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Nu0p
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Getting closer. This was half a gram of NAP in a sealed PT100 thermometer body. Hand packed densities. Slowly scaling up the amounts as I am testing
my det chamber’s ability to cope with these things as well. So far it’s done well to contain small amounts of shrapnel and deaden the sound to the
point that the dogs don’t even react. Next test is 1 gram of NAP.
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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Surely it was a detonator ? It looks like woodpecker pecking.....
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Nu0p
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I’m not sure what happened there. It’s very interesting.
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ManyInterests
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After many months, I decided to schedule another trip. It's going to be in a month's time, but I am going to prepare my detonators today.
So I was advised to use ground-up melt-cast ETN to mix with the NHN in a 1:1 ratio as the initiator and around 1g of hard pressed ETN, if I can fit
that much. I will make 6 caps in total, 3 using ground-up melt-cast ETN and 3 using solid-cast ETN to see if it will work. Do you think a little loose
ETN will still be necessary or will the NHN/ETN mixture (only LIGHTLY tamped) will suffice? I wish to use 0.3g of said mixture. I think I will be able
to fit a full gram in the cap body, but I don't want to overload it and make sealing it a problem.
I did think about sanding off part of the cap body, but I think that might not be necessary. I think the actual thickness of the steel is 0.5mm. But
that is only the 8x50mm. The longer 100mm body is definitely thicker and has a slightly smaller inner diameter, so for those, I will probably need to
do some polishing and sanding.
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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1) My recommend, create 2 pieces 49 mm from 100 mm cavity and without bottom. 2) High density ETN not must be super high density. Hand pressed on 20
Kg is easy achieve without vise or else tools. 3) Mixture grain ETN + powder NHN 1:1 pressed on 1 Kg is enough for initiation described pressed
ETN.......
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ManyInterests
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I barely did any pressing on the primary. But I think when I inserted the e-match, it might have given the 1 kg as it inserted or, or even less. I
wanted that stuff to be as loosely packed as possible. Some of them were overfilled since I put in 0.4g of NHN/ETN mixture, I realize that this might
be excessive, and only 0.3g would be sufficient and also give enough room for the fuse/e-match.
Adding the fuse (homemade black powder fuse) and the e-match would have pressed it somewhat, but I am not sure if it is 1kg or not. I really did not
want to press the stuff beyond mild tamping, and even then, VERY gently.
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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If most of the ETN agglomerates are 1x1 to 2x2 mm, a pressure of between 0.5 - 2 Kg can be applied to this primary component (0.15 +0.15 g). There
will still be enough air (gaps) left for a quick burn. At using inner diameter of 6 - 8 mm.......
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ManyInterests
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Quote: Originally posted by Laboratory of Liptakov  | | If most of the ETN agglomerates are 1x1 to 2x2 mm, a pressure of between 0.5 - 2 Kg can be applied to this primary component (0.15 +0.15 g). There
will still be enough air (gaps) left for a quick burn. At using inner diameter of 6 - 8 mm....... |
I applied perhaps a little less pressure than that. But I am very confident that the mixture is quite homogenous. I pressed them into each other and
folded them a few times. I could not see any whiteness of the ETN in the mixture, so I am confident that it is properly mixed and did not unmix when I
tapped the side of the cap to get them to gently settle. For several caps, that is all I did, little to no pressure applied.
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ManyInterests
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(ugh! My post didn't make it for some reason. I think it is the attachments. This is my third attempt. I am writing it on word in order to not have it
lost again!)
OK, so I went out to test out my blasting caps. I made 9 total caps for testing, 6 steel caps, 2 plastic caps, and 1 7mm remington magnum shell with
the neck removed (should have kept it in retrospect). All but the 7mm shell had 1g of ETN + 0.3g of ETN/NHN mix (melt-cast and ground ETN). The
ETN/NHN was only very lightly tamped and not pressed. The 7mm shell had 4g of ETN + 0.6g of ETN/NHN mix.
3 of the steel caps and 1 of the plastic caps had solid cast ETN in them, this was done via pressing the powder ETN and then placing the cap inside
hotwater to melt the ETN before it was carefully removed and allowed to cool down for 30 minutes at least. These caps had inconsistent performace that
convince me that making solid-cast ETN to explode is a lot more difficult than I thought. The plastic cap did no damage to the witness plate but it
did fully explode. It was the loudest plastic cap I ever detonated.
Another 3 steel caps and 1 plastic cap had melt-cast and ground ETN pressed in them and they performed much, much better. I am convinced that this is
the best material to use for blasting caps. The plastic one, however loud it was, didn't even fully detonate all the ETN! I actually had to tip out
the ETN from the cap, which I found very strange.
The 7mm remington magnum shell... holy hell. That was intense. I didn't even all the pieces of my witness plate, it was blown to bits. I wonder if
this cap would be sufficient to detonate ammonium picrate?
I think I am mostly done testing out caps. I know that LL will tell me that I need to remove the bottoms of the caps and... I agree. I should be doing
that and using a little aluminum foil to stop the stuff from coming out and to hold it in place. Real detonators do have a very thin bottom (sometimes
as thin as 0.03mm). I think that without much need for testing them they will be superior what I have now.
 
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ManyInterests
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The rest of the pics
  
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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Your research confirms my long-held suspicions. That ETNs can be "overprinted". In my experiments, if the ETN was pressed in the vise to the highest
possible density (estimated at 50 Kg) there was occasional incomplete detonation or even failure. ETN at high densities creates an insensitive block
of matter. For this reason, it is better to press only at 10 Kg. For the output segment.
You described 9 attempt, but on photos are 12 damaged plates. It seem weird.....
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ManyInterests
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| Quote: Originally posted by Laboratory of Liptakov | Your research confirms my long-held suspicions. That ETNs can be "overprinted". In my experiments, if the ETN was pressed in the vise to the highest
possible density (estimated at 50 Kg) there was occasional incomplete detonation or even failure. ETN at high densities creates an insensitive block
of matter. For this reason, it is better to press only at 10 Kg. For the output segment.
You described 9 attempt, but on photos are 12 damaged plates. It seem weird..... |
The technical term is 'dead pressed', and perhaps you are right. Perhaps the solid-casting is what is causing that dead pressing issue without
actually pressing it since it is at the highest possible density.
I don't use a vise, I always hand press, I tried to use a vise but it was always not good. So what I will do going forward is to give a solid press,
but not too hard.
Also I showed some of the plates on the reverse. The solid-cast ones. That's why it looks like there are twelve. 
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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I've been telling you for at least a year: Forget casting......
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ManyInterests
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OK! I promise, I will never solid-cast any ETN in the container. The ones that
were melt-cast and ground back up into powder, however, were excellent.
Now I think most experimentation is done. You believe that I pressed too hard on the ETN on the melt-cast and ground up ETN? If that is the case, then
I can simply press much softer the next time. I will need to find a better way to file the bottom of the caps. I know steel will work because you use
steel caps. The brass cartridges might be better since the metal is much softer already.
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ManyInterests
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First set of photos.
       
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ManyInterests
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OK, so I wrote a much longer summary previously, but I will try to keep this one short.
I made a total of 13 caps. 4 steel and 9 brass shells. The 'pressed' is decently, but more lightly, pressed melt-cast ETN into the cases, while the
'toppers' were similar but had a little bit of lightly tamped ETN on the top. I think ultimately they were identical. I will let you, LL, if you read
this, to decide if these steel cased one in this instance that blew a much nicer hole than last time (which blew more of the steel plate apart, which
you said was not good).
I learned a valuable lesson with brass casings. The Improvised Munitions Handbook advised to remove the primer and drill a bigger flash hole in the
bottom to allow the fuse to fit through (and in my case an e-match as well). I didn't know why this was the case, but I was told that the bottoms of
brass shell casings are very thick and very hard... and I had no idea just how true that was! The results show. There are no holes, because the bottom
simply did not allow the explosion to go downwards enough.
So going forward I will make some more detonators made from 5.56x45mm/.223 shell casings but I will have the explosive train start from the bottom to
the top.
Now this is the big one: You mentioned bottomless casings, or cavities as you like to cal them. You did put some aluminum foil pressed into the bottom
of yours (and I still can't figure how you got them not to slip out... despite mildly crimping and pressing). But would simply applying tape to the
other end of the case be sufficient? Will it explode all the way through and make very nice hole in the steel or will it be a problem? I suppose I
could crimp it, but that would reduce the case's overall capacity and I wouldn't like that.
What about making a very small dab of baking soda/cotton with super glue? Too hard (they can be really tough), or just adding some aluminum foil to
the tape. I am very curious as I think I will finally end my journey to making a super powerful detonator!
  
[Edited on 13-8-2024 by ManyInterests]
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pjig
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LL’s method is really simple. Small rolled up ball of foil maybe pea size at most, steal plate and a steel rod . Using a hammer , put the ball in
the tube , use hammer to smash it flat in the tube a few good hits. Almost makes a commercial appearance of a cap. Holds very well . Can use super
glue to waterproof the exterior if you feel inclined
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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Exactly......pjig...... explained all about aluminium cap. Interesting results. But I never seen no one tube before test or entire assemble before
test. Is diffult introduce it, how to looks entire assemle.....
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B(a)P
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You can clearly see the imprint of the back of the casing on those images.
As you have learned you need the output portion of your detonator to be encased in the weakest part of the casing, or at least no stronger than the
rest of the casing.
For the end of your detonator you really only want just enough material that the contents are protected sufficiently dependant on your use.
If you are using steel tube as your casing and you want to make an aluminium end cap try to first rough up the inside of the end of the tube with a
file or sand paper, then crimp the end a little if possible. Then add a small amount of aluminium foil and press it hard with a rod just small enough
to fit down the tube and it will stay in place no trouble at all.
If the detonator does not need to be waterproof and will be protected from damage then you can just use some tape to close the end.
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ManyInterests
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| Quote: |
You can clearly see the imprint of the back of the casing on those images. |
Yep, that gave me the hint that the primer end of the brass case is HARD. I used a small vise to hold them in place for drilling and primer removal
and I feared I would deform my case if I held it too tight... but no, I tightened that vise as hard as I could and it made no discernible mark.
I did also cut the end off one of the 100mm steel tubes that I have and I did rough it up with a file and yes! I finally got the pea sized aluminum
foil to hold up, with even a solid smack not pushing it out. I put some electrical tape on the end anyway for waterproofing. I will do the same to my
50mm tubes. I hope that I will still be able to load the shorter caps with the same load I normally do after cutting them (1g ETN and 0.3g primary
mixture).
In all honesty, after all this I feel a little foolish. I felt like the whole solution was right under my nose the whole time. But i am sure now that
I have finally figured it all out when I could have done it a little earlier. Maybe I was just subconsciously enjoying the journey. :p
[Edited on 13-8-2024 by ManyInterests]
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tL42YGfLcE
In 1:04 you can see reduction procedure hole from 6.35 on 5.8 for insert aluminium ball and finally creating output alu bottom....
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ManyInterests
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I remembered your video and did it. I will need to learn to cut off only the absolute tip of the tube since the hole will be tapering anyway. Plus I
want more room for the energetic. 5 or 7mm less on a 50mm tube is significant.
Also I assume that less is more with aluminum? Because I think I might have added a chunk too big and reduced the amount even more.
I will make tests with steel and brass as last time but both minimal aluminum bottoms and taped bottoms. The tape is for keeping the energetic
material in, that's why I really want it.
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Laboratory of Liptakov
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Better than cutting maybe will using coarse emery cloth or a grinding wheel for clamping in a drill. And for a finer adjustment, a scythe sharpener
will be suitable....
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ManyInterests
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I tried to drill my caps against emery cloth and files, that didn't do much. I did order a nice grinding attachment for my drill that I haven't used
yet. But maybe it'll work? I just don't know when the end will be filed sufficiently.
Also one other thing is I ordered from aliexpress a 500mm aluminum tube with an OD of 8mm and ID of 7mm, meaning it should be perfect for cutting
detonators of the length I would like (60 to 70mm) and I can close off the ends with small bits of foil or just tape the ends as you suggest.
Edit: might as well tape a few layers of foil at the absolute bottom instead of hammering it in. That could work.
[Edited on 13-8-2024 by ManyInterests]
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B(a)P
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| Quote: Originally posted by ManyInterests | I tried to drill my caps against emery cloth and files, that didn't do much. I did order a nice grinding attachment for my drill that I haven't used
yet. But maybe it'll work? I just don't know when the end will be filed sufficiently.
Also one other thing is I ordered from aliexpress a 500mm aluminum tube with an OD of 8mm and ID of 7mm, meaning it should be perfect for cutting
detonators of the length I would like (60 to 70mm) and I can close off the ends with small bits of foil or just tape the ends as you suggest.
Edit: might as well tape a few layers of foil at the absolute bottom instead of hammering it in. That could work.
[Edited on 13-8-2024 by ManyInterests] |
If you haven't already, get yourself something like this. They are generally pretty reasonably priced. If you keep them tight as you cut they also crimp then end a little, just enough to be able to
get the foil cap to stay in place. With your end cap try for less than 0.5 mm of thickness, but with enough strength to do what it needs to. Once you
have the right amount push it back out and weight the foil, that way you know exactly how much to use each time. If you are going to be using those
aluminium tubes going forward get yourself a 6.5 mm diameter piece of tool steel rod to use with a hammer to get the end cap set and with a press to
compact your EM. Once you have a system in place where you can make consistent housings then you can do some really nice comparisons of different
types or combinations of EM at a variety of densities. Well done on the tests so far, what was the mass of EM in each of your test caps?
Edit - Typo and after thought
[Edited on 13-8-2024 by B(a)P]
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