72:14:13:1(dextrin). So far i believe the
last one was the fastest i have found. If you know of anything faster
than the above or have any advice to give then it would be
appreciated. I have prepared all of then in the same way by wetting
with 70% isopropyl alcohol and then pushing through a stainless window
screen to obtain granular size.
Thanks for any help

How are you measuring the speed of your powder? The last one is
pretty darn close to the "standard" bp. dan

d***@insightbb.com

2008-06-15 14:45:21 UTC

How are you measuring the speed of your powder? The last one is
pretty darn close to the "standard" bp. dan- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Derek,
What kind of charcoal, is your nitrate, and sulfur pure?
How, and how long you ball mill will make a difference too.
http://www.vk2zay.net/composition.php/22
This is Alan Yate's website.
He's a ubber-geek Aussie that dreams in molecular mass.
That is, when he's not dreaming about the 99,000 ways to die there.
For more info go to upper right, click categories, down the right menu
to comp database.
Top of that page is a list of "Black powder".
A couple other websites on BP:
http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=110

http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/blackpowder2.html
There's a couple of links to Cheap Tricks, (maybe something to hum
while reading?)

There's also alot of pyro steroids to help juice BP too.
Just don't ram it, and, plead the 5th if you get caught breaking any
records.
I use 75-15-10 and add 2 to the KNO3 to offset the impurities, and cat
hairs.
Take notes, so many variables, down to weather, phase of the moon, and
tee shirt color.
That's why pyros refer to their favorite screen, spoon, and mixing
bowl as "my babies".
My best BP was from some Paulownia coal that was worked over by
carpenter ants:
Loading Image...

As Chief Dan George said in "Outlaw Jose Wales", "Persevere".
Dan

TONY S

2008-06-15 17:07:56 UTC

Post by d***@insightbb.com

Post by dan c.

How are you measuring the speed of your powder? The last one is
pretty darn close to the "standard" bp. dan- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Derek,
What kind of charcoal, is your nitrate, and sulfur pure?
How, and how long you ball mill will make a difference too.http://www.vk2zay.net/composition.php/22
This is Alan Yate's website.
He's a ubber-geek Aussie that dreams in molecular mass.
That is, when he's not dreaming about the 99,000 ways to die there.
For more info go to upper right, click categories, down the right menu
to comp database.
Top of that page is a list of "Black powder".
A couple other websites on BP:http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=110
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/blackpowder2.html
There's a couple of links to Cheap Tricks, (maybe something to hum
while reading?)
There's also alot of pyro steroids to help juice BP too.
Just don't ram it, and, plead the 5th if you get caught breaking any
records.
I use 75-15-10 and add 2 to the KNO3 to offset the impurities, and cat
hairs.
Take notes, so many variables, down to weather, phase of the moon, and
tee shirt color.
That's why pyros refer to their favorite screen, spoon, and mixing
bowl as "my babies".
My best BP was from some Paulownia coal that was worked over by
carpenter ants:http://pyrotechnics.no-ip.org/files/dsc00627.jpg
As Chief Dan George said in "Outlaw Jose Wales", "Persevere".
Dan

any formula straying from 6/1/1 slows the speed down,75/15/10 is
standard rifle powder ,60/30/10 is rocket fuel,of course the purity of
your chemicals and the type of charcoal you use will determine the
final results.also if you add dextrin as a binder it acts as a fuel
too,so the charcoal content should be lessened accordingly,I have
been wanting to try red gum dissolved in the alcohol,instead,,

Kelly

2008-06-15 17:13:15 UTC

It's hard to improve on standard BP - centuries worth of testing has
already been done, which is how we arrived at 75:15:10.

Post by Derek Nilsen
Here are some of the mixtures i have tried(KNO3, C, S)
72:24:4, 63:27:10, 60:30:10, 72:14:13:1(dextrin). So far i believe the
last one was the fastest i have found.

The last one is fastest because it is closest to the traditional
formula. I imagine that some slight optimization of 75:15:10 is
possible, depending on what your charcoal is like, and depending on how
you define "fastest". But, I'd stick close to 75:15:10.

Kelly

TONY S

2008-06-15 20:04:56 UTC

thank you Kelly ,you reminded me ,,Davis,quotes 6/1/1 as most
"powerful"as for blasting and burst charges ,75/15/10 is the standard
they we use now adays for all around "propellant"as is cannon and
rifle powder.you can certainly add whistle to any Bp and make benzo
lift which is one hell of a good burst powder.I have a batch of 6/1/1
that is just about useless for lift,its so fast I only get half the
height as with 75/15/10

Post by Kelly

It's hard to improve on standard BP - centuries worth of testing has
already been done, which is how we arrived at 75:15:10.

Post by Derek Nilsen
Here are some of the mixtures i have tried(KNO3, C, S)
72:24:4, 63:27:10, 60:30:10, 72:14:13:1(dextrin). So far i believe the
last one was the fastest i have found.

Derek Nilsen

2008-06-15 20:56:31 UTC

The way i am measuring speed is by camera. i line up a line that is 12
inches long, 1/2 inch wide and approximately 1/4 of an inch tall. i
then begin recording, ignite from the beginning of the line and then
stop recording right after it is finished. then i analyze the video
and determine burn rate.

Here is some more info on purities and types of chemicals i am using.
the potassium nitrate i am using is of 99.5% purity, sulfur was
ordered from skylighter which is of extremely high purity and the
charcoal i have available is balsa wood and pine charcoal.
also i was mistaken on which one the fastest i have made was. it was
not the 72:14:13:1(dextrin) but it was the 63:27:10. my mistake on
that part. also i am not looking how to improve standard black powder
by ball milling but to simply change quantities of the standard so
that maximum burn rate is achieved.

LadyKate

2008-06-16 01:51:15 UTC

Post by Derek Nilsen
The way i am measuring speed is by camera. i line up a line that is 12
inches long, 1/2 inch wide and approximately 1/4 of an inch tall. i
then begin recording, ignite from the beginning of the line and then
stop recording right after it is finished. then i analyze the video
and determine burn rate.
Here is some more info on purities and types of chemicals i am using.
the potassium nitrate i am using is of 99.5% purity, sulfur was
ordered from skylighter which is of extremely high purity and the
charcoal i have available is balsa wood and pine charcoal.
also i was mistaken on which one the fastest i have made was. it was
not the 72:14:13:1(dextrin) but it was the 63:27:10. my mistake on
that part. also i am not looking how to improve standard black powder
by ball milling but to simply change quantities of the standard so
that maximum burn rate is achieved.

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.

What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.

Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
interpreting:

http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

TONY S

2008-06-16 10:44:09 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

I apologize ,,,the fastest ratios are6/1.2/08according to Roger
bacon,whom is considered the foremost authority on the manufacture of
gunpowder.he just rounded it off,they didn't have digital scales way
back then.they came to use the 75/15/10 formula to save on money
because saltpeter was scarcer back then.

TONY S

2008-06-16 11:10:15 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

48 BLACK POWDER
Moisture is determined by drying in a desiccator over sulfuric
acid for 3 days, or by drying to constant weight at 60” or 70”, at
which temperature 2 hours is usually long enough.
For determining potassium nitrate, the weighed sample in a
Gooch crucible is washed with hot water until the washings no
longer give any test for nitrate,20 and the crucible wit.h its
contents
is dried to constant weight at 70”. The loss of weight is
equal to potassium nitrate PLUS moisture. In this determination,
as in the determination of moisture, care must be taken not to
dry the sample too long, for there is danger that some of the
sulfur may be lost by volatilization.
Sulfur is determined as the further loss of weight on extraction
with carbon disulfide in a Wiley extractor or other suitable
apparatus. After the extraction, the crucible ought to be allowed
to dry in the air away from flames until all the inflammable carbon
disulfide has escaped. It is then dried in the oven to constancy
of weight, and the residue is taken as charcoal. Ash is
determined by igniting the residue in the crucible until all carbon
has burned away. A high result for ash may indicate that the
water extraction during the determination of potassium nitrate
was not complete. The analytical results may be calculated on a
moisture-free basis for a closer approximation to the formula by
which the manufacturer prepared the powder.
Blasting Powder
The 6: 1: 1 and 6: 1.2 :08 formulas correspond to the quickest
and most vigorous of the black-powder compositions. A slower
and cheaper powder is desirable for blasting, and both these
desiderata are secured by a reduction in the amount of potassium
nitrate. For many years the French government has manufactured
and sold three kinds of blasting or mining powder, as
follows:
SALTPETER CHARCOAL SULFUR
Forte. . . . . _ . . 72 15 13
Lente. . . . . . . . 40 30 30
Ordinaire. . . . . 62 18 20
In the United’States a large part of all black powder for blast-
2o A few drops, added to a few cubic centimeters of a solution of 1
gram
of diphenylamine in 100 cc. of concentrated sulfuric acid, give a blue
color
if a trace of nitrate is present.

TONY S

2008-06-16 11:21:23 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

48 BLACK POWDER
Moisture is determined by drying in a desiccator over sulfuric
acid for 3 days, or by drying to constant weight at 60” or 70”, at
which temperature 2 hours is usually long enough.
For determining potassium nitrate, the weighed sample in a
Gooch crucible is washed with hot water until the washings no
longer give any test for nitrate,20 and the crucible wit.h its
contents
is dried to constant weight at 70”. The loss of weight is
equal to potassium nitrate PLUS moisture. In this determination,
as in the determination of moisture, care must be taken not to
dry the sample too long, for there is danger that some of the
sulfur may be lost by volatilization.
Sulfur is determined as the further loss of weight on extraction
with carbon disulfide in a Wiley extractor or other suitable
apparatus. After the extraction, the crucible ought to be allowed
to dry in the air away from flames until all the inflammable carbon
disulfide has escaped. It is then dried in the oven to constancy
of weight, and the residue is taken as charcoal. Ash is
determined by igniting the residue in the crucible until all carbon
has burned away. A high result for ash may indicate that the
water extraction during the determination of potassium nitrate
was not complete. The analytical results may be calculated on a
moisture-free basis for a closer approximation to the formula by
which the manufacturer prepared the powder.
Blasting Powder
The 6: 1: 1 and 6: 1.2 :08 formulas correspond to the quickest
and most vigorous of the black-powder compositions. A slower
and cheaper powder is desirable for blasting, and both these
desiderata are secured by a reduction in the amount of potassium
nitrate. For many years the French government has manufactured
and sold three kinds of blasting or mining powder, as
SALTPETER CHARCOAL SULFUR
Forte. . . . . _ . . 72 15 13
Lente. . . . . . . . 40 30 30
Ordinaire. . . . . 62 18 20
In the United’States a large part of all black powder for blast-
2o A few drops, added to a few cubic centimeters of a solution of 1
gram
of diphenylamine in 100 cc. of concentrated sulfuric acid, give a blue
color
if a trace of nitrate is present.

I tried to copy and paste the pages from Davis's book the, chemistry
of powder and explosives and got the whole page even the notes at the
bottom[2oA few drops...etc...]is a footnote.

Derek Nilsen

2008-06-17 00:59:57 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

48 BLACK POWDER
Moisture is determined by drying in a desiccator over sulfuric
acid for 3 days, or by drying to constant weight at 60” or 70”, at
which temperature 2 hours is usually long enough.
For determining potassium nitrate, the weighed sample in a
Gooch crucible is washed with hot water until the washings no
longer give any test for nitrate,20 and the crucible wit.h its
contents
is dried to constant weight at 70”. The loss of weight is
equal to potassium nitrate PLUS moisture. In this determination,
as in the determination of moisture, care must be taken not to
dry the sample too long, for there is danger that some of the
sulfur may be lost by volatilization.
Sulfur is determined as the further loss of weight on extraction
with carbon disulfide in a Wiley extractor or other suitable
apparatus. After the extraction, the crucible ought to be allowed
to dry in the air away from flames until all the inflammable carbon
disulfide has escaped. It is then dried in the oven to constancy
of weight, and the residue is taken as charcoal. Ash is
determined by igniting the residue in the crucible until all carbon
has burned away. A high result for ash may indicate that the
water extraction during the determination of potassium nitrate
was not complete. The analytical results may be calculated on a
moisture-free basis for a closer approximation to the formula by
which the manufacturer prepared the powder.
Blasting Powder
The 6: 1: 1 and 6: 1.2 :08 formulas correspond to the quickest
and most vigorous of the black-powder compositions. A slower
and cheaper powder is desirable for blasting, and both these
desiderata are secured by a reduction in the amount of potassium
nitrate. For many years the French government has manufactured
and sold three kinds of blasting or mining powder, as
SALTPETER CHARCOAL SULFUR
Forte. . . . . _ . . 72 15 13
Lente. . . . . . . . 40 30 30
Ordinaire. . . . . 62 18 20
In the United’States a large part of all black powder for blast-
2o A few drops, added to a few cubic centimeters of a solution of 1
gram
of diphenylamine in 100 cc. of concentrated sulfuric acid, give a blue
color
if a trace of nitrate is present.

sorry, but most of what is in this article is mumbo jumbo. i don't
want to have to use other chemicals other than the three chemicals for
bp. also, i know that my nitrate is the purest i can get. The
termanology(sp) is not simple. once i get the more books that i
ordered about pyro i should be able to conceptualize everything
better.

If anybody knows of any other formula's that might burn faster than .3
seconds for a 3 foot run let me know.

99.5% KNO3
skylighter sulfur
homemade charcoal, Balsa wood(burnt in no O enviorment until smoking
stops then allowed to cool for an hour then milled to a fine dust).

LadyKate

2008-06-17 02:43:54 UTC

Derek,

Do you have a video of your .3 second burn? I would like to see it. My
white ash will burn nearly that fast - my balsa will definitely go
that fast. I only experiment with 75/15/10 since I am not looking for
a formula but for relative reactivity of charcoals.

So, I guess I would say that your .3 for 3 foot can be done with
75/15/10. That also means that temperature, humidity, altitude and
other factors (as documented by Dan Williams, myself and others) would
mean we could vary about that number quite a bit. However, I'm not
sure any of this proves much. Fast is fast - to get an order of
magnitude faster, you have to use different ingredients. So, once BP
reaches 'fap' stage, you are probably hot enough - probably too hot
for most uses.

Let's see that super fast balsa - I know it is awesome stuff - I've
tested in quite a bit.

Dan

Derek Nilsen

2008-06-17 08:13:02 UTC

Post by d***@insightbb.com
Derek,
Do you have a video of your .3 second burn? I would like to see it. My
white ash will burn nearly that fast - my balsa will definitely go
that fast. I only experiment with 75/15/10 since I am not looking for
a formula but for relative reactivity of charcoals.
So, I guess I would say that your .3 for 3 foot can be done with
75/15/10. That also means that temperature, humidity, altitude and
other factors (as documented by Dan Williams, myself and others) would
mean we could vary about that number quite a bit. However, I'm not
sure any of this proves much. Fast is fast - to get an order of
magnitude faster, you have to use different ingredients. So, once BP
reaches 'fap' stage, you are probably hot enough - probably too hot
for most uses.
Let's see that super fast balsa - I know it is awesome stuff - I've
tested in quite a bit.
Dan

oops!! i made a little typo in the last post. i meant to say ".3
seconds per foot"
i was trying to say that it is not as fast as yours is. I am in the
process of uploading a video as i type this. i will post a link once
its finished.

TONY S

2008-06-17 12:04:45 UTC

Post by Derek Nilsen

the last paragraph is all I wanted you to read.people have been making
BP for 1500 years and 6/1/1 IS as fast as youll get

Däve

2008-06-17 14:24:41 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

48 BLACK POWDER
Moisture is determined by drying in a desiccator over sulfuric
acid for 3 days, or by drying to constant weight at 60 or 70, at
which temperature 2 hours is usually long enough.
For determining potassium nitrate, the weighed sample in a
Gooch crucible is washed with hot water until the washings no
longer give any test for nitrate,20 and the crucible wit.h its
contents
is dried to constant weight at 70. The loss of weight is
equal to potassium nitrate PLUS moisture. In this determination,
as in the determination of moisture, care must be taken not to
dry the sample too long, for there is danger that some of the
sulfur may be lost by volatilization.
Sulfur is determined as the further loss of weight on extraction
with carbon disulfide in a Wiley extractor or other suitable
apparatus. After the extraction, the crucible ought to be allowed
to dry in the air away from flames until all the inflammable carbon
disulfide has escaped. It is then dried in the oven to constancy
of weight, and the residue is taken as charcoal. Ash is
determined by igniting the residue in the crucible until all carbon
has burned away. A high result for ash may indicate that the
water extraction during the determination of potassium nitrate
was not complete. The analytical results may be calculated on a
moisture-free basis for a closer approximation to the formula by
which the manufacturer prepared the powder.
Blasting Powder
The 6: 1: 1 and 6: 1.2 :08 formulas correspond to the quickest
and most vigorous of the black-powder compositions. A slower
and cheaper powder is desirable for blasting, and both these
desiderata are secured by a reduction in the amount of potassium
nitrate. For many years the French government has manufactured
and sold three kinds of blasting or mining powder, as
SALTPETER CHARCOAL SULFUR
Forte. . . . . _ . . 72 15 13
Lente. . . . . . . . 40 30 30
Ordinaire. . . . . 62 18 20
In the UnitedStates a large part of all black powder for blast-
2o A few drops, added to a few cubic centimeters of a solution of 1
gram
of diphenylamine in 100 cc. of concentrated sulfuric acid, give a blue
color
if a trace of nitrate is present.
sorry, but most of what is in this article is mumbo jumbo. i don't
want to have to use other chemicals other than the three chemicals for
bp. also, i know that my nitrate is the purest i can get. The
termanology(sp) is not simple. once i get the more books that i
ordered about pyro i should be able to conceptualize everything
better.
If anybody knows of any other formula's that might burn faster than .3
seconds for a 3 foot run let me know.
99.5% KNO3
skylighter sulfur
homemade charcoal, Balsa wood(burnt in no O enviorment until smoking
stops then allowed to cool for an hour then milled to a fine dust).

Pretty everything you need to know about BP is here:

http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/recipe.html

Included is a 3D graph of different chemical ratios, chemical equations, and
historical
information about BP.

Derek Nilsen

2008-06-18 07:12:19 UTC

Using the three main ingredients, you can have a ball - because those
three ingredients can be combined in so many ways. Charcoal is very
important. The most reactive charcoal will give the most reactive BP
in most cases. Obviously, we are only talking about pure BP - not
whistle enhanced or variants using red gum or other modifiers. Milling
is very important. Generally, a heavier mill will crunch things
better. Don't add dextrin (not one of the three ingredients!). DO add
water at the end to make the BP into a heavy dough and grate that.
DON'T press and corn if you are looking for speed. Pressing and
corning create volumetric consistency but they do NOT create speed.
What are your times for your burn tests? I would imagine that 12
inches is fairly short and you might want to go two or even three
times longer so the camera frame resolution won't affect things as
much. I've run into that problem with my burn tests and I use a 2.5
foot trough. With a 30 FPS rate, the time between frames becomes
important on fast powders. A 12" fast sample might have more than 30%
loss of viewing due to frame rate - you can interpolate a bit but a
longer trough makes it much easier to be accurate.
Here is my 'favorite' burn test over 2.5 feet. I've had others that
were faster but this one shows a good run and it doesn't require much
http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/whiteash3a.wmv

48 BLACK POWDER
Moisture is determined by drying in a desiccator over sulfuric
acid for 3 days, or by drying to constant weight at 60” or 70”, at
which temperature 2 hours is usually long enough.
For determining potassium nitrate, the weighed sample in a
Gooch crucible is washed with hot water until the washings no
longer give any test for nitrate,20 and the crucible wit.h its
contents
is dried to constant weight at 70”. The loss of weight is
equal to potassium nitrate PLUS moisture. In this determination,
as in the determination of moisture, care must be taken not to
dry the sample too long, for there is danger that some of the
sulfur may be lost by volatilization.
Sulfur is determined as the further loss of weight on extraction
with carbon disulfide in a Wiley extractor or other suitable
apparatus. After the extraction, the crucible ought to be allowed
to dry in the air away from flames until all the inflammable carbon
disulfide has escaped. It is then dried in the oven to constancy
of weight, and the residue is taken as charcoal. Ash is
determined by igniting the residue in the crucible until all carbon
has burned away. A high result for ash may indicate that the
water extraction during the determination of potassium nitrate
was not complete. The analytical results may be calculated on a
moisture-free basis for a closer approximation to the formula by
which the manufacturer prepared the powder.
Blasting Powder
The 6: 1: 1 and 6: 1.2 :08 formulas correspond to the quickest
and most vigorous of the black-powder compositions. A slower
and cheaper powder is desirable for blasting, and both these
desiderata are secured by a reduction in the amount of potassium
nitrate. For many years the French government has manufactured
and sold three kinds of blasting or mining powder, as
SALTPETER CHARCOAL SULFUR
Forte. . . . . _ . . 72 15 13
Lente. . . . . . . . 40 30 30
Ordinaire. . . . . 62 18 20
In the United’States a large part of all black powder for blast-
2o A few drops, added to a few cubic centimeters of a solution of 1
gram
of diphenylamine in 100 cc. of concentrated sulfuric acid, give a blue
color
if a trace of nitrate is present.
sorry, but most of what is in this article is mumbo jumbo. i don't
want to have to use other chemicals other than the three chemicals for
bp. also, i know that my nitrate is the purest i can get. The
termanology(sp) is not simple. once i get the more books that i
ordered about pyro i should be able to conceptualize everything
better.
If anybody knows of any other formula's that might burn faster than .3
seconds for a 3 foot run let me know.
99.5% KNO3
skylighter sulfur
homemade charcoal, Balsa wood(burnt in no O enviorment until smoking
stops then allowed to cool for an hour then milled to a fine dust).

http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/recipe.html
Included is a 3D graph of different chemical ratios, chemical equations, and
historical
information about BP.

here is a link to the burn rate test:

http://www.acidplanet.com/Components/Download.asp?PID=1126146&T=692

Derek Nilsen

2008-06-18 07:14:40 UTC

Post by Derek Nilsen

Post by DÃ¤ve