The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-02
ROW TO MAKE DYNAMITE.
Directions for Making the Most Powerful Ex-
plosive known to the Chemists.


plosive Known to the Chemists.
New York World.
Everybody just now is talking of dynamite
and all sorts of wild stories of the powers and
properties of the explosive used at the Parlia-
menJ buildings in London floating around in
connection with the present talk on the subject.
The fact is that dynamite enough to do great
deal of damage may be turned out with the
simplest appliances at very moderate cost,
from materials most readily obtained, and in the
smallest possible bit of workshop The recipe
for the making of this great explosive may be
told in a half-dozen lines of print and told so
plainly that anyone who can read ought to be
able to follow the instructions and produce
the finished material Ordinarily it is not
in l'' place of Of the Is per ''Hsn. cent. 'y by
weight of nitro-glycerine mixed with 20 per cent
of absorbent material, that in general use would
have about 40 per cent. of nitro glycerine. In
this shape it can be sold at thirty cents per
pound, and just now there is some cutting going
on between the rival makers, and even lower
rates can be had. At the ordinary strength it is
about four and one-half times as powerful as
gunpowder applied in a drill hole. It's sharp de-
tonating qualities make it applicable in places
where gunpowder would be useless If guam
tity of gunpowder were ignited upon the ground
it would burn up. making much smoke but do
ing no special damage Dynamite under the
same conditions, would leave great hole in the
pavement 1t has many curious properties and
as yet the chemistry of explosives is in grow
ing state, and every year sees new chapters
written in this department of science Dynamite
freezes at 45 degrees Fahrenheit and is then com
paratively safe to handle yet sharp quick
blow has been known to set off solid block of
it. AT 120 degrees Fahrenheit it is at its best
for real work. At 250 degrees it becomes very
unstable and above 300 is liable to start itself off,
To make it, the first step is to get nitric acid
and sulphurc acid of great purity and strength
and to make mixture of the two in the proper
tlon of one pound OF nitric to two pounds Of sui
phuric acid. This mixture may be purchased at
any chemical works, and should cost at current
market rates about 81 cents per pound Seven
pounds of this mixture are placed in an earthen
jar or pitcher, and into it poured, drop by
drop, pound of ordinary crude gycerine, cost
ing twelve cents per pound. A glass rod should
be used in stirring the compound. and it should
be kept in ice or in vat or box surrounded by
ice-water or, better still, salt and ice. The OBJ
ject of the ice is TO keep down the temperature
for the strong chemical action evolves great
heat. The sulpuric acid does not 60 into the
final compound, and seems to exert no useful
ness beyond an absorber of the water which is
one product of the chemical changes. When the
mixture is complete, two pounds of nitro
glycerine will be found at the bottom of the
earthenware vessel, while the water, or rather
dilute sulphuric acid, generally known by the
name of oil of vitrol, will be floating on top.
This is poured off, and the nitro glycerne sub
JecIeu 10 d very thorough WaSHlng unCll IL is en-
tirely freed of free acid, acid not taken up in
combination by the glycerine. A little nitrate
of soda, or Chilli saltpeter, may be added as an
alkali to take up any of the free acid. The ex-
plosive is now made, and in the form of the yel-
lowish, oily nitro glycerine would be the most
effective for destructive purposes but it is very
fckle substance and the least jar is apt to bring
the explosion. In this form it is largely used
in shooting oil wells, and is sent about the
country very carefully packed in felt lined cases.
Even then, when transported in wagons over the
rough roads of the oil regions it has not unfre-
quently left only rough place in the road to
tell the story of a horse, man and wagon passing
that way. The mixture with the inert substance
is purely a mechanical one. Anything will
do as an absorbent; sawdust. if
well dried, old tanbark powdered,
and black gunpowder, any vegetable
fibre or cellulose will answer, and thus in twenty
four hours or less the entire process of manu-
facture will have been completed from the simple
materials of aquafortis, oil of vitriol glycerine
and sawdust The mixing and cooling may be
gone through with and the rash manufactures is
ready with the strongest explosive known to
modern science.
Experimenters of ability have spent years on
the problem of supplanting it with an explosive
OF higher power, and under scores of names as
many such substances are claimed. Others have
experimented to discover some way of making
the compound more stable and less liable to those
freaks of action which appear to be inseparabie
from dynamite Success has been very limited
however, in either direction, and the bulk of the
100000 pounds of dynamite made each year in
this country Is of the simple ligneous or wood
dynamite variety. This great production does
not interfere with an immense output of black
powder, OF which the production runs up to an
average of 100 tons per day even in these times
OF peace.