People who built a netherite beacon, i need help

Im trying to make a netherite beacon and till now i stand proudly with 27 ingots, how long did it take you? and what were your methods? i have a mega gunpowder farm and i used tnt to get the ones i already have, my problem is that the sand supply compared to the gunpowder supply is practically non-existent, and i don't know if sand dupers exist on bedrock edition

i also have a problem with the tnt placing while mining, i place a tnt on every 3rd block, is it too few or too much?