How to store BP

[Gandalf]

Hello everybody,

First of all, I'm no chemist, dindn't "took" chemistry (nor English :) ) in high school but I'm interested in explosiv devices.

Beeing interested, I got a hold of 10 kilo's of Sulfer and a big bag of Potassium Nitrate. This, in combination with charcoal (not briquettes) makes a nice combustable compound :D

Beeing an Amateur I do wonder what is the best way to store this BP? Can I store in in glass jar's with metal (though 'coated') lid? Is there a risk in storing it? Can it spontanous ingnite?

Thanx for helping me out,

Gandalf

[kingspaz]

so long as the chemicals you have used are reasonably pure there shouldn't be any risk of spontaneous combustion. glass jars should be fine although you should prepare for the worst and use plastic containers as they won't create dangerous shrapnel if the black powder went off. but then there is the risk of static discharge which black powder is suseptible to ignition from. although i beleive with imporvised blackpowder this risk as practically none existant as the quality of the black powder is not too high. personly i'd opt for the plastic containers with press on lids to avoid the possibility of black powder getting caught in the threads and going off.
hehe it forms a cobustable compostion or mixture, not compound as that is a singular chemical made of two or more elements.
you should read some basic chemistry books. this will enable you to make your own judgements and help you understand the reasons why certain mixtures are bad, etc.

[mark]

I can already tell your going to kave nice, safe career in Pyrotechnics. I cant recall anyone ever being concerned with bp saftey before. Hell, cardboard tubes are more suceptible to ignition from friction. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Welcome to the boards.

[NoltaiR]

*Shakes head and quietly leaves the thread...*
...these guys need to be given an IQ test before posting...

[mr.evil]

My is BP in LDPE jars, from vitamine C pills or something.
I store my LE/HE mixtures in a ammunition box(for granates)

Anyway,
Can you send me an e-mail Gandalf? i'm from the Netherlands too <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[Gandalf]

Quote MrEvil:
Can you send me an e-mail Gandalf? i'm from the Netherlands too

Sure, if you give me an emailadress :)

Quote NolTair:
these guys need to be given an IQ test before posting...

I'm sorry???.... Are some questions prohibited or what? Personally it's my opinion that there ARE no dumb questions. Not to ask is the dumb thing to do!

Gandalf

<small>[ May 06, 2002, 07:10 AM: Message edited by: Gandalf ]</small>

[kingspaz]

NoltaiR, just because he lacks experience doesn't make him stupid. we all have to start from somewhere including YOU.

<small>[ May 06, 2002, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: kingspaz ]</small>

[mr.evil]

i'm sorry Gandalf, TheShadow54@hotmail.com

(see the flying envelop above :p )

<small>[ May 06, 2002, 08:48 AM: Message edited by: mr.evil ]</small>

[vulture]

Noltair, you think the thread he posted made no sense, but your response shows even less IQ! Contribute something or leave it to the mods.

If you're really worried about static, you can always make sure the BP is a little humid. I keep my Bp in small plastic containers which are kept in a big metal box. That way, in event of unwanted combustion, the pressure is gradually stepped down. Also, most metal containers, especially round ones, have weak points or holes where the different plates are connected. This usually is enough to prevent explosion.

[Wicked]

Was nbk sick when this thread was recent?

[kingspaz]

wicked, stop talking irrelavent crap or i will ensure you stop talking indefinately.

[mongo blongo]

Yes he is talking shit most of the time! If I was a mod and read his first post he would get HED! But he looks like he might have some potential now. Wicked Please try to keep this forum nice, neat and relevent for your own good. :)

[mark]

Ummm, wicked, Kingspaz is a mod. If he sees fit to help out someone, nbk will most likeley leave him well alone.

[NoltaiR]

Calm down fellas, this isn't a flame war. And I wasn't saying that he was stupid.. although I have always been under the impression that this was the sort of place that required an amount of previous knowledge before posting.. especially a new topic on a first post.

Anyways I would have just recommended taking a look at older threads about BP and you will find occasional bits and pieces about how different people store their BP... now BP (ESPECIALLY the homemade kind) doesn't pose a threat of of static ignition easily enough that a certain type of container would matter. The only thing to make sure of is that it is in an air-tight confinement or else the mix will absorb water and clump up (which will hurt the final performance of the BP even if you regrind it right before use).

[mr.evil]

Hello,
Maybe a little bit off topic,
Tiny pieces of BP seems to deflagrate faster than finely powdered BP, has anyone noticed this before?

[Gandalf]

Quote:
I have always been under the impression that this was the sort of place that required an amount of previous knowledge before posting.. especially a new topic on a first post.
That wasn't my impression. If you can seriously discuss the production of pipe-boms and how to sell them, then it seems this forum has no IQ limit what so ever!

Anyways I would have just recommended taking a look at older threads about BP and you will find occasional bits and pieces about how different people store their BP...

Beeing a well know poster on other UBB forum's, I DO know how to search this place. And so I did, with no results at all.

Well, I'm gonna drop the subject. I'm sorry this first post roused so many emotions (including my own :D ). It's just that I'm a big fan of 'Freedom of Speach'

CU, Gandalf

<small>[ May 07, 2002, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: Gandalf ]</small>

[Anthony]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">If you can seriously discuss the production of pipe-boms and how to sell them, then it seems this forum has no IQ limit what so ever!</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">Please point towards this thread where the production of and sale of pipe bombs is being discussed so that it can be deleted.

[quote]I DO know how to search this place. And so I did, with no results at all.[quote]

I got 132 search results for "BP" and 74 for "black powder". I'm not saying that the exact information that you want is in there, not it's hardly "no results at all".

[Tyler_Durden]

Speaking of IQ, I am almost certain mine dropped at least a couple points after reading this thread.

Now I will make an attempt at contribution so that I don't add to the stupidity:

I think they sell commercial Bp in plastic containers, like medicine bottles but much larger (depending on how much you purchase, etc). I don't your Bp is going to just randomly go off, and unless you have a lot or it is in a bad place, it is not a huge worry if it does anyway. In other words, don't store it near other flammable stuff if it is a concern. I like the idea of using multiple plastic containers in one metal one... I might do that. What I would do, though, is leave the lid just laying on and not attached in any way... this way it would just blow the top off and that would be that... I think? Does this logic make sense?

[mark]

Anthony, he was exagerating somewhat. The thread was not about that, but the selling of cratermakers did come up. It was a useful thread though.

[NoltaiR]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">Hello,
Maybe a little bit off topic,
Tiny pieces of BP seems to deflagrate faster than finely powdered BP, has anyone noticed this before? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">This to an extent is correct. What you are missing however is that these 'chunks' of BP are actually chunks of the black powder MIX, not chunks of separate KNO3, C, or S. If you had some homemade 'BP' that was made of ingredients large enough to differentiate with the naked eye then it will probably perform extremely poorly, or most likely not perform at all. The 'chunks' that you speak of are corned particles of BP made to the grain size most desired. The fact that the grains seem to burn faster when larger is because when you put them in a pile to do a flame test, there is much more space for air (oxygen) between the grains than there would be in a pile of powdered BP in which close to no air would be allowed between the particles.

more air = more O2 = faster burn rate (for those of you who don't know)

[Gandalf]

Quote:
I got 132 search results for "BP" and 74 for "black powder".

My dear Moderator,

Searching for "BP" or "Black Powder" on an Explosives and Weaponsforum is of course like searching for a drop of water in an ocean. Hardly effective don't you think?

As far as I can recall I searched for the keywords "store" and "BP" beeing unaware of other words in the Englisch language that would be fit for searching. (To search is an art by itself :) )

By the way, if the grammar sucks, please excuse me :D .

About the cratermakers (or pipe-bombs)... I don't know where they were described exactly, and I don't have the time to re-read this entire forum. Ask "Mark", I remember him being there (making sense!).

Finally a word of thanx to those who answered the initial question!!! You helped me out :D

Gandalf

<small>[ May 08, 2002, 06:16 AM: Message edited by: Gandalf ]</small>

[Anthony]

You said that you got "no results at all". That isn't "I got no results for my specific search string regarding storage of BP" is it?

Anyway, storage, like has been said, it doesn't really matter. Although I would avoid bare metals which might react with the KNO3. Also, metal or other fire resistant containers could be a risk in a fire causing an explosion rather than burning through and allowing the BP to burn to atmosphere.

Seriously, if you want some good background info on LE's I recomend reading some pyro websites, they've got a wealth of info there. Try <a href="http://www.pyropage.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pyropage.com/</a> go to "personal pyro pages" and work your way down the list.

[NoltaiR]

I am requesting that a caring mod please close this topic... it is threads like this that ruin our integrity.

[Arkangel]

Yeah, there seems to be a lot of it about......would never have happened when I was a lad etc etc..(which with respect to the forum was not that long ago)What happened to lurking and learning?

I haven't been able to understand why this, or the gasoline/plaster of Paris thread went on so long. Maybe for sport, maybe NBK's on Prozac? :p

[Anthony]

What a good idea!