Instead of trying to keep everything super dry, you can actually add water to it while milling it, which also allows you to use more easily accessible steel balls to do it. Then all you need to do is spread it out on a cookie sheet or similar and let it air-dry in the sun or similar. I can't quite remember what this technique is called, but it was one of the great improvements in black powder technology as regular black powder has a tendency to separate into its constituent layers if left for too long, but by wet-mixing and then drying this issue was completely eliminated.
It's called corning. The usual process it to dampen the powder, then compress into large hard chunks. After it dries, it's then ground fairly coarsely and sifted into different grain sizes for different purposes
Yes, corning (name actually comes from a brining method for cured meats like corned beef). Pressing the slurry through different mesh sizes gives different burn rates and your powder rating, eg ffg, fffg etc.
Thank you you might of saved my life. I've watch several vids on powder making. No one mentioned using lead balls. I would of used my steel ball. It could of been a disaster . You prevented that by caring enough to mention that detail. Thanks again.
HI, I was making black powder about 50 years ago, my stuff wasn't very reactive until I read that Dupont used willow charcoal and added the mix that you described into wooden barrels with water and round stones and milled for a week (much safer with distilled water or alcohol), alcohol and water will stabilize most oxidizers allowing them to be mixed safely while in suspension. I liked alcohol because it dried faster. then spread the mix on a sheet to dry in the sun. It becomes very reactive then to the point of being percussive. Rember mom says don't blow yourself up! Rich
I believe it is more about getting the KNO properly mixed into the charcoal and sulphur. If it was only about surface area, then you could have done the milling before the mixing.
@@Tjalve70 I’d definitely say that the homogenous nature of the powder after milling would increase reaction rate, but I’d also say that by grinding it down further with the mill (increasing the surface area) the reaction rate is greatly increased as more molecules are exposed to react with.
@@SpasticSpelunker Of course grinding it down further would increase the reaction rate. But as I said, if that was the only (or the main) reason, then the milling could have been done before the mixing, and thus reduce the risk of an explosion while milling the mixture.
When I was a kid about 50 years ago, we used to make it using regular white sugar for carbon and just a match head to supply the sulpher. Never thought of trying to mill it. The reaction appeared to be similar to what you show in the video of the unmilled mixture.
Standard practice in a traditional gunpowder factory involved adding water during the milling process. It was obviously a very important part of the industrial process, because workers had to add water throughout their shift and were provided with one legged stools so that if they fell asleep they would fall over and wake up.
Brilliant. Man human beings are just as smart and dumb as we were 10000 years ago and beyond. It's amazing the more you research you start realizing if anything we are getting dumber. Especially how people just don't be knowing anything anymore
Well done! Never seen a better instruction. I used to mill it by hand, with water added when I was young. I'll try it with a ball mill ( about time, I'm 61 yo. now...)
I have been trying to find out how to make black power. And while I haven't found any proper recipes, what I have heard is as follows: You dissolve the KNO is as little hot water as is needed to dissolve all of it. And then you mix in the other powders. You then press out as much of the water as possible, and press the "dough" into a cake. This cake is completely dried, and then broken into pieces and milled into grains. And the grains are sifted in order to separate them into grain sizes. Apparently the size of the grains is important depending on what you're going to use it for. If used for cannons, the grains are supposed to be bigger. If used for long guns, the grains are supposed to be medium. And if used for pistols, the grains are supposed to be smaller. I believe this is supposed to correspond to how long time it takes to push the projectile out of the barrel. Since what you want, is for the black powder to keep burning and producing gas until the projectile has left the barrel. So larger grain sizes will burn slower, and smaller grain sizes will burn faster. If the powder burns too fast, you will have too high pressure at first, and too low pressure as the projectile is leaving the barrel. This will either result in danger of the gun exploding, or in reduced power from the gun, depending on how much black powder you use. If the powder burns too slow, you will have the powder still burning after the projectile has left the barrel, which is wasteful. This will either result in you spending a lot more black powder than you need, or in reduced power from the gun, again, depending on how much black powder you use.
For charcoal sourcing, you could buy artists' charcoal. It can purchased as sticks or powder and it's often made from Willow Trees (One of the best woods to use in black powder). The biggest issue would be the price, but that's really only a concern if you are looking to make large quantities
Another channel, "Everything Black Powder" made charcoal from toilet paper, minus the cardboard tube. Small fibers of wood, cleaned of impurities.... seems like a good idea...
Really? Does it work even without manual milling? Like just water then drying and it's okay? If yes that makes it insanely easier. Thanks in advance @@cvdheyden
Slight addition here, the sulphur also acts as an stabalizer as in south africa they used to have a version of it called "biskruit" which was very unstable because they did not have sulphur in it.
the wood makes a difference for the charcoal. using something like willow, which is found in pretty much every place in the US, or perhaps something soft like poplar or cottonwood does it make it burn faster. But I have also gotten away using hardwood charcoal, it just burns a bit slower and requires more time milling to work properly.
@@thatguychris5654 My guess is that pine would not be great, since it contains a lot of tar. But I guess you could make it work by simply spending more time on carbonizing it, and of course leaving the residue behind. But that being said, I would assume the softer and lighter the wood is, the easier it would be to mix it. So I would assume balsa would be the best choice. However, I'm just guessing.
I am glad I can buy both sulfur and nitrate 99% pure in my country 😂 Also I have done with my friends gunpowder in mortar and pestle that burns fast as hell... We mixed everything in water, grinded it couple of times and granulated it with pure alkohole 😅
Pretty cool process. It's like that old show in the 1990's how things work. I don't remember the name. But it would show factory processes and other construction things. 👍👏👏👏
Tried to make gunpowder when I was a child in the 60's. Back then the drugstore would sell me potassium nitrate. Of course all I had where the ratios and nothing about the process. I tried (!)
hey Ayden, thanks for your video! I heard many people put the pottasium nitrate in an oven to remove moisture from the chemical, is that a necessary step? do you do it yourself?
Milling massively increases the surface area of material and thus it has far more material to react quickly. You can see the same thing attempting to burn coarse milled flour as opposed to superfine.
Now I understand how some of the German firecrackers I have are pretty loud and have black powder in them. Seems to burn almost as fast as flash powder.
I'd recommend buying some alumina ceramic milling media. But cylinders, not balls. That will reduce your milling time as there is a greater surface area.
look for fertilizer additives or saltpeter (water softener, meat tenderizer, drain cleaner, etc.)... potassium nitrate is a saltpeter (but not the only nitrate called saltpeter)... Just giving some suggestions to point you in the right direction to finding sufficiently pure potassium nitrate. You may need to experiment to find your purest source. The recipe for black powder is nearly the same as the recipe for "rocket candy" the homeade fuel for toy rockets... if you have a rocketry club or amateur rocket club (those are not the same thing) in New Zealand, they could probably point you in the right direction. Best of luck mate.
I've always done it dry. It is definitely possible to mill it with water or alcohol. The problem is that you would need to dry it very carefully, like in the sun, since you don't want direct heat too close to a bunch of gunpowder. I am going to test wet milling in a few months.
I'm not 100% sure, but I want to say that you can use a gasifier to catch the wood-gas and make the charcoal. I would have to double check my books to make sure.
If I have understood this correctly, a gasifier is something that lets the fuel burn with very little oxygen, in order to produce CO (carbon monoxide). If you want to make charcoal, you want to heat it up with NO access to oxygen. If that is possible to do in a gasifier, then it should work quite well, yes.
Hi mister atf agent I was definitely just watching for educational purposes and was totally not intending to make it I was definitely just watching for fun
First, TH-cam recommended me "How to Make a Fuse." Next, "Detonator." Now, it's recommending me "How to Make Blackpowder."
Me too! Weird. All I do is watch drawing and StarWars videos.
The algorithm has spoken.
💣
It’s a sign
You know your calling
Link i need it fast give me link i give you link to make battery bombs in exchange want ?
God damn it I'm in a watchlist now
LMAO
If you havent been on a watchlist for years already youre not doing life right.
@@chrisnotyou yeah but the last few years I've been trying to stay off those things, you know?
Femboy ass thinks blackpowder something hot.
😂😂
Instead of trying to keep everything super dry, you can actually add water to it while milling it, which also allows you to use more easily accessible steel balls to do it. Then all you need to do is spread it out on a cookie sheet or similar and let it air-dry in the sun or similar. I can't quite remember what this technique is called, but it was one of the great improvements in black powder technology as regular black powder has a tendency to separate into its constituent layers if left for too long, but by wet-mixing and then drying this issue was completely eliminated.
That's an interesting idea. I will try that.
@@AydensWorkshopthat's what I do when making BP, mix it wet then let it dry in the sun (though I use rubbing alcohol rather than water)
It's called corning.
The usual process it to dampen the powder, then compress into large hard chunks. After it dries, it's then ground fairly coarsely and sifted into different grain sizes for different purposes
@@johncochran8497 Yeah, that. Good stuff.
Yes, corning (name actually comes from a brining method for cured meats like corned beef). Pressing the slurry through different mesh sizes gives different burn rates and your powder rating, eg ffg, fffg etc.
Thank you you might of saved my life. I've watch several vids on powder making. No one mentioned using lead balls. I would of used my steel ball. It could of been a disaster . You prevented that by caring enough to mention that detail. Thanks again.
HI, I was making black powder about 50 years ago, my stuff wasn't very reactive until I read that Dupont used willow charcoal and added the mix that you described into wooden barrels with water and round stones and milled for a week (much safer with distilled water or alcohol), alcohol and water will stabilize most oxidizers allowing them to be mixed safely while in suspension. I liked alcohol because it dried faster. then spread the mix on a sheet to dry in the sun. It becomes very reactive then to the point of being percussive.
Rember mom says don't blow yourself up!
Rich
Yeah! Nice comment, I did something like that when I was young
What alcohol did you use?
@@leohellstrom9222 I use anhydrous ethanol，Ithink it very good
Hydrogen Peroxide is even better than alcohol or water.
WE GETTING RAIDED WITH THIS ONE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥
Fellow rust player
yum yum beancan grenade
Real chads hammer down the doors while the opposing team is online
next video how to make rocket
Forill
The milled vs non milled black powder is a great example of greater surface area = a greater reaction rate.
I believe it is more about getting the KNO properly mixed into the charcoal and sulphur. If it was only about surface area, then you could have done the milling before the mixing.
@@Tjalve70 I’d definitely say that the homogenous nature of the powder after milling would increase reaction rate, but I’d also say that by grinding it down further with the mill (increasing the surface area) the reaction rate is greatly increased as more molecules are exposed to react with.
@@SpasticSpelunker Of course grinding it down further would increase the reaction rate. But as I said, if that was the only (or the main) reason, then the milling could have been done before the mixing, and thus reduce the risk of an explosion while milling the mixture.
Only 618 subscribers? This dudes about to blow up (like black powder) 😂
And bro did in fact blow up
When I was a kid about 50 years ago, we used to make it using regular white sugar for carbon and just a match head to supply the sulpher. Never thought of trying to mill it. The reaction appeared to be similar to what you show in the video of the unmilled mixture.
Icing sugar's extremely fine, no need to mill that.
This is probably the best black powder tutorial I’ve seen
Atleast now I know how to survive an apocalypse with a musket, I'll just name it Guts and Black Powder
I think someone made a game about this!
@TheCrustimusticusDid they actually? I’d love to play it
They didn't make a game about this, this comment is a reference to the game.
@@MrBaconIsReal_0 thanks🙏
Standard practice in a traditional gunpowder factory involved adding water during the milling process. It was obviously a very important part of the industrial process, because workers had to add water throughout their shift and were provided with one legged stools so that if they fell asleep they would fall over and wake up.
Brilliant. Man human beings are just as smart and dumb as we were 10000 years ago and beyond. It's amazing the more you research you start realizing if anything we are getting dumber. Especially how people just don't be knowing anything anymore
Well done! Never seen a better instruction.
I used to mill it by hand, with water added when I was young.
I'll try it with a ball mill ( about time, I'm 61 yo. now...)
I have been trying to find out how to make black power. And while I haven't found any proper recipes, what I have heard is as follows:
You dissolve the KNO is as little hot water as is needed to dissolve all of it. And then you mix in the other powders. You then press out as much of the water as possible, and press the "dough" into a cake. This cake is completely dried, and then broken into pieces and milled into grains. And the grains are sifted in order to separate them into grain sizes.
Apparently the size of the grains is important depending on what you're going to use it for. If used for cannons, the grains are supposed to be bigger. If used for long guns, the grains are supposed to be medium. And if used for pistols, the grains are supposed to be smaller. I believe this is supposed to correspond to how long time it takes to push the projectile out of the barrel. Since what you want, is for the black powder to keep burning and producing gas until the projectile has left the barrel. So larger grain sizes will burn slower, and smaller grain sizes will burn faster.
If the powder burns too fast, you will have too high pressure at first, and too low pressure as the projectile is leaving the barrel. This will either result in danger of the gun exploding, or in reduced power from the gun, depending on how much black powder you use.
If the powder burns too slow, you will have the powder still burning after the projectile has left the barrel, which is wasteful. This will either result in you spending a lot more black powder than you need, or in reduced power from the gun, again, depending on how much black powder you use.
This is good for my science project ☺️
Underrated channel
Lots more exciting things coming up!
7:27 if possible use copper balls... The lead balls will shed lead into the powder, which you can inhale when burning the powder
Copper jacketed bullets also work if you can't find copper balls.
I believe that brass is the common material to use with explosives. Since it doesn't spark.
My question is, will it create sparks like he said?
@@zeRoyalBattalion just mix it with water yourself and dry it after
Use marbles instead.
For charcoal sourcing, you could buy artists' charcoal. It can purchased as sticks or powder and it's often made from Willow Trees (One of the best woods to use in black powder). The biggest issue would be the price, but that's really only a concern if you are looking to make large quantities
Another channel, "Everything Black Powder" made charcoal from toilet paper, minus the cardboard tube. Small fibers of wood, cleaned of impurities.... seems like a good idea...
Amazing! I loved the clarity of your explanation
That is actually a very good plack powder composition
🔥🔥💥💥💥 WE ARE GETTING OLD GUARD WITH THIS ONE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥
gee and beerers when there is grass in a video (san sebastian also has grass!!!)
Now i seen a guts & black powder user about to ruin this comment section
YESSIR💀💀💀💀💀💀🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩🌩
Instead of milling, you can also dissolve the nitrate in water and ad the ingredients then "dry" it again. Same effect.
how would you dry it again and how much water?
How much time would you dry it and how?
@azul_12 Well, I put it over night into a dry chamber 45 Celsius. That is enough normally.
Really? Does it work even without manual milling? Like just water then drying and it's okay? If yes that makes it insanely easier. Thanks in advance @@cvdheyden
Well im definitely on a list now
You were always on a list, there's just another addendum now.
@@genericalfishtycoon3853 well I'm trying to be on all of them
Femboy ass thinks black powder puts you on a list, how tf you call yourself an American?
Slight addition here, the sulphur also acts as an stabalizer as in south africa they used to have a version of it called "biskruit" which was very unstable because they did not have sulphur in it.
Now make a cannon with a metal pi-
My lawyer advised me to not finish it, as the ATF may bonk me with batons
I love how this got Brandon Herrera a channel strike, and 2 years later, they recommend this. Make sense 😬
this guy deserved a follow
Holy guacamole. This editing is insane
really nice editing
This is for science, I am not smart enough to make anything explosive, I don't know how I got here, but I will say this is cool
This helped me with my science project thanks
Glad to help
the wood makes a difference for the charcoal. using something like willow, which is found in pretty much every place in the US, or perhaps something soft like poplar or cottonwood does it make it burn faster. But I have also gotten away using hardwood charcoal, it just burns a bit slower and requires more time milling to work properly.
Would yellow pine work for this?
@@thatguychris5654 My guess is that pine would not be great, since it contains a lot of tar. But I guess you could make it work by simply spending more time on carbonizing it, and of course leaving the residue behind.
But that being said, I would assume the softer and lighter the wood is, the easier it would be to mix it. So I would assume balsa would be the best choice.
However, I'm just guessing.
Clearly explained! Thanks ;)
I am glad I can buy both sulfur and nitrate 99% pure in my country 😂
Also I have done with my friends gunpowder in mortar and pestle that burns fast as hell... We mixed everything in water, grinded it couple of times and granulated it with pure alkohole 😅
you can mix it with a couple sand blocks to make a tnt block
Great video just wanted to ask where to buy that ball mill and they can ship it overseas? Im from the Philippines
My school is gonna love this
Pretty cool process.
It's like that old show in the 1990's how things work. I don't remember the name. But it would show factory processes and other construction things. 👍👏👏👏
How it's made, modern marvels, and how do they do it are some of my favorites.
Great video mate!
Mill link please ❤ And if I keep it outside in an airtight jar, is that okay?
is there any way to alternate the milling?
Thanks for the knowledge. Now it's time for me to make the other things that u mentioned
Tried to make gunpowder when I was a child in the 60's. Back then the drugstore would sell me potassium nitrate. Of course all I had where the ratios and nothing about the process. I tried (!)
Great video my man
hey Ayden, thanks for your video! I heard many people put the pottasium nitrate in an oven to remove moisture from the chemical, is that a necessary step? do you do it yourself?
Black willow charcoal is supposedly the best and ceramic milling balls work great!
You are on a watch list nice you watch this video
Part of the slower combustion could be larger granules aswell
Can you make the charcoal underground instead of can
It is often better that the powder do not flash. Gunpowder is made in different grain sizes do control the burn speed.
Ayden, is it possible to grind the powder mixture not with balls, but in the same coffee grinder?
I totally needed this youtube
Milling massively increases the surface area of material and thus it has far more material to react quickly. You can see the same thing attempting to burn coarse milled flour as opposed to superfine.
i'm definitely being put on the list for this one
realest
I wonder how these ingrediants were sourced from the land in historic ages
If I ever get searched, this video in my history is the reason I'll be in jail.😂😂
So how did they mill back in the days without this contraptions
Now I understand how some of the German firecrackers I have are pretty loud and have black powder in them. Seems to burn almost as fast as flash powder.
Tucking this away for when I need to produce a means of defense
Try super dry, super fine saw dust, Aluminium powder, Sulphur and Amonium nitrate.
WHY ARE YOU ON MY RECCOMENDED IM NOT FIGHTING 100 SHAMBLERS
Interesting, saving this for later
Thanks mate. 😊
Great video but Instead of using stump remover could i just use pure pottasium nitrate?
i am watching this at 2 am At night And My Whole Room just Lit up with Light. straight Up flash bang😭💀
Well made 👍thank you
One thing i discovered when i tried to make birch pitch i filled it with roles of birch bark wich transformed to Graphite because we where 300C to hot
Here in Brazil it's super hard to get pure potassium nitrate. It's usually some fertilizer mixture with 43% potassium + a bunch of other crap...
Great thanks!
Can I also use Ceramic Balls for Milling ?
I'd recommend buying some alumina ceramic milling media. But cylinders, not balls. That will reduce your milling time as there is a greater surface area.
is there a substitute for potassium nitrate??
This will be VERY useful when the apocalypse finally comes and we won't be able to acquire smokeless powder
next on the chart:
How to Make a Musket (DIY)
Great video!
Ive found that getting stump remover is nigh on impossible now in NZ.
look for fertilizer additives or saltpeter (water softener, meat tenderizer, drain cleaner, etc.)... potassium nitrate is a saltpeter (but not the only nitrate called saltpeter)...
Just giving some suggestions to point you in the right direction to finding sufficiently pure potassium nitrate. You may need to experiment to find your purest source.
The recipe for black powder is nearly the same as the recipe for "rocket candy" the homeade fuel for toy rockets... if you have a rocketry club or amateur rocket club (those are not the same thing) in New Zealand, they could probably point you in the right direction. Best of luck mate.
I can buy 99.8% technical grade KNO3 for $8 for a 800 gram jar at my local hydroponic store.
Where i live the pure charcoal is in most stores the clayed ones are to fancy
Very interested and well made
Hey so does it require water when milling? Will it make it better/worse if I do/dont?
I've always done it dry. It is definitely possible to mill it with water or alcohol. The problem is that you would need to dry it very carefully, like in the sun, since you don't want direct heat too close to a bunch of gunpowder. I am going to test wet milling in a few months.
a question. Can lead balls be replaced with marbles?
I'm not 100% sure, but I want to say that you can use a gasifier to catch the wood-gas and make the charcoal. I would have to double check my books to make sure.
If I have understood this correctly, a gasifier is something that lets the fuel burn with very little oxygen, in order to produce CO (carbon monoxide). If you want to make charcoal, you want to heat it up with NO access to oxygen.
If that is possible to do in a gasifier, then it should work quite well, yes.
Hello. I watched another video where they added isopropyl alcohol? Would you recommend this?
i'm on a list 100%
Useful during apocalypse
Welp, you did the black.
Next time the white one! :3
who else thinkin this could be the best homemade flashbang
I wonder if high sap extremely Flammable heartwood pine would work better?
LETS GO GUYS WE BE MAKIN OUT SAN SEBASTIAN WITH THIS ONE OORAHHH
Great for my homemade flintlock pistol thx bro👍🗣️🔥🔥
Whst happens if you mix them both or add some Mg powder ?
How much does it cost for the materials? I’m planning on making replicas of the early Chinese black powder rockets and flamethrowers.
Very good information
Do one with zinc powder and charcoal. 50/50 mix. We used to call it, Blackjack powder.
Can you make a pellets form from this powder? 🎉
Hi mister atf agent I was definitely just watching for educational purposes and was totally not intending to make it I was definitely just watching for fun
Can you use aluminum balls except for lead ones? Lead is actually really hard to get in poland and especially balls.
will it burn if/while ingested? asking for a friend
What machine did you use to mill BP
Where did you buy the lead balls, and are there any different metal balls you wish you would have gotten?
wow! this is sickkk