How Sensitive are torpedos?

[p_y_r_o]

Hi

I recently stumbled across an old united nuclear web page wich told me how to make torpedos.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20030619164036/...com/torpedo.htm

 

The page repeatedly hammered in the fact that even though they are really fun they are really dangerous.

 

the composition is

Potassium Chlorate 50 %

Antimony Sulfide ( fine ) 50 %

 

and my question is how friction sensetive are they and are they worth

risking the danger to make them?

[aquaman]

The mixture is very sensitive to friction and impact. That's why they explode when thrown on the ground. They are totally banned in the US and I never plan on making them. But if you like to make these kinds of things I would be very careful.

[Diablo]

The best thing to do is make a very little of the explosive mixture, and test that on friction sensitivity, detonation temperature, and other shit that could make it unstable. When you are satisfied with the results, or when you find out that making torpedoes is suicide, you can decide what to do.

[Swany]

I have some Sb2S3, chinese needle. I shall grind some down, to something like dark pyro, and mix with some KClO3.

 

Wish me luck.

[BigBang]

Beware, if UN says they are dangerous, THEY ARE! UN says to rub dry whistle mix through a screen many times to mix and don't mention that that is a very bad idea.

 

Still, make 5-10 grams at a time and you should be ok. I have the chems to make it, and even made the torpedoe board, but I never ordered the cups. I will eventually try these suckers out.

 

And swany, if you don't have the good gravel, use bb's, I've been told they work just as good.

[EP.]

I've made them using that basic method. I used BBs instead of the gravel because that's what I had. The gravel should probably be a bit bigger than BBs. I mixed a few grams at a time using the diaper method and filled the cups mostly full, if you hold them on the edges instead of the flat sides there will be less pressure/friction on the material inside.

 

As for sensitivity, it will depend on how well you mixed the chems and how fine they are. The ones I made would go off almost every time from a gentle toss onto a hard surface (concrete) and usually took a decent throw to go off on dirt. I never had an accident, but I was careful and transported them in a box of packing peanuts.

 

One of the biggest problems with them is the use of gravel/BBs. They fly every direction when they go off, so always wear eye protection and throw them a good distance, I usually wore gloves handling and throwing them as well. You could make them less sensitive by having less gravel/BBs (less stuff to rub around and impact), but they will always be dangerous.

 

I would suggest making them for fun once, they are surprisingly loud and very entertaining, but too dangerous for general use.

[cplmac]

I would excercise extreme caution anytime you mix chlorates and sulfates. Generally not a good idea.