When was graphite added to black powder?

[mazo kid]

I'm curious as to the date (approximate is fine)that graphite was used to coat black powder kernels. I did a Google search, but all I could find was something to the effect "graphite is added to modern black powder.....".

 

[napolean]

I would think that it would have added as the manufacture of powder became more mechanized and the loading of cartridges developed. That would have been late 19th century. Graphite has been around and in use for various things for a looong time.
Jon D

 

[mazo kid]

I appreciate your response; I was trying to narrow the date a little more. I have heard that the "g" after the "f" in the powder designation (such as fffg) denoted the use of graphite coating. I have a modest powder can collection and some of them are of early makers such as Indian Gun Powder, duPont, King, Dead Shot (American Powder Mill), etc. They have the "g" designation on the labels and I was trying to determine if it meant "graphite" or "glazed".

 

[paulvallandigham]

Both! They are "Glazed" with " Graphite!".

Glazing was done to cut down explosions and fires in factories that made the powder to inhibit ignition by static electricity. Since the Industrial age began in the 1840s, I suspect that you can figure that glazing occurred AFTER the advent of large factories make such powder. Before industrial production, powder making was a " cottage Industry", As a Safety Requirement! If one worker blew up his own home, himself, and family, the other workers making powder were still able to work. :shocked2: This is Pre-OSHA, pre-Worker's Compensation, pre- everything we think of today to insure worker safety. Workers were expendable, and could be easily replaced. Buildings cost more, and took time to replace. The companies were not looking out for WORKER Safety- but for the safety of the assets of the company- its buildings, tools, machines, etc. :shocked2: :hmm:

 

[ohio ramrod]

Paul the one exception to this was the Dupont family. They located their powder making right on the family estate, So if the powder making blew up the family was exposed to the risk. Their powder making buildings were made of heavy stone with light roofs so that any explosion would go "up". To this day Dupont Chemical industries leads the nation in industrial safety. The Dupont family got rich making gun powder but never at unneccessary risk of the workers lifes.Our work places would be a lot safer if more industrial leaders had the attitude the Dupont's had. I don't mean this as a plug for dupont industries , but as a union president and head of the industrial safety committee I learned a lot about industrial safety both current and past.

 

[mazo kid]

Thanks Paul; I was wondering about the glaze/graphite designation. Kind of thought it might be one and the same as I couldn't find much on the graphite connection in the book "Peters and King", but did find reference to glazing.

 

[matt denison]

Carl P. Russel states in his book "Guns on the Early Frontiers"

"Powders were glazed in order that it might be somewhat resistant to the action of moisture in the air"

The tiime period he's talking about is not clear but is pre 1800 and before DuPont began manufacturing gun powder in the US.

 

[mazo kid]

Carl P. Russel states in his book "Guns on the Early Frontiers"

"Powders were glazed in order that it might be somewhat resistant to the action of moisture in the air"

The tiime period he's talking about is not clear but is pre 1800 and before DuPont began manufacturing gun powder in the US.

Wow! That early. I never thought to look in Russel's book. Thanks all for the info.

 

[paulvallandigham]

That is interesting. I didn't know that glazing was being done in the 18th century at all. See, I learn something new, here, every day! I suspect that it was a "company" or "trade secret" back then and this is why we may never know the exact date when glazing BP with graphite began. That is a common problem when you are investigating manufacturing processes to either challenge or defend a patent application or claim.

 

[Maven]

All, Jack Kelly's book, "Gunpowder....The History of the Explosive That Changed the World," (Basic Books, 2004), states that Lammot du Pont was awarded a patent for adding graphite to "gunpowder" (blasting powder actually, using NaNO3 instead of KNO3)in 1857. (p. 218) Said coating dramatically improved (reduced) the moisture absorbing properties of Na- and K-based powders, particularly the former.

 

[matt denison]

I'd always thought that 1850's was about right for the addition of graphite. That's why I remembered the above quoted statement by Russell. It had struck me as odd at the time. Since I posted that I have done some more reading and think I've solved a mystery.

Glazing as Russel describes meant something different "back in the day". Simply glazing was a process of rolling the powder so that it took on a smooth surface or a glazed apearance to reduce and smooth the surface area and thus reduce the propensity of the powder to take on moisture.

:surrender: Sorry if I posted bad information, only what I read in a book. I hope this helps straighten it out. :idunno:

 

[Maven]

No need to apologize. No offense taken.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Thank you for that information, Maven. Now we know when Graphite was added to black powder- in 1857.

BTW, that is the year that Smith and Wesson invented the cartridge revolver, in what we now call a .22 short Rimfire cartridge. The .22 short has been continuously manufactured and loaded in both revolvers, pistols, and rifles every since. Its our longest continuously manufactured cartridge in the world. ( The .22 BB cap was made earlier, but its manufacture has seen interruptions over the years.Currently, there is no American manufacturer of BB caps. The last I obtained were made in Italy.)

It took almost 35 more years for the first smokeless powders to be developed, changing how we use firearms forever.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

With respect to all, graphite coating is a separate thing from glazing. The quickest reference I have is from William Knight (the "Mad Monk"), in the collected articles on the Laflin & Rand website ( http://www.laflinandrand.com/page3.htm ):

[begin quote]
Before launching into the subject of glazing it would be best to explain that glazing has nothing to do with the use of graphite applied to the powder grains.

After pressing, the grained powder will contain varying amounts of water. The amount may vary from 1 to 2%. If the powder grains are dried on trays they will form loose deposits of potassium nitrate crystals on the surfaces of the grains. Any water migrating to the surfaces of the grains will do so as a saturated solution of potassium nitrate.



Press densification imparts mechanical strength to the mass of powder. Keep in mind that 75%, by weight, of the mass is potassium nitrate. The mass being pressed is about 2% water. Wherever potassium nitrate crystals contact each other they will begin to fuse together. This fusing of contacting surfaces promotes hardness and mechanical strength.

By tumbling the grains, during drying, the crystals of potassium nitrate are compacted and fused into a thin shell, or skin, covering the surfaces of the powder grains. Under high magnification this thin skin, or shell, will give the appearance that the powder grain had been coated with glass. The appearance of the glass-like skin is where the term "glazed" powder originated. Large grains of powder will have a thicker glaze since the large grain sizes have a greater amount of mass relative to their surface area.

The thickness of the glaze formed on the grains will, in part, determine ease of ignition of individual grains of powder and govern flame spreading rates within a mass of powder grains. Heavy glazing slows the process of ignition and combustion of the powder. Heavy, or thick, glazing was used to slow powder charges behind heavy projectiles.

When high-purity potassium nitrate is used to fabricate the black powder the glaze imparts a degree of moisture resistance to the powder grains. Below 90% relative humidity the powder will be little effected by water vapor in the air. Above 90% R.H. the powder grains will pick up only trace amounts of moisture which will be quickly passed back to the air when the R.H. falls below 90%.
[end quote]


and

[begin quote]
Graphite coatings on black powder.

There are two misconceptions regarding the function of graphite coatings on grains of black powder.

One common myth is that the small letter g behind the grain size designation indicates that the powder has been graphite coated. The small letter g stands for glazed powder. Glazing and graphite coating are two entirely different things.

When glazed grains of black powder, lacking a graphite coating, are stored for any length of time the mass of grains will begin to clump together. The surfaces of the grains are covered in a thin skin of potassium nitrate and charcoal minerals. These are crystalline materials and will behave as all crystalline materials do. Surfaces of the same salt in contact with even slight amounts of pressure will begin to fuse, or bond, together.

Old military sources describe how kegs of black powder were to be removed from their storage magazine periodically and rolled around on the ground. A little mechanical agitation would break up any clumping without causing damage to the grains.

Graphite coatings on the grains act as an “anti-blocking” agent, preventing the grain surfaces from fusing, or bonding, together. An old duPont Blasters’ Handbook states that graphite is used where a free flowing powder is desired.

Graphite coatings on grains of black powder do not provide any form of moisture protection when the powder is subjected to humid air. The graphite will only hide the effect of additional moisture pickup by the powder. Heavy graphite grain coatings are a way of hiding the effects of the use of an impure grade of potassium nitrate in a powder.

Some black powder plants add graphite to the powder after corning but prior to the screening of the powder. The graphite acting as a screening aid to increase the rate at which the grains will pass through the screens.
[end quote]

There is, naturally, much more in these articles.

Regards,
Joel

 

[paulvallandigham]

That certainly runs contrary to everything I have read about Black Powder, how its made, and what glazing and the small "g" after the F stands for. The Mad Monk is considered The authority on powders, so I bow to his knowledge. I just wish he had written all this much sooner in my life, so I would not be among the ranks of thousands of MLers who believed the Myths about all this until you enlightened me.


Thank you for this information. :hmm: :surrender: :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[matt denison]

Way Excellent Post!

I had found similar information but didn't have the wherewithall to do all that typing, didn't know if anyone else would be all that interested. I am.

Thanks for posting. :bow: :bow:

L.Dog

 

[Maven]

You're most welcome, Paul. Btw, Jack Kelly's book is worth reading.

 

[mazo kid]

Thank you for that most enlightening post!! I had always wondered about the "g" designation and was surprised to find the graphite coating was used as early as it was.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

THANKS JOEL!!

Now I have a little extra addition to my Instructor's Class for Black Powder Shotgun next month! "G" is for Glazing!

Dave

 

[Joel/Calgary]

The Mad Monk is considered The authority on powders, so I bow to his knowledge. I just wish he had written all this much sooner in my life, so I would not be among the ranks of thousands of MLers who believed the Myths about all this until you enlightened me.

Much of it used to be available in two different collections on the Thunder Ridge Muzzleloading and Schuetzen.net websites, but these were both eventually lost when the original sites were closed. They may still be available on some Internet archive site(s), but I don't seem to have looked hard enough (or well enough) to find them. I had picked up bits and pieces over the years from Bill's postings on various boards, lists, forums, and hides, but I hadn't archived enough of them and a server problem cost me much of what I had saved. I was ecstatic when I stumbled across mention on a certain cowboy-action forum that he posts on occasionally, that he was assembling the articles on the Laflin & Rand site. He's apparently had problems over the years when he wrote of his investigations and findings, and some manufacturers took offense to unfavorable information, and he has become much more reluctant to write in public of his findings on some specific products. It's still quite interesting and very informative to read through all these articles.

Regards,
Joel