3.21     BLACK POWDER
---------------------
     First made by the Chinese for use in fireworks, black powder was first
used in weapons and explosives in the 12th century.  It is very simple to
make, but it is not very powerful or safe.  Only about 50% of black powder is
converted to hot gasses when it is burned; the other half is mostly very fine
burned particles.  Black powder has one major problem: it can be ignited by
static electricity.  This is very bad, and it means that the material must be
made with wooden or clay tools.  Anyway, a misguided individual could
manufacture black powder at home with the following procedure:

     MATERIALS               EQUIPMENT
     ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ               ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
     potassium               clay grinding bowl
     nitrate (75 g)          and clay grinder

       or                         or

     sodium                  wooden salad bowl
     nitrate (75 g)          and wooden spoon

     sulfur (10 g)           plastic bags (3)

     charcoal (15 g)         300-500 ml beaker (1)

     distilled water         coffee pot or heat source



1) Place a small amount of the potassium or sodium nitrate in the grinding
 bowl and grind it to a very fine powder.  Do this to all of the potassium or
 sodium nitrate, and store the ground powder in one of the plastic bags.

2) Do the same thing to the sulfur and charcoal, storing each chemical in a
separate plastic bag.

3) Place all of the finely ground potassium or sodium nitrate in the beaker,
   and add just enough boiling water to the chemical to get it all wet.

4) Add the contents of the other plastic bags to the wet potassium or sodium
nitrate, and mix them well for several minutes.  Do this until there is no
more visible sulfur or charcoal, or until the mixture is universally black.

5) On a warm sunny day, put the beaker outside in the direct sunlight.
  Sunlight is really the best way to dry black powder, since it is never too
  hot, but it is hot enough to evaporate the water.

6) Scrape the black powder out of the beaker, and store it in a safe
 container. Plastic is really the safest container, followed by paper.  Never
 store black powder in a plastic bag, since plastic bags are prone to generate
 static electricity.

GUNPOWDER
---------
   Gunpowder is great stuff - though not really as exciting as plastic or
 high-explosive it can be good fun for fireworks, bangers and not so large
 explosions.

 You will need: Sulphur     - Obtain this from your chemist. Yup! Just ask
                              for 'flowers of sulphur' (what a stupid name
                              for it!)

                Carbon      - Best just to use crushed charcoal for this.

                Potassium   - Get this from a gardenshop (ask for Saltpetre).
                Nitrate       Can also use Sodium Nitrate in 'Weedol weed-
                              killer' - but not actually as good.

 Making gunpowder from this is just too easy.....Just grind each substance
 until it is a fine powder....then mix them in the following ratio:

             Potassium Nitrate : Sulphur : Carbon
                     1         :    3    :   7

 Once mixed well you have made gunpowder - pack it in a confined space - add
 a fuse with the FUSE PAPER as shown above and you have a 'low-explosive'. It
 can be great fun. If you want to light the gunpowder with a short delay of
 about twenty seconds or so without the need for matches or lighters then use
 a FIRELIGHTER

BLACK POWDER:GRANDPAS RECIPE   
----------------------------
IF YA WANT TO MAKE SOME LOW EXPLOSIVE BOMBS THEN YOU PICKED THE RIGHT CHOICE!
FIRST OF ALL, THIS RECIPE WILL SHOW HOW TO MAKE BLACK POWDER IN A SIMPLE AND
SAFE MANNER YET HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE SOME STRONG LOW EXPLOSIVE BOMBS.
NOTE: THE BELOW AMOUNTS WILL YIELD TWO POUNDS (THAT'S 900 GRAMS FOR YOU METRIC
USERS) OF BLACK POWDER. HOWEVER, ONLY THE RATIOS OF THE AMOUNTS OF INGREDIENTS
ARE IMPORTANT.  THUS, FOR TWICE AS MUCH BLACK POWDER, DOUBLE ALL QUANTITIES
USED.

                              MATERIAL REQUIRED
                              -----------------
large wooden stick                   cloth, 2 ft.  sq.
flat window screening, 1 ft.  sq.    heat source
water, 3 cups                        alcohol, 5 pints (any kind)
sulfer, powdered, 1/2 cup (flowers   wood charcoal, powdered, 2 cups
of sulfer, at a drug store)          potassium nitrate, granulatd, 3 cups
2 buckets, both 2 gallon, one must   (saltpeter, at drug stores)
be heat resistant

PROCEDURE:
1.  PLACE ALCOHOL IN ONE OF THE BUCKETS.

2.  PLACE POTASSIUM NITRATE, CHARCOAL, AND SULFUR IN THE HEAT RESISTANT
BUCKET.  ADD 1 CUP WATER AND MIX THOROUGHLY WITH WOODEN STICK UNTIL ALL
INGREDIENTS ARE DISSOLVED.

3.  ADD REMAINING WATER (2 CUPS) TO MIXTURE.  PLACE BUCKET ON HEAT SOURCE AND
STIR UNTIL SMALL BUBBLES BEGIN TO FORM.

CAUTION: DO NOT BOIL MIXTURE.  BE SURE ALL MIXTURE STAYS WET.  IF ANY IS DRY,
AS ON SIDES OF PAN, IT MAY IGNITE.

4.  REMOVE BUCKET FROM HEAT AND POUR MIXTURE INTO ALCOHOL WHILE STIRRING
VIGOROUSLY.

5.  LET ALCOHOL MIXTURE STAND ABOUT 5 MINUTES.  STRAIN MIXTURE THROUGH CLOTH
TO OBTAIN BLACK POWDER. DISCARD LIQUID.  WRAP CLOTH AROUND BLACK POWDER AND
SQUEEZE TO REMOVE ALL EXCESS LIQUID.

6.  PLACE SCREENING OVER DRY BUCKET. PLACE WORKABLE AMOUNT OF DAMP POWDER ON
 SCREEN AND GRANULATE BY RUBBING SOLID THROUGH SCREEN.

NOTE: IF GRANULATED PARTICLES APPEAR TO STICK TOGETHER AND CHANGE SHAPE,
RECOMBINE ENTIRE BATCH OF POWDER AND REPEAT STEPS 5 AND 6.

7.  SPREAD GRANULATED BLACK POWDER ON FLAT DRY SURFACE SO THAT LAYER ABOUT 1/2
INCH IS FORMED.  ALLOW TO DRY.  USE RADIATOR, OR DIRECT SUNLIGHT.  THIS SHOULD
BE DRIED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY IN ONE HOUR.  THE LONGER THE DRYING
PERIOD, THE LESS EFFECTIVE THE BLACK POWDER.

CAUTION: REMOVE FROM HEAT AS SOON AS GRANULES ARE DRY.  BLACK POWDER IS NOW
READY FOR USE!