How to make a black powder rocket?

Question

ok im just about tired of this. ive made 6 rockets none worked the fuel was bp and all the rocket does is spurt out a 4cm flame and spurt out 17cm sparks i foloowed guides how to make the rocket but it just doesent go up. ok so than i thought the bentonite clay plugs were to big than i made them smaller didnt changer a thing so now i know my plugs r fine but this is what i made my bp out of 75g kno3 15g charcoal 10g sulfur ok than i grinded the kno3 into fine powder the charcoal was fine than i mixed it all together for 20 minutes

now i think my porblem is that im useing charcoal that is 4 months old thats been raind on dust on and its hard wood charcoal id really appreciate it if u could tell me what im doin wrong if like the charcoals not good enought or not its hard wood charcoal and not really grinded up well because it was hard to grind

Answer 1

barbecue charcoal wont work, but any other charcoal like pine or wood will work. you should grind it more or use a ball mill, or rock tumbler with lead balls. If you do not own one you should get a pan and fill it with water. Get a 750ml bottle and put it in a freezer for at least 24 hours. Then heat the water up and put the KNO3 in and slowly mix it. Make sure the water doesn't boil, but only bubbles a little bit. Then slowly add in the charcoal/sulfur mixture until its all in the pan. Be very patient as it could ignite if any of the mixture gets on the side of the pan. Keep stirring until you get a wet grayish sludge, then take it out and get your freezing alcohol and pour and stir until its cool to the touch. Get a coffee filter and put the sludge in it to let the alcohol/water to drain out. Get a spaghetti strainer or a sieve and granulate it. Let it dry in the sun. Remember this should be done outside! use a skillet          

Hope this helps!!!