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From tequesta.gate.net!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!news.hal.COM!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!quartz.ucs.ualberta.ca!gpu2!josephro Wed Dec 21 23:15:26 1994 Path: tequesta.gate.net!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!news.hal.COM!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!quartz.ucs.ualberta.ca!gpu2!josephro From: josephro@gpu2.srv.ualberta.ca (Joseph Robinson) Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics Subject: handbook.txt Date: 15 Dec 1994 18:07:08 GMT Organization: University of Alberta Lines: 2687 Message-ID: <3cq0kc$1f5c@quartz.ucs.ualberta.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: gpu2.srv.ualberta.ca X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] [ Article crossposted from alt.engr.explosives ] [ Author was S Colacino ] [ Posted on 14 Dec 1994 23:41:51 GMT ] The ____________________________________________________________________________ | # # | | | | | | | | | | |______|#__#__|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______| ############ | | | | | | | | | __##|____##|____##|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|___ |# |# # | # | | | | | | | | | #______#____#_|____#_|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______| # | # | # |# | | | | | | | | ####################__N__A__R__C|_H__I_|S__T__'__S___|______|______|______|___ # # | # # | | | | | | | | | #____#_|______#____#_|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______| # # | # # | | | | | | | | __##|______|____##|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|___ | # ############ # | | | | | | | | | |#_____|______|___#__|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______| Home Companion. First Release: June 1st 1989 (Canada Day...what a country!) _______________________________________________________________________________ The Anarchist's Home Companion. _______________________________________________________________________________ Table Of Contents: _______________________________________________________________________________ I An Introduction to the Anarchial Arts. Pg. 3 II The Tools of the Arts................. Pg. 4 III Mild Anarchism........................ Pg. 5 IV Anarchy for Amusement................. Pg. 6 V Anarchy for Profit.................... Pg. 8 VI Havoc and Hell........................ Pg. 10 VII The Black Arts........................ Pg. 12 VIII Theft:................................ Pg. 13 A Single Party Theft.............. Pg. 14 B Multiple-Party Theft............ Pg. 15 C Other Forms of Theft............ Pg. 16 IX Destruction:.......................... Pg. 19 A Home Made Weapons............... Pg. 21 B Interesting Ideas............... Pg. 22 C The Fun Part.................... Pg. 23 X Deception............................. Pg. 24 XI Sub-Forms............................. Pg. 25 XII Weapons and Explosives:............... Pg. 26 A Home-Made Explosives............ Pg. 27 B Chemical Explosives............. Pg. 39 XIII General Anarchy....................... Pg. 41 XIV More Easy Gadgets..................... Pg. 43 XV Complex Explosives:................... Pg. 50 A Common "Weak" Explosives........ Pg. 51 B Thermite Reactions.............. Pg. 53 C Nitrogen-Containing High Exp.... Pg. 54 D Other Stuff..................... Pg. 56 XVI Stars, Flares, and Color Mixtures..... Pg. 57 XVII The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics......... Pg. 64 Note Sheets........................... Pg. 70 _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter One: An Introduction to the Anarchial Arts _______________________________________________________________________________ First off, I guess I must allot for those of you who don't know what I mean when I say Anarchy. (ALWAYS capitalize that word...don't forget!) Well, maybe I should start off with a definition.. Anarchy: <`an-ahr-kee>...noun. 1. A social structure without law and order, government, or authority. 2. Utter confusion. 3. A rebellion against what's accepted as right or correct. Ya...right outta Webster's own, there. Well, I HOPE that you got some idea as to what I'm talking about from that. If not, toss this out...it isn't for you. Done? Okay. Now that only the REAL people of the world are here, we may commence the study of the perfection of this art, and examine some of the newer developments and state-of-the-art achievements in this religious pastime. _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Two: The Tools of the Arts _______________________________________________________________________________ Explosives - A personal favorite. As everybody knows, there are many, many, files floating 'round out there on this topic. I have seen docs and plans for everything from the front axle car bomb to the exploding ball-point pen. So, you should have no trouble with this section... Flammables - Gasoline, hairspray, ANYTHING that burns enthusiastically classifies. However, with the availability of gasoline, and the relative inexpensivity, (now .68/gal!), this most often becomes the chosen fluid. Attain some, and I'll tell you what to do with it later... Projectiles - Yes, even the most basic of prehistoric weaponry can be the Anarchist's best friend. Everything from rocks to eggs to your little brother classifies, anything that can be used to damage or destroy when thrown will do... however, due to the relative inexpensiveness and availability of rocks leads to their wide usage... Instability - C'mon, let's not be silly. Every Anarchist is so BECAUSE of an inherent mental imbalance. A true Anarchist is a psychopathic Anarchist. This REALLY comes in handy when preparing for a "run", for to an Anarchist, quite simply, the mad, the impossible, isn't. This is sometimes referred to by Anarchists as "guts" or "balls"... Transportation - (Preferably motorized... be real). Or, in many cases, a flock of such. A mandatory requirement for a successful authoritative attack, for true Anarchists don't get caught at the scene... _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Three: Mild Anarchism _______________________________________________________________________________ As much as people would like to deny it, prank calls, yes, prank calls are a form of what could be known as "pre-Anarchy". It can even be found in The Specter's infamous satire of the loser, "Anarchy for the PreAdolescent", under "Major Devilment for the American Youngster." Face it, EVERYBODY as made prank calls once in a while for entertainment, and we still do, yet now it's more for profit than for amusement. Even the universally- despised jokes, phrases, and clauses told to preteens by their visiting grandparents such as, "Excuse me, but is your refrigerator running?" and, "Is there a John in the house?" are heard from time to time spewing forth from the mouths of giggling infants into the phone receiver into your hateful ear. It's unavoidable. Yet they do successfully annoy you, therefore, in essence, completing SOME form of mild anarchy. Face it, like it or not, these little jerks are the future freaks and Anarchists of America... More inventive forms of this nature include ringing doorbells and running, putting a modem on auto-redial at an enemy's home, letting air out of your neighbor's tires, and selling fake raffle tickets...(100% profit!) Yet, we must move on... _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Four: Anarchy for Amusement _______________________________________________________________________________ Yes, Anarchy CAN be an entertainment outlet for a slow Saturday night! Just get a couple friends together, grab some brew, and you're off to wreak unholy havoc upon society! But what to do first? Hmm, you consult your ever- ready "Anarchist's Handbook," and espy the chapter, "Fun Through Blatant Destruction of Property!" Aha. That's the one, but how? Well... A. Spray Paint - Fun stuff! Sure, why not, for no reason at all, just go out and paint "@#$% You!" all over everything in sight, or maybe the infamous Anarchy sign, an encircled "A" everywhere? Why not, YOU won't have to clean up that mess? Hey! Why not paint "Can't Drive 55" signs all up and down Interstate 75 like on Sammy Hagar's album? A warning, though. Park OFF of the InterState, like in a parking lot on a nearby road. That way, when the pigs see you, you've got plenty of time to scramble to the car and get away. Also, paint can be "picked up" quite easily from any drug store or hardware store, or, if you're not "into shoplifting," it's relatively cheap. A movie's about $4.50, a can of paint's $1.75 or so, I don't know, haven't BOUGHT any in quite some time.. But in any case, it's cheap entertainment. Not even a new flick can get your heart racing like a cop chase can. B. Destruction - Where are those bricks I threw back here?!? Hmm, maybe one or two would look good in Ms. Johnson's living room? Sure, the colors match beautifully! But, aw shucks, the door's shut. No need to bother the sweet old bitch, we will just have to put them there ourselves...but how? A window -- perfect. Just toss 'em in there! I'm sure she'd like to thank you for your good day, but the Good Book says that we shouldn't do something for the thanks that we receive, but just out of the goodness of our heart...so, get out of there before she sees you and tries to thank you personally it's the "good thing". C. An Invasion - (of privacy, that is!) Blackmail material, possibly? I wonder... Grab your ever-handy beige boxes! A swift kick to the bottom of the phone box should cause it to open freely. Alligator clips, do your stuff.. But if you'd prefer continual results, simply plant a "bug" in their house when you're there, like under the kitchen table, and, can't forget, under the bed... There are literally hundreds of plans circulating for the quick- 'n-easy construction and usage of this homemade hardware also, don't gripe if you can't find any, 'cause if you can't, then you just haven't been looking! _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Five: Anarchy for Profit _______________________________________________________________________________ Financial gain is the goal, social disruption is the route. No, I'm not talking about becoming a "hit-man" for the mob or anything, just some clean fun, and a little profit on the side. Sure, you could use step "C" above for blackmail and information hostage purposes, but let's be a little inventive, that's been being done for YEARS.. No, you can't say that making people pay "protection money" is inventive. G'zus, it's on the "A-Team" every week, for chrissakes! Let's think.. Watch we make money by calling with MCI, Metro, and Sprint, but, that's not outright collection of payment, that's...well, that's more like SAVING money, like clipping coupons in the newspaper, if you will...you get what you want for a lower price than usual. We need money, and we need it NOW! Maybe if you're.. "into" this stuff..<ahem>..you could possibly CREATE an imaginary employee at some company deep within the bowels of the conglomerate computer? Maybe send his paychecks to a mysterious P.O. Box? Sure, why the hell not? Hey, this P.O. Box stuff sounds good. I wonder... Visa...MasterCard...American Express...Diner's Club...K-Mart Credit Cards! Sure, goods on credit! It's the AMERICAN way, after all, isn't it? Why not do some late-night trashing? G'z..you'll have to miss David Letterman!?! Just go up to the video store, (Highland's the easiest: they've a "no-questions-asked" return policy), and "buy" a VCR. (I'm sure you can get ahold of your mummy's credit card for an hour or so to do a little shopping..). Next stop, Radio Shack. Waltz inside like you're some rich preppie/yuppie with all the money in the world, and he won't notice the holes in your faded jeans, he'll think that they're "in." Sunglasses always work best, for some reason, rich people tend to wear 'em a lot. (Why not slip a pack of ten'a dem cheap-ass Tandy disks into your jacket as long's you're there? Don't worry...alltheir "security systems" are Tandy-Made, so they always work like crap anyhow..) Yes, sir, I'd like to buy THAT model. Yes, that's right, the TX156-34YI38Ejr. Yes, I think that'll be all. Here's my card. I'll sign...okie. Thank YOU, sir. (After all, you need some toons for tonight's trashing..) Now, return your mummy's card, and, as soon'z it's dark, we're off! (But don't forget to return the box and the VCR after tonight, you can buy them on somebody else's card tomorrow! Or else mommie'll get mad...) Try to locate an "everything store," like K-Mart or Major's. These places are the most open, the most disorganized. 9 times out of 10 there will be a couple large trash bins behind the store. Whatever they try to tell you, they most often will NOT lock these, because that's the job of the stock boy, and he's most often more concerned with Jenny, the salesclerk in Electronics to bother once he's off work. Most of their stock boys are about 16 or 17, so as long as they're NORMAL teen-agers, they'll do as little as possible to keep from being fired. Why lock the bins, sir, who would want to go in THERE?!? I would.. EVERYTHING they have goes in there. The salesclerks are SUPPOSED to rip the carbons in half, but we know how often they REALLY do that. Even when they do, it's no problem getting the name, number, and anything else you may need for card identification off of a ripped carbon, they usually stick to each other anyhow.. Get one kid to keep watch, and everybody else go fishing for anything...computer access codes, (good luck at K-Mart!), telephone numbers, credit check phone numbers, but, most of all, look for card carbons! These will provide you with a limitless source of TV-Ad goodies and mail-order stuff.. This search should take anywhere from :30 min to all night, depending on cop surveillance. Fill suitcases and travel bags with anything that looks important, you can sort it all out at home.. (This is one good thing about K-Mart, there's no produce section..no rotting food to sift through..) Got it all? Now, just flip on a local station, or MTV, or whatever, and, before you can say "I Love Ma Bell," you'll run across 9 or 10 million ads for stuff like "Ronco 'In the Shell' Egg Scramblers" and "ACME Nosehair Clippers" and the like..write down the phone number for the company that makes whatever product you could want, and give them your name, (off of the card, stupid!), and your card number..and presto! In 4 to 6 weeks, you've got your own brand new set of Ronco Party Circumcisers..free of charge. (YOU try to say "I Love Ma Bell"...*I* can't!) Another good idea is to cruse over to the 7-11 and,once you've gotten your Slurpee, buy a lot of mail-order magazines, (ie. Ninja Magazines, etc.) They've got a lot of card order forms and phone numbers.. But, don't forget! NEVER SEND THE GOODS TO YOUR HOME! That's the PERFECT loser thing to do.. Always find a "drop point," like a vacant house which is for sale, or a P.O. Box. You cannot be traced back through either method... Have fun... _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Six: Havoc and Hell _______________________________________________________________________________ Just what you've been waiting for, I knew it. Well, there are SO many different forms of Anarchial aggression that it would be impossible to even TRY to list them all. New and inventive methods of destruction are being conjured up every day, so I'll just try to give a brief overview. First off, I'd like to state that you don't HAVE to be a stoner or a headbanger to be an Anarchist, you don't even have to drink alcohol. You can be perfectly NORMAL and...well, I guess if you didn't do any of that you wouldn't be normal, would you? Anyhow, you can be perfectly NORM..er..ODD..and still be an Anarchist at heart you don't have to be into blatant destruction, you don't even have to like heavy metal music...but it helps. Who knows, maybe you just like to replace normal light bulbs with gasoline-filled ones? Maybe you just, for some reason, enjoy running down little kiddies.. YOU can't help it. So, if you can't help it, pursue it. Become the best hit-and-run artist on your block! Maybe even in the whole county! Modify your vehicle to your interests and mount a kangaroo bar on the front of your Ford Bronco or S-15, so that the people you run over slide more easily under your car...maybe even put a window in the floor so you can see who you just helplessly maimed? Ms. Johnson? Oh- hello...did you enjoy the bricks? You did? That's good. If they convulse, you did it right. A good way to make a great start on a successful career as another one of "those 'Anarchial @#$holes'" is to try drowning the neighbor's cat in their pool. Hmm, knowing how much cats hate water, we'll have to try to find a way around their fears...see how thoughtful Anarchists have to be? I think that it's a very good training for future life myself.. Hmm, howzabout the infamous TV favorite, "cement shoes?" Perfect. But how to get the cat into cement? Ah- replace the kitty litter with cement and spike the cat's water with something like the cyanide found in many medicines. It's barely perceptible, so the catill get blitzed off of its ass and then go to the kitty litter, and get stuck inside.. Cats make a LOT of noise when they realize that they've been trapped, so act quickly before suspicions arise.. Slip the cement out of the bin, (don't forget to use "no-stick" PAM before!), with the cat stuck by all four legs inside, and have a friend wash out the bin quickly..it should be somewhat clean, so then re-fill it with kitty litter before you are noticed. Hurry up, or you'll miss all the fun. Drop the kitty into the pool. If you used the right cement, then you won't have to worry about it sinking.. It is actually quite interesting the way that all the cat's fur floats in the water with every current! Wild.. Next target...the dog! Make your own lynch plan for the dog, I haven't perfected one as of yet, they are too big and noisy.. (I don't consider chihuahuas and the like to be dogs..they are just sub-dogs) You can treat sub-dogs as cats, though, if you want the cat to have some company... Hey, why not try the bird? Easily captured, easily cemented! It really is quite funny watching a bird try and fly with it's feet cemented.. don't worry, they sink just as well as anything... Most of all, though, have fun at it..experiment! _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Seven: The Black arts _______________________________________________________________________________ Well here it is, the path to true Anarchy... Are you worthy of the title of a true Anarchist? We will soon see. The Black arts are Theft, Deception, Destruction and all sub-forms of Anarchy. To master the techniques involved takes time and patience but most of all, it has to be in your blood! You can always tell the difference between a True Anarchist and a dabbler... Pulling the fire alarm at school doesn't cut it (Although that can be fun during a slow day)... Anyone can do that, BUT, can you do it without getting caught? Well,that is the tough part. Even at an early age one can see the signs of Anarchy emerge... if a kid watches Mister Rogers all day, forget it but if he builds crude weapons out of household items and delights in torturing the family pet, his sister etc.. then he has potential. Anarchy usually starts off small and grows over a long period of time... at first, primitive forms of Anarchy such as crank calls, nicky nine doors and petty theft will begin the process. At this point, frequent failure or getting caught may put a stop to the increasing chaotic tendencies within the person in question. If the little bastard is successful in his endeavors, however, he will move on to bigger and better things. The real fun stuff starts in high-school... there are endless possibilities for amusement at the expense of others... these will be documented later. One thing to remember however is that there are many obstacles which stand in your path such as COPS, locks, alarms and of course, the most important thing to watch out for is carelessness on your part. It is because of carelessness that many good hellraisers have met their fate. Well, enough bull@#$%, let's get started! _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Eight: Theft _______________________________________________________________________________ Theft is one of the most common forms of Anarchy, almost everyone does it at one point in their lives... Even the Pope probably stole dime-store candies when he was a kid... Not everyone, however, will perform this maneuver to the same extent or with the same rate of success. The CARELESS ones get eliminated by the forces of good. Regardless of the motive, the objective is always the same... To acquire at no cost and with minimal effort, items which are not originally or rightfully yours... There are two sub-classes of theft. These are single party theft and multiple party theft (with accomplice). Regardless of the type of theft, there are three important elements to consider: Planning, Execution, and ESCAPE. The latter is probably the hardest part and must be planned carefully. A plan is always required for a successful theft and should offer a high probability of success with as little risk as possible. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part A: Single party theft _______________________________________________________________________________ It is a good idea to make a surveillance sweep of the target area beforehand in order to decide on the best route to the desired item and a quick escape route. Always have at least one alternative escape route in case of unexpected intervention by cops or onlookers which render your first one impassable. Once you have entered the target area, time is of the utmost importance... Get in and out as quickly as possible... Be discrete and do not attract attention. Always make a quick scan for mirrors or cameras, try to stay out of direct sight of others. Sometimes, the easiest things to take are items which are kept right in front of the cashier... all it takes is for him to turn his back for one second and before you know it... FREE JUNK FOOD! Be alert, if there are other people present, do not go directly to the desired item. Browse a little, but take the first reasonably safe opportunity to make your way over to it. Pocket the item quickly without looking at it or fumbling with it. DO NOT rush out of the area immediately if you don't have to, be casual and maybe even make a purchase. If you are confronted however, GET THE $#@! OUT Take the quickest one of your escape routes that you can, if you are perused then you must leave a difficult trail to follow. Dodge on and out of buildings or cars, backtrack, hop fences or do what ever you have to do to lose them. If possible, motorized transport is a good idea... (cover the license plate) If not, then work with what you have, create obstacles as you go, such as throwing objects at your pursuers or knocking things down in your wake. Sometimes, a good cop chase can really give you a good feeling... It sure satisfies the Rambo in me! If you are forced to deviate from your plan due to unexpected interference, follow your instincts... but remember that a true Anarchist doesn't get caught at the scene! If it seems inevitable that you will be caught, stash the goods somewhere safe until you can collect it. After you have bin caught then it's all over...unless, you lie like a bitch or your captor turns out to be a friend of the family. If you escape, then you have successfully completed your mission. Hopefully you will have the foresight not to hit a store in your neighborhood or one that you go to regularly. Try not to hit the same place every time... that's dangerous! For an added challenge, you may want to try to swipe items stored behind the cashier's counter. There are ways to do this such as the classic "Can I use your phone? I'm stranded and need to call home" Heh, if they let you then your only problem is how to distract their attention. For this reason, it is often easier to execute a successful theft if you have an accomplice... _______________________________________________________________________________ Part B: Multiple party theft _______________________________________________________________________________ In a multiple party theft, the basics are the same but certain adjustments must be made to your plan. First you must decide who will do what... One person as to distract the attention of onlookers while the other performs the actual crime. You should have included a signal in your plan so that the you can discretely inform your buddy that you have the goods and it's time to leave. A third person may have been posted as a look-out and if so, must also be kept aware of what's going' on. One of the important tricks is to make it look like you don't know any of your accomplishes... don't walk in together or leave together, unless you get burned. If you are confronted, then it is not always necessary for all the members of your team to flee if you have successfully convinced the teller you are not together. The guy with the goods has to split BUT while the Cashier is chasing him, or calling the cops, what better opportunity will the other two have to fill their pockets? If it becomes necessary for all parties to run, at least you now have an added benefit due to the fact that if you split up, it's harder to catch all of you. It is an unwritten rule that a guy who gets caught can't squeal on the others if there is a chance they can get away with it. You should have a specified rendezvous point and time if you split up so all the parties (minus those who were bagged) can meet and decide on appropriate actions to take to insure no further problems will arise. After a few hits with the same people, you should have a kick-ass team and will be able to tackle anything! One thing though, always watch your back cause as Stalin said "You can't trust anyone, not even yourself." _______________________________________________________________________________ Part C: Other forms of theft _______________________________________________________________________________ Well, if your not into stealing' from convenience stores, there are many available sources of "low-cost" items, such as cars, houses, purses & wallets and my personal favorite... school lockers! Cars are easy... just get a 1.5 ft. long piece of flexible but sturdy wire (coathanger will do) and bend a loop at the end to fit over the lock button. Slide the wire through the gap between the window and the middle section of the car (not the top of the window). Now loop the end around the lock button and pull. For newer cars that do not have the lockbutton but have the switch by the lever on the inside door panel, you need more equipment. You will need a flashlight, a mirror and a coathanger. Before you begin, look through the opposite window at the door your gonna open and memorize where everything is positioned. Now, tape the mirror to the outside of that window with the reflective surface facing into the car. If you have a friend helping you, you don't need the mirror as your friend can stand on the opposite side of the car and see through that window where you have to move. Now slip the coathanger in as above and use the window to bend it as you insert it so it touches the inside of the door... using the mirror or your friend to guide your movements, unlock the door and there you go! If you are in a hurry or don't need to worry about noise or anything, just throw a brick through the window. Remember to search the dashboard, glove compartment and back window ledge. If you have a lock pick set and can use it, go for the trunk to! Motorcycles are a cinch to swipe. All you need are a pair of vice-grips, a screwdriver and a dime. Jam the screwdriver into the ignition, clamp the vice-grips to the shaft of the screwdriver and twist... -=SNAP!=- Now just press the start button and away you go! When you've had your fun and ya wanna ditch the bike, drop the dime into the ignition keyhole and give it a quarter turn to turn off the engine. Now, the most risky but often most profitable source is a house. Before you even approach the house, phone to make sure they're not in. If you don't have their number or they are a bunch of rug-pilots who don't have a phone, ring the doorbell... once you have established the fact that they are not home, you can decide on your method of entry. To break into a house, Your two sources of entry are doors and windows. Before I start describing methods to bypass locks and bolts, remember that if you think there is a security system on the house FORGET IT and move on... why risk it? Anyway, there are many types of door locks and for most you will need a lock pick set which will be dealt with in a separate chapter. If you have a lot of time and are in a deserted area, you can use various power tools to destroy the door itself. Windows are the harder to reach but more simply bypassed entry routes. There is either a deadbolt or a simple twist/pull lock for both, you just blow a hole in the window just above the lock (with a bee-bee gun) or bar and use wire or a thin screwdriver to knock the bar out or release the lock. Apartment buildings are also a good target... just go into the front doors and press every intercom button on the panel. Some deluded idiot will let you in. If not, wait `till a resident comes in and pretend to be fumbling for the door key... he will of course, open the door for you... Heh. Once you get in, make sure no one is home... then grab a pillow case or a garbage bag and take everything that is even remotely valuable! Once you have done that, cut the phone line and GET THE @#$%^ OUT!!! Mission Accomplished.... Lockers! The easiest way to get money or goods for nothing. One way is to write down the serial # and the combination of the lock your using this year and then next year, find it and voila! In the mean time, you have to find alternate methods to keep you busy for a whole year, but look... there are hundreds of lockers! With little peckers you can stand behind them and simply watch them enter the combination. If you want to hit a locker belonging to an older student, you have to be covert about it. You might as well start close to home by easily breaking into the lockers on either side of yours. This method is simple but requires time and you will need a hex-driver. Look at the inside panel of your locker that forms the wall separating it from the adjacent one. If the heads of the bolts are on your side, you will have no problems. Just unscrew the bolts and remove the panel... Hmm... now why didn't you think of that before? Well, now you know. Most of the schools supply spin combo locks that are hard to pick so if all else fails, use those heavy duty metal shears to cut through the shank. Once your in, you are on your own... Have fun! The last type of theft I will discuss is the art of picking pockets. This method is becoming more and more difficult with the advent of self- defense lessons... yes!... even little Grandma Johnson could be a black belt. Basically all you have to do is either run by the victim and snatch it, or wait `till they put it down somewhere where you can whisk it away. Once you have the purse or wallet, there are many things you can do... Money! I'm sure you can all find a use for that... Credit Cards! Now we're talking! You can go crazy ordering and carding everything you desire (not to your house)... You may find a spare key in there to, if so, look at the I.D. in the wallet to find out their address and away you go! Geez, what a week for the poor sucker eh! First his wallet now his house and car!!! Heh, always be thorough... NOTE: ALWAYS LEAVE THE SCENE AS YOU FOUND IT SO THE VICTIM WILL TAKE LONGER TO NOTICE A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED. _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Nine: Destruction _______________________________________________________________________________ Ahhh, there's nothing' like a good hour of destruction to relieve all that tension after failing your math exam. Yeah you remember, the one you were supposed to be studying for while you were mixing explosives in the garage. This form of Anarchy allows for more creativity than most. You can stick to doing mild damage with your hands or you can obtain a wide variety of weapons for more severe effects. It is usually easier to make your own weapons and there are a large number of chapters dealing with the production of explosives and simple weapons. For a successful strike on your target area, you will need the following: o Camouflage (dark clothing, mask)- To prevent discovery & Identification o A small bat or solid stick/bar - To eliminate people or dogs who get in the way & to increase destructive power o A small, "efficient" weapon - For serious emergen- cies only! (knives or mini-chucks are good) o Flashlight - So you can see! o Several projectiles - To increase fire pow- er and range o Smoke Bombs - A valuable tool, o FIRE - .......... A MUST!!!! o Explosives - Not compulsory for the job but they sure add a spark to the evening! o Spray Paint - To mark out your territory & let the world know you were there... o Lock Picks & a Bag - Just in case an easy target for theft presents itself while your vandalizing. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part A: Home-Made Weapons _______________________________________________________________________________ Mini-Chucks: These little babies are easy to make and are easily concealable. All you need are a pair of those metal nut-crackers and a 2 foot length of chain. First, take the nut crackers and cut through the hinge with metal- shears, being sure to leave the rivets intact. Now open up the last link at each end of the chain and close them around the rivet shaft on the metal bars. HEY! Look what you've done... little nun-chakaus. Tennis Ball Bombs: Cut a one inch slit in the tennis ball and stuff it full of wooden match-heads. (A little gunpowder adds to the effect) Once the ball is firmly packed, it will detonate on contact with a solid surface producing large amounts of flame and flaming projectiles. Flaming Darts/ Exploding Darts: Take ordinary darts and wrap an oil soaked strip of rag around the shaft. Then just light and throw. For an exploding dart, tie a cherry bomb to the shaft using a twist tie and light the fuse. Molocov Cocktail: Fill a Pepsi bottle half way to the top with gasoline, insert a rag, light and throw... instant hell fire! _______________________________________________________________________________ Part B: Interesting Ideas _______________________________________________________________________________ Try out these nasty thoughts on your local loser: Personalized Lawns: Sure! Why not leave your initials on the guys lawn using gasoline or weed-killer? Better yet, if your artistic, a graphic picture of him pumping the local stray dog... heh, long-lasting damage! Hose Through The Mail Slot: Stick the end of the garden hose through the mail slot in his door, then crank the faucet and run like a *&^%er! If you do this at 3am, his house will be floating down the street before he even wakes up. Address Switching: Use your trusty screwdriver to switch address numbers and steal mailboxes throughout the neighborhood. Heh, if you find the right numbers, you can make three houses in a row with the same address, the fun part is when you order a party-size pizza to that address. (If you are really on the ball you can rip off the delivery car while Guido is walking from door to door). _______________________________________________________________________________ Part C: The Fun Part _______________________________________________________________________________ Once you have all your equipment, your ready to go. Easy targets are mail boxes, bird feeders, X-mas lights (when in season) and greenhouses. The weapon you will use most is the bat or steel bar you brought along in your trusty Anarchist's bag. Remember to spray paint the traditional encircled "A" where ever you go to let the world know Anarchy is alive an' well. If you possess a slight sadistic streak, domestic pets can make amusing targets. The classic " "cement shoes" is good to drown the neighbors cat in their pool. Fire can be used in countless ways to destroy almost anything. The good part is once you've set the fire, it will continue to do damage while you are running' to the next target. The interesting thing is when you are spotted and chased. Now you have to use some direct methods to evade capture. Start off mild by simply running. If they persist, create obstacles as you go by knocking things down in your wake, jumping' fences, cars, etc.. If that fails, try a few smoke bombs lobbed over your shoulder to block their view... NO! Hmmmm well it's time to get serious because you smoke too much to stay ahead for long. Sooo, use the explosives... that should do it but if not, just turn around, whip out the projectiles or the weapon of your choice an' just beat the living' &^%$# out of `em. Now you can go home, being sure to spray paint an encircled "A" on Mr. Johnson's bleeding forehead... (heh, I doubt he'll chase you next time). _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Ten: Deception _______________________________________________________________________________ Well, anyone who has done anything similar to the acts described above must also have found it necessary to lie once in a while. Remember that to get away with lying, you must make the lie seem like reality. If you convince yourself that it is true then others are more likely to believe you. It's a good idea to make sure all the people involved in the caper have the exact same story. Always stick to your story and never stray from it. Try to have supporting evidence on your side too, go for realism! Unfortunately, no book is gonna turn a lousy liar into a good one... it has to be in your blood, it does, honest! _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Eleven: Sub-Forms _______________________________________________________________________________ Aside from the themes outlined above, there are many other forms of Anarchial behavior. Some people are specialists in one area like Pyromaniacs or assasins. Others tend to be less proficient in a wider range of areas. For those of you who are specialists, SPEAK UP! There are many people who are hungry for material which you could provide from your experience. Those of you who don't even bother and are just reading this book for entertainment... "*&^% OFF!" I don't have time for pussies... I would suggest that you find out what your specific interests are and pursue them. Whatever your topic is, there is a book on it somewhere... believe me! If you are not sure where your skills lie, then start small until you find them. I know your all probably saying "C'mon, get on with it @$$hole!" So, here we go... _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Twelve: Weapons & Explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ Introduction: Assuming that you have read the first bit in this series and that you are a true Anarchist, I'm sure you will find this chapter both interesting and useful. We have compiled some of the easiest to make but most destructive devices in the Anarchist's arsenal of home-made weapons and explosives. A true Anarchist has a remarkable ability to overcome any obstacle using only the materials at his disposal. I am not saying that you need to know 100 different ways to kill a man with a stapler, just that you should be able to get by using whatever you have. This chapter shows you a few ways to increase your destructive power using simple household items. Remember that there is a certain element of risk involved in handling some of the devices which you will see, so please use caution. Neither myself nor anyone associated with the creation of this book will take any responsibility for damage or injury sustained as a result of attempting any of the procedures depicted. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part A: Home-Made Explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ The Motor Mine _______________________________________________________________________________ This device causes basically the same damage as the "basic mine", but it is more convenient if the intended victim happens to miss stepping on it. Materials: Film Canister ( or any container ) ---------- Match Books ( 17 fill a Black's film canister ) Wire ( preferably long lengths ) Small Electric Motor Battery & Push-button Switch Method: First, take the lid of your container and make a small hole in it. This should be big enough to hold the axle of the motor snugly. You need to make a small cardboard disk or, if you can find one, a small plastic gear- like piece meant to fit on an electric motor. You have to cover this small disk ( about 1 cm. wide ) with the brimstone from the matchbooks. Fill the container with match-heads, push the motor's axle through the lid and push the disk onto the axle from the other side. Now put on the lid and tape the whole thing up, plus the motor so it doesn't wobble around. Hook your wire up to the terminals on the motor and then to a switch or a battery or whatever. Conceal the mother and stand back. You will hear a high pitched screech of the motor grinding and then BOOM! Works well. _______________________________________________________________________________ Time Bomb _______________________________________________________________________________ This device isn't too hard to make, but it does have a limitation. It doesn't work on the principle that the time you set it to is when it goes off, it's more of a mechanical thing....just read. Materials: o Some sort of container o Wooden Matches ( 17 boxes fill a film canister but if you want a bigger bomb, buy about 50 or so boxes and fill a 2ltr. pop bottle. o Small Electric Motor o Friction Disk ( see previous file "motor mine" ) o Wire o Battery ( 9 volt should do it ) o Cheap Clock with hands o Electrical Tape Method: 1) Make the "motor mine" explained above. 2) Instead of both leads going straight to the battery, you will have a clock in between, with the faceplate taken off. 3) Tie the positive and negative leads to the clock hands and set them to an appropriate distance apart. 4) When the hands meet, this will complete the circuit which will start the motor. The Friction disk will spin and rub against the matchheads and KABOOM!! Note: To increase the power of this device, gun powder may be added to The match-heads to fill the container. Here's a Diagram: __________ Clock with hands-> ! \ __!___ ________________________________!___\ /~ ! | | ___________ _ ! ~o ! | +-~ |_______+___-/ | ! ! | ____##____<-Motor [ ] | !_________! | !* * * * *! [9v ] | | !* * * * *! [___] |________________| !* * * * *! !* * * * *! ^ !* * * * *! Battery ~~~~~~~~~~~ ^ Container filled with match-heads _______________________________________________________________________________ Napalm Bomb _______________________________________________________________________________ Napalm is, in itself a very simple substance. It can be used for in the construction of many simple explosive weapons. Here's a good one: Materials: ---------- Gasoline Dishsoap (Joy is good) A Nail Ammonia Pellets A Drill Flexible Wire A Coke can Procedure: ---------- [1] First, make a mixture of 1/2 Dish-soap and 1/2 Gasoline. [2] Cut the top off of the Coke can and fill it with the mixture. [3] Take the drill and put a hole in the ammonia pellet big enough so that the nail can fit through it. [4] Put the nail through the pellet and wire it to the top of the can so that the nail can be slipped out easily, allowing the pellet to drop into the mixture. [5] Attach some string or fishing line to the nail head and detonate from a distance by pulling the string. WARNING: DO NOT LET THAT PELLET FALL INTO THE MIXTURE UNTIL YOU ARE SAFE OR YOUR WIFE WILL SOON BECOME A WIDOW! Wait until you are ready to set it off to pull the string... It should look like this: Ammonia Pellet / <====[*]====() <- Nail | | | | <- Coke Can | | |===========| |===========| |===========| <- Mixture |===========| |===========| ~-----------~ _______________________________________________________________________________ Das Crackkerwork! _______________________________________________________________________________ Das Crackkerwork: A neat way to scare the $#!^ out of someone and to ---------------- cause moderate amounts of damage. Materials: o A rocket engine (The bigger the better but class ---------- A will do fine) o A fire cracker o Tape o A kick-ass nature First, take the engine, it will have one hollow end and the other end is filled with the rocket fuel (it resembles clay). Take a screwdriver or something hard and start grinding up the substance from the inside. Don't grind up the thing totally though. Now put the fire cracker inside the engine, with the fuse sticking out of the convenient hole. The hole is usually used for solar flares. Now tape up the son of a bitch so that it's black an' mean looking. Finally, light it and throw it, the fire cracker will go off (but won't damage the engine), then the engine will ignite and go whipping around. It makes a lot of ruckus and the exhaust can cause damage. Diagram: ---------- Fuse / _ / | |~~| |__| <- Fire-cracker inside engine body | | and fuse through little hole in | | rocket substance. |__| Basically, it looks like one mean fire-cracker... Have fun with Das Crackkerwork ! _______________________________________________________________________________ Smoke Bomb _______________________________________________________________________________ Materials Diagram ----------- --------- - Coffee can - screen \ <-fuse - Fuse or Rag - \__\___ - Gunpowder - !__/___! - Motor Oil - ! \ !<- gunpowder - Screen - coffee can ->!__/___! - Lighter - !______!<- motor oil Procedure: ---------- 1) Pour a 1/2 inch layer of motor oil into the coffee can. 2) Pour in some gun powder ( The more, the merrier ) 3) Cut a 6" diameter circle of metal screening and poke a small hole in the center of it. 4) Place the screen on top of the can and secure it. 5) Insert a dry fuse or oiled rag through the screen so that it reaches the bottom of the can. 6) Light the fuse. This device will produce extremely large amounts of smoke and flame. _______________________________________________________________________________ How To Make A Fuse _______________________________________________________________________________ One reason for which many well made bombs fail is the lack of a good fuse. To make a dry fuse, you will need the following: o Several sheets of tissue paper (The kind used for machee) o Gasoline/Kerosene o Gunpowder o A paint brush o Patience Method: --------- 1) Use the paint brush to apply a thin film of gasoline on a sheet of tissue paper. 2) Let dry 3) Sprinkle a thin line of gunpowder onto the paper 4) Roll the paper up tightly from one end 5) Apply a few more layers by repeating steps 1&2 and rolling each new layer around the existing fuse. 6) Let the whole thing sit for a couple of hours 7) Apply a final coating of gasoline with the paintbrush 8) After it is completely dry, it will work beautifully Note: ------- Experiments are currently being done in an attempt to design a fuse which will burn under water. _______________________________________________________________________________ Tennis Ball Grenade _______________________________________________________________________________ Most of you have probably heard of the Tennis Ball Bomb. It is a handy explosive or noisemaker. The Tennis Ball Grenade is based on the same idea but does more damage. You will need the following: 1) A Tennis Ball 2) A Knife 3) Several boxes of wooden matches (not safety matches) 4) Hockey Tape 5) Gunpowder 6) A Sparkler 7) Flint Method: ------- 1) Cut a small round hole in the ball with the knife 2) Take the flint (the kind used for flip-top lighters) and crush it into a powder 3) Separate the wire handle from the sparkler and grind it up 4) Mix the flint and sparkler powder together with gunpowder 5) Pour the mixture into the tennis ball 6) Cut off the match-heads and pack the ball with them until you can't fit anymore into it. 7) Use the tape to cover the hole completely 8) The grenade will explode on contact with any solid surface, producing large amounts of flame and flaming projectiles. 9) [optional] For a delayed blast grenade, insert a dry fuse into the hole before you tape it up. These babies are easy to make, light weight, concealable and do plenty of damage for their size....in general, a kick-ass weapon. You can make dozens of them for hours of enjoyment. _______________________________________________________________________________ The Boom-Box _______________________________________________________________________________ The Boom-Box is simple to make and is very effective. It is an antipersonnel device and works on one or more victims. Materials: ---------- o A metal box with a hinged lid o String o A mouse trap o C-4 or any volatile plastic explosive o Tape Procedure: ---------- 1) Secure the mousetrap to the bottom of the box (inside) with tape. 2) Tie a piece of string to the trip-bar of the mouse trap 3) Place a wad of C-4 where the cheese would normally go and be sure that the spring loaded bar will hit it 4) Set the trap 5) CAREFULLY tape the other end of the string to the inside of the lid so that it is taught when only half open 6) Close the box 7) Leave the box somewhere where the intended victim will find it, when he does...he will open it and BOOM! Diagram: -------- \ / \ <- lid string -> / \ ____/_____\. | / | | o/____ | mouse trap -> | ======= | <- metal box with C-4 ~----------~ _______________________________________________________________________________ Exploding Pen _______________________________________________________________________________ This device is hardly a weapon but it is a mild explosive and will serve as a good prank or practical joke. If you wanted to increase the power of the explosive, it would not be hard to hard to turn it into a destructive device with a few alterations to the construction. Materials: ---------- 1) A ball point "click" pen 2) Gun powder 3) 8-10 wooden match heads 4) 1 wooden match 5) A piece of sand paper (1 1/2" X 2") Procedure: ---------- 1) Unscrew pen and remove all parts except for the button at the top of the pen 2) Stick the match inside the pen where the ink fill was 3) Roll the sand paper around the match with the rough side facing in so it touches the match head 4) Put the remaining match heads in, be sure they are inside the sand paper 5) Put a wax stopper in the other end of the pen where the ball point came out 6) Fill the front part of the pen with gunpowder and make sure that the wax prevents it from spilling out The finished pen should look like this: Wax stopper Gun powder Matches & Sandpaper \ | | \ | | \ _______________|___________________________|________ <___________________________________|________________|=== / / Clicker Applications: ------------- Basically, anywhere there is writing to be done, there is a target for this device. Think of exams!! Heh, I don't think many people will be asking to borrow a pen from now on. _______________________________________________________________________________ The Cat Bomb _______________________________________________________________________________ This bit is for amusement only. We suggest that you do not try this out at home. It has come to my attention that a real panic can be generated by a cat-bomb in a supermarket or department store. A cat-bomb is a simple and inexpensive thing to make. Materials: ---------- 1 cat - large 1 sparkler or 1 ft. of waterproof fuse 1 acetylene/oxygen torch 1 book of matches Procedure: ---------- Squeeze all air and $#!^ out of cat, being careful not to kill same. Insert torch nozzle into cat's ass. Turn on a 50/50 mixture of the gasses, inflating the cat to approximately 1/3 larger than normal. Insert either sparkler or fuse into cat's ass being careful to minimize gas release (some recommend stapling the orifice shut after insertion of fuse) very messy! Deployment: ----------- Place cat in a place of demonstration, and light fuse with matches. Retire quickly to a safe place, (entrails will be a-flying soon) Cautions: --------- Recent experiments with larger animals have shown a 10 minute railroad flare to be of substantially greater sealing capacity than the fuse or sparkler method. Greater gas retention and thus a greater explosion are possible in this manner. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part B: Chemical Explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ Astrolite Mixtures _______________________________________________________________________________ Astrolite: ---------- Astrolite is a liquid explosive which was a product of rocket propellant research in the 60's. Astrolite A-1-5 is said to be the world's most powerful non-nuclear explosive. It is approximately 2 times more powerful than TNT and is safer to handle. Astrolite G ----------- Astrolite G is a clear liquid explosive especially designed to produce very high detonation velocity, 8600 mps (meters/sec.) compared with 7,700 mps for nitroglycerin and 6,900 mps for TNT...In addition, a very unusual characteristic is that the liquid explosive has the ability to be absorbed easily into the ground while remaining detonatable... In field tests, Astrolite G has remained detonatable in the ground for 4 days, even after being exposed to rain. Procedure: ---------- Mix 2 parts (by weight) of ammonium nitrate with 1 part anhydrous hydrazine. The 2:1 ratio is not exactly perfect but if you screw around with the mixture, you will find a better formula. Hydrazine is quite hard to get ahold of. It is used in; Rocket fuel, agricultural chemicals (maleic hydrazide), drugs (antibacterial & antihypertension), polymerization catalyst, solder fluxes, photographic development & diving equipment. Hydrazine is a chemical that you should be careful with. Astrolite A/A-1-5 ----------------- Mix 20% (weight) aluminum powder to the ammonium nitrate, and then mix with the hydrazine. The aluminum powder should be 100 mesh or finer. Astrolite A has a detonation velocity of 7,800 mps. _______________________________________________________________________________ Sodium Chlorate Mixtures _______________________________________________________________________________ Sodium Chlorate: ---------------- Sodium chlorate is similar to potassium chlorate, and in most cases can be a substitute. Sodium chlorate is also more soluble in water. You can find sodium chlorate at any hardware/home improvement store. It is used in blowtorches and you can get about 3 lbs. for $7.50 SC Rocket Fuel -------------- Mix 50% sodium chlorate 35% rubber cement 10% epoxy resin hardener 5% sulfur You may want to add more sodium chlorate depending on the purity you are using. SC Incendiary Mixture SC Impact Mixture --------------------- ----------------- Mix 55% aluminum powder Mix 50% red phosphorus 45% sodium chlorate 50% sodium chlorate 5% sulfur SC Filler Explosive SC Gunpowder ------------------- ------------ Mix 85% sodium chlorate Mix 65% sodium chlorate 10% vaseline 22% charcoal 5% aluminum powder 13% sulfur A sprinkling of graphite _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Thirteen: General Anarchy _______________________________________________________________________________ J.L. Hudsons! Bring a good, strong magnet with you, and head for the clothing section... Look at the clothes on the rack, look at the tag... ___________________ | | | X X X X X X X | |:::::::::::::::::::| |___________________| See that row of colons ^^ I drew? Well, that represents the magnetic strip which they use for inventory purposes. If you erase this strip with the magnet, the cash register won't be able to read the tag and the lady will have to enter the whole number... this gets very nasty if you erase the tags on almost every shirt, blouse, etc. in the store... most of the stuff has more than one tag, be sure to erase both... Anywhere: Bring a small screwdriver with you, find one of those drinking fountains that has a cooling system, (it makes a humming sound every so often, and there is a fan).. Reach underneath, behind it and find the coolant line that is the largest. Next, find the little valve on it, it will have a cap on it. Remove the cap and you will see what looks like a bicycle- type valve. Poke it with the screwdriver until some air is sucked into the system.. Then get out of there, the compressor will make some strange noises, then will quit. In a few minutes, it will cool off, and try to start again. This cycle will destroy the compressor...ha. Restrooms: Take the toilet paper and pull off a section about 4 feet in length. Stick it in the toilet the flush it down.. If you still have your screwdriver, turn the water inlet valve to full - this is that valve on a normal toilet... -*==0 | | ------- It's a little hard to understand, but it is usually capped, take off the cap. If you do it right, the whole roll of toilet paper will be gone in no time - keep doing it 'till it floods...! Any Store! Some stores have a security system that employs the use of little plastic buttons, slips, or disks that are fastened to articles of clothing. Inside these articles are a piece of copperish-looking foil coated with some green plastic marked, "Inventory Control - Property of the Store." (In some cases, this piece of plastic is placed on a string all by itself..) Take this piece of plastic and do any of the following - drop it into a bag or the pocket of another piece of clothing, (they won't be able to find it but it will trigger the alarm all the time!).. Find a little kid standing all by himself, and tell him it's a special magic card, and to keep it! (Once he leaves, the alarm will go off, and his parents will get busted..) Or, of course, you can drop it into the bag of another customer, that's always fun.. Any Large Department Store: Sometimes there are phones laying around in unsupervised check-out booths, (like in hudson's or something), pick up the phone, and dial a three digit number - this usually connects you with another part of the store - after some real pranking around the whole store, you might want to walk around and see what you've done; (usually, there will be a small store directory taped into the handset, it always comes in handy.) The HardWare Department: Find a small cylinder of methyl acetylene propeniene, (or the tradename "mapp"), and jam a small nail into the top, not allowing too much gas to escape at one time... The smell of the gas you will soon find out is -->terrible<-- and if left around slowly releasing the gas, it might cause an explosion, (if it is near the electrical and lighting dept.), or most likely it will cause some really pissed customers who smell the stuff; it really smells bad!! Elevators: Remember when your parents got pissed when you messed with the buttons on an elevator? Well, forget that - find the switch, usually a pushtype, and turn it off when you are at a floor. Most people don't know how the hell to work it, and will get quite pissed... Also, push and stick one of the buttons down, (lets say the highest floor so it is in a non-traffic area), with some gum or tape or a nail; the elevator will always seek that floor when it's not being called by other floors - over time, it becomes slower and slower... At A Large Department Store: Find one of those brass disks on the floor.. Stand on it and turn your whole body counter-clockwise to unscrew it. Take a look inside, and you'll see a pair of wires that look very thin, there is a good chance that those are serial register bus wires. Strip them, (with your handy-dandy swiss), and touch them together, if there is a small spark, you're in luck. If there is a large spark forget where you read this - this will effectively knock out all the data transmissions from each register to the master computer, depending on the setup, each register might go dead.. (What a mess...) _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Fourteen: More easy gadgets _______________________________________________________________________________ These devices aren't of the chemical nature, so they shouldn't be hard for anyone to build. They are also the kinds of devices which can be improved by simply making them bigger. _______________________________________________________________________________ Simple mine _______________________________________________________________________________ This is where it all started. The simple land mine is used in other devices. The device itself isn't complicated, but takes patience to make it work well. Materials: Film Canister (or Folger's Coffee can if you wanna blow away the block) Packs of matches (17 fill a film canister). Patience. First, take the lid of the canister or can, etc. and cut a square hole in the lid the width of the striking strip on a book of matches (about 5mm). Next, cut 4 striker strips off the matchbooks. With these you must make a "box". You might want to leave an extra millimeter of cardboard on the edge of the strips, and bend them so you can glue the edges of each strip together. Because it's hard to glue just edges together. Form the box around a pencil or something, so you can have support when gluing it. Make sure the whole inside of the box is the brimstone side of the strips. What it will look like when it's made is a 3cm long hollow box, with the ends open. You then push this box halfway through the lid with the hole in it. Now cut the joint edges of the box only on the top side of the lid, so you can fold these sides down to the lid, to hold it better. It now will look like a lid, will a cross of cardboard on the top side, and on the underside, the rest of the box is sticking out. Next cut your match heads off and fill the canister. Then, take 2 or 3 matches, tape them together tightly, and insert them Carefully in the "box" from the top side of the lid. MAKE SURE they fit snugly, otherwise they'll slip about and won't strike the insides of the box and therefore light everything else. Finally, put the lid on, and tape the son of a bitch up as much as possible, over the lid as well. Bury the whole thing in the ground so just the "button" (the 2 or 3 matches, which are about half way into the box) are sticking above ground. And when someone steps on it, BOOM! Of course with a film canister, the explosion isn't too big, but if you had a Godamn coffee can, you could blow someone's foot off. Or a 2 litre pop bottle, using the cap in place of the lid!! _______________________________________________________________________________ String Cannon _______________________________________________________________________________ Once again, the basic principle of the mine is used here. Materials: Container. Matchbooks. Piece of piping with one end closed off (make sure it is possible to put a hole in the closed end though). ABS piping (available at Home Hardware) Blacks is good because the film canisters fit PERFECTLY. But only the see through ones. Ask Blacks for TRANSPARENT film canisters. String. Violent nature. Ok, make a basic mine (you MUST have the mine to do this). But don't put in the match heads yet. Pierce a hole in the bottom of the canister (big enough for strong string to fit through). Now, once you have made the 2 or 3 match button (from the first mine explained) you will be pulling it from the bottom rather than stepping on the top. Tie the string to the matches in the brimstone box and then bring the string through the bottom of the canister, fill the canister with match heads, and put on the lid. Once again, the more you tape, THE BETTER. You want to hold this explosion as much as possible, so when it goes off it's more powerful. Put a hole (for the string) in the blocked end of the piping. You might find it hard to the string through, but try and get it through a small a hole as possible. You don't want anything coming out the back! A good idea is to, insert the string through the pipe, THEN do the rest explained above. And drop the mine CAREFULLY down to the bottom of the pipe. Now walk around like you have a shotgun and whenever you want to blow something away, just point and pull the string. A spray of match heads, fire, plastic bits etc. will fly out, pretty impressive I guess. _______________________________________________________________________________ Mortar _______________________________________________________________________________ Basically, that's exactly what this is. It shoots out projectiles that explode on contact. Useful for small scale war. Materials: 4 or 5 cans. Strong tape (or a welder if you can get your hands on one) Matches (MUST be "eddy lights" (the ones with the different coloured tip)) Squashball or dogball, as long as it's hollow (a tennis ball can be used, but you need cans wide enough to house it) Ronson's lighter fluid Will to blow something up. Basically, this device is quite easily made, you just need some good tools to do it properly. First, take one of the cans, and cut the entire top of of it (this might be hard with pop cans, since they have a high edge which gets in the way of using a can opener). Then, on the bottom of the can, cut about 3/4 of it out, so you have a semi-circle of tin missing on the bottom, like in this diagram: ______ /}*****\ / }******\ * = amount of tin left on bottom [ }*******] of can. [ }*******] \ }******/ \}*****/ ~~~~~ Do exactly the same thing to all the rest of the cans as explained above (NOT the last one though), making sure that the open part in the bottom of each can alternates with the one below it. In other words, if you looked down the barrel of the thing, you'd see a semi-circle missing on the left, then the right (directly opposite) then the left etc. It must look this way. When you get to your last can, leave the bottom on and still cut the whole top off. Now you must tape/weld all these cans together (with the one with the bottom on the bottom, naturally). This might be hard if you used pop-cans since the edges would be very rough (because you'd need to actually CUT off the top, not use a an opener). Anyway, now that's done. Last, make a small hole in the side of the bottom can (as close as you can get to the bottom). It just has to be big enough to squirt the Ronson's inside. Next, you need to make "Roly Poly Match Heads". You must find a ball that is hollow, and will fit as best as possible in the cans, so it doesn't wobble too much, but doesn't have trouble coming out the end. Make a small slice in the ball (not a hole), and start pouring in cut off match heads (eddy lights, remember) until it's quite tightly packed. Put this down the barrel of the mortar, tilt it upright at about a 45 degree angle. Squirt some ronsons into the small hole at the bottom (and a bit around the hole, in case it doesn't catch right away), light it, and BOOM. The ball should go VERY far if the cannon is made well, and it will explode when it lands to boot! _______________________________________________________________________________ Simple Rocket Launcher _______________________________________________________________________________ Materials: ABS piping (at least 8 cm diameter, so the fins of the rocket can be fit inside, and it should be about 4 feet long). Also get a smaller piece of ABS piping about 1 foot long and 3 inches wide (home hardware will tell you what diameters the piping comes in exactly). This one foot piece will need to be cut in half with a hack saw. Switch (get it at Radio shack) 9 volt battery Alligator clips (Radio shack of $#!^) Small rocket (buy smallest size at Merry Land toys at Bloor and Yonge) 3 "A" sized engines. Solar flares (3 come with the engines, but it's good to get another pack of them) Mine. This is if you want an explosion at the end. Relatively easy (as I always say) to build. After you've cut the small piece of ABS in half. Tape the two "handles" to the bottom of the larger piece of ABS (the launcher itself), one will act as the front handle, and the other will have the "switch" on it. Tape them in places where it's comfortable to you. You will be holding it most likely on your right shoulder, and your left arm will be out front supporting you, and your right arm will be close into you, ready to pull the switch, and the back end of the barrel will be resting on your shoulder (don't worry, barely anything comes out the back, just a bit of smoke). Next put the rocket together (you can read the instructions yourself). *BUT*, since the rocket only supplies fins for the back end (because your supposed to be launching it up, not less than something like 70 degrees (which is considered "ballistic")), you will have to make makeshift fins for the from so the rocket is pointing straight ahead inside the launcher, not the from end sagging down, and only the back end up. The good part about getting he smallest rocket is, the transparent film canisters (once again, they are the better of the two types, so ask for those), have sort of a circle that juts out on the lid, which fits EXACTLY into the cardboard body of the rocket. So, voila, you can put a mine on the front. It seems they make these things fit nicely just for us anarchist doesn't it? Anyway, once you have the rocket built, you should now hook up some long wire to the switch you have, and have one end going to the battery, and from the other terminal on the battery to the rocket, and the other end of the switch to the rocket. Here's a diagram... ________________________ ________________<-----__ < rocket inside II *II ^ * = switch front handle Close up diagram: + - _____________________] ] < put alligator clips [ _____________] on ends of these &&&&&&&&&&&&&[&& H & ]&&&&&&&&&&&&&& wires (which should [ & A & ] be taped along the on/off > \# & N & ] body of the switch [ & D & ] launcher) and clamp [ & L & ] them to the solar [_& E &_] flare, which is in the back of the engine. & = ABS plastic Obviously, if you have a mine, the "button" on the top of the mine will be facing outwards, so when it lands, boom. The weight of the engine should balance the weight of the bomb on the front. Well, there you have it. Just point, and launch! _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Fifteen: Complex Explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ This chapter deals with the instructions for creating some dangerous explosives. If you intend to make any of these explosives, do so in SMALL AMOUNTS ONLY, as they are all dangerous and could seriously injure or kill you if done in larger amounts. If you don't know anything about chemistry, DON'T DO THESE EXPERIMENTS! I am not joking in giving this warning. Unless you have a death wish, you shouldn't try any of the following unless you have had prior experience with chemicals. I am not responsible for any injury or damage caused by people using this information. It is provided for use by people knowledgeable in chemistry who are interested in such experiments and can safely handle such experiments. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part A: Common "weak" explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ A. Gunpowder: 75% Potassium Nitrate 15% Charcoal 10% Sulfur The chemicals should be ground into a fine powder (separately!) with a mortar & pestle. If gunpowder is ignited in the open, it burns fiercely, but if in a closed space it builds up pressure from the released gases and can explode the container. Gunpowder works like this: the potassium nitrate oxidizes the charcoal and sulfur, which then burn fiercely. Carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide are the gases released. B. Ammonal: Ammonal is a mixture of ammonium nitrate (a strong oxidizer) with aluminum powder (the 'fuel' in this case). I am not sure of the % composition for Ammonal, so you may want to experiment a little using small amounts. C. Chemically ignited explosives: 1. A mixture of 1 part potassium chlorate to 3 parts table sugar (sucrose) burns fiercely and brightly (similar to the burning of magnesium) when 1 drop of concentrated sulfuric acid is placed on it. What occurs is this: when the acid is added it reacts with the potassium chlorate to form chlorine dioxide, which explodes on formation, burning the sugar as well. 2. Using various chemicals, I have developed a mixture that works very well for imitating volcanic eruptions. I have given it the name 'MPG Vulcanite' tm). Here it is: potassium chlorate + potassium perchlorate + ammonium nitrate + ammonium dichromate + potassium nitrate + sugar + sulfur + iron filings + charcoal + zinc dust + some coloring agent. (scarlet= strontium nitrate, purple= iodine crystals, yellow= sodium chloride, crimson= calcium chloride, etc...). 3. So, do you think water puts out fires? In this one, it starts it. Mixture: ammonium nitrate + ammonium chloride + iodine + zinc dust. When a drop or two of water is added, the ammonium nitrate forms nitric acid which reacts with the zinc to produce hydrogen and heat. The heat vaporizes the iodine (giving off purple smoke) and the ammonium chloride (becomes purple when mixed with iodine vapor). It also may ignite the hydrogen and begin burning. Ammonium nitrate: 8 grams Ammonium chloride: 1 gram Zinc dust: 8 grams Iodine crystals: 1 gram 4. Potassium permanganate + glycerin when mixed produces a purple- colored flame in 30 secs-1 min. Works best if the potassium permanganate is finely ground. 5. Calcium carbide + water releases acetylene gas (highly flammable gas used in blow torches...) ______________________________________________________________________________ Part B: Thermite reactions ______________________________________________________________________________ The Thermite reaction is used in welding, because it generates molten iron and temperatures of 3500 C (6000F+). It uses one of the previous reactions that I talked about to START it! Starter=potassium chlorate + sugar Main pt.= iron (III) oxide + aluminum powder (325 mesh or finer) Put the potassium chlorare + sugar around and on top of the main pt. To start the reaction, place one drop of concentrated sulfuric acid on top of the starter mixture. STEP BACK! The ratios are: 3 parts iron(III) oxide to 1 part aluminum powder to 1 part potassium chlorate to 1 part sugar. When you first do it, try 3g:1g:1g:1g! Also, there is an alternative starter for the Thermite reaction. The alternative is potassium permanganate + glycerin. Amounts: 55g iron(III) oxide, 15g aluminum powder, 25g potassium permanganate, 6ml glycerin. _______________________________________________________________________________ Part C: Nitrogen-Containing High Explosives _______________________________________________________________________________ A. Mercury(II) Fulminate To produce Mercury(II) Fulminate, a very sensitive shock explosive, one might assume that it could be formed by adding Fulminic acid to mercury. This is somewhat difficult since Fulminic acid is very unstable and cannot be purchased. I did some research and figured out a way to make it without fulminic acid. You add 2 parts nitric acid to 2 parts alcohol to 1 part mercury. This is theoretical (I have not yet tried it) so please, if you try this, do it in very* small amounts and tell me the results. B. Nitrogen Triiodide Nitrogen Triiodide is a very powerful and very shock sensitive explosive. Never store it and be careful when you're around it- sound, air movements, and other tiny things could set it off. Materials- 2-3g Iodine 15ml conc. ammonia 8 sheets filter paper 50ml beaker feather mounted on a two meter pole ear plugs tape spatula stirring rod Add 2-3g Iodine to 15ml ammonia in the 50ml beaker. Stir, let stand for 5 minutes. DO THE FOLLOWING WITHIN 5 MINUTES! Retain the solid, decant the liquid (pour off the liquid but keep the brown solid...). Scrape the brown residue of Nitrogen Triiodide onto a stack of four sheets of filter paper. Divide solid into four parts, putting each on a separate sheet of dry filter paper. Tape in position, leave to dry undisturbed for AT LEAST 30 minutes (preferably longer). To detonate, touch with feather. (WEAR EAR PLUGS WHEN DETONATING OR COVER EARS- IT IS VERY LOUD!) C. Cellulose Nitrate (Guncotton) Commonly known as Smokeless powder, Nitrocellulose is exactly that- it does not give off smoke when it burns. Materials- 70ml concentrated sulfuric acid 30ml concentrated nitric acid 5g absorbent cotton 250ml 1M sodium bicarbonate 250ml beaker ice bath tongs paper towels Place 250ml beaker in the ice bath, add 70ml sulfuric acid, 30 ml nitric acid. Divide cotton into .7g pieces. With tongs, immerse each piece in the acid solution for 1 minute. Next, rinse each piece in 3 successive baths of 500ml ater. Use fresh water for each piece. Then immerse in 250ml 1M sodium bicarbonate. If it bubbles, rinse in water once more until no bubbling occurs. Squeeze dry and spread on paper towels to dry overnight. D. Nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin is a *VERY* dangerous shock sensitive explosive. It is used in making dynamite, among other things. I am not sure as to the proportions and amounts of chemicals to be used, so I shall use estimates. Materials- 70ml conc. sulfuric acid 30ml conc. nitric acid 10 ml glycerin ice bath 150ml beaker Put the 150ml beaker in the ice bath and make sure that it is very cold. Slowly add the 70ml sulfuric and 30ml nitric acids to the beaker, trying to maintain a low temperature. When the temperature starts to level off, add about 10ml glycerin. If it turns brown or looks funny, **RUN LIKE HELL**. When Nitroglycerin turns brown, that means it's ready to explode... If it stays clear and all works well, keep the temperature as low as you can and let it sit for a few hours. You then should have some Nitroglycerin, probably mixed with nitric and sulfuric acids. When you set it off, you must not be nearby. Nitroglycerin can fill 10,000 times its original area with expanding gases. This means that if you have 10ml's of Nitroglycerin in there, it will produce some 100,000ml's of gases. To make it into dynamite, the Nitroglycerin must be absorbed into something like wood pulp or diamaeceous earth (spelled something like that). _______________________________________________________________________________ Part D: Other stuff _______________________________________________________________________________ A. Peroxyacetone Peroxyacetone is extremely flammable and has been reported to be shock sensitive. Materials- 4ml Acetone 4ml 30% Hydrogen Peroxide 4 drops conc. hydrochloric acid 150mm test tube Add 4ml acetone and 4ml hydrogen peroxide to the test tube. Then add 4 drops concentrated hydrochloric acid. In 10-20 minutes a white solid should begin to appear. If no change is observed, warm the test tube in a water bath at 40 celsius. Allow the reaction to continue for two hours. Swirl the slurry and filter it. Leave out on filter paper to dry for at least two hours. To ignite, light a candle tied to a meter stick and light it (while staying at least a meter away). B. Smoke smoke smoke... The following reaction should produce a fair amount of smoke. Since this reaction is not all that dangerous you can use larger amounts if necessary for larger amounts of smoke. 6g zinc powder 1g sulfur powder Insert a red hot wire into the pile, step back. A lot of smoke should be created. _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Sixteen: Stars, Flares, and Color Mixtures _______________________________________________________________________________ This is serious stuff, and can be really dangerous if you don't treat it seriously. For you kids out there who watch too many cartoons, remember that if a part of your body gets blown away in the REAL world, it STAYS blown away. If you can't treat this stuff with respect, don't screw around with it. Each part will start with a set of safety rules. Don't skip over them. Read 'em and MEMORIZE 'em!! At the beginning, there will be a set of general rules that always apply. Then there will be some things that you HAVE TO KNOW about the materials you will be using and making this time. Read it thoroughly before starting anything. Pyrotechnic preparations and explosives are, by their very nature, unstable, and subject to ignition by explosion or heat, shock, or friction. A clear understanding of their dangerous properties and due care in the handling of ingredients or finished products is necessary if accidents are to be avoided. Always observe all possible precautions, particularly the following: 1. Mix only small batches at one time. This means a few grams, or at most, an ounce or so. Don't go for big mixes -- they only make for bigger accidents. The power of an explosive cubes itself with every ounce. (9 Ounces is 729 times as powerful as one ounce.) 2. When weighing chemicals, use a clean piece of paper on the scale pan for each item. Then discard the used paper into a bucket of water before weighing the next ingredient. 3. Be a safe worker. Dispose of any chemicals spilled on the workbench or equipment between weighings. Don't keep open containers of chemicals on your table, since accidental spillage or mixing may occur. When finished with a container, close it, and replace it on the storage shelf. Use only clean equipment. 4. Where chemicals are to be ground, grind them separately, NEVER TOGETHER. Thoroughly wash and clean equipment before grinding another ingredient. 5. Mixing of batches should be done outdoors, away from flammable structures, such as buildings, barns, garages, etc. Mixes should also be made in NON METALLIC containers to avoid sparks. Glass also should not be used since it will shatter in case of an accident. Handy small containers can be made by cutting off the top of a plastic bottle three or four inches from the bottom. Some mixes may most conveniently be made by placing the ingredients in a plastic bottle and rolling around until the mixture is uniform. In all cases, point the open end of the container away from yourself. Never hold your body or face over the container. Any stirring should be done with a wooden paddle or stick to avoid sparks or static. Powdered or ground materials may also be mixed by placing them on a large sheet of paper on a flat surface and then rolling them across the sheet by lifting the sides and corners one at a time. 6. Never ram or tamp mixes into paper or cardboard tubes. Pour the material in and gently tap or shake the tube to settle the contents down. 7. Store ingredients and finished mixes where they will not be a fire hazard away from heat and flame. Finished preparations may be stored in plastic bottles which will not shatter in case of an accident. Since many of the ingredients and mixes are poisonous, they should be stored out of reach of children or pets, preferably locked away. 8. Be sure threads of screw top containers and caps are thoroughly cleaned. This applies also to containers with stoppers of rubber or cork and to all other types of closures. Traces of mixture caught between the container and closure may be ignited by the friction of opening or closing the container. Throughout any procedure, WORK WITH CLEAN CONDITIONS. 9. ALWAYS WEAR A FACE SHIELD OR AT LEAST SHATTERPROOF SAFETY GLASSES. Any careful worker does when handling dangerous materials. Be sure lenses and frames are not flammable. 10. Always wear a dust respirator when handling chemicals in dust form. These small particles gather in your lungs and stay there. They may cause serious illnesses later on in life. 11. Always wear gloves when working with chemicals. 12. Always wear a waterproof lab apron. 13. If you must work indoors, have a good ventilation system. 14. Never smoke anywhere near where you are working. 15. Make sure there are NO open flames present, and NO MOTORS (they produce sparks inside.) No hot water heaters, furnaces, or pilot lights in stoves!! Sparks have been known to very readily explode dust floating in the air. 16. ALWAYS work with someone. Two heads are better than one. 17. Have a source of water READILY available. (Fire extinguisher, hose, etc.) 18. Never, under any circumstances, use any metal to load chemicals or put chemicals in. Fireworks with metal casings are worse to handle than a live hand grenade. Never use any metal container or can. This includes the very dangerous CO2 cartridges. Many people have been KILLED because of flying fragments from metal casings. Again, please do not use metal in any circumstance. 19. Always be thoroughly familiar with the chemicals you are using. Some information will be included in each bit, but look for whatever extra information you can. Materials that were once thought to be safe can later be found out to be dangerous stuff. 20. Wash your hands and face thoroughly after using chemicals. Don't forget to wash your EARS AND YOUR NOSE. 21. If any device you've built fails to work, leave it alone. After a half hour or so, you may try to bury it, but never try to unload or reuse any dud. 22. If dust particles start to form in the air, stop what you are doing and leave until it settles. 23. Read the entire file before trying to do anything. 24. NEVER strike any mixture containing Chlorates, Nitrates, Perchlorates, Permanganates, Bichromates, or powdered metals don't drop them, or even handle them roughly. These rules may all look like a lot of silly nonsense, but let's look at one example. When the move "The Wizard of OZ" was made, the actress who played the good witch was severely burned when one of the exploding special effects got out of hand. The actress who played the bad witch got really messed up by the green coloring used on her face, and the original actor who played the Tin Man got his lungs destroyed by the aluminum dust used to color his face. The actor we know of as the tin man was actually a replacement. The point is, these chemicals were being used under the direction of people a lot more knowledgeable of chemicals than you are, and terrible accidents still happened. Don't take this stuff lightly. We will be using the following materials this time. Get familiar with them. Some can be highly dangerous. Aluminum Dust (and powder) Al An element used for brilliancy in the fine powder form. It can be purchased as a fine silvery or gray powder. All grades from technical to superpure (99.9%) can be used. It is dangerous to inhale the dust. The dust is also flammable, by itself. In coarser forms, like powder, it is less dangerous. Antimony Sulfide Sb S 2 3 Also known as "Black" Antimony Sulfide. (There is also a "Red" form, which is useless to us.) This is used to sharpen the report of firecrackers, salutes, etc., or to add color to a fire. The technical, black, powder is suitable. Avoid contact with the skin. Dermatitis or worse will be the result. Barium Chlorate Ba(ClO ) * H O 3 2 2 Available as a white powder. It is poisonous, as are all Barium salts. It is used both as an oxidizer and color imparter. It is as powerful as Potassium Chlorate and should be handled with the same care. Melting point is 414 degrees. Barium Nitrate Ba(NO ) 3 2 Poisonous. Used as an oxidizer and colorizer. The uses and precautions are the same as with a mixture containing Potassium Nitrate. Charcoal C A form of the element carbon. Used in fireworks and explosives as a reducing agent. It can be purchased as a dust on up to a coarse powder. Use dust form, unless otherwise specified. The softwood variety is best, and it should be black, not brown. Copper Acetoarsenite (CuO) As O Cu(C H O ) 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 The popular name for this is Paris Green. It is also called King's Green or Vienna Green. It has been used as an insecticide, and is available as a technical grade, poisonous, emerald green powder. It is used in fireworks to add color. Careful with this stuff. It contains arsenic. Copper Chloride CuCl 2 A color imparter. As with all copper salts, this is poisonous. Copper Sulfate CuSO *5H O 4 2 Known as Blue Vitriol, this poisonous compound is available as blue crystals or blue powder. Can be purchased in some drugstores and some agricultural supply stores. Used as a colorizer. Dextrin This can be purchased as a white or yellow powder. It is a good cheap glue for binding cases and stars in fireworks. Lampblack C This is another form of the element carbon. It is a very finely powdered black dust (soot, actually) resulting from the burning of crude oils. It is used for special effects in fireworks. Lead Chloride PbCl 3 Available as a white, crystalline, poisonous powder, which melts at 501 degrees. As with all lead salts, it is not only poisonous, but the poison accumulates in the body, so a lot of small, otherwise harmless doses can be as bad as one large dose. Mercurous Chloride HgCl Also known as calomel or Mercury Monochloride. This powder will brighten an otherwise dull colored mixture. Sometimes it is replaced by Hexachlorobenzene for the same purpose. This is non poisonous ONLY if it is 100% pure. Never confuse this chemical with Mercuric Chloride, which is poisonous in any purity. Potassium Chlorate KClO 3 This, perhaps, is the most widely used chemical in fireworks. Before it was known, mixtures were never spectacular in performance. It opened the door to what fireworks are today. It is a poisonous, white powder that is used as an oxidizer. Never ram or strike a mixture containing Potassium Chlorate. Do not store mixtures containing this chemical for any length of time, as they may explode spontaneously. Potassium Dichromate K Cr O 2 2 7 Also known as Potassium Bichromate. The commercial grade is used in fireworks and matches. The bright orange crystals are poisonous. Potassium Nitrate KNO 3 Commonly called Saltpeter. This chemical is an oxidizer which decomposes at 400 degrees. It is well known as a component of gunpowder and is also used in other firework pieces. Available as a white powder. Potassium Perchlorate KClO 4 Much more stable than its chlorate brother, this chemical is a white or slightly pink powder. It can often substitute for Potassium Chlorate to make the mixture safer. It will not yield its oxygen as easily, but to make up for this, it gives off more oxygen. It is also poisonous. Red Gum Rosin similar to shellac and can often replace it in many fireworks formulas. Red Gum is obtained from barks of trees. Shellac Powder An organic rosin made from the secretions of insects which live in India. The exact effect it produces in fireworks is not obtainable from other gums. The common mixture of shellac and alcohol sold in hardware stores should be avoided. Purchase the powdered variety, which is orange in color. Sodium Oxalate Na C O 2 2 4 Used in making yellow fires. Available as a fine dust, which you should avoid breathing. Strontium Carbonate SrCO 3 Known in the natural state as Strontianite, this chemical is used for adding a red color to fires. It comes as a white powder, in a pure, technical, or natural state. Strontium Nitrate Sr(NO ) 3 2 By far the most common chemical used to produce red in flares, stars and fires. Available in the technical grade as a white powder. It does double duty as an oxidizer, but has a disadvantage in that it will absorb some water from the air. Strontium Sulfate SrSO 4 Since this chemical does not absorb water as readily as the nitrate, it is often used when the powder is to be stored. In its natural state it is known as Celestine, which is comparable to the technical grade used in fireworks. Sulfur S A yellow element that acts as a reducing agent. It burns at 250 degrees, giving off choking fumes. Purchase the yellow, finely powdered form only. Other forms are useless without a lot of extra and otherwise unnecessary effort to powder it. Zinc Dust Zn Of all the forms of zinc available, only the dust form is in any way suitable. As a dust, it has the fineness of flour. Should be either of the technical or high purity grade. Avoid breathing the dust, which can cause lung damage. Used in certain star mixtures, and with sulfur, as a rocket fuel. _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Seventeen: The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics _______________________________________________________________________________ Most pyrotechnic mixtures follow a very simple set of chemical rules. We'll go over those now. Most mixtures contain an oxidizing agent, which usually produces oxygen used to burn the mixture, and a reducing agent, which burns to produce hot gasses. In addition, there can be coloring agents to impart a color to the fire, binders, which hold the mixture in a solid lump, and regulators that speed up or slow down the speed at which the mixture burns. These are not all the possibilities, but they cover most all cases. Oxidizing agents, such as nitrates, chlorates, and perchlorates provide the oxygen. They usually consist of a metal ion and the actual oxidizing radical. For example, Potassium Nitrate contains a metal ion (Potassium) and the oxidizing radical (the Nitrate). Instead of potassium, we could instead substitute other metals, like sodium, barium, or strontium, and the chemical would still supply oxygen to the burning mixture. But some are less desirable. Sodium Nitrate, for example, will absorb moisture out of the air, and this will make it harder to control the speed at which the mixture will burn. In the following examples, we'll use the letter "X" to show the presence of a generic metal ion. Note that Nitrates are stingy with the oxygen that they give up. They only give one third of what they have. Some Some Nitrate Nitrite Oxygen 2XNO ---> 2XN0 + O 3 2 2 Chlorates are very generous, on the other hand. They give up all the oxygen they have. Furthermore, they give it up more easily. It takes less heat, or less shock to get that oxygen loose. Mixtures using chlorates burn more spectacularly, because a smaller volume of the mix needs to be wasted on the oxidizer, and the ease with which the oxygen is supplied makes it burn faster. But the mixture is also MUCH more sensitive to shock. Some Some Chlorate Chloride Oxygen 2XClO ---> 2XCl + 3O 3 2 Perchlorates round out our usual set of oxidizing tools. Perchlorates contain even more oxygen than Chlorates, and also give it all up. However, they are not as sensitive as the Chlorates, so they make mixtures that are "safer". That is, they're less likely to explode if you drop or strike them. Some Some Perchlorate Chloride Oxygen XClO ---> XCl + 2O 4 2 Reducing agents, like sulfur and charcoal (carbon) simply burn the oxygen to produce sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. It's usually best to include a mixture of the two in a pyrotechnic mixture, as they burn at different speeds and temperatures, and the proper combination will help control the speed of combustion. Also, when extra fast burning speed is needed, like in rockets and firecrackers, metal powder is often added. The finer the powder, the faster the burning rate. The proportions change the speed, as well. Magnesium powder or dust is often used for speed. Aluminum dust works, but not as well. Zinc dust is used in some cases. Powdered metal, (not dust) particularly aluminum or iron, are often used to produce a mixture that shoots out sparks as it burns. In rare cases, it is desirable to slow down the burning speed. In this case, corn meal is often used. It burns, so acts as a reducing agent, but it doesn't burn very well. Coloring agents are very interesting. It's long been known that various metals produce different colored flames when burned in a fire. The reasons are buried in the realm of quantum physics, but the results are what matters, and we can present them here. Note that if we use an oxidizing agent that contains a colorizing metal, it can do a double job. It can produce oxygen and color. Barium -Barium salts give a pleasant green color. Barium Nitrate is most often used. Strontium -Strontium salts give a strong red color. Strontium Nitrate is a very convenient material for red. Sodium -Sodium salts give an intense yellow color. So intense in fact that any sodium compounds in a mixture will usually wash out other colorizers. As has been said, Sodium Nitrate absorbs moisture from the air, and so is not really suitable to impart color. Instead, Sodium Oxalate is usually used. This does not absorb lots of water, but has the disadvantage of being very poisonous. Copper -Copper salts are used to give a blue color. Blue is the most difficult color to produce, and it's usually not too spectacular. Usually Copper Acetoarsenite (Paris Green) is used. This compound contains arsenic, and is very poisonous. Since it still doesn't produce a very memorable blue, it's often used with mercurous chloride, which enhances the color, but is also poisonous, and expensive, to boot. Potassium -Potassium salts will give a delicate purple color, if they're very pure. The cheaper lab grades of potassium nitrate often contain traces of sodium, which completely obscure the purple color. In order to get the purple coloring, very pure grades must be used, and you must be very careful to mix it in very clean vessels, and scoop it from the supply jar with a very clean scoop. The color is certainly worth the effort, if you can get it. Some mixtures that burn in colors also contain binders, that hold the mixture together in a solid lump. These lumps are usually referred to as stars. The balls fired from a roman candle or the colorful showers sprayed from aerial bombs are examples of stars. Depending on the mixture, the binder is either a starch called dextrin or finely powdered orange shellac. A shellac-like material called red gum is also used on occasion. In some mixtures, the shellac powder also helps produce a nice color. Shellac mixtures are moistened with alcohol to get them to stick together. Dextrin mixtures are moistened with water. If the colored mixture is to be used as a flare, it's just packed into a thin paper tube. If it's to be fired from a roman candle, it's usually extruded from a heavy tube by pushing it out with a dowel, and the pieces are cut off as the proper length pops out. Stars fired from an aerial bomb are usually made by rolling the moist mixture flat, and cutting it with a knife into small cubes. Stars that are extruded are often called "pumped stars" those that are rolled out are "cut stars". The following are formulas for mixtures that burn with various colors. Parts are by weight. Red Potassium Chlorate 9 Sulfur 2 Lampblack 1 Strontium Nitrate 9 bind with shellac dissolved in alcohol Blue Potassium Chlorate 9 This one is inferior Copper Acetoarsenite 2 Potassium Chlorate 12 Mercurous Chloride 1 Copper Sulfate 6 Sulfur 2 Lead Chloride 1 bind with dextrin Sulfur 4 in water bind with dextrin in water Green Barium Chlorate 8 Barium Nitrate 3 Lampblack 1 Potassium Chlorate 4 Shellac Powder 1 Shellac Powder 1 bind with alcohol Dextrin 1/4 Bind with alcohol Yellow Potassium Chlorate 8 Potassium Chlorate 8 Sodium Oxalate 3 Sodium Oxalate 4 Lampblack 2 Shellac Powder 2 Bind with shellac in Dextrin 1 alcohol or dextrin Bind with alcohol in water White Potassium Nitrate 6 Sulfur 1 Antimony Sulfide 2 bind with dextrin in water Orange Strontium Nitrate 36 Sodium Oxalate 8 Potassium Chlorate 5 Shellac Powder 5 Sulfur 3 Bind with alcohol Purple (ingredients must be very pure) Potassium Chlorate 36 This one has more of a lilac color Strontium Sulfate 10 Potassium Chlorate 38 Copper Sulfate 5 Strontium Carbonate 18 Lead Chloride 2 Copper Chloride 4 Charcoal 2 Lead Chloride 2 Sulfur 12 Sulfur 14 Bind with dextrin in Bind with dextrin in water water Brilliant White Potassium Perchlorate 12 Aluminum Dust 4 Dextrin 1 Bind with water Golden Twinkler Stars - Falls through the air and burns in an on and off manner. The effect is spectacular. A pumped or cut star. Potassium Nitrate 18 Sulfur 3 Lampblack 3 Aluminum Powder 3 Antimony Sulfide 3 Sodium Oxalate 4 Dextrin 2 Bind with water Zinc Spreader Stars - Shoot out pieces of burning zinc and charcoal. These stars are much heavier than usual, and require larger charges if they're to be fired from a tube. Zinc Dust 72 Potassium Chlorate 15 Potassium Dichromate 12 Granular Charcoal 12 Dextrin 2 bind with water Electric Stars - Stars that contain aluminum powder Potassium Nitrate 15 Potassium Chlorate 60 Aluminum, fine 2 Barium Nitrate 5 Aluminum, medium 1 Aluminum, fine 9 Black Powder 2 Aluminum, medium 4 Antimony Sulfide 3 Aluminum, coarse 3 Sulfur 4 Charcoal 2 bind with dextrin in Dextrin 5 water bind with red gum in water Potassium Perchlorate 6 Barium Nitrate 1 Potassium Perchlorate 4 Aluminum 20 Aluminum, medium 2 Dextrin 1 Dextrin 1 bind with shellac in bind with shellac in alcohol alcohol Simpler Zinc Spreaders Potassium Nitrate 14 Potassium Chlorate 5 Zinc Dust 40 Potassium Dichromate 4 Charcoal 7 Charcoal, medium 4 Sulfur 4 Zinc Dust 24 bind with dextrin in bind with dextrin in water water Willow Tree Stars - Use large amounts of lampblack -- too much to burn fully. Gives a willow tree effect. Potassium Chlorate 10 Potassium Nitrate 5 Sulfur 1 Lampblack 18 bind with dextrin in water As always, don't forget that it's just plain stupid to go buying all these materials from one chemical supply house. When you buy it all as a group, they know what you plan to do with it, and they keep records. If anyone goes investigating the source of homemade fireworks and checks with your supplier, there will be a lead straight to you. Be sure to cover your tracks. _______________________________________________________________________________ Notes: _______________________________________________________________________________ Look for the next in the series: Phone Phreaking and Electronic Devices _______________________________________________________________________________ Notes: _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Notes: _______________________________________________________________________________