Some good advice here.
I have never done it, but I did carefully read the reports of a Swiss technical guy who did it as a hobby.
The components, obviously, are potassium nitrate, sulphur, and charcoal.
The potassium nitrate should be available as stump killer, but do some research. It needs to be almost 100% pure and not contaminated with retardants to stop it from functioning as an oxidizer.
Sulphur, I'm not sure where to get.
The secret to successful black powder is in the complete mixing and in the charcoal.
That charcoal has to be made, as I recall, from small branch sticks of hardwoods like hazel.
The sticks are confined in a full can with a lid pinned on with a skewer, and cooked over a campfire while the volatile gases escape through a small hole in the lid. The idea is to cook the sticks, not burn them, and to ignite the volatile gases. When the volatile gases cease to burn then you should be left with just charcoal. Some experimentation would be needed obviously.
Completely reducing all three components separately with a ball mill (rock tumbler) to the consistency of flour is needed, and then complete mixing is needed in the tumbler, perhaps using glass marbles.
Water is added to make a dough and this is spread out and rolled flat on a dry varnished piece of plywood to dry in the sun. Then the resulting tortilla or pizza crust is broken up and sifted through fine screening, repeatedly until it all passes.
A spark, obviously, would really ruin your day. So no ferrous tools or objects, and you must work outdoors in small batches. Your final tumbling well away from people and buildings.
I take no responsibility for the accuracy of this, nor what happens. This is what I read and what I recall. I neither recommend nor advise anyone to make black powder.
Last edited by saddlegun; 06/28/21.
