HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: slmdj@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Exploding balls :-)
Date: 20 Nov 92 09:47:37 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

In article <1992Nov17.042302.19938@reed.edu>, pbray@envy.reed.edu (Peter Bray) writes:
> 
> 
> well i think that the general talk about splitting would be a good idea.   
> i personally find all the firework nonsense a little tedious and i much  
> prefer the good ol' talk of thermite and neat little tricks involving  
> bubble gum etc.
> i wanted to ask one more thing about thermite since *I* have never got the  
> shit to ignite... how much should i make... i mean, should i make, say, a  
> teensy weensy amount, like a thimbleful.... i know this will ignite but i  
> am curious as to how long this will burn for etc.  also i imagine that a  
> bigger amount will burn hotter than a smaller amount... could be wrong...
> so what do you suggest?  the size of a golf ball, a tennis ball, or a  
> football...
> 
> 
> while on the subject of tennis balls i read an interesting article in the  
> los angeles rag Ben Is Dead about tennis ball bombs.. apparently what  
> someone did was to cut a whole bunch of heads of strike any where matches  
> and stuff them inside a tennis ball.  they then threw this thing and it  
> exploded on contact.  pretty interesting i thought.


Yeah-- 
A friend of mine uses racquet balls, fills them with match heads, and for that
little extra *FLASH* loads in some good ole' black powder!  

P.S. ---  It scares the _hell_ out of anyone who hasn't seen the trick 
before!!! :-)

slmdj@cc.sus.edu
EE Undergrad Extraordinaire
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Detonation vs. deflagration
Date: 17 Nov 92 17:42:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: hpcvaac.1992Nov17.174208.28915
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA

biffs@shelley.u.washington.edu (Randolf Smith) writes:
: I was wondering what smokeless powder does--detonate or deflagrate?  I know

Normally, it burns. However, if enough shock is supplied, it can detonate.
This is most true of the double-base propellants, which contain a percentage
of NG.

: that black powder can only burn, not detonate.  Flash powder can do either,
: depending on circumstances.  Nitroglycerin apparently can only detonate.  

NG can burn, under the proper conditions. The same is true of most other
explosives which are capable of detonation.

:     I would think that they couldn't confine a detonating substance (in a gun),
: but from the warnings about exchanging black powder and gun powder, and the
: existance of "double-based" powder, it's tough to tell what happens.  Oh, that
: and gun powder being nitrocellulose, where most (from what I can tell from 
: this group) nitrated things detonate.

No, there are many, many nitrated substances that do not detonate. Many of them
do not even burn well. 

The compounds that are capable of detonation do so only under the proper
conditions. For some of them, that means that you have to take some special
precautions to keep them from detonating. Others require that you go to
great effort to get them to detonate.

The smokeless propellants fall somewhere in the middle of this range. In
normal loadings for firearms, they do not detonate. They can be detonated
by using the proper intitiator.

:     So what is it--really fast deflagration or weak detonation?
: 	-Randy Smith

It is a fast deflagration - the higher the internal pressure, the faster
the deflagration. There is no detonation involved, except possibly in the
primer.

Bill
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: biffs@shelley.u.washington.edu (Randolf Smith)
Subject: Detonation vs. deflagration
Reply-To: biffs@u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 06:45:51 GMT

I was wondering what smokeless powder does--detonate or deflagrate?  I know
that black powder can only burn, not detonate.  Flash powder can do either,
depending on circumstances.  Nitroglycerin apparently can only detonate.  
    I would think that they couldn't confine a detonating substance (in a gun),
but from the warnings about exchanging black powder and gun powder, and the
existance of "double-based" powder, it's tough to tell what happens.  Oh, that
and gun powder being nitrocellulose, where most (from what I can tell from 
this group) nitrated things detonate.
    So what is it--really fast deflagration or weak detonation?
	-Randy Smith

Note:  For those who wish to know, I definately, positively, absolutely never
want to get involved with anything more explosive than a few kilobytes of
text.  Not that it applies to this message, but you can never be too careful.
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Flash (was Re: Ammonium Nitrate)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 19:05:51 GMT

rubin@skiing.cis.ohio-state.edu (Daniel Rubin) writes:
: >
: >:    M80s,
: >
: >I don't recall for sure - about 5 grams?
: 
: I have heard that there was 2 grams in M80s, but that was about 6 months ago
: from an article from this groups and I have no clue how accurate the source
: is...

Yeah. I have the same problem. Since I do not use them, I don't know what
they contain. However, 2 - 5 grams is in the right range.

: >Class C - 120 mg. Class B - it is measured in ounces. For example, a
: >three inch aerial salute may contain about 4 ounces of flash. Such
: >amounts are lethal. Even a few grams can maim a hand.
: >
: >Bill
: 
: Neat...  I didn't know that there was such thing as a Class C salute.  

Certainly. A firecracker is a small salute. Note that it is aerial
salutes that can contain 120 mg.

Many states prohibit Class C aerial fireworks. Some allow only the
"so called" safe and sane Class C stuff. Some prohibit consumer fireworks
entirely. 

: In the most recent issue of AFN there are some articles on ground bombs.
: What is the legal limit of flash powder in a ground bomb.   The article 
: describes ground bombs with a couple pounds of flash ( gasp! ) ignited at
: ground level, but really doesn't give a legal limit the the size of one!

I don't know. However, I have seen what happens when you ignite a pound of
flash in an shed with one open side. It totally demolishes the shed and
sends the walls and roof flying through the air. There is no way I would
ignite such a device, without a good electical firing system. 

: I have been to many shows here in Ohio and even in California and
: Florida, but have never experienced any loud ground effects such as this.
: I would love to "feel" one of these things at a show why aren't they done
: more?

I doubt if you will ever see such ground effects. They are too hazardous,
too much chance of flying debris injuring someone. The loud salutes are
typically used as a bottom shot in aerial shells.

Bill
From: rdicker@cyberden.uucp
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Oxyacetylene torch?
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 12:12:49 PST
Organization: Indescribable Creations


> In article <todd.721732353@csrnxt1.ae.utexas.edu> todd@csrnxt1.ae.utexas.edu 
> 
> > ...                                           I know the OxAc... torches
> > welders use get a lot hotter than the propane torch, but what I DON'T
> > know about is their availability, price, and size. Are there any somewhat
> > compact versions on the market for a reasonably low price? What's the
> > temp. of these things, anyways? And would I need any kind of special
> > permit for the compressed acetylene? (Or the oxygen, for that matter)
> 
> It depends what you mean by reasonable.  I spent about $600 (new) for
> a good torch and regulator set, a small set of tanks, and various
> pressure can spontaneously explode, and high pressure oxygen can react
> -- University of Michigan EECS dept.
> -- don@eecs.umich.edu

This may be true for a full-size toarch, but you can get one almost as 
good for ALOT cheaper.  I bought a Propane/Ox toarch at my local Ace 
Hardware for about $50.  An extra $10 and I can get something called Mapp 
Gass, which is mostly Acetylene.  This thing is about 1 foot tall, and 
has two tanks.  Only buy this thing if you know what you're doing, and 
know how to use an Acetylene torch.  I also recomend a whole crap-load of 
safty equipment eg. Goggles (WELDER'S GOGGLES, none of these clear 
things.) Gloves, Welder's Bricks (Normal bricks will blow up if you use 
this thing on them.)  You get the point.  My point is, its less then 
$600, its not full size, and don't go out and buy one unless you know how 
to use it..

__________________________________________________________________________
   |       /         |\
   | H E   \ Y B E R |/ E N            [ rdicker@cyberden.uucp ]
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: reb@amc.com (Bob Brunjes)
Subject: Re: Detonation vs. deflagration
Organization: Applied Microsystems, Redmond, WA
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 23:03:50 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.064551.29094@u.washington.edu> biffs@u.washington.edu writes:
>I was wondering what smokeless powder does--detonate or deflagrate?  I know
>that black powder can only burn, not detonate.  Flash powder can do either,
>depending on circumstances.  Nitroglycerin apparently can only detonate.  
>    I would think that they couldn't confine a detonating substance (in a gun),
>but from the warnings about exchanging black powder and gun powder, and the
>existance of "double-based" powder, it's tough to tell what happens.  Oh, that
>and gun powder being nitrocellulose, where most (from what I can tell from 
>this group) nitrated things detonate.
>    So what is it--really fast deflagration or weak detonation?

It burns, at a rate determined by container pressure.  At one atmosphere,
most smokeless powder burns _much_ slower than most granulations of black
powder.


Bob Brunjes		Applied Microsystems Corp
			Redmond, WA
			reb@amc.com

Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: pfs@pslu1.psl.wisc.edu (Paul Schnettler)
Subject: Re: sigh... once more: thermite
Organization: Physical Sciences Lab, University of Wisconsin
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 18:46:47 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.141540.3952@ncsu.edu> jrkitchi@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN ROBERT KITCHIN) writes:
>
>
>|>
>|>while on the subject of tennis balls i read an interesting article in the  
>|>los angeles rag Ben Is Dead about tennis ball bombs.. apparently what  
>|>someone did was to cut a whole bunch of heads of strike any where matches  
>|>and stuff them inside a tennis ball.  they then threw this thing and it  
>|>exploded on contact.  pretty interesting i thought.
>|>
>I've played tennis a time or two, but the balls never exploded. Every time, 
>flames and burning match heads came shooting out of the hole they were put 
>in through.  Makes an interesting fountain though.  Put all kinds of things
>in it.  rocket engines, sulphur, KNO3, etc...  Burning chunks went about 25-30
>feet in the air.  Now put that tennis ball under something heavy like say a 
>car tire....
>-sally

When I was a kid (well, younger that is) we used to make match head bombs that
managed to behave quite eratically. We would take a square of foil and break
the heads off of a box of strike anywhere matches. The bunch of match heads
would go into the sheet of foil. We would gently compress the bunch of match-
es into a ball and wrap another sheet of foil around the first foil/match
ball. We would then take a roll of masking tape and start wrapping the foil ball
with tape. Around and around until the ball was wrapped about 4 to 5 layers
thick with tape. We would end up with a ball the size of a baseball or tennis
ball. Once the bomb was finished, all one would have to do was throw the ball
against a hard surface (with considerable force).
the bomb would then behave in one of two manners. It would either sit on the 
ground for a few seconds building up enough pressure to explode, spewwing
bits of burning match heads in all directions, or it would build up pressure
enough to blow out a hole in the side wall of the bomb and proceed to fly
around the yard like a projectile with no particular direction in mind!
Quite fun for 10 year old's with only enough spare change to buy matches!!
From: hook@mcl.ucsb.edu (Jim"macman"Goldstein)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Anarchists' Handbook
Keywords: Vandal
Date: 23 Nov 92 06:34:44 GMT


	I was wondering if anyone could tell me how i can get a copy of the
	Anarchist Handbook. Your help would be deeply appreciated.

				JMG
				hook@mcl.ucsb.edu
From: mktjadx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu (Jeff A. Dilcher)
Subject: Re: Oxy-acetylene bombs & cannons
Keywords: acetylene,bomb,cannon
Organization: Georgia State University
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 15:02:01 GMT

damian@mullauna.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Damian John AGIUS) writes:

>  The funny part was when I was showing off to my friends about my "new weapon"
>and I decided to hold the cannon in my hands..... that was when I made the
>projectile really tight in the barrel..... and the end of the tube blew off
>and covered my hands and arms with half-burnt-but-still-burning phosphour
>stuff.....


That *is* kinda funny!
heh heh
I bet you were rolling in laughter!
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: So ya wanna die?
Date: 23 Nov 92 18:08:11 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Nov23.053910.13566@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu>, tip@lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin) writes...
>By the way, I had forgotten that black pipe is used for pyrotechnic mortars.

Note also that pyrotechnic mortars are also buried in case something _does_ go
wrong.

-Mike
From: damian@mullauna.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Damian John AGIUS)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Oxy-acetylene bombs & cannons
Keywords: acetylene,bomb,cannon
Date: 18 Nov 92 06:01:37 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia

Hi all,

  The funniest thing I ever did was to make a miniture cannon out of a
bike pump (one of the small hand held tubular things).
The way I did it was to take it all apart, and use the main case as the barrel,
then strip match heads for a few hours to give about 3cm of the stuff in the
tube.  I would then place a match head in the hole that the air is blown out of
in the pumps normal operation as a "secondary" igniting substance.
For a projectile I normally used something round-ish that I wrapped several
band-aids around to seal it nicely.  The only thing left to do was to mount the
thing and hold a lit match to the hole in the end.  With a big whoosh the
projectile would fly out (with a fair bit of speed for such a simple thing).
Once we put a projectile with a nail sticking out the end through a fridge at
about 15 feet.....

  The funny part was when I was showing off to my friends about my "new weapon"
and I decided to hold the cannon in my hands..... that was when I made the
projectile really tight in the barrel..... and the end of the tube blew off
and covered my hands and arms with half-burnt-but-still-burning phosphour
stuff.....

  Also, when I tried substituting the propellent out of many .22 shells,
(giving it a long fuse!) the thing blew apart nicely as well as emitting the
projectile..... lots of fun!!

Anyone else got some stories?

damian.
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: bw004b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (brian denny williams)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: howdy
Date: 20 Nov 92 02:18:13 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York

In <1eeq6uINNr0d@mozz.unh.edu> R_HUBBARD@unhh.unh.edu (Ronnie   Hubbard) writes:

>Hi
>I have been reading the psychotic adventures of your little clan for
>a while now...And I just figured out how to post.  I have little to
>no experience with pyrochemistry, but I am aching to learn.  The most
>I have done is build home made cannons with the steel pipe from bar-bells
>hammering one side flat and folding it over, and hammering it flat again
>(This is a time consuming process, but the end result is fun :))
>filling the end with liquid wax and letting it cool
>(the wax prevents loss of compression)
>drill a hole for cannon fuse (available from any good gun store)
>cut a 2" length for the cannon fill the tube with about an inch of
>PYRODEX brand smokeless gunpowder and stuff 4 sheets of news paper on top
>compress the hell out of it! :)

>stick one end of the tube in the ground light the fuse and run-like-hell
>(just in case)
>BOOM!
>somebody post a response so i know i am around!
    Well that is one way to do it. But there is a better way. I used a 1
inch steel pipe that was 4 ft long, and filed the back end with lead. The
trick in keeping the lead in place is to put an Al foil ball down one end so
that there is 2 inches of pipe open. Then put a rod up the other side to
suport the foil and smash it in place. Then you can drill (not easy) a hole
through both sides of the pipe. The holes should be 1 inch down. Then put a
nail through the holes, and pour molten lead into the opening. After it
cools the last thing to do is to dril a fuse hole and compress the Al foil.
The big advantage with this method is that the pipe is not weakened,
and you don't have to do all that hammering.The bigest problem is that if it
dosen't fire it is a major pain in the ass to get the prodjectile, wadding,
and powder out.I had to cut the back end off, and repeat the process. Dose
any one have a good way to make a breach loading cannon? 
Brian Williams
From: bw004b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (brian denny williams)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: ANFO+RDX
Date: 16 Nov 92 05:18:05 GMT
Distribution: rec.pyrotechnics
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)


Hello, I have been reading rec.pyrotechnics for about 3 weeks now and
finally decided to try to post an article. What I want to know is if anyone
has been able to to detonate ANFO without the use of blasting caps? And
secondly if RDX might be a good detonator? I read about RDX in the TBBOM and
was wondering if it could be manufactured and used with out killing
yourself, maybe as C-1? Does anyone have experance making/using it? I would
appreciate any advice. I have limited pyrotechnic experance (mostly black
powder and KNO3+sugar) and I realy don't know if want to take the risk, but
would like to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks.
From: tip@lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: So ya wanna die?
Date: 23 Nov 92 05:39:10 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona UNIX Users Group

In article <By3HDI.84A@ccu.umanitoba.ca> umcormi5@ccu.umanitoba.ca (John Cormier) writes:
>Could you give the name of the book you lost?

The title was something like "Internal Ballistics" or "Ballistics" with a LARGE
section on internal ballistics.

By the way, I had forgotten that black pipe is used for pyrotechnic mortars.
On reflection it does make sense because (I NEED THAT BOOK) the pressure goes
up as something like the 2'nd or the 5'th power of the weight of the shot.   
I remember that I was very impressed with how much more pressure one gets with 
lead balls than with iron balls.   For the same diameter a pyrotechnic ball 
probably wieghs 1/2 as much as iron, which means one gets from 1/4 to 1/32
the pressure.
From: sr2s+@andrew.cmu.edu (Seth Malcolm Redmore)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Frozen H2O2, O3
Date: 18 Nov 92 12:00:53 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Hi y'all!

As for the fact that people use H2O2 to sterilize their contacts,
well, so far as I know (not being a contact wearer) they rinse them
before they put them back in. At least all my friends do.  The
one person who I know that acc. put H2O2 in his eyes (he thought
it was saline soln...)  was ReallyUnhappy.  His eyes were _flaming_
red.  the only time I have seen redder eyes was on someone who had burst
the blood vessels in one of her eyes.

--Seth
(I'm still working on the nitration thing, Bill :) )
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Flash (was Re: Ammonium Nitrate)
Date: 17 Nov 92 14:38:57 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Nov15.183408.13123@cis.ohio-state.edu>, rubin@skiing.cis.ohio-state.edu (Daniel Rubin) writes...
>In the most recent issue of AFN there are some articles on ground bombs.
>What is the legal limit of flash powder in a ground bomb.   The article 
>describes ground bombs with a couple pounds of flash ( gasp! ) ignited at
>ground level, but really doesn't give a legal limit the the size of one!
>I have been to many shows here in Ohio and even in California and
>Florida, but have never experienced any loud ground effects such as this.
>I would love to "feel" one of these things at a show why aren't they done
>more?

Actually the AFN of about 3-4 issues ago described using the 'gabe mort'
a sack of several pounds of flash suspended from a gallows-like device as
the very last shot of a show.  The last article was a retraction of sorts,
stating how such things may not be legal in many places, are dangerous,
and may give the sponsor of the show, the local police and/or fire
departments the willies, so at the very minimum discuss using such a thing
with all the above before using one in a show, if any have any hesitation
don't.  Second reason that they must know, the effect suprises the crowd
(finale finishes, then several seconds of nothing, then BOOM!!), it may
make the authorities think there was an accident...

-Mike
From: pbray@envy.reed.edu (Peter Bray)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Al and Lye (was Toilet bowl...)
Date: 17 Nov 92 04:10:04 GMT
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR



Those two liter coke bottle bombs are extremely unpredictable.  I got some  
red devil lye (100% sodium hydroxide - get from local supermarket) and put  
a whole bunch in with some aluminum foil.  I capped the thing tightly.   
The thing started to bubble like mad.  I dropped it out my dorm window and  
it landed right next to an open windown on the 1st floor.  I was scared  
shitless.  Anyway I waited and waited and the thing did not go off...
Finally I had to shoot the thing with a crossbow.  I didn't want to shoot  
it with a gun or bb since I thought the heat might ignite the hydrogen.   
One fun thing that I did do, though, was to make this formula and attach a  
condom on top of the spout.  You get a nice condom filled with flammable  
gas.  Watch out though, when igniting it!  It singed my hair.  Also make  
sure that the spout of the coke bottle is clear of the lye solution -  
remember this is pretty heavy alkali and it erodes the condom wall quickly  
and it will pop before you fill it up full.  Also, watch out for the  
lye... it is pernicious shit.  I left it in the dorm kitchen and I gues I  
had spilled some over the table and forgot to wipe it up.  People eat off  
that table.  It was troooooouble.  All for now.
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Detonation vs. deflagration
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 00:01:56 GMT

rtaraz@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Ramin Taraz) writes:
: 
: fernee> insensitive to shock. Nitrocellulose is one of the most stable
: fernee> single component explosives known, so much so that it can't be
: fernee> initiated with a high power rifle bullet.  
: 
: Can C4 be?

Not consistently. Usually, if anything happens, it just burns. I could
probably look up the specifics.

Bill
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Frozen H2O2, O3
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:20:34 GMT

hees@cubic.com (Phil Hees) writes:
: In article <1992Nov15.083654.10497@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com>
: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
: >
: >Eyes are particularly sensitive to irritation by H2O2. 
: 
: Hmm... and millions of people use H2O2 to sterilize their contact lenses.

And, strychnine is a deadly poison. However, if you dilute it enough, then
it is harmless.

The H2O2 used for clean contact lenses is 3%. Try increasing that to about
15 or 20% and putting it in your eyes. I think you will find that it will
be quite irritating. 

Bill