How To Make Black Powder Quickly and Easily

What We Offer: Books on Making Black Powder Chemicals For Making Black Powder Free Black Powder Tips and Project Plans If you want to learn to make high quality black powder (also called gunpowder), Skylighter has everything you need. This is a resource page to help you find whatever you need to make black powder.

There are several good books on making black powder, and a ball mill project book. Milling makes the best black powder/gunpowder.

There are also several Skylighter Fireworks Tips Newsletter articles on black powder topics that you will find useful.

Skylighter carries the three chemicals used in making black powder:
- Potassium nitrate
- Charcoal
- Sulfur

Although there are many formulas that can be used to make black powder, the "Waltham Abbey" black powder formula below is considered the standard by most black powder makers today. The percentages shown are by weight. Do not try to measure chemicals for black powder by volume. Always use a good scale.

- Potassium nitrate: 75%
- Charcoal: 15%
- Sulfur: 10%

Books for Making Black Powder

For More information on each book click on it's name.

• Ball Milling Theory and Practice for the Amateur Pyrotechnician
  If you want to learn how to grind your own materials faster and efficiently, or to simply make better black powder, this book’s for you.
• Black Powder Manufacturing Methods & Techniques
  This book shows you how to make good, fast-burning black powder that can equal or exceed the effectiveness of commercial black powders.
• Black Powder Manufacturing, Testing & Optimizing
  If you had to have one book on small-scale black powder making, this would be it.
• Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics (BK0050)
  If you're making black powder for fireworks Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics is the best pyrotechnic book available for beginning fireworks makers, each project building upon the last.

Chemicals for Making Black Powder

Black powder is made from three chemicals:

• Potassium Nitrate
  Oxidizer used in black powder.
• Sulfur
  A fuel that stabilizes the burn of black powder.
• Charcoal
  Fuel used in black powder.

Free Black Powder Tips and Project Plans

• Black Powder Grain Size Charts
  Charts that show grain sizes of commonly used black powders, as well as comparing sporting and blasting grade black powders.
• Black Powder Coated Rice Hulls
  How to coat rice hulls in black powder for firework burst charge.
• How to Make Black Powder Rockets
  Learn how to make your own black powder rockets.
• Hand Mixed Black Powder
  Learn how to make black powder with the hand mixed method.
• Make Black Powder the Easy Way
  Learn to make black powder with a ball mill.
• Red Gum Black Powder
  Learn to make black powder without a ball mill that's bound with red gum.
• Quick & Easy Black Powder Ball Mill
  How to modify a 6-pound ball mill to grind black powder.