How do they make black powder?

You mix charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter in a bowl (need the formula?) with a wooden spoon and add enough water to it til it's a thick, doughy mass. You then take that thick paste and roll it out as thin as you can get it with a rolling pin or a wooden rod/dowel onto a long sheet of aluminum foil. Lay that out in the sun to dry. When it's dry and crumbly, you break it into bits and strain it through some window screen to get your grains the right size. Any left over dust/too fine grains, rewet it with water and start over again.How do they make black powder?
black powder is a mixture of saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur. gunpowder is a generic term which can refer to either black powder or smokeless powder. the two are not interchangeable by the way. most firearms are designed to use one or the other.How do they make black powder?
Now, now! Hands off that stuff!


Remember, remember, the 5th of November...
Black Powder was manufactured throughout history in the United States, by combining Potassium Nitrate (Salt Peter) , Ground Charcoal and Pulverized (Powdered) Sulfur..Historically it was made in a wooden drum or barrel that was mounted horizontally on a frame and had a wooden rod centered thru it so it would ';Tumble'; and spin with the turn of a hand crank or motor. The ingredients were added along with several pounds of small pure lead shot,(used to grind the gunpowder because lead didn't produce sparks or static electricity) then tumbled until all of the ingredients blended together and were uniform in texture. The longer the mixture tumbled...the finer the powder would be.





Black Powder is NOT just another name for Gunpowder.





Modern smokeless powders are made in a completely different manner..........
Randkl got it right, as the dry method does not make the grains you see in a jar. This is only for what is traditionally known as black powder, and there are several substitutes you can buy which are easier to clean up after a range session. Don't try making it yourself, as the amounts of each weren't given, and if you get the formula off, you might kill yourself.
By grinding and mixing saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal, and sulphur. Soft metals such as brass are used for grinding to the required fineness as these do not give off sparks.





See web link for more on the technology
black powder is just another name for gunpowder.
I could tell you ingredients but i don't know what you're going to do with it so there!

blushed