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Gunpowder Making

Gunpowder, also known as black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate that has been used since the 12th century for fireworks and as a propellant in weapons. It is not very efficient or safe for use in modern weapons. The usual mixture consists of 75 parts potassium nitrate, 15 parts charcoal, and 10 parts sulfur. To make black powder, the ingredients are ground separately and mixed with boiling water before being dried. While it can explode, black powder is mainly used now for entertainment purposes in fireworks rather than destructive purposes.

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385 views2 pages

Gunpowder Making

Gunpowder, also known as black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate that has been used since the 12th century for fireworks and as a propellant in weapons. It is not very efficient or safe for use in modern weapons. The usual mixture consists of 75 parts potassium nitrate, 15 parts charcoal, and 10 parts sulfur. To make black powder, the ingredients are ground separately and mixed with boiling water before being dried. While it can explode, black powder is mainly used now for entertainment purposes in fireworks rather than destructive purposes.

Uploaded by

bombvoyarge
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Gunpowder or black powder is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and

potassium nitrate (saltpeter) that has been used since the 12th century for fireworks and later
as a propellent and explosive in weapons. It isn’t particularly efficient or safe for use in
weapons, plus it produces a lot of smoke, so black powder has largely been replaced for those
purposes by other compositions (e.g., pyrodex, shown in the photo), but black powder still
has its place in pyrotechnics and as a propellent for certain firearms. You should know how it
is made for historical reasons if nothing else. As with my ammonium sulfide stink bomb, if
you decide to try these instructions yourself, use proper safety precautions. Be advised that
the main problem with black powder is its tendency to ignite from static electricity. Keep this
in mind and only use wooden or clay tools (e.g., wooden salad bowl). Store gunpowder in
paper or cloth, never plastic (which may build up static).

Black Powder or Gunpowder Ingredients

The usual mixture consists of 75 parts potassium nitrate, 15 parts charcoal, and 10 parts
sulfur.

 75 g potassium nitrate (KNO3, saltpeter)


 15 g charcoal (ideally from burning the wood of a willow or linden, but other sources
work)
 10 g sulfur
 distilled water

Making the Black Powder

There are different ways to do this. One is to mix the dry ingredients in a ball mill (like a rock
tumbler) with lead balls (not steel! they can spark), run the ball mill about 2 hours, then filter
the resulting black powder through a strainer so that the lead balls are retained in the strainer
and the black powder is collected onto newspaper or cloth. The black powder is wrapped up
and stored in a cool, dry place until use.

Since not everyone has a ball mill, the most common way to make black powder yourself is
to do this:

1. Grind each ingredient separately until it is a very fine powder. I recommend using a
mortar and pestle for this, which you can get at any cooking store. If you are grinding
each ingredient using the same bowl, rinse it out when you switch chemicals.
(Traditionally you would add a little water or wine to dampen the ingredients and
grind them all together at once, but that’s unnecessarily risky, in my opinion.)
2. Boil your water.
3. Put the potassium nitrate into the bowl. Add just enough boiling water to thoroughly
wet it.
4. Add the sulfur and charcoal.
5. Stir the mixture for several minutes. It should be uniformly black.
6. Allow the mixture to air dry. This is usually done outdoors on a warm, sunny day.
Some people prefer to spread the mixture out onto newpaper to dry. Others mix in a
bit of alcohol to speed the evaporation of the water. You don’t want to over-dry the
black powder, since that will lower its effectiveness.
7. When your black powder is dry, wrap it in paper or cloth and store it until use. This
should be obvious, but don’t store it near heat or flame. If you make multiple batches
of black powder, it’s not a great move to store it all packed together.

Black powder is used to produce a loud ‘bang’ in fireworks and as a propellent. Yes, it can
explode, but so can a can of cola in your freezer. I’m not saying making it is risk-free or
smart, just that black powder is mainly used for entertainment purposes, not destructive
purposes. Now that you know how to make black powder, my next post will explain how to
make a basic firework using it.

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