Home Made M-Class Explosives
I actually know this from experience and have done this a few times. You can change the outcome however you want. I will explain the choices in here later. This looks long, but after you read it it will be common sense to you and easy to replicate.
Materials/tools
Paper of any type.
preferably thin paper works well with glue.
Rocket engines.
Anyones you can find. The size depends on how big of an explosion ranging from a small flash to a louder boom.
Glue.
Elmers glue worked perfect. Dont get fancy. Cheap elmers glue. Perfect.
Fuse.
I will explain how to make your own fuse in this out of string, preferably not plastic bases, no polyester, no nylon, no yarn. Absorbant string.
Matches.
Matches to light the fuse and if you like, make the ignition process much much easier.
Take your paper, fold it in half "hot dog" style. Making sure it is very very flat. Then take your elmers glue and put a medium thickness layer of glue on the flat piece of paper that is 4 inches wide and 11 inches long. Put the glue in the middle3 inches. Leaving half an inch or more of no glued paper on the outside. Roll the paper making a tube.
Choice #1. The wider you roll it, the more powder you will need to fill it with, but the bigger the flash, but less bang. If you want someone to see it from far away, this is the way to do it. You can put more paper around it with more glue for a big bang and a big pop.
Seal one end so its a open ended tube.
Choice #2 You can glue it shut, or wrap it with tape. But make sure you dont squish the tube you want to keep it a cylindrical shape and it needs to be hollow for the powder later. Also for a good seal, drop glue down the tube directly over the crack where it sealed. Bad thing it takes more time to dry, good thing, better seal, louder bang, more power.
Now for the explosive.
Rocket engines are perfect for all of your explosive needs. Just unwrap them, remove the ceramic ends and CAREFULLY scrape off the black crystals and the stuff that is not dark dark grey or black. The black crystals are very sensitive. What you have left is a solid tube of high quality gunpowder. And no, you cannot use the solid tube. You have to make it a loose powder so air will get inbetween the powder and make it explode.
Choice #3 IN the tube of powder there are most likely a very dark part and a color that is lighter. The darker part is good good powder with not much smoke. The greyer part is meant for the people who need to see their rockets with a trail of smoke. If you want some good smoke in your explosion, leave them together, if you dont want too much smoke, break them apart. They will probably come apart without much force. Save the gray stuff for another time cuz it makes a very good amount of thick smoke for something that small.
Note: most people think the crushing of the powder will make it explode. WRONG!!!! that is only flash powder. And using flashpowder in hobby rockets would be stupid. You wouldnt get a consistant flow. all youd get is a boom. And since that is thickl cardboard, it could hurt some people with such a big bang.
Here is the part that gets a little tricky. Take the solid black tube and crush it into a good powder. Mortar and pestle or 2 pieces of wood crushing them. Dont do it all at once. Break it into smaller piece about the size of the tip of your pinky depending on what engine size you are using.
Choice #4 There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Ive tried both methods of crushing. Mortar and pestle makes a Awesome powder, but it gives off a large amount of dust which i dont like. I took a piece of paper and covered the top of the container so no dust came out. The 2 boards are a little harder to manage because when you crush the pieces they come flying out the side. and its annoying until you get them into small pieces. I like the board method because no matter where i am, i have 2x4s to crush them with and i can deal with the pieces as long as im not on a dark surface where i cant see the pieces.
Make the powder very fine. Youll never get flour consistency, but youll get better than sand which will do. But remember, the finer, the better.
What you will have is a a mix of very very fine powder and some thick pieces. Sift it till you can find a way to get rid of the thick pieces. If you have all powder and no chunks i give you a high five. Now take the powder and funnel it (you should be smart enough to devise a funnel of sorts) into the tube. Tape the tube a few times to make sure it settles.
Choice #2 again. The other side needs to be sealed also. Glue it shut or clamp it shut then tape it.
Next step. After your tube is dry and the seals are quite good. You need a way to ignite it. Take a exacto knife or a pair of scissors and put a hole in the middle. A small hole, also clear some powder out of the way so your fuse will not fall out or be faulty. It needs to have good contact with the powder.
FUSE!!! this is the second most important part next to your explosive. You can make your own fuse or buy some (very very high quality and weatherproof fuse) from an army surplus store. They sell it in rolls for a few bucks. This might go over the 15 dollar budget i quoted depending on how much you buy plus the rocket engine costs. the store bought fuse is the best and you will need more fuse because it burns fast. OR you can do the alternative way. TAke some leftover rocket powder and get a very small cup or one of those medicine doseage cups you get with robitussin. Put some rolled up absorbent string into the little cup, since your dont need more than 6 inches, theres no need using up other shit to do it.
Note: Test for absorbancy. Soak it in water, run your fingers down it very tightly trying to ring it out, if it still feels damp when you feel it again, youve got some good absorbent string. If you dont have string, take a pair of scissors and cut off a thin strip of a 100% cotton shirt.
Now put the string in a coil at the bottom of the little cup. Take some water and put it in the cup just so its a little above the string. Then take some of that leftover powder that went astray or you didnt use, and put it in the water. Make sure that water is damn good and black. Not a thick paste. but black. Then swish your finger around making sur the powder water gets all over the string. Take a paper plate out and lay your string out on it. You can let it dry over night or depending how much time you have, you can dry it with a hair dryer set on warm. Dont count on making this whole thing in less than 2 hours anyway so plan accordingly. Let the string dry and when you look at it in light you should see little reflective specs. Test an inch of it if you can. It will burn pretty slowly but dont be a dumbass. Use 3 inches on your explosive. You now are very very close to being done with your small explosive.
Now lead your homemade fuse into the hole that you made.
If you bought fuse or have some good fuse already, ignore this.
How will you get it to stay?? Take some matchheads. Like 3 to 6 and pack them in there so the fuse doesnt move easily. Use as little of the match stick as possible. Yes you can pull it out like a dumbass, but handle it by the outside, not by the fuse.
Choice #5. You can make your explosion a little bit louder. Theres a technique here. Dont do it if you dont have time or dont care. Since the fuse is in the middle of the tube. The explosion will concentrate towards the center. Wrap slightly thicker amounts of tape around the middle than around the ends. AND do not go over the fuse. Leave the hole intact. I would say wrap 3 layers of tape around the middle for every 1 or2 on the outside. Dont do this much because it will be ridiculous and the explosion will find a path of least resistance and you wont get a good explosion.
Now with your fuse of choice in place. I'd say 2 inches for the homemade because it is slow and it needs to ignite the nearby matchheads. And 4 inches for the bought stuff. It burns fast and doesnt need the time to ignite matchheads.
Dont be a dumbass. I was. Almost got blinded in one eye from a flying rock. Hit the eye lid. stand back. or use a lot of fuse for somewhere where you want a getaway.
Instead of tube you can use a ping pong ball, little toy, or something that doesnt take the glue drying time. But wrap the thin plastic things in tape. Lots of it. Ping pong balls have weak spots. I did it with someone and it just sent a stream of fire about 6 feet up. That and he didnt make it well. And dont be a dumbass who thinks they can modify this to be a huge huge bomb. It is meant for small things. And lots of rocket engines are expensive. I payed 15 bucks for a pack of 3 E engines. They lasted me awhile, but i had exposed powder laying around for a few months.
Keys to a good small homemade explosive:
Fine powder, few chunks.
good fuse contact with powder.
Good wrapping, even wrapping.
Good seals on the end.
Looks good, not something a koala just shat.
I have done this many times. Its fun if you need something to do, and its not ridiculous like most of the fertilizer bombs are. I've been searching this site for reasonable homemade explosives and when i couldnt find them, i made my own. Feel free to experiment and take pictures lots and lots of picture. use different containers, more or less glue, thick or thin paper.
Materials/tools
Paper of any type.
preferably thin paper works well with glue.
Rocket engines.
Anyones you can find. The size depends on how big of an explosion ranging from a small flash to a louder boom.
Glue.
Elmers glue worked perfect. Dont get fancy. Cheap elmers glue. Perfect.
Fuse.
I will explain how to make your own fuse in this out of string, preferably not plastic bases, no polyester, no nylon, no yarn. Absorbant string.
Matches.
Matches to light the fuse and if you like, make the ignition process much much easier.
Take your paper, fold it in half "hot dog" style. Making sure it is very very flat. Then take your elmers glue and put a medium thickness layer of glue on the flat piece of paper that is 4 inches wide and 11 inches long. Put the glue in the middle3 inches. Leaving half an inch or more of no glued paper on the outside. Roll the paper making a tube.
Choice #1. The wider you roll it, the more powder you will need to fill it with, but the bigger the flash, but less bang. If you want someone to see it from far away, this is the way to do it. You can put more paper around it with more glue for a big bang and a big pop.
Seal one end so its a open ended tube.
Choice #2 You can glue it shut, or wrap it with tape. But make sure you dont squish the tube you want to keep it a cylindrical shape and it needs to be hollow for the powder later. Also for a good seal, drop glue down the tube directly over the crack where it sealed. Bad thing it takes more time to dry, good thing, better seal, louder bang, more power.
Now for the explosive.
Rocket engines are perfect for all of your explosive needs. Just unwrap them, remove the ceramic ends and CAREFULLY scrape off the black crystals and the stuff that is not dark dark grey or black. The black crystals are very sensitive. What you have left is a solid tube of high quality gunpowder. And no, you cannot use the solid tube. You have to make it a loose powder so air will get inbetween the powder and make it explode.
Choice #3 IN the tube of powder there are most likely a very dark part and a color that is lighter. The darker part is good good powder with not much smoke. The greyer part is meant for the people who need to see their rockets with a trail of smoke. If you want some good smoke in your explosion, leave them together, if you dont want too much smoke, break them apart. They will probably come apart without much force. Save the gray stuff for another time cuz it makes a very good amount of thick smoke for something that small.
Note: most people think the crushing of the powder will make it explode. WRONG!!!! that is only flash powder. And using flashpowder in hobby rockets would be stupid. You wouldnt get a consistant flow. all youd get is a boom. And since that is thickl cardboard, it could hurt some people with such a big bang.
Here is the part that gets a little tricky. Take the solid black tube and crush it into a good powder. Mortar and pestle or 2 pieces of wood crushing them. Dont do it all at once. Break it into smaller piece about the size of the tip of your pinky depending on what engine size you are using.
Choice #4 There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Ive tried both methods of crushing. Mortar and pestle makes a Awesome powder, but it gives off a large amount of dust which i dont like. I took a piece of paper and covered the top of the container so no dust came out. The 2 boards are a little harder to manage because when you crush the pieces they come flying out the side. and its annoying until you get them into small pieces. I like the board method because no matter where i am, i have 2x4s to crush them with and i can deal with the pieces as long as im not on a dark surface where i cant see the pieces.
Make the powder very fine. Youll never get flour consistency, but youll get better than sand which will do. But remember, the finer, the better.
What you will have is a a mix of very very fine powder and some thick pieces. Sift it till you can find a way to get rid of the thick pieces. If you have all powder and no chunks i give you a high five. Now take the powder and funnel it (you should be smart enough to devise a funnel of sorts) into the tube. Tape the tube a few times to make sure it settles.
Choice #2 again. The other side needs to be sealed also. Glue it shut or clamp it shut then tape it.
Next step. After your tube is dry and the seals are quite good. You need a way to ignite it. Take a exacto knife or a pair of scissors and put a hole in the middle. A small hole, also clear some powder out of the way so your fuse will not fall out or be faulty. It needs to have good contact with the powder.
FUSE!!! this is the second most important part next to your explosive. You can make your own fuse or buy some (very very high quality and weatherproof fuse) from an army surplus store. They sell it in rolls for a few bucks. This might go over the 15 dollar budget i quoted depending on how much you buy plus the rocket engine costs. the store bought fuse is the best and you will need more fuse because it burns fast. OR you can do the alternative way. TAke some leftover rocket powder and get a very small cup or one of those medicine doseage cups you get with robitussin. Put some rolled up absorbent string into the little cup, since your dont need more than 6 inches, theres no need using up other shit to do it.
Note: Test for absorbancy. Soak it in water, run your fingers down it very tightly trying to ring it out, if it still feels damp when you feel it again, youve got some good absorbent string. If you dont have string, take a pair of scissors and cut off a thin strip of a 100% cotton shirt.
Now put the string in a coil at the bottom of the little cup. Take some water and put it in the cup just so its a little above the string. Then take some of that leftover powder that went astray or you didnt use, and put it in the water. Make sure that water is damn good and black. Not a thick paste. but black. Then swish your finger around making sur the powder water gets all over the string. Take a paper plate out and lay your string out on it. You can let it dry over night or depending how much time you have, you can dry it with a hair dryer set on warm. Dont count on making this whole thing in less than 2 hours anyway so plan accordingly. Let the string dry and when you look at it in light you should see little reflective specs. Test an inch of it if you can. It will burn pretty slowly but dont be a dumbass. Use 3 inches on your explosive. You now are very very close to being done with your small explosive.
Now lead your homemade fuse into the hole that you made.
If you bought fuse or have some good fuse already, ignore this.
How will you get it to stay?? Take some matchheads. Like 3 to 6 and pack them in there so the fuse doesnt move easily. Use as little of the match stick as possible. Yes you can pull it out like a dumbass, but handle it by the outside, not by the fuse.
Choice #5. You can make your explosion a little bit louder. Theres a technique here. Dont do it if you dont have time or dont care. Since the fuse is in the middle of the tube. The explosion will concentrate towards the center. Wrap slightly thicker amounts of tape around the middle than around the ends. AND do not go over the fuse. Leave the hole intact. I would say wrap 3 layers of tape around the middle for every 1 or2 on the outside. Dont do this much because it will be ridiculous and the explosion will find a path of least resistance and you wont get a good explosion.
Now with your fuse of choice in place. I'd say 2 inches for the homemade because it is slow and it needs to ignite the nearby matchheads. And 4 inches for the bought stuff. It burns fast and doesnt need the time to ignite matchheads.
Dont be a dumbass. I was. Almost got blinded in one eye from a flying rock. Hit the eye lid. stand back. or use a lot of fuse for somewhere where you want a getaway.
Instead of tube you can use a ping pong ball, little toy, or something that doesnt take the glue drying time. But wrap the thin plastic things in tape. Lots of it. Ping pong balls have weak spots. I did it with someone and it just sent a stream of fire about 6 feet up. That and he didnt make it well. And dont be a dumbass who thinks they can modify this to be a huge huge bomb. It is meant for small things. And lots of rocket engines are expensive. I payed 15 bucks for a pack of 3 E engines. They lasted me awhile, but i had exposed powder laying around for a few months.
Keys to a good small homemade explosive:
Fine powder, few chunks.
good fuse contact with powder.
Good wrapping, even wrapping.
Good seals on the end.
Looks good, not something a koala just shat.
I have done this many times. Its fun if you need something to do, and its not ridiculous like most of the fertilizer bombs are. I've been searching this site for reasonable homemade explosives and when i couldnt find them, i made my own. Feel free to experiment and take pictures lots and lots of picture. use different containers, more or less glue, thick or thin paper.
posted by m.nagi at 4:29 PM
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