STEP 1: INGREDIENTS


So…

You will need:

Charcoal ( just burn down some wood or buy from a garden store ).
Sulfur ( you can find sulfur in garden stores as fertilizer ).
Potassium or sodium nitrate ( you can find Potassium or sodium nitrate in garden stores as fertilizer ).
Scales ( i am from europe so i am using grams to measure everything, but ounces will work…)
some containers, and something to crush the chemicals.
STEP 2: SCALING

So the recipe is:

75% potassium or sodium nitrate
15% charcoal
10% sulfur
I am making 100g of gunpowder, so you will need:

75g potassium or sodium nitrate
15g charcoal
10g sulfur
If you are doing everything with ounces, just calculate your weight, for one ounce you will need:

0.75oz potassium or sodium nitrate
0.15oz charcoal
0.1oz sulfur
I RECOMMEND TO NOT MIX EVERYTHING UP YET!

STEP 3: CRUSHING THINGS


Show All 2 Images
Now you will need to crush your ingredients to powder.

Simply, get an open container, or a bowl , pick up a marker or something and crush your not – powder ingredients.

IF ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS ARE IN POWDER FORM, SKIP THIS STEP.

STEP 4: MIXING EVERYTHING


Now, take a bag or something, and mix everything up!

Don’t worry about sulfur pieces, it’s nothing 🙂

Congratulations! You made your own gunpowder!
To test it, simply light a little bit of it 🙂
If you want to make it explode, simply put the gunpowder to sealed container, insert a fuse, and light it up 🙂

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15 comments


I Made It! Choose FilesComment

railroadman30Reply
Many ways online threads explaining ways to make and collect it. Use smart and small amounts don’t want feds showing up thinking your building explosives
8 days ago

JoakimJ2Reply
Does foodgrade potassium nitrate work?

18 days ago

RatulsReply
This gunpowder itself works like a firework, can I use it as a propellant in a gun/cannon?

10 months ago

PhilS43Reply
It’s why it’s called gunpowder, I guess. You just need to confine it in something like a cardboard tube and let the gases do the rest.

3 months ago

Mr.BrownstoneReply
Yes indeed.

6 months ago

PhilS43Reply
I thought the sulphur had to be the crystalline form. The commonly available "flowers" of sulphur doesn’t work, but you can convert the flowers to crystals

3 months ago

Clark530/Reply
You can also piss into a water bottle and let it evaporate in the sun for a few days. the end result is potassium nitrate

5 months ago

Jazz4kurtReply
Now how do I make nitrogen?
10 months ago

RatulsReply
I have a question, does the gunpowder burn again?

10 months ago

martis_ltu (author)Reply
No, once the reaction is over, the output products are non-flammable

10 months ago

hey jackReply
Do sulfur and potassium nitrate come together or seperate when you buy it?
2 years ago

The1andonlyDanielReply
They come seperate, look for Stump Remover for potassium nitrite and sulfer powder for sulfur

a year ago

MarkC418Reply
After taking a good look at the chemical reaction (2 KNO3 + S + 3 C → K2S + N2 + 3 CO2) and calculating the molar mass of the ingredients I noticed you rounded down the ratio’s too much. The correct ratio’s are:

74.8% KNO3

11.9% S

13.3% C

Rounding these values down can extremely affect the quality of the reaction.

a year ago

hey jackReply
Good instructable btw
2 years ago

MsSweetSatisfactionReply
Well done explaining this process! Thanks for sharing!

2 years ago
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