do you make your own powder?

I once developed my own Ektachrome color slide film, but, while successful, it was so much bother that I figured out that letting a lab do it for me was a bargain.
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And after having done so, you probably appreciated the film lab a lot more. Plus, if all the film labs went out of business, you could blow the dust off your vats and chemical bottles and you'd know that you could develop your own.

(if you developed your own Kodachrome, I would be *really* impressed :))
 
And after having done so, you probably appreciated the film lab a lot more. Plus, if all the film labs went out of business, you could blow the dust off your vats and chemical bottles and you'd know that you could develop your own.
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I think a lot of people underestimate the value of trying something just because you are interested in the process.
 
Speaking clearly for myself---I'm a "HOW" type of guy. I am generally not satisfied simply with the knowledge that something works. I like to know how it works---been that way my whole life. It's the same reason I got into metallurgy. I like a nice piece of hand-forged damascus steel in the form of a blade. Is that enough? Nope--I had to learn how to pattern-weld the stuff myself. Fun stuff to play with. Same goes here. It's enough for some to run down to the store and buy a pound of BP to spend an afternoon shooting their muzzle-loader. Fantastic! Have a great time. ME? I like going further. Do I need to? Nope. Do I do it all the time? Nope--I usually use the commercial stuff. But it's fun as hell to use my own batch and get measurable success. My overall objective at some point is to build my own smoke-pole from scratch (not from a kit, mind you---from the ground up). Learning how to make BP is just one small piece of that puzzle. It's fun, and it's rewarding. Is it practical? Depends how you look at it. Knowledge is priceless--I like to keep well-stocked. ;)

I guess that today I'd be in jail for doing that.
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:D LOL Yah, I know the feeling... Back in the day when I first started playing with "chemical mixtures", I left a couple pretty good-sized smoking holes out in a rancher's field that drew more attention than I wanted back then--I seem to remember a few broken windows that may or may not have been distantly related to said experiment... Today I'd have an entire BATFE task force hunting me down... How times have changed, huh? :D
 
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hands on

I'm a "HOW" type of guy. I am generally not satisfied simply with the knowledge that something works. I like to know how it works---
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Yes....understand that way of thinking. It was my whole rationale about making BP when I was doing that. Can I do it? Yes, I can. And now that I know that, I don't but....if I ever have to, the ingredients are on the shelf.
I agree that the recipe is simple and the process, on paper is fairly simple....but...you need a ball mill or something similar (not that a mill is terribly expensive but, then, neither is Goex). And the whole corning process...I found it harder to do than expected; at least, harder for me to get a consistent result.
Pete
 
robhof

My brother and I made some back in the 60's. We had a 3/4 bore cannon barrel we got from DGW and we made a carriage from oak for a scout project, got the ingredientd from the chem lab at school and some reading at the local library, took a few batches to get a good boom, but it worked, B/p was around $2.50 a can back then, so we bought after our experiment, we were 12 and 13 at the time.
 
I'm a "HOW" type of guy.
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I ride that wagon also. It has cost me more than just going and buying things. But I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun along the way. I can forge my own blades, which of course necessitated a few different gas forge designs to work up the best home built version. It was legal in the state I was in at the time. So I learned to make and age my own whiskey and went through a few designs on the best home made still. And so on and so forth......
 
It Couldn't Be Done
by Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.
 
NOZ>> I guess I'm missing your point on posting the link. Some older gentleman who made black powder blew himself up one afternoon---so none of us should try making BP? That's like an anti who argues that because someone managed to shoot themselves while cleaning their firearm, none of us should have a firearm--for our own safety, of course.

If you aren't comfortable with that level of experiment for you, no problem--don't bother. But don't fuel gossip and false-facts. Morons wrap their car around poles, trees, bigger cars, etc every hour of every day. But I still drive. Just because making BP is not common doesn't make it more dangerous than a million other widely-accepted practices. ;)
 
Just because making BP is not common doesn't make it more dangerous than a million other widely-accepted practices.
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I agree. But if you ever blow up the bath tub distilling nitroglycerin at about 1 degree to hot. That is another matter. No it wasn't me...... It was my brother.:)

If I had been home though...
 
used to buy saltpeter and sulphur at drug store, dads charcoal briquets. 75 ,15, 10 , if i remember correctly were % , its been a long time. we used to make our own fireworks and cannons. iron pipe and steel ball bearings. shot thru a refrigerator.... the folly of youth. :eek:
 
We are a consumer society now. Just buy everything at the store. Where's the sense of accomplishment in that?

Most kids today are really into their video games, television and baseball. No imagination. I, too, made some small batches of black powder and flash powder when I was a kid. What boy didn't?!

I remember going to the paint supply store for aluminum powder. The owner gave me a sideways glance. What thirteen year old kid was going to mix up a batch of metallic paint with the finest mesh aluminum powder the store had? Didn't matter what mesh, I told him, just the finest you have. Yeah, right, kid. But, he was a kid once himself, and I walked out of there happy as a lark.

I remember when a friend of mine who was into rocketry wanted to home-make a good sized rocket from scratch. He machined the balsa wood nose cone, and found a heavy-duty cardboard tube about four inches in diameter. That tube held one full pound of FFFg black powder. What? You are supposed to make a cake of the powder so it has a controlled burn? What for? Pour that stuff in there! People were running around the track surrounding the football field the afternoon we set her off. 5-4-3-2-1-BOOOOM!!!! Car alarms went off in the distance. Everyone on the track stopped with their jaws open. The field was cloaked in a cloud of white smoke. Needless to say, my friend and I picked up as much evidence as we could in a hurry and hightailed it out of there!

Kids today have no real fun. Too sad.
 
Model-P>>> I could swear you were telling one of my stories.... :D I love it!

Yah, things just aren't what they use to be. The worst part about it is that these days (unlike the days when we were kids and most people hadn't become completely stupid yet) if my kid showed up at the paint store to by aluminum powder and it got out he was making flash powder, it would probably send whistles blowing all the way to DC and both me and my kid would be charged with domestic terrorism. Sad... Flash powder is really fun stuff, too! :D
 
Rangefinder,
I have read all about handling rattlesnakes and I'm sure I can do it.

I have driven for 65 years and know how to drive at speed. I'm sure I can drive my Dodge pickup at 120 miles an hour.

I am an amateur juggler and I can juggle most anything. I'm sure I could juggle 8" chainsaws.

I can load 5 in a 6 shot revolver, spin the cylinder, stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger.

I can make my own black powder.

But I don't!

If that makes me a cowardly wuss in your opinion then so be it. There is a reason that all black powder is made in facilities that use robotic labor and each stage is widely seperated from all the others.
 
Most people who have made their own BP have lived to tell about it. Most people who have done this...
I can load 5 in a 6 shot revolver, spin the cylinder, stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger.
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...have not.
 
yep

There is a reason that all black powder is made in facilities that use robotic labor and each stage is widely seperated from all the others.
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Good point. You only have to be wrong once with this stuff.
Pete
 
I have read all about handling rattlesnakes and I'm sure I can do it.

I have driven for 65 years and know how to drive at speed. I'm sure I can drive my Dodge pickup at 120 miles an hour.

I am an amateur juggler and I can juggle most anything. I'm sure I could juggle 8" chainsaws.

I can load 5 in a 6 shot revolver, spin the cylinder, stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger.
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NOZ>> Here is the problem with nonsensical noise such as this: even if you do happen to make a valid point somewhere within all this prattle, I'd probably miss it because of everything else. What's more, it's really difficult to respect even a valid point you might make when you come up with this kind of reply.

I can make my own black powder.

But I don't!

If that makes me a cowardly wuss in your opinion then so be it.
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Since you obviously didn't read my post directed to you before but instead decided to get huffy at the notion someone called you to the platform on an obvious drive-by post, I'll repeat myself.
If you aren't comfortable with that level of experiment for you, no problem--don't bother. But don't fuel gossip and false-facts.

There is a reason that all black powder is made in facilities that use robotic labor and each stage is widely seperated from all the others.
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Yes--primarily for mass-production reasons. But I'm sure there is an insurance clause and liability factor involved in there somewhere. ;) Last time I checked, my shop isn't exactly set up to produce several tons of BP per day--but I handle a pound or two at a time rather well. With all due respect--Please--either contribute something useful to the discussion on whichever side you want to support, or simply move along. Making noise does not substantiate an argument.
 
There is a reason that all black powder is made in facilities that use robotic labor and each stage is widely seperated from all the others.
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Yep. It's called V-O-L-U-M-E. And volume = increased danger.
I only made maybe half a cup of mediocre chemistry set type black powder (not granulated) as a kid, but I can't imagine why making half a pound at a time using the proper methods would be such a fright. I take it the ones who keep posting all the scare comments have never made any BP...ever. Am I close to being right?;)
 
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