Making Blackpowder

Well, during school last year, we made black powder, then lit it off, as part of our chemistry class. We lit it in an open area, so there was no explosion, just rapid burning. So, I figured I'd put yet another black powder making tutorial on the web.

Another decent tutorial is available here, but I don't agree with some of the things they say. My biggest problem is when they say that simply mixing the ingredients together won't work. This is not true. If you grind the chemicals to around 100 mesh, then mix them together evenly, the mixture will ignite. We never used a ball mill in class, and ours worked quite well. A ball mill may or may not be better, but is not necessary.

You can mix the black powder with water, it will inhibit the reaction, but will not stop it from occurring. You could shape the wet mixture if you wanted. I've never tried.

Some important things:
First, I'm not responsible if you hurt yourself. I take no responsibility for what you do with this.

Second, don't be stupid. If you are reading this, thinking, "this is so confusing!", you probably shouldn't be making black powder. Remember, this is gunpowder (not smokeless, though). This stuff is dangerous.

Third, the finer you make this, the faster it will burn. Black powder is used in some fireworks, as a propellant to get the firework into the sky. That stuff is not very fine, if it were very fine, it would simply destroy the firework in the launch tube.
Finer = Faster burn time

Fourth, do not use metal to make this. A spark is very bad. Don't make this near open flames, or even very hot surfaces, to be safe. As a general rule for heat, if you can touch it (and leave your hand there), it's ok.

Fifth, read through the whole thing before you start making black powder. This rule applies to just about everything. Read through the whole thing before you start. Also, look through the MSDS sheets before you begin, especially the first aide procedures for the chemicals.

With all that behind us, lets get down to how to make black powder.

Here's what you will need:

Chemicals:
Carbon (Charcoal) (C) MSDS
Sulfur (Flowers of sulfur) (S or S8, I'm not sure) MSDS
Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeter) (KNO3) MSDS
MSDS is a Material Safety Data Sheet, and lists dangers associated with a chemical or compound.

Materials:
Mortar and Pestle
-They should be ceramic or stone, but NOT metal (Don't use wood either, the chemicals might not come out) (We used a ceramic mortar and pestle in my chemistry class)

-or-

Ball mill
-Use ceramic media, or non-sparking lead media. (no sparks)

-or-

Just buy the chemicals already in a powder, and don't crush them yourself. (100 mesh is good)

-or-

You could crush the materials yourself, but don't use metal to crush anything.

If you don't know what a Mortar and Pestle is, click here for a picture (taken from United Nuclear)
If you don't know what a Ball Mill is, click here for a quick guide and some pictures.

Containers for the chemicals
Apron (A good idea, powder tends to get everywhere)
Gloves (Not really necessary, we didn't use them in class, but latex gloves if you want some (Not bulky gloves))
A scale.

Alright, black powder is made using this proportion of chemicals by weight (all chemical formulas are measured by weight)
KNO3-------15 parts
S-------------2 parts
C-------------3 parts

This means that you could use 15 grams of KNO3, 2 grams of Sulfur, and 3 grams of Carbon.

Procedures:
1. Measure out the quantities of material that you will need (This doesn't have to be exact, you will make a more exact measurement later)

2. Grind up the chemicals (We did each separately, I have heard that you can grind them all together, I don't know if it works, or how dangerous it is. I wouldn't do it myself, and I wouldn't recommend it).

3. Put the powders into a container (Like a glass beaker), and mix them together using a splint or plastic spoon or some similar stirring implement. Again, don't use metal. Mix until there is only one color visible.

4. Clean out the containers that you used for the grinding, use water, then soap. If you are going to make another batch, this step is not necessary.

5. Light the stuff. If this is your first time, draw out a line (about an inch across) on the ground or a piece of metal (yeah, I know). Please, do this outside. Be careful, and don't be stupid and get hurt.

Do not attempt while inebriated.

Things I have heard:
Mixing all of the chemicals together will grind them together better. (Safety)
Mixing in water, then letting it dry, will make the mixture burn faster (Does the water bind the chemicals together?)

That's it. More might be added later. Might.

Insert Latin Here

Well, here it is. A blog. I'm liking the way Blogger works, it's pretty user friendly, but you can really get down to the code when you want to change things. It really is quite nice. Yeah, whatever. The wysiwyg format for editing is nice, since you get to hide the tags and all other assorted crud. Not that there is much, just a couple of formatting tags. Whatever.


I'm really starting to feel like apathy is an easy path to follow. If your friend asks you, "Hey, what should we do?", all you have to do is say something like this: "I don't really care. Got any good (bad) ideas?" Don't say, "I don't know, etc", because this makes you look a little stupid. Not caring is better than not knowing. At least at my age it is. Of course, to complete the effect, you may wish to describe a circle in the air between you and your friend, after he complains that you never have any ideas, and say "Shield of Apathy, man. Shield of Apathy". If he hits you, it isn't my fault. It just sucks for you.