    BLACK POWDER 3

     First made by the Chinese for use in fireworks, black powder was first
used in weapons and explosives in the 12th century.  It is very simple to
make, but it is not very powerful or safe.  Only about 50% of black powder is
converted to hot gasses when it is burned; the other half is mostly very fine
burned particles.  Black powder has one major problem: it can be ignited by
static electricity.  This is very bad, and it means that the material must be
made with wooden or clay tools.  Anyway, a misguided individual could
manufacture black powder at home with the following procedure:

     MATERIALS               EQUIPMENT
     ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ               ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
     potassium               clay grinding bowl
     nitrate (75 g)          and clay grinder

       or                         or

     sodium                  wooden salad bowl
     nitrate (75 g)          and wooden spoon

     sulfur (10 g)           plastic bags (3)

     charcoal (15 g)         300-500 ml beaker (1)

     distilled water         coffee pot or heat source



1) Place a small amount of the potassium or sodium nitrate in the grinding
 bowl and grind it to a very fine powder.  Do this to all of the potassium or
 sodium nitrate, and store the ground powder in one of the plastic bags.

2) Do the same thing to the sulfur and charcoal, storing each chemical in a
separate plastic bag.

3) Place all of the finely ground potassium or sodium nitrate in the beaker,
   and add just enough boiling water to the chemical to get it all wet.

4) Add the contents of the other plastic bags to the wet potassium or sodium
nitrate, and mix them well for several minutes.  Do this until there is no
more visible sulfur or charcoal, or until the mixture is universally black.

5) On a warm sunny day, put the beaker outside in the direct sunlight.
  Sunlight is really the best way to dry black powder, since it is never too
  hot, but it is hot enough to evaporate the water.

6) Scrape the black powder out of the beaker, and store it in a safe
 container. Plastic is really the safest container, followed by paper.  Never
 store black powder in a plastic bag, since plastic bags are prone to generate
 static electricity.


Another addition to the CookBook......           -= RFLAGG =- '97
