Cons about making homemade blackpowder

[JCT]

In that case, the BP self confines but I don't think it is capable of anything other then propagation, in the sense that it's a deflagerent, it burns and doesn't detonate. It may burn fast, displace air and even make a shockwave, but it's not even close to being a high explosive. It's simply a fuel / oxidizer mix.....



"It was mentioned BP will not explode unless confined but that is incorrect. BP has a critical mass of just over 500 pounds which means it will explode and create a shock wave with a tremendous BOOM with no confinement at all!"

 

[Bluehawk]

BP is a low explosive (subsonic)...has never been claimed to be a high explosive.
Concerning MythBusters...the Gorn cannon did NOT fizzle...it blew up in a huge cloud of smoke killing "KirK" and the "Gorn".
See the video at high speed showing shrapnel hitting the Gorn and the "cannon" exploding as well as a view of "Kirk" next to the gun when it exploded!

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-gorn-cannon-high-speed.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-gorn-cannon-angle-1.html

 

[JCT]

I think it was the government who threw it in the group of low explosives sometime in the 1970's for whatever reason. That's what gave way to substitutes like Pyrodex since BP's new classification came with shipping and storage restrictions...I bet that reason alone is the only reason subs even exist since BP outperforms, is more reliable, ignites easier, cleans up easier, lasts longer..etc etc
Back on topic, I can't think of a single "con" of making my own BP, maybe the black hands after screening it....but it's worth having an unlimited supply of hot clean powder that costs me about $4 a pound.

 

[scrat]

Concerning MythBusters...the Gorn cannon did NOT fizzle...it blew up in a huge cloud of smoke killing "KirK" and the "Gorn".
See the video at high speed showing shrapnel hitting the Gorn and the "cannon" exploding as well as a view of "Kirk" next to the gun when it exploded!

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/myth...igh-speed.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/myth...n-angle-1.html

In CORRECT WRONG NOPE I DONT THINK SO.
What your watching in those videos is when they switched to Goex black powder. They each tried to make black powder but they were not doing it correctly. At best they had a bunch of meal dust. What they did was take the ingrediants and just use a mortor and pestal and grind to a find dust and mixed them together. there was not a wet process or any corning. As what was found over 300 years ago. The best way to make black powder is with either a mill which was not common at the time or by using urine, water or alcohal to mix the black powder. This actualy binds the black powder better making for a better grade of black powder than meal dust. By corning the black powder when slightly wet then letting the powder dry for a couple of days makes for a more powerfull powder. The other problem they had was that they were not using any kind of method on figuring out the correct weight of each so they did not have idealy a 75:15:10 ratio. Re watch the full episode not just the videos on youtube

 

[Bluehawk]

If I'm incorrect please show a link to the full episode.

 

[scrat]

You are wrong there are no videos that i know of. Its obvious that you have not seen this episode. it is on the discovery channel. so if you do your homework and see when you can catch a rerun of the episode you will see your error. dont worry about appoligizing

 

[scrat]

Here is your proof read it all. ONCE again the powder they made did not work. if you watched how they made it you would know why. the pictures show when they lit thiers. all it did was smoke.

http://trekmovie.com/2009/12/29/mythbusters-take-on-star-trek-gorn-canon-recap-w-pics-video/

To test the ‘myth’ of the Gorn Cannon, Grant and Tory tried to see if you could mix your own gunpowder by hand bye eyeballing Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal, and Sulfer (they also did some Kirk v Picard debating). And Jessi Combs tested if you could build an actual cannon with bamboo. Eventually, after 33 tries, they found a good mix of gunpowder and a bored out piece of bamboo (although power tools were used for that). However, in the end (and testing with a real cannon) the hand mixed version of gunpowder was not explosive enough, it would only fizzle.

 

[Bluehawk]

I stand corrected!
This statement is totally false though:
"As sad as I am to say, since this is my favorite episode of Star Trek, this one is busted. You cannot make home-made black powder strong enough to launch the projectiles, and even if you could, the bamboo would not be strong enough to contain the explosion."

Bamboo "cannons" were made and used at one time and even today paper tube mortars are used to launch firework shells ...repeatedly...even in professional displays! It's simply a matter of judicious powder charge! (1-oz BP FFA/shell weight per pound, rule of thumb...about the same for FG)
As I mentioned earlier...dry-mixed gunpowder was once used sucessfully...long before "corning" was invented!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Nitrates for oxidizer
Charcoal (carbon) for primary fuel.
Sulfur to ease ignition and act as binder and secondary fuel.

WHB Smith writes about early gun powder having to be remixed before use (the true dry mix powder powder).

Another reference described a wooden cannon made from a log, which Mythbusters tried to replicate: the Mythbusters bored a hole in a log for the barrel and had great difficulty doing it. The orginal middle european town cannon was made by splitting a log, grooving both sides for the bore, and binding the halves together with iron hoops to make a cannon barrel, literally. A lot easier than what the Mythbusters tried to do. Inside diameter was maybe three inches and outside diameter two feet or more. The powder used was probably the true powder, with nitrate, charcoal and sulfur mixed on the spot.

 

[JCT]

not sure if it was mentioned....but commercial grade powder ( as in GOEX Fg's....) gets pressed to a density of 3.7g/C3.......I don't press mine and it works fine because I can fit 28 grains in weight into a 45lc case and about 40 in my Dragoon...plenty and a good accurate load.