r1dermon

considering the fact that its the second most efficient oxidizer...i'd say that less than 2oz is PLENTY!! until you really understand the beast that you are playing with...i'd definately work with it in SMALL quantities. at least you'll just lose a finger if something goes wrong...as opposed to blowing yourself apart in your basement.

rarely is the question asked, is our children learning...~bush jr. with quotes like that...who the hell needs michael moore to tell us who to vote for...isnt it obvious? bush is a moron!

dude...even the way you talk(type in this case) its like...you have the intellectuality of a 40-something seasoned scientist. i must say, im quite amazed at your ability to deduce and solve complex problems that involve different elements. if you dont have a scholorship to MIT...well, then they havent found you yet.

researcher, cap'n is referring to a discovery channel show named "rocket challenge". in it, a team in arizona? built a rocket called the aurora. they built their own rocket motor because commercial motors only reach the O class. theirs was a P. and since each letter up the scale has the ability within its realms to be twice as powerful as the previous letter, thats like....an E motor to the tenth power. and an E motor is pretty sick. the formula they used was not given on the show, however, they did mention ammonium percalate(sp?), after that they added some kind of orange goop, total cost for the motor for materials, fuel...etc...was priced out in the 3000$+ range. not only that, you only get ten minutes to form it before it hardens, so you better have your casing set up. my advice is to stick with conventional powders until you take several chem courses and gain experience with that type of propellent. the aurora weighed in at 262lbs(i think) and it reached 30,000ft at 1400mph in a little more than 40 seconds....not something that you look forward to having CATO. heh. liquid fueled rockets are a lot more powerful than solid, unfortunately however, they're extremely complex, i've tried one and it was not pretty.

budullewraag, i have one simple question....for someone who is in HS...how in the name of christ do you know all this stuff....even my HS chem teacher who had a masters in chemistry, didnt seem as knowledgeable in the field as you are...so explain it to me...without any post HS schooling, how is it that you know what you do about chemistry?

http://www.skylighter.com local chemical supply company....brooks pharmacy(small quantities) skylighter sells it by the lb, lab AND food grade...food is like..4.50 a lb. dont forget the ratio, 63:27:10. 63% KNO3 27%sugar 10% sulfur...4oz of sulfur will last a pretty long time...and just remember to stay back from a metallic casing.

my appologies to everyone...after further measurement, it is 1/2 inch in dia. heh. 1/4 was off the top of my head, a general observation...however, 24inches of length is accurate.

yt...whats you're definition of detonate...? m-80's make a loud pop(solute) due to the rapid expansion of gasses...thats my definition of detonate...

lol, if you can chew it....even my drill had a tough time cutting through it...thinking of making a charcoal based powder so that the waste is carbon...considerably easier to clean up.

what about airing an hour of 9/11 clips followed by the man who allowed it to happen followed by statistics of just how bad the country has suffered since bush got elected followed by police reports, military documents, and images confirming what bush was doing while kerry was serving his country nobly in a war that was not ours.

how do we mean, "detonate"....as in...flare up? or as in...conventional m-80...or as in...ATOMIC CLOUD OF DESTRUCTION!!!!!

its extremely safe. as long as you're not a nitwit. as i've stated, i was basically clueless as well. first thing i did was fill the tube to the top and compress it down...bad idea....took about 2 minutes to burn off, not very impressive, large amounts of smoke. make sure you make a core hole and plug the top end(opposite the nozzle) or else it will just blast a lot of powder out of there. also, for a more powerful rocket try to fill the core with black powder, REAL black powder, it can be had at any firearms store. if you can't get it, try to find some FFFF pyrodex powder, its smokeless, and burns slower than true black powder, but it'll work. make sure its pistol grade. most pharmacies should carry the required supplies. saltpeter (potassium nitrate), sulfur(flowers of sulfur), and powdered sugar, that will be at the grocery store, make sure its just plain powdered sugar, no additives. you'll need a gram scale, unless you plan on measuring out lbs of this stuff...lol. kitchens etc will carry one, linens n things...major kitchen supply stores....then make a trip to your local home depot, or hdware store, and get a good piece of aluminum pipe, preferably with small sidewalls, but not to thin, because it will burst. also, you'll want to prep the inside of your rocket before you launch with this setup, the heat that is generated by the aluminum is going to be SIGNIFICANT. it will scorch your cardboard mount in no time. to plug the motor take a spoonfull of black powder and add maybe 4-5 drops of water to it...stir it around and let it get pasty, then just plug the core with it, once this is lit(when dry) it will ignite, despite the fact that it had gotten wet...and kapow, there goes your rocket...further testing is desirable in my case, im going to try and double the power but keep the run time in the 5 second range...also, i forgot to mention that my runtime included ALL thrust. even at the final point which was barely measurable...peak thrust time was probably in the mid-high 5 second range. regardless, the only thing to remember is, metal creates shrapnel when it explodes, so keep a good distance and you should be in like flint.

total cost including tube was 95 cents. if i get my digi cam working i'll get a pic of it. its spent right now, i need to figure out some kindof way to clean it out...acid maybe? the sugar is rock hard....well, i theorize that it burned so long because the core was so narrow. it was about as wide as a BBQ scure. i imagine that the peak thrust would be somewhere near 20 with half the burn time on a 1/8th inch core. enough stuff to make say...24 of these motors would run you about 7-10 dollars. keep in mind though, its much more logical to use something lighter than aluminum for your casing, unless you're using a larger diameter casing. i was pleasently surprised. KNO3+sugar+sulfur burns a lot slower than the typical estes motors, which use black powder. most KNO3 sites give a casing diagram, it uses that brown tape stuff, sets up rock hard, but its a pain to make...and they are single use. i just wanted an impressive test motor. boy, was it loud. only consideration is, the putty i used kind of wore away, so the nozzle is a bit larger. nothing that can't be drilled and re-set. oh, PS, i got my nitrate at brooks pharmacy, had to order it, saltpeter is 2 bucks for 6oz, (flowers of sulfur) sulfur was 3.00 for 4 oz. and the sugar was 79 cents.

blike, let me start by asking you, how are you...your family...neighbors....i see you're from tampa, just hoping that you guys werent hit really hard... back to the topic, you can't argue who is more evil, bush or saddam, thats like comparing apples and oranges. saddam was the leader of a dictatorship, bush is the leader of a democracy, not only that, but it is the worlds only superpower, a supreme being. saddam was a bad guy, no doubt...but he wasnt our sworn enemy, lol, it seems to me that our sworn enemy is everyone...north korea, syria, jordan...etc....more and more the citizens of these other countries are crying oppressors. this is not a good state for the US to be in. obviously if going to war with iraq was the "right" thing to do, 3 billion people wouldnt be pissed at us. this issue will not be solved so long as republicans and democrats continue to find differences with each other. there should be no left or right, there should be a group of candidates that represent a sleuth of things. beliefs if you will. the whole purpose after 9/11 was to unite the country, obviously it was not on bush's agenda to unite the country, as he completely ignored half of it and went to iraq anyway. not only that, but he lied to the whole country. the entirety, you, me, the bum on 5th street downtown...everyone. and yet, because he represents your party you continually support him, not because you like him inherintly, but because you decided that you dont hate him because nobody hates him...as far as you know...because you're the typical talk radio listener. you follow sean hannity and dennis miller and rush limbaugh...i must say, that the war between partys is almost to the point that a civil war will erupt, and the antagonists will be your party. why not listen to what people have to say, instead of labeling them off the bat, "you're a typical liberal" because once that mindset is reached, you'll never take a word they say seriously. think about it.

i took an aluminum tube, 1/4 inch dia. and 2' in length, filled it with KNO3+sugar+sulfer at a ratio of 63:27:10, made a nozzle with some putty stuff that i had, and then i took a BBQ scure and stuck it down the middle, forming a cone shaped core. my experience with this type of rocket building is limited, so i had no idea how the rocket motor would perform. i straped it to my homemade scale(regular scale with an aluminum V spot welded to it, and a hose clamp attached. so i threw it into the hose clamp. due to its length i figured it would probably get in the 5+ second range for burn time...well, i clocked it at 6.35 seconds of burn time, and get THIS, 14LBS PEAK THRUST!!! THATS INSANE. works for me...6 seconds at 10-14lbs...i'll take it. and at 1/4 inch. HAH. needless to say, the aluminum tube was SCORCHING hot, and the inside was completely covered in carmalized sugar. heh. total cost of the motor including tube, plaster...etc...around 95 cents. total cost of a market motor producing the same thrust for half the time...around 10 bucks for a single use...and considering mine is reloadable...muhahahahaha

dude...buy it....unless you're looking for the experience of creating it...buying it is a lot more trouble free..besides being entered into a secret service watch list and having your house staked out 3 times a week...its no problem...KNO3 is damn cheap. food grade at skylighter.com is like...4.50 a lb. go to brooks pharmacy, its 2 bucks for 6oz. hella cheap.

m-80's use flash powder, they are considered low-yield explosives. they contain 3grams or more of flashpowder, 3 grams being most common, and if you've ever heard an m-80 go off...it doesnt really seem like a "low-yield" explosive.

i agree, it is a retarded piece of legislation, and as a democrat, i appologize for my parties misconception. i especially like the bayonette thing...lol. lord knows, there are drive-by bayonettings nightly.

this is great, just as i expected, this morning while i was watching the news, they came up with a report that osama was ready to be captured...they now have him pinpointed and its a matter of days to a month before american forces move in on him....HAH, what a crock of bull. we've had him for a while, now dubya is going to say we just captured him by some brave heroics and we've ridden the world of a large part of terror...hmm, i cant wait to see his approval rating skyrocket because of all these dumbass voters who actually trust their government...i think there should be an extensive investigation into this report.

nitroglycerine....yeah, i think i'll stay clear of that crap. heh. not exactly a safe explosive. just dont drop it!!!!

basically 90% of the firearms on the market are in some way connected to the military. those gang bangin' mac-11's, the glock18c...etc...hell, even the weekenders bolt action .308. its all from the military. since the military has "special" needs, which include high accuracy termination of life, its obvious that the main two design characteristics of most weapons is, accuracy(not always) and efficiency. that is to say, a .22lr is going to be no good in battle if you're sniping someone from 800yards away, rather, a .22lr is very compact and easy to silence, so a more practical application for it is for assasins...close range, get next to the guy and pull the trigger, a .22lr can kill someone, though a good shot placement is needed, it can be done...a more practical application for those 800+yd shots are the larger caliber rifles, such as a .300WM. people who want to outlaw these weapons simply do not know anything about them...and certainly, i should not have to bear a burden that i do not want to bear simply because some rich politician says that its safer...if we are quaranteened from everything dangerous, we wont learn anything more...we learn by mistake, if we are not allowed to make mistakes, then the world will come to a developmental hault and we will kill each other off...

associates here....surprisingly the ONLY one....im still working on it...argh.... if you're saying you'll have a lot more experience in 15 years...well, you're obviously correct...however, if you're referring to intelligence...i wouldnt count on it...hehe

ah yes, the terrible term liberal, thats YOUR bias telling you its a bad word. news is not supposed to have an opinion, its supposed to be news, thats the point. news is factual, not slanted either way. it theoretically CANNOT be politically biassed if its news. thats the point of news...of course however, the US does not have a good NEWS source. only partisan private groups pushing others agendas, and that goes both ways, left-wing OR right wing.

reacts slower...precisely, that acts as a sort of imaginary fuse...once the bottle is capped...you've got about 40 seconds, depending on the amount of tin foil, to get the hell away. and it makes plenty of BOOM. heh.

yeah...tell that to your typical senior in high school...they'll say...huh?