Pine cone charcoal for black powder?

[GoodOlBoy]

ok I have seen other mention it on here. I have seen it mentioned as a reference to "an old book" on several other sites. Does ANYBODY know the title of any of the old books that mention using pine cones for the charcoal for black powder making?

Just curiosity, but it's drivin me up a wall and I wanna read about it.

Thanks

GoodOlBoy

[GhostHawk]

Can't say that I have seen that, but I have seen reference to "Oat Grass Charcoal" for powder making.

I suspect it is a pain to make, but gives a charcoal even lighter than Willow.

[chancho veloz]

I have a e book which explains that well, but I dont know how to send you. If you could give me your email addeess I can send it. It is in pdf format.

[GoodOlBoy]

pm sent Chancho! Thanks!

Richard

[Pilgrim Sojourner]

Chancho,
If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate a copy too. Pm inbound.

[chancho veloz]

I'll be glad to send it to everyone who sends me his email.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The main obstacle to the use of hardwoods isn't the nature of the charcoal produced, but the difficult of reducing it to sufficiently microscopic particles. Pine cone scales are harder than pinewood. They also contain a substance very much like bark, which produces an undesirable tendency to lingering sparks.

[GoodOlBoy]

book had some great info in it, but on pine wood, not pine cones.

Oh well it mentioned plum wood, which is of interest since I have alot of wild plum on my place.

Ballistics I was kinda wonderin about that which is one of the reasons I am tryin to get more info. Wonder how much difference there would be in pine cone charcoal from "green" cones vs "dried" cones.

GoodOlBoy

[Texantothecore]

Bark and pine cones have chemicals which are a bit fire retardent and that is why they tend to make poor charcoal.

[andremajic]

Bark and pine cones have chemicals which are a bit fire retardent and that is why they tend to make poor charcoal.

Don't they extract turpentine from pine?

We used to make fire starters out of pine cones, so I'm wondering what is inside that would retard fire.

[Texantothecore]

Don't they extract turpentine from pine?

We used to make fire starters out of pine cones, so I'm wondering what is inside that would retard fire.

Turpentine is made or was made from the sap of pine trees. I am not sure how fire retardant the bark is. Most tree barks have some degree of it. I sort of remember some stories from my youth of seeds making it through major fires but it has been a long time since I lived in Wisc.

Just try it and see what happens. It just might work.

[GoodOlBoy]

I know if you make a collector for a charcoal kiln you can catch ALOT of "wood vinegar" off of green pine. Works well for treating wood that's going to be exposed to the weather.

GoodOlBoy

[CHeatermk3]

You could get a bag of lump charcoal and pulverise it--It'd be a mix of south american hardwoods if you got royal oak in the red bag--$11 for a pretty big bag like 17 pounds.

Or would that be cheating?

[Major Danger]

First real BP I used in my percussion revolver was a home made batch I made using charcoal from ailanthus, or tree of heaven. It worked well in my pistol. It made more recoil than the same volume of pyrodex anyway.

[GoodOlBoy]

Lump charcoal is almost impossible to get in my area, all we get is briquettes which have fillers. Then there is the money. $11 might not sound like much, but when you are on a very fixed limited income it is what it is. Particularly since I can already make my own charcoal in a can over a fire for the cost of my time.

GoodOlBoy

[docone31]

You are better off making from pine scraps than using hardwood charcoal.
Slice up a 2 X 4, stack it in a coffee can with a lid, punch an hole in the lid and put on a fire. When the smoke stops you have charcoal.
Tumble the pieces and you have charcoal powder.
Much faster than hardwood charcoal.

[Boz330]

First real BP I used in my percussion revolver was a home made batch I made using charcoal from ailanthus, or tree of heaven. It worked well in my pistol. It made more recoil than the same volume of pyrodex anyway.

Tree of Heaven gave me about 50fps more velocity Than Black Willow or Sandbar Willow in the same cartridge case full. The deer or what is left of it in my freezer was taken with it. I have way more TOH than I want on my farm and behind my shop so for me it is a no brainer.

Bob

[Southron]

The Confederate Powder Works at Augusta, GA initially used Willow to make their charcoal from and then later switched to Cotton Wood in 1863. Of course, all bark was stripped off the wood, then it was dried in a kiln and then converted into charcoal. When the Cotton Wood was substituted for the Willow, no difference in the quality of the powder was noted.

The Augusta powder was considered some of the finest black powder produced anywhere, North or South, during the Civil War.

[otter5555]

my very best bp is made with chinaberry charcoal. it's as hot as any you can buy.

[Rojelio]

my very best bp is made with chinaberry charcoal. it's as hot as any you can buy.

I've been thinking about trying chinaberry. It's kind of an invasive species around here. Always looking for ways to improve. I've had good luck with grapevine and better luck with black willow. I would like to try tree of heaven, but, I haven't located any.