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*********************Making Black Powder (Pulverone)*********************
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******************************By Mastermind******************************
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WARNING: This guide is for information only and it not meant as a complete guide. 

Any injury to persons or property as a result of this guide is not the liabilty of Pyrosummit.com

 
Intro:
A staple of the pyrotechnic industry, black power is a substance that has over the years changed the face of world. Never in human history has such a substance had such a profound effect on society.

DIRECTIONS:
 
You will need:

Charcoal
Sulfur
Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeter)
 

Where to obtain the chemicals:

Charcoal is availible in the form of briquettes for barbecues, or as sticks of "Artist's Charcoal".
Sulfur is availible from garden centers as "Sulfur Candles".
"Potassium Nitrate", "Saltpeter", or "Nitrate of Potash" is availible from chemical supply stores or as stump remover.
 

Tools you will need:

Mortar and Pestle
 

How it is made:

"True" black powder is made by mixing the three ingredients together in the correct amounts. They are ground to a very fine dust which is highly explosive. Different ratios of each ingredient result in different brun characteristics. 

Grinding all three ingrdients together is very dangerous. The best way to go about grinding the ingredients would be to grind up each individually and then mix them together (carefully) later. While this does not make "true" black powder, the mixture can be used for much the same projects. The mixture has much the same effect as true black powder but is less volatile; it is called Pulverone.

The three powder should be mixed in the following ratios:

 75% Potassium Nitrate
 15% Charcoal
 10% Sulfur
 

When mixing only use tools made of wood, glass, or stone. Mixing an explosive mixture with a metal object runs the risk of a spark setting off the entire batch.

To ensure your and others' safety, always remember to ignite any mixture remotely or with a time delay (ie: a fuse). Also when using quantites of an explosive mixture such a black powder, it is a good idea to use a blast shield. While I don't expect everyone who experiments with black powder to go out and buy an expensive professinal blast shield it is atleast a good idea to take cover behind something to avoid the possibility of shrapnel.

 

Refrence: "50 Model Rocket Projects For The Evil Genius" -- Gavin D.J. Harper