Anyone here make their own black powder?

SuperCub

SuperCub

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Anyone here make their own black powder? I want a bunch of black powder to run a thundermug.

This guy on YT seems to have a bit of experience and with good results. Thoughts/experiences/warnings/suggestions welcome. :)

 
Last I checked, it was illegal in Canada to make your own black powder. I've talked to people who claim to do it in small batches for large bore muzzle loaders (.69's and .75's) but stay kind of hush-hush about it.
 
I better not do that then.
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PM with details ...... IBTL
 
Your talking about making something that has a habit of just going bang for the fun of it. The manufactures of it make it in buildings with out solid walls so when it blows it isn't contained if that gives you an idea of what it's like to make.
 
I assume by "the materials", you just mean potassium nitrate? It isn't illegal or even that suspicious for someone to buy charcoal or sulphur. Both have countless legitimate uses and are available at some specialty grocery stores.
Potassium nitrate on the other hand, unless you own a small farm or something, will raise some eyebrows. It is also more difficult to find in a pure enough form for making black powder (I assume on purpose).

I've read that the bulkier powder in tannerite and other exploding targets is near pure KNO3. I have no idea if this is true or not.

NRCan regs seem to say that private and commercial laboratories can manufacture up to 50 grams of explosives without a license. I have no idea if that extends to "kitchen laboratories".
Countless posts say it's illegal but I've yet to read the actual law prohibiting it (that's not to say I doubt it's illegal, only that I haven't confirmed it myself).
Threads about it here on CGN have been shut down and deleted in the past.

Considering the low quality of home-made black powder from many reports from US and UK muzzle loaders, and that commercial black powder made by GOEX can be purchased in Canada for as low as $27.99/lbs, I don't see a point in testing the legality of it. I know there are those who desire to go "off the grid" or become self sufficient, but if you don't have a means to obtain sulphur and KNO3 without relying on retail stores, I don't know if there's a point.
 
KNO3 can be found in manure piles. Looks like yellow rock salt, forms in veins. Sulfur can be purchased at farm supply stores and garden centres. KN03 can be purchased at some pharmacys. The best charcoal for gunpowder, or any Pyrotechnics comes from willow, easy to make with a paint can with a nail hole in the lid and a campfire.
 
Tannerite is ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer with added aluminum powder as an oxidizer.

Potassium nitrate is also used for pickling is it not?

As kids we used to buy it at the pharmacy and with sugar would make wonderful smoke bombs.
 
geologist said:
Tannerite is ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer with added aluminum powder as an oxidizer.

Potassium nitrate is also used for pickling is it not?

As kids we used to buy it at the pharmacy and with sugar would make wonderful smoke bombs.
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yep, my local compounding pharm sold me a 5 pound bag of food grade salt peter
 
Corned beef!!!!

Share this recipe with your pharmacist and tell him/her that you are making a big batch for family when you order 20 lbs of saltpeter.

Ingredients
2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter
1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 whole juniper berries
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds ice
1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket, trimmed
1 small onion, quartered
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.

After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe.html?oc=linkback
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We made some when we were kids. Went down to the rail yard and picked up spilled sulphur and coal. Ground it up by smashing it in a bag with a hammer. Got salt peter from somewhere. We would just put it in small film canisters and then light it with some form of wick down at the schoolyard. Until my dad found out about it.

He was pissed off he hadn't been in on the fun so he helped us make a few bigger bomb things. Then we made one a bit too big and we heard cops sirens. My dad yells "RUN FOR IT" and we ducked up a side lane and walked home before the cops got there. This concluded my black powder manufacturing career. :)
 
We made black powder in high school. Wasn't to difficult and we didn't blow up the lab. If it would be an good for use I have no idea but it did go boom.
 
Gatehouse said:
We made some when we were kids. Went down to the rail yard and picked up spilled sulphur and coal. Ground it up by smashing it in a bag with a hammer. Got salt peter from somewhere. We would just put it in small film canisters and then light it with some form of wick down at the schoolyard. Until my dad found out about it.

He was pissed off he hadn't been in on the fun so he helped us make a few bigger bomb things. Then we made one a bit too big and we heard cops sirens. My dad yells "RUN FOR IT" and we ducked up a side lane and walked home before the cops got there. This concluded my black powder manufacturing career. :)
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Your Dad sounds like a great guy. My Dad did not approve of my improvised bombs.;)
 
maltextract said:
KNO3 can be found in manure piles. Looks like yellow rock salt, forms in veins. Sulfur can be purchased at farm supply stores and garden centres. KN03 can be purchased at some pharmacys. The best charcoal for gunpowder, or any Pyrotechnics comes from willow, easy to make with a paint can with a nail hole in the lid and a campfire.
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No actually,
that would be sodium nitrate NaNO3. It can be used for black powder but makes poor powder because it is hygroscopic.
Historically it was converted to potassium nitrate, the primary compound of black powder, using potash.
 
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