Anyone else into homemade Ballistics\Pyrotechnics?

Today i was using a blowtorch to melt Zinc. After it melted and landed and coolled i picked it up and tried to melt it again, but the extra surface area made it catch fire and produce a blue\green flame. I've never heard of Zinc flametesting a colour, so do you think it was impurities or does Zinc normally do that?

I also tried the soap suds thing with Butane on a very small scale (bottom of a milk carton, Butane running through a tube from a 300ml cylinder). Was frustrating how it doesn't float up like Hydrogen or Methane would, but was kinda fun nonetheless.

All this really interests me, but living in a pretty built up city there's not much room to tinker, unlike you guys with acres to your names

I've played with a little magnesium, that's about it

^magnesium is fun, what you should do is at night make a setup where you can put magnesium in a large flashlight reflector (like from a spotlight), a metal one preferrably, and find a way to hold some magnesium in there. If you do it right, it sends out an incredible amount of light and it's a lot of fun.

ColdStl said:

IIRC those bbq ignitors from Lowes/HomeDepot cost about ~$9. A cheap stun gun cost under $20. They are easy to modify with pliers, solder (or use the crimp style connectors), wire and a little bit of heat shrink tubing. I wired in a 6v 80mm brush less fan to help mix air/fuel, and to clear the residual fumes after firing it. Most everyone I have talked to usually refers to the spud gun guy's website, I copied the design from The Monkey Base (bigger guns).

Also... The spudfiles (I think that is the website) has a page that shows the law concerning the construction/ownership of spud guns, and their legality. It's still a good idea to check with your local LE agency.

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I'm a member of spudfiles, they helped me build mine. It was actually there that it was suggested the problem was that I should only have 4% propane.

ossumguywill said:

^by the self-detonating gas bomb, do you mean the one that involves a condom and a jar?


The igniter that I used had a big old red button and we designed to be installed in the barbeque, not from one of those handheld lighter things. Those barely work. The one that I got gave a nice, big, bright spark.

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Trust me on this one, the problem is definitely not the sparks.

ZRTMWA said:

I'm a member of spudfiles, they helped me build mine. It was actually there that it was suggested the problem was that I should only have 4% propane.



Trust me on this one, the problem is definitely not the sparks.

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Really? The only thing that ever kept my guns from working was the sparks.... Those tiny piezo things you find in lighters never worked for me, it was either a $20 tazer and some wiring or a $9 BBQ lighter with no extra work. I have both, and both work better than a tiny piezo.

Here was my thread about it on Spudfiles:

http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/dual-ignition-problems-t19938.html

Excuse my n00bishness.

Back on the topic of explosives, has anyone seen this before or know if it's real:

1) Aquire a glass container
2) Put in a few drops of gasoline
3) Cap the top
4) Now turn the container around to coat the inner surfaces and then evaporates
5) Add a few drops of potassium permanganate (<-Get this stuff from a snake bite kit)
6) The bomb is detonated by throwing aganist a solid object.
*AFTER THROWING THIS THING RUN LIKE HELL THIS THING PACKS ABOUT 1/2 STICK OF DYNAMITE*

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ZRTMWA said:

Here was my thread about it on Spudfiles:

Dual Ignition problems

Excuse my n00bishness.

Back on the topic of explosives, has anyone seen this before or know if it's real:

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I believe that's a lie. The mafia used a similar reaction, but it required latex. That's the "condom" trick I talked about. It's not a true explosive, rather it pushes gasoline past its flash point in the absence of oxygen, so it boils and a jar explodes from pressure, then the gasoline ignites because it is already very hot. However, I don't think this will just work with potassium permanganate and gas. The condom serves as a delay mechanism and necessary catalyst, IIRC. But not a true "explosive", once again.

edit:
cool spud gun thread! Although I'm not really sure that what the one guy said about increased heat being responsible for better performance is true, the energy from one of these sparks is minimal. I think it simply causes all the gas in the chamber to burn faster and get more energy released before the spud is already leaving the tube.

ZRTMWA said:

Back on the topic of explosives, has anyone seen this before or know if it's real:

1) Aquire a glass container
2) Put in a few drops of gasoline
3) Cap the top
4) Now turn the container around to coat the inner surfaces and then evaporates
5) Add a few drops of potassium permanganate (<-Get this stuff from a snake bite kit)
6) The bomb is detonated by throwing aganist a solid object.
*AFTER THROWING THIS THING RUN LIKE HELL THIS THING PACKS ABOUT 1/2 STICK OF DYNAMITE*

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Uhm, someone like to put around dangerous jokes, perhaps ..... :wtf:

Potassium permanganate is a very strong oxidant, and also very reactive with some substances, including acids, and glycerine and gasoline, that causes hypergolic and pyrolitic reactions for contact (self-ignition, in most cases, and generation of explosive gases too), so, suggest to just drop potassium permanganate in a container where there is gasoline, is almost like suggest to ignite the gasoline when you're looking into the container ..... not exactly safe, imho .....

A KMnO4/gasoline bomb can be made, but not like in this instructions ..... so, please don't try it, or at least, not in this way .....

Lol I remember much fun with a spud gun , but the most fun I had with it, required a change of ammo. You need a smaller piece of pvc pipe that fits just inside your barrel. Take a potato, and cut a small slice, then tap that small slice in with the pipe you have no. (the pipe is needed to push evenly around the sides so it doesn't simply flip)

Now, take whatever you want to launch, and pour it into the pipe. Paintballs work well. Especially those mini airsoft bb sized ones. :eg: But you can launch quite a wide variety of objects with a thin wafer of potato. Also if you get a LOT of confetti, you can make a serious mess REALLY fast. Lastly, for a seal on the top, you want something else that will hold it all in. This you have to tailor to the load. I.e. for confetti, simple cotton balls work nicely. For paintballs, I stuffed some cotton, then melted some paraffin wax over it to make them sit still better.



My favorite trick was with powdered sugar. I broke a glowstick, shook nicely, then cut it open and poured the juice into the confetti before I covered the top. Launch it at night of course, and watch the green goo launch and expand. Just be forewarned if you launch straight up, or into the wind, you WILL get yellow green stains all over you.... No I wasn't quite that stupid. Although there are now a couple more yellow-green fluorescent rocks at topaz mountain then nature supplied

Avoid launching flammable things though. If you launch flour, there is a chance it could light off from the burning fuel you are launching with. If you launch something like gelled gasoline, you will probably end up in a burn unit at a local hospital or on the desk at the coroners...... Spud guns are nice and fun, if used responsibly.

I built this.

mfo said:

I built this.

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Really? I thought I was the only one! I think I'll start a forum for H-bomb makers like ourselves.

^ Naah ..... nuclear devices are overvalued, as mass destruction weapons .....

Also for just a very small 1 KTon one, you need at least a briefcase or a backpack for carry it around, and you're traceable from any enough sensitive geiger counter .....

If you're in the field of mass extermination, i suggest you to switch to biochemicals and genetic manipulation ..... one small tube of liquid, carried in a pocket and breaked in the center of a city, and, voila', from 25000 to 200000 deads in pair of days ..... but, remember, if you success, i've said you nothing, ok ? .....

(just kidding, ofcourse )

@Glutton-My friend is into parkour, so when he visited his relatives in NYC, to test their skills they set off 3 bottle bombs in a parking lot then parkoured away from the cops :crackup: they made sure to do it an area where no people or cars were around, so no damage done (thankfully, they could have hurt themselves)

Parkour is so fucking cool!! I'd love to try it but i don't have the patience or the body to. I'm like... the skinniest it's possible for someone with a healthy-within-normal-range diet to be.

ZRTMWA said:

Just turned 17, that pyrotechnicians class sounds awesome! I wish my parents would let me buy flash powder. I would use it as responsibly as a teenager with explosives can jk. I'm always very serious when it comes to blowing up stuff. Anyone else here tred to make a potato gun? I got it all made up but it wouldn't ignite the propane. Something to do with having 4% propane and 96% oxygen I think.

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Try using a bit less propane. If there is too much fuel it won't ignite, too little yields a smaller explosion. The best fuel that I have found is a product called Static Guard. It is 98 % flamable ,2 % perfume so it shoots great and even smells good, and leaves no residue. My chamber is a 4 inch by 12 inch and I spray less than 1 second worth in. Any more and it won't fire as well. I added a fan too and found that it wasn't as finnicky and had a lot more power. Have fun with you Organic Starch Accelerators.

ZRTMWA said:

Here was my thread about it on Spudfiles:

Dual Ignition problems

Excuse my n00bishness.

Back on the topic of explosives, has anyone seen this before or know if it's real:

Click to expand...

Now I wish to make a potato gun with a quad igniter thank you very much I just happen to have a stun gun too I found the best fuel to be this clear coat paint stuff I had. It has hydrocarbon in it. VERY flammable