Explosive Manufacturing, Ingredients, Gunpowder | Britannica
Explosive Manufacturing, Ingredients, Gunpowder: Manufacture of black powder was accomplished originally by hand methods. Ingredients were ground together with a mortar and pestle. The next step was to use crushing devices of wood (wooden stamps), also operated by hand, in wooden or stone bowls. The stamping process was gradually mechanized and, about 1435, the first powder mill driven by ...