Orsini Bombs

[UnderConstruction]

I'm not sure how familiar these are to the RS community, but searching Orsini didn't come up with anything so I assume that I'm not the only one who had never heard of them before.

The Orsini bomb was a 19th century invention created by its namesake, Felice Orsini. it was a spherical bomb that, instead of using a fuse, was made up of mercury fulminate to explode upon impact. Orsini failed to kill his target, Napolean III, but the bomb's design was reapplied by a Spanish anarchist thirty-some years later. He threw two of these bombs in a theatre, one successfully detonated and killed twenty-two people, the other... is preserved in the Van Gogh Museum. So to give an idea of what it looks like (http://www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl/afbeeldingen/liceu_bom.jpg)...

I think this design still has practical applications. If a spherical, hollowed, metal container was divided in two and housed with a powerful explosive mixture like blasting gelatine, which in turn was surrounded by (the original design) mercury fulminate or else one of its contemporaries like lead azide, then you would have the beginning of the design.

Now take a good look at that photo. I first thought that all those spikey things protruding from the sphere were designed as serious, archaic fucking shrapnel, but then I saw that they were bolt shaped, which was the second thing I thought they were. Which would have been strange. What I'm thinking now is that the thinner, upper-part of every "spike" slid into the lower part and produced friction that ignited the mercury fulminate. Whether this is true or not, if this could be done (placing a flint inside every spike for friction) this would be a very effective method of detonation. If the sliding mechanism had a good amount of resistance then accidental detonation wouldn't be a major threat, since (obviously) the amount of pressure being applied is much greater when being thrown forcefully than with placing a stray hand on it or even being dropped.

By the way, I first found out about the Orsini bomb looking through a list of Explosive Stubs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Explosives_stubs) on Wikipedia for things obscure and interesting.

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2nd Edit: tried doctoring it again: Orsini2 (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj6/SovereignSeverance/Orsini2.jpg), not as "pretty", but easier to see.
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[gaussincarnate]

I would have to guess that the protrusions are the detonators. If they were just bolts, much smaller nuts could have been used. Same for the bolts. Also, if they were bolts, the present arrangement would not make too much sense. There is no reason to have that many bolts at the top and the bottom, or that many bolts all together, for that matter.

Alternately, though not likely, they could be small explosive projectiles. I would not think that conventional projectiles of that shape would be particularly effective. Do not get me wrong, anything flung at that high of a speed with any mass would be dangerous, but it does not seem to be the most effective form of shrapnel.

By the way, about how big is this thing? The picture gives little to use to judge size. I am sure that someone on this forum would appreciate more information about this thing. After all, a large spiky ball is always worth some fun. Add explosives to it and you have a fiesta of fun.

[UnderConstruction]

I agree about the bolts and I get what you're saying about the shrapnel.
I was wondering the same thing about the size, to my knowledge the bomb was thrown without assistance, so it can be assumed that it wasn't enormous. The photo doesn't show the surface, so it can't be judged just by comparing it to that.

What really strikes me about the Orsini bomb (besides how awesome it is) is that the structure could be made at next to nothing, so if you have the means to procure the explosives then you have a really effective means of applying them.

[Charles Owlen Picket]

They also could be nipples with percussion caps. The point is valid that the concept is workable. With most quality military / commercial primary explosives (Fulminate, azides, etc NOT some garbage TATP!), one could make a reasonable facsimile.

[UnderConstruction]

Interesting idea with the percussion caps, they fall right in the time period that it was designed in. I don't think acetone peroxide would be sensitive enough anyway, and considering that a good amount of time would probably go into making it, you would want it to last.

I made a bitmap to show how I think it could go, there might be a few problems with the way it's set up though: http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj6/SovereignSeverance/Orsini-2.jpg.

[Charles Owlen Picket]

That's the first thing that came to mind when looking at it. Buying nipples and utilizing various construction methods, one could do just about anything with this concept. In fact the construction of a hand thrown projectile that lands in one position consistently is no great feat in itself; it would not need to be round; in fact.

[UnderConstruction]

Charles-
I thought of what you said about not having to be spherical and it gave me an idea, than I thought about the percussion caps and refined my thought process a little further and came up with something kinda interesting.
I made a bitmap to illustrate a series of steps on how to make a handheld bomb. The device itself would be extremely cheap to make, but also very time consuming & requiring very good explosives and also two chemicals that would coat it to initiate detonation.

For the bomb, the ingredients are:
a long cardboard tube (I know how incredibly n00bile that is, just hear me out)
super glue
a can of spray-on Teflon
a roll of aluminum foil
rubber cement
tape (preferably duct)
Phosphorus sesquisulfide
Potassium chlorate
wax

The explosives involved:
A fine powder of RDX/PETN/TNT/etc.
A reliable contact explosive like Lead Azide
Blasting gelatine or another malleable explosive mix

Here's the bitmap (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj6/SovereignSeverance/Handheld.jpg)
(make sure to maximize the window, it's pretty big)

Instructions:
1. Cut tube along dotted line.

2. Unfold roll into square

3. Make holes in several rows (pardon), avoid the left and right edges of the board and keep well-within the top half of it.

4.
a. Cover the left edge of the board with a newspaper/etc. and spray on the teflon
b. Roll it back into its original shape, apply superglue to un-Teflon'd edge and press until glue is dry. Allow Teflon to dry completely.

5. chisel any Teflon out of the holes with any appropriate instrument. Wrap aluminum foil around the cardboard continuously (glue one edge to the board first) until you have about one-quarter inch aluminum wrapped around it. Again, reopen holes.

6.
a. Cinch the bottom into a handle shaped structure.
b. Lower the bottom of the handle into rubber cement. Allow to dry completely.
c. Force the edges of the opening (at the top) inward slightly.

7.
a. Cover the holes from the inside with duct tape or the like, make sure that you will be able to remove it again in the future.
b. Apply a mixture of one part Phosphorus sesquisulfide to two parts potassium chlorate to the area around the holes as shown. Allow to dry completely.
c. Remove tape carefully, AVOID FRICTION FROM HERE ON OUT.

8. Insert explosives as shown, through the top. First add a layer of powdered TNT/RDX/PETN or the like. Then add a very thin layer of lead azide (again, or the like) followed by a ball of blasting gelatine/etc. cover the ball with additional lead azide. add wax onto remaining surface until it fills all available space.

9. Add an additional coating of Phosphorous sesquisulfide and Potassium Chlorate to top (shown in 10). Allow to dry

10. Finished product. Extremely sensitive, obvious care must go into handling it.

[Zait]

I think this design still has practical applications. If a spherical, hollowed, metal container was divided in two and housed with a powerful explosive mixture like blasting gelatine, which in turn was surrounded by (the original design) mercury fulminate or else one of its contemporaries like lead azide, then you would have the beginning of the design.

US Civil War Haynes grenade. (http://books.google.com/books?id=YBbKtQbbIDIC&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=%22haynes+Grenade%22&source=web&ots=Upm3tqnMFw&sig=FoOwAZMAeYdKUyA7sUD6BFbcbVk) Picture is on pg 253 of that book.

The Haynes Excelsior hand grenade was created in 1862. It came in two halves, which opened up to reveal an inner sphere that released the explosion. The grenade was was lined with spikes which had percussion caps on top that when hit sank in, causing a spark to light the ammunition.

My understanding was that it was fine unless you dropped it.

[Charles Owlen Picket]

I was waiting for someone to bring up Civil War era munitions...or I would have. ....No, I knew where you guys were going almost before you began <grin>. This is one of the reasons I collect books published in the nineteenth century, etc. The science of the Civil War period up to about the 1920's is fairly reduplicated by the modern hobbyist. If you are interesting in a technology and want to reproduce it; look to what was done about a hundred years ago, and you may just be able to do so!