Making bombs from household items
In all seriousness (as this is a slightly retarded topic, but it IS a bad idea), which household items including things you would find in the garage could be used to make explosives?
Also, is there any way of combining chemicals together to make some kind of gas-bomb? I've heard of the chlorine gas method, but are there any others like it?
Also, is there any way of combining chemicals together to make some kind of gas-bomb? I've heard of the chlorine gas method, but are there any others like it?
Comments
There are lots of ways to make a bang with household materials. If you're not looking to do any actual damage, soda bottle pressure bombs are louder than most firearms, and are dead simple to make. All you need is a gas generating reaction that maintains a temperature well below the bottle's melting point. A strong acid or strong base reacting with an active metal is a classic example. HCl and Al foil, as well as NaOH and Al foil are commonly used because you can get all of the components in any hardware store. These are generally very k3wl devices and not taken very seriously.
Oxygen + gaseous fuel mixtures are some of the more effective 'household' type explosive devices. You can buy the required regulators, fittings, and tanks (Propane or propylene, as well as oxygen) at nearly any hardware store. Balloons make effective containment vessels, and their relatively uniform spherical shape makes it possible to measure stoichiometric quantities of gases based on the diameter of the balloon during the filling cycle. Deflagration pressures of oxygen/propylene mixtures at atmospheric pressure only approach 250PSI or so, so it's very unlikely that you'll be able to damage anything more heavy duty than cardboard or light wooden framework. They are, however, easily as loud as small high explosive charges.
Now, if you want to do any serious blasting, you're going to need chemical explosives. Making black powder from KNO3 stump remover, garden sulfur, lump charcoal, a coffee grinder, a hotplate, and jug of methanol is possible. All of these are available OTC in hardware stores across the US (Sadly not in Canada anymore). The process is a bit of a PITA, but it works. The powder you produce won't burn spectacularly fast, but a metal casing (And a big fucking blast shield to stand behind when it goes off!!) will help with that.
The BEST easy to make, completely OTC low explosive I can think of would be a mixture of KClO3 and a fuel like charcoal (Creates a burst composition known as H3). KClO3 can be produced by boiling a solution of calcium hypochlorite pool shock to decompose ClO- to ClO3-, then precipitating with KCl salt substitute. Charcoal is easy. I'm leaving metal powders out of this, because that's not something you would have laying around your garage, or find at your local Home Depot.
I'm not going to get into high explosives, because although there are some fairly safe and OTC options in that field, I can guarantee that less than 1% of the people who read threads in this section have the experience required to start manufacturing HEs.
I might add more later.
Most of the "quick" ideas produce either a dangerous or weak product. Acetone peroxide should be within reach of a lot of people that have the patience to learn how to synthesize it, but it's unstable and not good for anything IMO besides controlled, immediate use in a non-serious (meaning you don't NEED to be doing it) situation. Or you're just desperate. On the other hand, it does teach you discipline and to respect what you're dealing with.
It's not a "bomb", but thermite is probably within most people's reach as well, although most will probably have to go through shitty reagent procuring processes if they aren't able to just buy what they need. It's also not half as potent as it's made out to be, but it does have uses - including constructive ones that never seem to be brought up.
Technically a lot of things are in reach. It just depends on how far you are willing to go with making the reagents you need to make more potent explosives and incendiaries. And to be able to do that, you need to know some chemistry basics and a lot of various ways to extract what you need from other chemicals. Sure, you can get a few specific how-to "recipes" but if you're not able to follow the guide to the T because you lack something it requires, you're probably not going to be able to improvise on your own and therefore will be left without whatever you're trying to make.
I'm sure people looking for the quick fix will completely ignore this post and move on, but that's just how I see it.
But I'll leave you with this: The detonation set-up seems to take a back seat with nearly everyone I've read from online and it's a shame because that's just as important if you want to keep all of your limbs. Those who know one of my prior occupations will know why I say this. I HIGHLY recommend thinking about ways to detonate/ignite whatever you make with something besides a burning time fuze. Brush up on your basic electronics, consider mechanical applications, and think up clever, reliable, and solid switches.
I'm sure others will have more concrete formulas, but this is my take on the matter.
Watch it all. It's &T in a film.
aluminum foil
1 bottle of (cleaner) the works
Make lots of M&M sized balls of the foil. Put the foil in the empty coke bottle. I've always twisted the coke bottle so it will expand and show pressure (so I know when to get rid of the bottle). Pour in the works! Close the top of the coke bottle. You can watch it expand or feel heat from the reaction of the foil and the works. GET RID OF THE BOTTLE. The first time we made one of these it left only the bottle cap.
This isn't something that will blow up huge or anything but it is pretty loud and tears the coke bottle apart.
That movie was so good. I was surprised. You should all watch it.
To make it, mix cupric oxide (black copper oxide) with aluminum powder in a 4:1 ratio.
I know of two ways to get CuO.
Method 1: Dissolve copper sulfate (root killer) in water and add sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda or lye). The ratio is 4 parts copper sulfate to 1 part sodium hydroxide. Put this over a low heat source. Once it turns black let it settle and then filter it. Let what's leftover dry.
Method 2: Make copper carbonate by dissolving root killer (copper sulfate) in water and slowly adding baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). The root killer/ baking soda ratio is 3:2. Filter and let dry. Cook the copper carbonate over a strong heat source to get black copper oxide.
Aluminum powder can be obtained online or by grinding aluminum cans. Aluminum powder can also be obtained from the inside of etch-a-sketches although I'm not sure of its quality.
Enjoy responsibly.
Done that hundreds of times
Thanks for all of that info.