Anyone make their own powder?
- Thread starter H Wally
- Start date
Mmm, yes. It seems to be ok, for the blackpowder community, the fireworks community etc. It seems to be an area where if someone got their knickers in a twist it would become a problem. That said, I don't think anyone views blackpowder as a huge problem, as they monitor a lot of bulk fertilizers more heavily than chemical retailers, in my experience.
i found that charcoal from maple works good.i have access to pure sulfer and pure ammonia nitrite ,the little white ball called fertilizer,i know a couple of people who used the wrong stuff .gee i wonder why it didnt work.always had good luck with the bang if it was mixed right,ground up right in the right proportions,young and stupid. never got hurt but blew a few things up ,junked cars, treestumps u name it
I put some thought into it when I was looking for places that would ship me BP. I have a book on it.
PS, I thought I read Willow was the choice wood for the charcoal?
ETA: Wow I just realized this is an old thread. Wally, did you ever make any?
PS, I thought I read Willow was the choice wood for the charcoal?
ETA: Wow I just realized this is an old thread. Wally, did you ever make any?
I can tell you from making black powder at the age of 15!!! that I was lucky enough to not have killed myself, brother and cousin and blow the house up!! Just for kicks I will tell you the story, it was December 1987, my cousin came from BC for X-Mas holidays a little early ,so whilewe were at school he went to the local library and brought back a book on Chinese rockertry, and for some god awfull reason the book contain the basic recipe of charcoal, sulfur and salt -peter. We convinced my mom to by a container of salt-peter from the drug store and told her it was for a science project. My father worked at a local papermill and we asked him for a can of sulfur for this same imaginary project, neither one knowing about the others help in locating these items(we were very bad kids when it came to mischief) So we went into the shed and got the third component Charcoal! We then proceeded to make wicks by soaking string in a mixture of salt-peter and vinigar( IT DID WORK) we dryed this out and it wrked out well. We then took thick cardbard we had from the papermill and made the outer casing, then ground and mixed by eye the percentage listed in the Chinese rocket book. The first test was underneath our parents carport, we stuck it in a pale of winter sand and lit the wick, Well it when off like a rocket scweeling but going no were causing a sulfur cloud about 25 yards round above and around the house. By the time our parents got back from shopping all you could smell was Sulfer! Not many questions were asked, so we started to build rocket #2 , a few days later after grinding,soaking wicks, making cardboard tubes we had it ready for a test fire, but it was -40 the night our parents went out. So instead of lighting it off outside the wood stove was elected as the scene of the 2nd attmpted rocket launch. I lit it and all of a sudden it started to spew gases into the basement, so I shut the door and we watched the woodstove shake, rattle and shimmy. But all was well the house didn't blow up and all of us had our fingers, 5 minutes later our parents showed up and we thought we were safe( stupid kids!) My father came running into the house with that look kids know so well when they are in trouble, he was so mad he didn't know what to do but have us show him how we did this, unknown too us when they came back home there was a 100 foot cumulis yellow sulfur clould above the house! Ater this episode when we asked each parent for something for a class project, they made sure too know EXACTLY what it was for!!! So as to making black powder it is just not worth losing parts of your body, your house or others lives, take it from someone who was on the fringe of killing innocent people and my brother, but I wouldn't have missed him as much as my cousin,HAHAHA, TAKE CARE AND DON'T FOOL WITH THE DEVIL!! Dale in T-Bay
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Volume #5 IIRC...........
Same book had other chapters on, black bear hunting & blacksmith tools/techniques. A fine referance book indeed!
Try Alphachem, no minimum order and no dangerous goods surcharge.
http://www.alphachem.ca/
In the 90's, potassium nitrate and sulphur were on the shelves at most drug store. Made it a bit easier....
Just so as you know, it is illegal to manufacture explosives in Canada without a proper licence to do so. That you are just fooling around with no bad intentions doesn't change that it is illegal.
So it may just be a better idea to do what you are gonna do or not do and not post it publically, where it will NEVER go away.
Brain storming for ideas and improving one's mind is not YET illegal, AFAIK. Maybe we should ban the Discovery channel too, while we're at it?
stevejones
Regular
- Location
- Courtenay, BC
Availability
So is there another more local place one could go to?
Try Alphachem, no minimum order and no dangerous goods surcharge.
http://www.alphachem.ca/
In the 90's, potassium nitrate and sulphur were on the shelves at most drug store. Made it a bit easier....
So is there another more local place one could go to?
I think I've posted this here before, but it's worth posting again.
Take a look at the homegunsmith.com forum, in the black powder section. there is a post there that runs 30 pages or so,detailing one fellows experiments with black powder making. Gets quite detailed in the safety side as well. IIRC, he posted some videos showing the burn rate of his home made, vs commercial powders.
Not something to casually tinker with, but a person using reasonable care and attention...
I was told by a Fireworks type that the laws were on the books to allow folks to do this stuff on a limited basis, effectively legalizing the hobby pyrotechnics types that are quietly doing their thing anyway. Not my bag, so have not followed up on that info to see if they actually changed the books.
Cheers
Trev
Take a look at the homegunsmith.com forum, in the black powder section. there is a post there that runs 30 pages or so,detailing one fellows experiments with black powder making. Gets quite detailed in the safety side as well. IIRC, he posted some videos showing the burn rate of his home made, vs commercial powders.
Not something to casually tinker with, but a person using reasonable care and attention...
I was told by a Fireworks type that the laws were on the books to allow folks to do this stuff on a limited basis, effectively legalizing the hobby pyrotechnics types that are quietly doing their thing anyway. Not my bag, so have not followed up on that info to see if they actually changed the books.
Cheers
Trev
Can you quote me the relevant legal info? I remember in the eighties and nineties several experiments in chemistry class involving explosives: black powder and its many variations, ammonium tri-iodide, a few more reactive ones involving aluminum powder....These experiments were, at the time, completely legal.
If this has changed it would be good to see the actual document.
If this has changed it would be good to see the actual document.
