That worked out quite well. Wonder if you'll see a spike in your power bill or meh.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

We will find out in a few weeks

@0neDoomedSpaceMarine

2 ай бұрын

@@Everythingblackpowder If you could get a good deal on a solar panel, maybe it'd be worth the expense to offset some of the energy costs of this little kiln over time. I mean, I like nuclear best, but that's a lot harder and more expensive to set up at home.

@twinengineer

2 ай бұрын

Depends if he's in California or not. lol

@steveshoemaker6347

2 ай бұрын

Hello Jeff.....Shoe🇺🇸

@patrickrose1221

2 ай бұрын

I wasn't watching these behind your back Jeff honest 😆🤣😂👍

This is the most informative channel I've come across with genuine quality and truthfulness that is helping thousands of hobbyists Great content Jake

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

"A Handbook of the Manufacture and Proof of Gunpowder as carried on at the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey" (Capt FM Smith, RA) 1870, goes into some detail regarding the charcoal they used and how it was made. Variables they would consider include: The type of tree. The age at which it is cut down. The season in which it is cut down. The size to which it is cut for drying. The stacking method whilst drying. The length of time it is left to dry. The removal of knots, bark and foreign material. The size to which it is cut for burning. The length of the burn. The temperature of the burn. The length of time the resulting charcoal stands before being ground. The size to which the resulting charcoal is ground. All of these (and similar for all aspects of the powder making process) were highly regulated to ensure excellent quality, reliable and consistent gunpowder. These skills have, of course, now been largely lost!

@0neDoomedSpaceMarine

2 ай бұрын

Well, blackpowder is still pretty straightforward, so I think that rebuilding this knowledge won't be hard at all, old works like those give helpful pointers still.

@robertstallard7836

2 ай бұрын

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Whilst black power itself is pretty straightforward, making consistent, reliable black powder on a commercial basis (as they did in the 19th Century) is not easy to achieve. Believe me, people spent their lives perfecting it. It's an art as much as it is a science! Most of the stuff you see today isn't a patch on the original.

@anatolygrishin4234

2 ай бұрын

Interesting enough, black powder development didn't stop in 1870. There was great deal of research in BP improvement as rifle calibers decreased, which demanded increasing velocity. 1891 Mosin-Nagant was initially designed for black powder and heavy lead bullet. The French came up with improved BP called "Lesmoc" at about the same time. But a few years later smokeless became practical, and that ended the BP era.

@michaelpriest6242

2 ай бұрын

​@anatolygrishin4234 The Mosin/Nagant was actually the 1st battle rifle designed for smokeless. Several, including the British Enfield, spanned the transition.

@dorisjohnson8857

2 ай бұрын

I believe the French Lebel of 1886 preceded the Mosin/Nagant of 1891 by almost 5 years DJ@@michaelpriest6242

Alright. Now, you are getting down to brass tacks. I believe there is more to the type of carbon used in Black powder as you have already demonstrated in previous videos. Firstly, what role do all three components play in ignition. What role does carbon play. Take the Cottonelle and balsa wood carbon, which has proven to be the best, and attempt to determine why they work so well. This might lead to something even better.

@davefellhoelter1343

2 ай бұрын

MEEE! TOOO! and I have time to look. my last test is my first test, to leave zero residue at ambient atmosphere with no AMP Smell?? turning my fouling residue into a wet nitric acid rich rusting soup. this batch is AS Dry as a popcorn phart at 65% humidity 6 days outside. 3:2:5 clean and dry at batching. now I will test on raw carbon steel.

@bakters

2 ай бұрын

" *type of carbon* " Well, there are three isotopes and two allotropes (not counting fullerenes). He's using graphite and C12. I mean, you can't use the word "scientific" in the title and not expect those kinds of comments. That's my excuse, at least... ;-) BTW - Apparently, I am fun at parties.

Just love the authentic way you guys work stuff out, experiment, admit your mistakes, learn from them, try again. The subject matter is fascinating anyway. But your attitude and presentation make it compelling viewing.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

This is great! I believe the point of controlled charring is to make charcoal that is undercooked to a certain degree. Charcoal made at lower temperatures for a limited time has chocolate to brown color, and it ignites at lower temp compared to fully charred stuff. I've read somewhere that at the pinnacle of black powder development, a certain grade of brown charcoal yielded the highest round velocities. To make brown charcoal, the process has to be terminated BEFORE smoking has ended. If it is taken to the no-smoke stage, I see no difference between controlled kiln and fireplace methods. In my experiments with convection baking oven I found that temperatures as low as 400F are enough to fully carbonize wood. Stopping the process at various time points allows obtaining various degrees of intermediate charring. Another variable to control is puck's specific gravity. In Russia there were two grades of hunting black powder: standard "regular" and higher grade "choice". "Choice" had lower specific gravity of 1.6 - 1.65 compared to 1.7 - 1.75 of "regular". A couple of technical suggestions. 1} Use thermostat so that you don't have to control temperature manually. 2) Light up the exhaust to flare pyrolysis gas and avoid smoke. Keep the good work!

@0neDoomedSpaceMarine

2 ай бұрын

This is an exciting venture, some of the best guntube content today.

@1kreature

2 ай бұрын

There will still be a difference as the volatiles that need 600c+ to cook off will not have been lost when you control the temp like this. Those wonderful documents online collating all the data on black powders and pyrolysing show some interesting properties that he can now control.

@DH-xw6jp

2 ай бұрын

​@@1kreature If it isn't hot enough to vaporize and cook off the volatiles, does that mean they are still in the charcoal? And do you think it will provide a bit of extra oomph, or just increase fouling?

@1kreature

2 ай бұрын

@@DH-xw6jp Studies on black powder has shown that the right volatiles left are important for ignition temperatures and "power". That is why this is so exciting! In general it does appear that too high cook-off results in hard to ignite powder while too low leads to fouling. The problem is we have already see hard to ignite powder with massive fouling so there is more to it.

@DH-xw6jp

2 ай бұрын

@@1kreature that makes me appreciate what he is doing even more. If he can narrow down the "perfect" powder that is achievable at the home shop level. Oh boy.

This is fantastic. I love watching normal people science. You don't have a high tech lab, or a million dollar budget, but you have a knack for explaing and a desire to teach. This sort of thing and experimental archeology (which this might fit) are some of my favorite content. (Still holding out for mushroom propellant)

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Fellas, I first off want to say that I love your videos! They've been a big inspiration to me to get back into the pyrotechnic arts, which I hadn't touched since I was an amateur rocketeer as a teen. It had never occurred to me back then that the powder I made for my engines would work just as well in a muzzleloader until I saw your videos on doing just that. I followed your guide on pucking and granulating and tried it out with my dad, who only ever used Pyrodex. Big fun. These days, I use a cheap Amazon metal melting furnace for making charcoal. I just cut a piece of 2 inch steel pipe to the length of its crucible, welded a piece of plate to the bottom, and screw on a cap that I tapped for a compression fitting so I can run a smoke tube out the top of the furnace. It has a temperature controller that you can set and it will hold that particular temperature. You can buy same kind of controller as a module and add to it your kiln to get the same convenience and precise temperature control. Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to seeing how the cottonwood and bamboo perform!

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

@krockpotbroccoli65

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for turning me on to the furnaces Amazon sells. I won't be using one to make charcoal, but have been wondering how I'm going to smelt and recast the broken bronze rudder mounts for an old wooden boat I'm restoring. Now I have the answer.

simply amazing Jake I agree with the previous comments. As Far as I am concerned you are the authority on Blackpowder keep up the good work mate ,

Another great video. Always lots of interesting information and experimentation. It will be interesting to see if this can achieve "Cottonelle" level performance.

Best antique muzzleloading propellant channel on KZread! Thanks for the time and money you invest in this, and for sharing the results.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

I love the blame game comedy you two had 🤣😂 This is gonna be some epic "Charcoal Files" stuff down the road.

It's great to see you working out challenges one at a time. With the phenomenal successes you've had already, it will be interesting to see what progress you can make with the fine, fine tuning.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

That's definitely a great way to get your carbon done. Thank you for sharing this enjoyable and informative video with us six stars brother

Nice. Your testing will be much more reliable. One small improvement would be to buy a PID controller kit with a type K thermocouple and solid state relay. They're fairly cheap and easy to set up. By the way you could have made this whole thing out of ceramic wool. For your temp range even off the shelf rockwool would work (I've seen people make aluminium casting furnaces with the stuff). Would have been much easier and cheaper to work with. Would still make for a decent lid.

@minigpracing3068

2 ай бұрын

I was going to say a PID would be great for this, I think I still have my parts list if you are interested. How many amps did the heater draw? The way I built my PID is only good for about 15 amps.

@Aviator747a

2 ай бұрын

I am a day late to my PID comment. Oops! All well at least other people were thinking like I was. :)

@minigpracing3068

2 ай бұрын

@@Aviator747a I've been thinking about an electric cooker with PID to make charcoal. I already have a PID system built from my lead pot and powder coat oven, so to me it made sense. I was thinking of just wrapping the paint can with a heater, then wrapping rock wool around everything. Just need to stand the heater off the paint can to prevent a short. I haven't been looking for heaters yet, but the weather s getting nicer, so time to think about this. Hoping I can get away with about 800 watts of heat, need to do more research.

Your quest for perfection is admirabl!

Dang, I thought drilling a 2nd hole in the paint can lid and putting a lead thermometer in it and leaving it the whole time to monitor temperature and adjust gas grill accordingly was a breakthrough & cool: outdone again!!! Looked like a fun project, w a cool name and worked as designed. Well done once again!

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

@mfree80286

2 ай бұрын

@@Everythingblackpowder He's got a good point though, a second hole for the pyrometer would let you flare off your pyrolysis gas without fouling the thermocouple lead. OR... direct it onto the side of a square metal can full of cold water. That'll condense any vapor component and give you an idea how "dirty" the base component was by the size and type of stain/goo it leaves behind.

This channel has consistently provided the best info around on this subject,that alone makes it stand alone,but the quality of the comments have added so much to my powder production,thankyou so much.have still found thumb dia red popular,aged for 3 to 4 years ,at a low temp,still kind of brownish……not fully charred. makes the fastest and cleanest powder.this is a recipe from Workshop Reciepts. Circa 1864… best regards from nz

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Excellent. Thank you

@nihilnovumsubsole6334

2 ай бұрын

Could it be that at this point there are still sugars present in the wood which react with the KNO3 just like a sugar rocket motor?

Definitely a labor of love for black powder. 😉

I admire your dedication to improving the process of making black powder and your attention to being consistent and minimizing variables. You are the very definition of a scientist.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Entertaining and educational. Should not be this fun to watch. Keep up the pursuit of the best and people will want you to start a business of manufacturing it to sell

Been lookin forward to Cottonwood tests for a long time.

My mind is activated towards science.

You guys are getting higher precision all the time. And, two different materials for carbon source. Looking forward to next weeks video!

You guys do a great job at trying out new and inventive ways to make an old staple and I LOVE it! You give out great info, make good videos, and are not afraid to fail. Good on ya and great job!

As always, it was interesting. I am really interested in how the cottonwood works. It was supposed to be the carbon source of choice (and necessity) of the Confederate States in the Civil War. As you know it is also available in quantity here in the Southwest.

My wife has a ceramic kiln. It takes 6+ hours to get up to temp. Your kiln is working well. Takes twice as long to cool down since your rig is well insulated. I like your experiments. They are answering questions I have had for a long time. Thanks.

@Everythingblackpowder

Ай бұрын

Thank you

I appreciate your continuation of improving your method and sharing your results.

Excellent work! This is why I subscribed.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Derrick spinning that variac knob like Marty McFly in the opening to Back to the Future. Even sounds the same....results the same too.... Rock n Roll from KY

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

😂

You know you can light that smoke and it will burn like a ptopane torch until the organic vapors burn off thern the flame will go out. Then the chsrcoal is ready. Thanks for the video.

Can’t wait to see the next episode

Ty so much for bringing this passion back I look forward to checking this long right out soon

This is awesome! I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Excellent job Jake. 👍👌

Love your videos

I love your closing statement.

Very good!

Thank-You!

Outstanding

looks good hope it works

Awesome information. Thanks for the education.

You are just great!

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Have you thought about what your bp company will be called? Professor Jake, you do not disappoint! Thanks for another great video!

@kypparmstrong2775

2 ай бұрын

GOMAK. As in, If you don't like ours, GOMAK your own damn powder. 😂

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

😂

Thank you for the new video Jake that looks like it ought to work real good cuz that was some beautiful looking charcoal

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

That charcoals gonna be all that. Good job as usual gents. And thanks for the vid. EBP ROCKS!!!!

I'm following you on this. So far I've had to buy some 4" pvc + fittings, a v belt and one pulley, 40 1/2" balls (need more and bigger!😅). I'm in the process of milling ingredients and experimenting with the process. I have some experience with temperature and have many "artifacts" laying around as a result. I knew I'd find a use for it someday!

Very clean charcoal! Excellent work! 🤠

Well done Jake.

Another brilliant piece of work! Thanks for sharing mate, cheers.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Between ya'll and couple videos showing people building kit black powder rifle I got flintlock Hatfield 45 cal flintlock haven't shot it yet and haven't shot bp since early teens least this is a start ty guys God bless

WOW...again, lots of good usable information....great to watch and I am confident that you are going to nail this process also! Keep up this awesome testing!!

Interesting concept. It will be interesting to see how it works. Thanks for the video!

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Great idea. The charcoal looked good and uniform .

Fascinating stuff as usual! Very interesting to see what the best temperature ends up being.

Really beautiful experiment. Can't wait to see the results. Hat's off to you.

I own a heat treating company and build our high temp ovens. It was very smart to cage the bricks. As those bricks heat up and cool thy will crack. But if thy are constrained thy wont fall apart. If you have any questions about this let me know. I digitally control all my ovens with pid controllers. It’s a very easy set up and generally cheeper then a big varac

I can't wait to watch It. I love every one of your videos. You inspired me to buy a Kibler mountain rifle In 45 I loved it so much.I ordered a 36 caliber barrel and a 32 caliber barrel for it.Also thanks again.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

I'm excited to see how the cotton wood does. I actually got out my lyman flintlock out and got 8 rounds off before the ball got stuck. I hope I can make powder that can do better than the goex I was using.

Welcome to the club. You can expect 20%-45% volatile content by weight. I've not run this species in my lab so I don't know what you'll get. I suspect about 30% volatile content. You'll attain lower ignition temps, lower combustion temps and the higher volatile content offsets your fixed carbon and by way of this, offset the inert ash content which translates to more fuel by weight and less fouling. There's more chemistry involved too. A lot more. Like Ph.D worthy studies that one can venture into both in the charcoal and the powder made from it.

Very cool

bricks are mostly pumice . volcanic ash .might want to get some ceramic wool to help insulate the lid

Well I guess the next logical step in this charcoal journey is to figure out the best temp and time to cook at. Thanks as always for the interesting videos.

You should look into a PID and SSR to control the kiln/furnace. The PID turns the SSR (solid state relay) on and off to precisely control temperature. There is alot of info on setting them up with wiring diagrams online. You just have to make sure the SSR is rated for the amps of the heating element.

2 hours is good as different materials may need longer than cottonwood, but the parameters should stay consistent. Cool video.

Well i tried something couple of years ago and it seemed that work nice , I don't know if i found the fountain of youth but it's kids of weird! So i cut down some branches of whipping willow , i clean the knobs and the bark from them and i put them in thick salt in airtight container and i left them 2 weeks in them! After i take them out the water and the juices from the branches was absorbed from salt and they had a huge amount of weight loss! After that i take them for Charing in my paint can (2kg capacity ) and i put it in metal fountry (working with natural gas) and i set the temperature at 350° Celsius, and it was ready in less than half hour ! The end product was brownish charcoal evenly cooked fluffy and very brittle, the results was astonishing ! It was so damn fast and it was burnt in paper towel so quickly that the towel look like almost brand new like it never had burnt from black powder! I said again i don't know if that was luck or i find the way of top performance black powder but it was so good! You can try it jake and upload a video to show us the results! Nice education video !!

You scienced the crap out of that wood. Looking forward to seeing the results.

EBP: Wow! I are impressed! Seriously. Yer going 'all out' here to make the best 'muzzle loader propellent' and it is very interesting. Really looking forward to seeing the bamboo as if it works well that is an easy 'never ending' source.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Looking forward to seeing how the cotton wood works out.

well done

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

A month ago I wrote in a comment:.....Use a controlled carbonation temperature. And here it is.....😎..Great work boys. (The furnace could have been made from a small stainless steel beer keg. Filled with ceramic wool. Easy to carry and indestructible)

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Now you tell me. 😉

It’s like making your own still minus the moonshine LOL. Now you have antique propellent still. You did a great job Jake

I'm digging those safety flip flops around the shop. I got a pair I wear when I'm splitting rich pine kindling with a machete.

@benrobertson7855

2 ай бұрын

Yeh mate.I do all my splitting in slippers…have to say my son stabbed my razor sharp spade onto the ground,it hit a root and bounced back up,then down through his crocs through his foot between the toes,58 stitch’s later….he wired the croc back together and still wears them…..

Great video, as always. In my experience, the smoke during the pyrolisis can be avoided by lighting on fire the fumes, because they are quite flammable. They are composed usually of carbon monoxide (poison!), hydrogen and traces of methane.

Maybe try a water trap on the exhaust? A length of hose to a bucket so that no air can be drawn back but it can exhaust.

Awesome kiln! I wouldn't have bothered with the variac. Just hook it up to a cheap on-off thermal controller and set required temp then let it do it's thing. You can even get em with time control so you can have it shut down after it is done cooking.

Where my Grandparents used to live in the Adirondack Mountains here in NY, it's now a ghost town, when they lived there they mined titanium dioxide, but back in the 1840's they mined iron ore, and besides the huge blast furnace there were charcoal kilns, really big ones. I've always been fascinated with those things and how they put out the charcoal.

Another great episode. This is a great application of the scientific method. I dub thee the energetic propellant scientist. Or garage scientist. Or BP Scientist.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

I’ve been called The Sultan of sulfur. The Chancellor of charcoal. The Knight of nitrates. The Friar of fouling and The Baron of Black Powder.

Might be worth integrating a PID controller instead of the variac to keep the temperature more consistent. Johnny's Reloading Bench had a design intended for lead melting pots that could probably be fairly easily adapted.

Awesome stuff! If you put the same type of brick as lid, will be even better isolated

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

I bet it would

That's hardcore!

Ok, close to what I want to see. This is what I want. The best TP, all the same batch. Real control of temperature, I suggest you insulate the box(fiberglass with foil wrap) and put in heat sinks (large steel bars in corners work well). Heat it up and run batches at a fixed temp in 15 minute intervals. I would particularly like to see it pre smoke stopping. Then mill and strain to a set size. Please?

I like this idea. It's like roasting steaks to certain standard.

Very nice! I think you could go for a tougher lid though, something like a frame holding a layer of those bricks would keep it cozy =)

I’ve been shooting blackpowder exclusively for the last few years and have been looking into making my own powder. (Cannot find it anywhere around here, pyrodex mostly and triple 7 IF you’re lucky). Love the videos and the presentation, very informative.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you

Good video

Cottenelle in the new kiln, please. Would love to see the performance. Thanks for all you do. By the way......I've never heard of her either.

This is getting very interesting indeed, i am very grateful for your always top content i have followed the coal making process and i was wondering if you have tried the aspen wood kind of resembles the balsa wood a little bit i think lots of it where i live i cant remember if you have done this. keep up the good work and thankyou for your effort.

I think basswood will make a good carbon source. Definitely give that a try. It's a light wood, not as light as balsa but lighter than pine. It's actually close to the light grain of the pine but way softer that the dark grain of pine. I'd gladly send you some if you have a PO box I can send it too. I use it for whittling 👍

Nice, been considering something similar. You could get another few bricks and lay them on top after you put on the metal and might speed up some more. ;)

The smoke coming out is probably flammable. Lighting it with a match might get rid of it, just make sure there’s no way for fire to spread or for carbon monoxide to build up.

It's alive...it's ALIVE! LOL Great video, very interesting and well done.

it would be interesting to compare velocities using the same material for charcoal using old method vs new method. The amount of control you have now SHOULD result in a cleaner burn using the same carbon source material.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

We will do that

@benrobertson7855

2 ай бұрын

Great,this is what we are hitting the table for.thanks so much.

Awesome, can wait to see the results. A suggestion. You love the balsa based black powder. Why to do a head to head comparison?

You can power it up with a SSR based temperature controller and a k-typed thermocouple. It will be much easier to operate. Looking forward to see outcome of this test.

I really enjoy all this testing and the attention to detail, science and consistency across the board. Its awesome. Keep up the great content. I am curious though. What do you do for work in your real life. I am a fish farmer. Raising hatchery trout for the Province in Alberta Canada. Thanks again.

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you. I own and operate

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

Thank you. I own and operate a mechanic garage

The best choice is a muffle furnace. There you can program heat treatment modes

That’s really cool, I wonder if the pid controllers for lead pots could be adapted

@Everythingblackpowder

2 ай бұрын

That’s what Derek tells me

I like where this is going. Try running some rolls of cottonelle through the kiln at different temps and times to establish a performance baseline to compare all the rest? Be a bit of time and labor but worthwhile.

I have and use a similar oven. I use mine for heat treatment of steel during knife making. I do have a question for you. I have used cooking pellets from my pellet smoker.specifically used the pitboss competition blend and it seems to be very consistent and clean shooting