Soon, "All of our tests are done at a ratio of 77 : 13 : 10, milled for 24 hours with brass balls to 3F, compressed to 1.75 g cm^-3, and our tests are run wearing overalls."
The thing about bamboo is that it grows very fast and can get out of hand quickly if you don't watch it. So it makes a nice renewable fuel, construction material, bow backing, and I guess charcoal for antique muzzle loading.
My dad planted bamboo in our backyard when I was kid. Wasn't long before it was showing up in our neighbors yard three houses down. I went back to the hood as an adult and noticed bamboo growing in yards half mile from our old house. I think I know where it came from, LOL.
The consistency of velocity is noteworthy. The clean burn is great. You almost need a graph showing a rating from 1 to 10 on velocity, cleanliness, velocity spread, etc. Just an idea. Great video as always.
I REALLY look forward to this one. I suggested bamboo charcoal to @Everything Black Powder based on how well and cleanly I have seen it burn as a fuel, so the episode may actually be because of me. I do hope it gives as good performance here. Of course, I may look like an idiot after. Anyone want to make bets?
@@vidard9863 , Untreated. I don't have a botanical variety. Just grown, cut and cooked. I never did a back to back comparison for like cooking in comparison to mesquite.
Bamboo is pretty high silica, but probably not many other major impurities. I wonder if that is the reason it's denser and less powerful but still clean.
Pure potassium nitrate is not that hygroscopic[“It is not very hygroscopic, absorbing about 0.03% water in 80% relative humidity over 50 days.” Wikipedia, if I read it right, a hundred grams would absorb 30 milligrams of water, less than one tenth the weight of aspirin in a single aspirin tablet!], but if impure, the salts that can be impurities (calcium nitrate, sodium nitrate, chlorides and sulfates) can be very hygroscopic, suck water out of the air and make your antique muzzle loading propellant wet and burn poorly. So the emphasis on purifying the potassium nitrate makes sense, not just because it is the major ingredient.
Drop a packet of active silica gel into your powder container. I use a envelope with plastic window so I can see if the gel is still blue (active), seal it with maskin tape. This keeps your powder bone dry
@@schinderiapraemeturus6239 Some expensive kitty litter is made from silica gel, so that might be a cheaper source than the packets. At a job I had, we used to buy clay desiccant packets. So cheap kitty litter might be fine, too. It's my understanding that silica gel can absorb more moisture, but clay desiccant can get things down to a lower humidity. I know of at least one guy who makes rocket fuel who uses calcium chloride for a dessicant. That's used in some ice melt products. I know the ice melt stuff I have around here is VERY hydrophilic, meaning that it sucks up water. One of these days I will probably have to bake the water out of some of it. If I'm not mistaken, some silica gel changes color depending on the moisture content, and some doesn't. I could easily be wrong.
That is incredibly interesting. With the hay sucking so bad, a more dense grass performing better is a little counter intuitive based on your other testing
That pyrolysizor was a hell of a good build. Your old method was probably fairly consistent but the Pyrolysizor removes the "probably" from it. You're going to have to go back and run a few of the previous tests with the new standard of charcoal production so you can determine if it changes the results and by how much.
For the pyrolisizer I'd look into getting a PID controller, which hooks on to a thermocouple which I think you have. It basically turns the machine on and off really fast in order to stay at the temperature you punch into it, vs wandering all over the place. You should be able to get +-10 degrees easy
@@samellowery I bought all the parts for a heat treat oven I've been trying to build, and I got everything for sub $130. I got a fancy controller that was $100, but I saw some for like $60 on Amazon
@@SiliconeSword I've been wanting to build a small kiln for porcelain painting and heating up moulds for metal casting myself I just haven't had the time to buy the parts and put it together to many projects
@@samellowery figuring out the heating coils has been the most important part, which is why I haven't gotten past buying all the parts lol. The tools for making knives probably won't pay themselves off in my situation, so I'm waiting until I can afford to blow 5K I don't care about
Bamboo has a lot of silica in it depending on where it's grown, significantly more than horsetail reed (which you might want to try). So you might want to check your bore for scouring.
0:10 well, i still would like to see coconut husk, unless i missed something. I really love this video format, there is so much that you could try out. Im pretty sure it will get a lot of attention in the near future.
Whoa! That worked infinitely better than my experiment! Mine was dirty and greasy. I used saved chopsticks from Chinese meals. Must have been the residual pork fat. I was stunned by that relatively clean patch. Good info. Thanks👍 Please do a video on the oven.
@Everything Black Powder About your kiln, instead of only one lengthy piece of resistive wire (your case), use several (I'd say nine, but you can do as much as you want) spread out throughout your kiln and mounted in parallels : you'll reach target temperature much faster, and the temperature will be more evenly distributed. Just beware that it will demand a lot more amps. about the whys : - resistive wires heat a lot more at its center - the lengthier the resistance (resistive wire), the higher the ramp up time. Cheers
post script; There is a reason pandas are lethargic and not very fecund, that being their diet. I wonder if this will be correlated (or not) by black powder made from it.
Nice! I would be willing to wager it’s your new charring method Jake. All the tec guys swear that is the Swiss secret to clean burning and correct moisture content powder. Well done on this and your other video!
Great video as always man. I wonder if it would ever make sense to mix charcoals when you like aspects of different types, like TP and bamboo for instance.
Thank you. From a retired aerospace engineer, I always learn something new/educational from your trials. Don’t know what you’ll try next for charcoal, but I look forward to watching it.
" ..it identifies as a pyrolicizer." lol that was great! just another reason this BP channel is my favorite. solid vid gents. Thanks! edit to add, I really gotta get me a .45 smr Kiblers.
As far as the sound goes, I was shooting my Pedersoli .32 Kentucky the other day, realized I didn't have my ear plugs, really didn't need them because 20 grains of 3F, setting off a percussion cap by itself was louder than that .32 flintlock. Sometimes with a quiet gun you just don't realize it. It's not like you're touching off a .30-06.
That was definitely some surprising results. Also for these denser charcoals they often do have the energy capacity but are sluggish and inefficient needing really really good confinement and or upping the charge to really get going. Again though how clean that was pretty shocking.
Top notch testing. Might not be the best powder in the world, but bamboo is much easier to get ahold of (and much quicker to grow) at reasonable price than some of the better preforming powders you have made.
I’m glad you made that kiln. The wood fire was your biggest uncontrolled variable. But I’m really curious about the fouling. The comment about the density of the charcoal and then the reduced fouling. I think it’s possible there’s something there. Maybe try upping the bamboo charcoal percentage and see what happens.
Again, awesome as always. Best damn B P instructions around PERIOD!! I've been waiting for this one. NOW, it's time to do the BAMBOO TOILET PAPER in the Pyrolisizer .... that would be great. Thanks again for another great video!!
Bamboo has a high silica content. "Bamboo is the richest known source of natural silica, containing over 70% organic silica..." Probably explains the density, and the lack of... "oomph".
I read the article. In context, that means 70% of the total silicon content of certain kinds of bamboo is organic silicon, the balance is inorganic (silicon dioxide). The highest total silicon content was 190mg per 100 g, which works out to less than 2% of the dry weight. If the charcoal yield is 40% weight, that could concentrate the silica but the organic silica boils off at 335 F so you're left with less than one percent silicon in the charcoal, by weight.
Interesting your comment about moisture in BP; if you get a hold of the patent for Pyrodex youll see that it intentionally incorporates 0.1-0.2% moisture for two reasons; this makes it far less likely to ignite from static discharge ( and thus it is classed differently by DOT for transport and shipping) and the water of hydration in the oxidizer makes a more sustained pressure gradient when burned, more of a plateau versus spike that is typical of completely dry straight BP. Good work as always Jake, sounds like bamboo is viable👍
Honestly if it's the bamboo that burns that clean that'd be huge. It grows faster and easier than weeds, making it an easy source of charcoal for "antique muzzle loading propellant".
Hangin juuuust a tad, but consistent fire and a really tight spread on velocity. This seems like it would be good for someone trying to get good at making powder before going to the cottonelle
One time I made charcoal out of apples in an Altoids tin in my forge. Idk how that'd do, but they had a rainbow looking iridescent look which was pretty cool
Wood fuel pellets - most use natural lignum to bind into a pellet Viva Signature cloth paper towels - they just have a feel to them that seems like a good candidate
It will be very interesting to see how the new charcoal magic does with some of the better charcoal sources like tp, etc. and maybe increase an old favorite like willow.
I just put my bamboo powder puck in the dryer when your video came out. Will test later this week. Bamboo was roasted over coals so might get an interesting comparison to your kiln method. I think either method is fine and the kiln has the advantage of making charcoal in the warm months. Several comments suggest blended charcoals. There is a historic precedent; look up US patent 381507.
Bamboo, what next? Quite amazing how clean. There are hundreds and perhaps thousands of varieties of bamboo. I would imagine that the species of bamboo used for stakes would be strong and more dense than some. May be some research about species would be in order but the availability would be an issue. Of course you could ask your fans to send bamboo from their areas. Here in SE Pa. I’ve seen groves of different varieties, some very thin to species 2-3”. In Florida there are many species. Just a thought. Kind Thanks and Many Blessings! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Wow, that patch was remarkable. Your pyrolisizer might be working some wonders. By the by, could you share the details of the powder flask you use and how it works? It looks a bit more handy than a powder horn. Thank you for the fine content and sharing your continuing experiments. I just got the nod from my wife to donate our treadmill to the antique muzzleloading propellant cause and the cost of Swiss is becoming a sticking point for me. Thank you again for the effort you put into these videos.
Very interesting as usual. That powder would be very good for a target shooter where consistency and clean burning are more important than velocity and energy. And Bamboo is easy to grow, widely available and cheap. I look forward to seeing the comparison with other carbon sources prepared with the Pyrolysiser (no way I spelt that right 😂)
Silica is used as an anti-caking agent. Others mentioned in the comments that bamboo can be high in it. If it isn't clean thanks to the charring method it could be the silica is somehow helping with the fouling buildup.
have you thought about mixing different granulations to get best grain density? It's what we do in geology, to pack more mass of soil into specific space (for strength). My thinking is that if you mix some 2, 3 and 4 F, or atleast 3 and 4, the smaller grains will get inbetween the larger ones, which would increase the mass of powder in volumetric measure, and probably increase the strength of the powder.
I still think that basswood would make a great carbon source if balsa does good. It's a soft, sapless wood that is extremely uniform. I will send you however much you need in whatever size you need. In one block, or if you want a bunch of 1/2x1/2x 8" pieces, or 1x1 at whatever length. I will happily make that donation for the cause 👍🇺🇲
It becomes obvious that the smaller diameter stalks are a different animal as opposed to the larger diameter stalks. I got good results with the larger stalks. Now I will go the smaller stalks to see if there is a difference. Best use dried stuff though & cut out & do not use the section bulges: just use the straight sections between the joints.
Aside from the usages mentioned by the others, I noticed that some species of bamboo's bamboo shoots are edible. So, if you plant a bamboo in a post-apocalyptic world, you will have a stable source of food, tools, charcoal, and black powder ingredient! Marvelous!😂
As far as hearing protection, you're an adult (and have the facial hair to prove it), make your own decisions. What has always interested me is the difference between the sound of a blackpowder arm and smokeless arm firing. I have shot many CAS matches, and have often been in the parking lot at the facility while other groups sere still finishing the course of fire. You can very clearly hear the difference. And at the velocities that CAS matches are shot at, it's not the difference between the higher pressure smokeless charges and the bp rounds, because the velocities are very often the same. Blackpowder just doesn't make the same sharp crack, even at subsonic velocities, as smokeless does. I look forward to the next comparison.
Stuff like bamboo or straw contains lot of silica (f.e. wheat straw contains about 5,5% silica), so maybe correction of carbon ratio in propellant might be good idea? Also you can scrub off silica layer from bambo quite eaisly. Another thing worth considering - silica is substance of very high hardness, so it might cause faster bore wear over extend usage.
Great video, cant wait gor a year retrospective comparing all the different charcoals you tried and comparing them all. Have you ever given thought to finding antique black powder and doing some analysis? Cap and Ball did a similar thing but only observed the grains and density.
G'day, Yay Team ! It's a bit of a segue, but the last time I made Charcoal was in a Solar-Heated triple (thermally)-insulated Pyrolisis Chamber, fashioned from a 1-Litre Paint-Tin with it's Base coated with (actual) Lamp-Black...(achieved by holding it over the Chimney of a Kerosene Table-Lamp burning with the Wick turned up too high... !) ; over a Manually-Tracked Offset Parabolic Solar-Reflector, made out of a Rooftop Satellite-TV Dish with triangular "Gores" of shiny Alfoil stuck on it's inside with Contact Cement. I was collecting the "Biogas" (Methane & Hydrogen & Carbon Monoxide) coming out of the heated Wood-fragments..., piping it away and storing in in a little Gasometer to flare off later on - after Sundown. I was trying to figure out how much messing about it might be to use nesting Watertanks as a Gasometer, to recieve & store Biogas, for later burning in a Low-pressure Kitchen Stove - to boil a Kettle without lighting a Woodstove, kinda thing. 4 kg of Woodchips in a 15-Litre Chamber, with a 5-Metre diameter Dish, tracked, and a 10,000 Litre Tank inverted inside a 15,000 Litre one for the Gasometer...; but - any amount of Cloud, Haze, or significant Wind will drastically impede the Pyrolytic efficiency. It turned out to be vastly easier to Light the Fire and burn the actual Wood, directly ; than to pursue the frisson of satisfaction at one's own very "Cleverness" in having managed after great effort, to succeed in doing a thing which is really difficult to achieve. Backtrack me to my "The SunGas Project..." Playlist...; To laugh at the low budget Experimentation. Which came up with entirely valid Conclusions. The "Scientific Method of Problem Solving" , is merely a complicated version of, "The Nursing Process..." ie, 1). Assess. 2). Plan. 3). Implement. 4). Evaluate. Take Notes, Write down the Baseline Conditions. Doccument All Changes. If it's not written down then it is not Science ; it is Annecdotal and may become Oral History - if Corroberated. Should anyone have the Authority To call for a Corroberee, These Dayze...(?) ! Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
Next request: patch material you use ( specify material) & how you lube your patches. Flint maintenance ( type of flint) & do you knap your own flints & your sharpening technique. 😁
Here is an idea that's kind of seasonal, but might be worth investigating... Corn stalks. Kind of similar to bamboo so it might be a good carbon source in you new cooker. That said, bamboo grows really fast, you could probably plant a 10x10 space and harvest a years worth of carbon in a few months.
EBP, Since you didn't wear yer earplugs you probably won't hear the complaints at all! 🤣🤣 Now ya got me anticipating comparing charcoal out of the pyrolizer. (can we call it a kiln? Lots easier to spell! 😏)
It would be interesting to mix the bamboo and willow/alder at some ratio as the carbon source to see if you can gain any FPS and/or clean up the fouling in the process.
Looks like the pyrolysizer is doing a bangup job, nice work, guys! Interesting that the bamboo performed so well, makes me wonder about other large grasses and stalky plants. Perhaps corn stalks or cattails?
Bamboo charcoal is pretty good stuff. I used it quite frequently when making fireworks. I just used those skewers you buy in the camping section at your usual supermarket. Wonder how raw bamboo harvested from the wild would do
Really good stuff, not very high in speed but surprisingly clean and pretty consistent in speed, that makes a good BP, if that pyrolitizer (or whatever the name is) makes a difference in the quality of charcoal maybe triyng the cotonelle and balsa by the new method to compare with previous tests. Really good info as always!
The only thing I want bamboo for is as a fishing pole or as flooring. Wow...it burned so clean though. At 75 grains and 1800+ that would work for me. Love how clean it is.
OK, I'm following ya here. I have about 1/4 acres of bamboo on the lot next to my house. I'm gonna try some green bamboo v dried bamboo. See how that works! The closer you can control how your ingredients & process, the better and more consistent the product will be.
You may want to redo a previous test but with the pyrolisizer, that way you can see how much of a difference it makes. Maybe test one of the really bad ones again to compare the readings
Ok, I’m going to admit right up front that I don’t know the answer. What if you do a 50/50 of something that is dirty but powerful and the bamboo (clean but not so powerful)?
A few percent smokeless powder kicker left Jake's guns remarkably clean (obviously still need a good water scrub due to corrosive residue but not much physical gunk to create stoppages), so it stands to reason a clean but weak AMP would help with a dirtier but more powerful one. You need a little creosote left in the charcoal to keep the fouling soft, especially in very dry weather and in cartridge guns, so a fast but little bit greasy powder mixed with bamboo might be good. I'm thinking that bamboo would be the answer to wanting to reduce recoil in a big cartridge rifle for less than 500 yard shooting but keep the bore fouling under control on hot days.
You should try coconut husks. The us military determined they were the best source of carbon for making CBRN filters, so maybe that extreme porosity will do something?
It's just ear pro, dude. We've all done it. It's not like you forgot my ear pro or even forgot my ranch dressing. It's just not that big a deal. Love your videos.
I don't know about everyone else, but for me the painful decibels are mostly related to barrel length and bullet speed. Black powder in a full rifle just isn't that loud in my experience.
BP's certainly not as loud as smokeless, even for a similar caliber with similar velocity. I don't ever shoot anything without earpro, but I doubt it's loud enough to actually do damage unless the sound was sustained.
