Where does one begin ?

Quote: Originally posted by Dornier 335A

TNT would be a pretty good place to start. The synthesis is a bit complicated but the product is safe to handle at least...

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

Or: Learn high explosive chemistry and related engineering. Realize that any testing done here may be taken VERY amiss by authorities used to having Basque separatists blowing up their bosses?! To follow on historically (and to my mind, appropriately for a beginner), learn about Ascani Sobrero and the discovery of nitrocellulose, Alfred Nobel and his work on technology of producing and safely employing nitroglycerin. Research Edward Charles Howard, (the original chemical engineer) and take a side trip into the synthesis of Mercury fulminate, then combine all 3 projects by shooting a batch of gelignite with a traditional Hg fulminate or 80:20 Hg fulminate:KClO3 blasting cap. If you are still interested, more or less whole in body and not in jail after those beginnings, I can suggest further projects.

In my experience HMTD is less chemically stable and more friction sensitive than TATP.
With that said they're both accidents waiting to happen.

If you're looking to get into HEs you're going to need a primary explosive of some sort, lead azide is probably the best combination of power, safety and ease of synthesis with the main drawbacks being high toxicity and the problem of obtaining NaN₃/PbNO₃.

Nearly all nitro explosives are a good place to start in terms of power and safety, RDX, PETN, ETN, TNP and EGDN are insensitive enough to handle without much worry, the question is what chemicals you have available to you and how involved you want to get.

ETN is very powerful and the synthesis is practically idiot proof. ETN and lead azide would be my two suggestions

Quote: Originally posted by OneEyedPyro

In my experience HMTD is less chemically stable and more friction sensitive than TATP. With that said they're both accidents waiting to happen. If you're looking to get into HEs you're going to need a primary explosive of some sort, lead azide is probably the best combination of power, safety and ease of synthesis with the main drawbacks being high toxicity and the problem of obtaining NaN₃/PbNO₃. Nearly all nitro explosives are a good place to start in terms of power and safety, RDX, PETN, ETN, TNP and EGDN are insensitive enough to handle without much worry, the question is what chemicals you have available to you and how involved you want to get. ETN is very powerful and the synthesis is practically idiot proof. ETN and lead azide would be my two suggestions

I started with nitrocellulose, which was successful. Soon after I attempted to distill nitric acid, but wasn't at all an experienced chemist and failed miserably. After that I attempted to make nitroglycerin, failed (without any explosions, just foaming), then gave up on that. I then successfully made erythritol tetranitrate, but couldn't replicate my success and gave up. This was all around 2 years ago when I was more kewl-ish and didn't understand chemistry much at all.
Over this summer I experimented with black powder and rocketry, and I started a chemistry class this semester. Now I'm restarting my whole journey with EMs with a better mindset. Last week I synthesized nitrocellulose and ETN, though I got nervous and destroyed the ETN because I wasn't completely certain of it's sensitivity . I will probably attempt the synthesis again after reading this thread http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=13502

[Edited on 25-11-2015 by TheAlchemistPirate]

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

Start with making black powder. It's the original propellant, an excellent "first fire" for priming harder to light mixtures- and will be useful for many "follow on" projects. It is more of an engineering and technology/craft project than pure chemistry, but worth your time if you are going to work with EM.

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

If you go there, perhaps begin with a search on Antoine Lavoisier and his contributions to the manufacture of Potassium nitrate and subsequently black powder... Your description of the sanitary arrangements at your home suggests that you may have to hand materials appropriate to recreate the original saltpeter extraction and purification process.

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

After that, the road splits. Follow the pyrotechnist's path, learn rocketry, propellants, generation of sound, color and smoke- And build some fireworks. If you're in the Iberian peninsula, fireworks should not be a terrible antagonism to the neighbors, which is always something to keep in mind! Or: Learn high explosive chemistry and related engineering. Realize that any testing done here may be taken VERY amiss by authorities used to having Basque separatists blowing up their bosses?! To follow on historically (and to my mind, appropriately for a beginner), learn about Ascani Sobrero and the discovery of nitrocellulose, Alfred Nobel and his work on technology of producing and safely employing nitroglycerin. Research Edward Charles Howard, (the original chemical engineer) and take a side trip into the synthesis of Mercury fulminate, then combine all 3 projects by shooting a batch of gelignite with a traditional Hg fulminate or 80:20 Hg fulminate:KClO3 blasting cap.

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

If you are still interested, more or less whole in body and not in jail after those beginnings, I can suggest further projects.

Here too, BP continues to fascinate. Nice link you posted there, surprised though blackthorn alder isn't listed there for charcoal, makes one of the fastest I've tried when ballmilled, pressed and finely granulated.

A simple and relatively safe way of getting a feel for what a pressure wave feels like is to add 2 coffeespoons of a fast blackpowder to a 2 L soda bottle, with a fuse through the bottlecap. When really fast blackpowder is used, the effect is similar to an equivalent of flashpowder. Don't use the cheap soda bottles, which are thinner, there is no substitute for the real coke.

[Edited on 28-11-2015 by nitro-genes]

Quote: Originally posted by aga

Hold on a sec. One of the docs says they're First adding peroxide to acetone, then adding acid. I thought acetone and peroxide was pretty much Bad on it's own.

Quote: Originally posted by TheAlchemistPirate

I believe a small amount of water(VERY SMALL!) is tolerable when ball milling, the advantage being that it is somewhat safer. With too much water, I think the powder starts clumping together and doesn't mix well at all. Of course there are many different methods of making BP so to say whether water is detrimental (in whatever part of the process) or not depends on the method.

Quote: Originally posted by aga

From what i;ve read, producing 'grains' seems to be the objective, so once milled & mixed with a tiny amount of water sprayed in, i think i'll try to squeeze it through an aluminium plate with lots of holes drilled in it, a bit like a potato 'ricer'. After drying (?) these strings, the process appears to be to tumble them together to get them to break into bits and rub together to get a more 'round' shape. The water should get some of the KNO3 to dissolve slightly and coat the S and C particles, helping keep the grain in shape.

Quote: Originally posted by KesterDraconis

consistency at which I can press/rub it over a mesh of wires (I use an old window screen actually) and this creates little grains of black powder. I catch them in a big plastic bucket under the screen, and then dry it in the sun. I find it burns rather well, vanishing quite quickly in a puff of smoke.