NG questions

[Sonny Jim]

Hello. I was wondering what colour NG should be for it to work properly. I set off a batch the other day and it worked fine, as a opaque grey-white colour. I have read that NG should be clear to signify that there is no water present in it, but since the other day it worked fine as the grey-white colour, I thought that what I read was inaccurate.

However, today I tried to detonate another batch of the same colour and it did not work as well. Instead of the flash and the loud report I got the other day, i was mortified to watch it simply burn and make the occasional 'pop'.

Both batches stood for over 2 days in a saturated NaCl solution, and neither of them went clear. So if the problem is there being water present in the NG, then the recommended way of removing it hasn't, in my case worked. Are there any other ways to remove water from NG I can try?

Also, is it right that NG should be much more runny than glycerine? In my case it is.

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

[IPN]

Check Brainfevers page for good view of pure NG and no, I’m not giving you a link..

[webbsmurfen]

Sonny Jim: Visit
http://www.geocities.com/brainfevert/home.html

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Your NG definately shouldn't be opaque and grey! It should be clear and colourless like water. You must not be washing it properly. First, wash it in fresh water for a couple hours. Then add it to some bicarb solution, and let it sit for 12 hours. Again, wash it with bicarb for 12 hours, then finally wash it in saturated salt solution with a bit of bicarbonate added if you wish. During all these steps, you should stir stir the NG vigorously for 5 minutes with a plastic drinking straw every few hours so the NG breaks up into very small blobs and is better exposed to the washing solution.

Remeber to clean whatever you use to extract the NG with between washes.

[Sonny Jim]

Thanks for the help. It must just be me being impatient. I'll be certain to ensure it's clear before I try and set some more off. One more question if you don't mind. What is your preferred method of setting off straight NG. The successful test I did was with a HMTD detonator taped to the main charge. I have a feeling that was not nescessary, but as it was the first time I'd prepared NG (admittadely at a poor quality), I wanted to make certain it would go. Will a simple fuse do, or do you recommend a detonator?

[knowledgehungry]

HAHAH now i know why your second NG attempt failed, NG must be detonated, it will merely burn if lit by visco.

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Your making nitroglycerin and you dont even know the basics principles of explosives. BAD combination. Almost all high explosives need to be detonated with a blasting cap.

[Sonny Jim]

I don't recall ever saying that I only lit the second NG batch with a fuse. In fact, I stated that I used a detonator the first time, and did not comment on how I set off the batch that turned out to be a failure.

Don't assume that just because I'm new here I am stupid.

I was merely asking a question. I have read endless tails about NG's extreme sensetivity, so I thought it would be a fair question to ask if a fuse alone would do the trick. I suspected it might not, which is why I used a detonator on both occasions. The only difference between them is that the second detonator was smaller.

ALENSOVIG1, your point is fair enough, but the reason I ask questions is to further my understanding of the 'principles of explosives'. I can't just know everything automatically.

[kingspaz]

Sonny Jim, NG is a secondary explosive. its not as sensitive as people would have you believe. it is very sensitive for a secondary explosive but not compared to primary explsoives. because it is a secondary exploive you will need a detonator. just be sure to treat it with respect. i recommend you read alot more about explosives before you go any further. you must know exactly what you are doing and WHY you are doing it during each synthesis step and during purification and detonation. if you know exactly WHY you are doing something then you understand it and not make mistakes.

if you have any questions no matter how stupid you think they are email them all to me and i'll sort you out.

[nbk2000]

The fact that you asked if fuse was useable for detonating NG shows that you have no clue.

[Sonny Jim]

Ah but now I know that a fuse is not suitable, so due to my asking, I now have a little more clue than I did before!

I have to find things out some way or another. I have read quite a bit about NG and explosives generally, but everything I can find speaks only of how to make it, not how to use it.

That's what I'm here for. To learn things. I may be a little ignorant compared to a lot of you, but I don't want it to stay that way! I don't want to try and pretend I know everything just to make me look good. I'm more bothered about actually learning stuff, even if it makes me look a bit of a prat at times.

[NGfan]

Yeah.. The people here prefer it if you just don't ask these things, just search, and learn. If this was in any other category, like "High Explosives" it'd be out so fast you wouldn't have seen it go. Anyway, I looked up everything about it before I first made it, and knew it'd not go off unless by shock or pressure. It's sensitive enough that you can use gunpowder to set it off, if you use it properly confined. Still, you made it, so good enough.

[Gothy]

NG isnt really hard to detonate in pure form. As NGfan says, it can be detonated by blackpowder, flashpowder etc.

The way I prefer to do it with pure NG, is that i take a film-canister(depending on how much you have ofcourse), and make a small hole in the top.

I then make a little detonator with HMTD or AP, by putting it in a square piece of plastic foil, I then pouch it and put a fuse in it.

Then I tape it to make sure it has at least some confinement. As to the fuse, I put a small piece of isolating tape at the point where it goes thorugh the hole in the lid, to make sure it is tight.

It doesn't really get perfectly tight, but for me it works. I don't have to transport it more than a stonesthrow to set it off anyway.

[tomu]

Don't tape a detonator/blasting cap to the outside of the explosive charge, immerse it completely into the explosive.

In civilian and military blasting operations with just a few exceptions (like det cord) the blasting cap is completetly embedded into the explosive. The wrapping of the explosive is punctured with a pick like tool and the cap is totally inserted directly into the explosive.

An improvised cap should be sealed with bathroom chalk or a similar compound for use with liquid explosives like NG.

[Gothy]

Yes I do immerse it in the explosive(hence pricking a hole in the canister-lid for the fuse). I was tired when writing it :P

And with an improvised cap/primary-container, I do not store it anyway. So plastic wrapping works for me, regarding the few minutes it takes from production to detonation.

[The_Duke]

Did someone delete a post? Gothy?

Nonetheless someone raised a four year old thread to add nothing of any use or interest... :rolleyes: