NonEthicalPyrotechnics
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fairly new to energetic chemistry
I've been doing amateur chem for a few years now but i'm wondering what I should know if I wanted to get further into explosive chemistry. I don't
have much experience as of now i've only made TNT and nitroglycerin. Any advice, horror stories, techniques, or anything that could be useful would be
appreciated! (english is not my main language and i apologize for grammar)
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MineMan
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Buy a book on the safe handling or energetics, Thomas Klapotke main book has a section on this. And act as if it’s constantly trying to kill you.
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Braveskin
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Greetings,
I'm new here as well and similarly fascinated with energetic materials (fireworks/special effects mixtures hooked me).
There's still a lot more in this category for me to read through, but so far the most useful post I've seen is called "Life after detonation". It's a
tale from a well-practiced user here who experienced a single point of failure resulting in his hands looking "like a string mop saturated with tomato
sauce and hanging straight down". He gives lots of details of the accident and what life has been like without any hands. It's a long read, but the
entire thread is worth absorbing:
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=22...
Many of the replies contain useful information about what could have been done differently to avoid the catastrophe.
Here are a few of my takeaways:
-Don't practice chemistry in your kitchen
-Don't practice chemistry when you're tired
-Keep a fire extinguisher within arms reach (and remember to use it if you need to)
-Don't heat glassware of questionable quality
-Don't assume "good" glassware will never break
-Avoid single points of failure (use water/oil baths when heating dissolved EM)
-If you lose control of your EM procedure, RUN! (equipment is replaceable, but life and limbs aren't)
-Don't let experience or familiarity lull you into a false sense of security
I'm certainly not in the "never do anything dangerous" camp, but this story did shake me into the "be sober-minded and vigilant when something can
blow off your hands" camp. My heart breaks for this man and his family, but I'm grateful for his story being told.
Best of luck with your experiments.
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B(a)P
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Take a look at this thread.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=22554
I would recommend starting with the likes of black powder and nitrocellulose. Experiment with different compositions, milling approaches and grain
sizes for BP and recrystallisation of NC and the impact on performance from each variation.
Sounds like you have already tried some more complicated compounds. You next endeavour might be too make a secondary like picric acid you can then
experiment with it to make various primaries.
I also agree with everything MineMan said and always work in milligrams. Don't store or stockpile large amounts, make only what you need for your
experiment then decompose any left overs when you are done. Before starting a new synthesis understand thoroughly how the reactions work, understand
what can go wrong and what the tolerances are for the reaction. Make sure you have a safe space to do your chemistry, are you putting anyone else in
danger? Plan how you will escape if things go wrong and have a bucket set up containing water (or whatever is most appropriate) that you can dump the
contents of your reaction in if things get it off hand.
If you plan on working on more than the milligram scale then I would recommend getting an appropriate qualification and licence.
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XeonTheMGPony
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Start with the blasters hand book, then read some manuals on practical blasting, and how explosives behave.
then, start small, poke prod and burn and whack a sample of every thing you make. Try to make it go off, try to make it not go off.
as you get a feel for how each thing behaves and works in real life vs the books, then you can start planning effects.
and as all ways 4H of study will save you days in the lab, and keep your limbs attached.
I would all so start on primaries! Having a secondary is useless if you can not safely initiate it.
So get your self familiar with the Hydrazine synth! This is very useful for many other reactions
In this field, an accident that just leaves you only maimed for life is a good one!
[Edited on 15-6-2020 by XeonTheMGPony]
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Belowzero
Hazard to Others
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Registered: 6-5-2020
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Don't mess with organic peroxides such as AP/HMTD/MEKP!
And if you are going to always use tiny amounts, the accidents are numerous and horrible.
Storage is a problem too and should be well considered, always expect the worst even with 'stable' materials.
In my case I used to store primaries inside a thick walled steel box with a thin bottom and filled it up with toilet paper rolls.
If for whatever reason it would spontaniously explode the blast force is directed downwards to prevent steel scrapnel from going all over the place.
Steel scarpnel is bad but probably better than glass or plastic as this is very hard to remove from the body.
Invest in electronic ignitors , lighting and running is almost always a bad idea.
Always carry primary and secundairy seperately , always assemble on site, in case of accidents this can limit the damage done. Old munition crates are
very suitable for this as they are designed to direct the blast downwards, thick walls , thin bottom.
Once you have a feeling of how incredibly powerful energetic substances can be you will also gain respect.
I am sure many here will remember the first time they smashed NG/PGDN/EGDN with a hammer , instantly removing any doubt of how dangerous these
materials actually are.
Also: https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=27...
It has a collection of accidents well worth reading.
Another problem is the legal part, getting caught is obviously bad even with the best intend.
This is another reason why one would not want to store large amounts of HE's or its precurors.
Perhaps obvious but blasting should always be done away from civilization which in crowded areas can be rather difficult.
Driving long distances with such cargo is something rather unconfortable to say the least.
Use common sense, expect the worst.
[Edited on 16-6-2020 by Belowzero]
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