ARWadsworth wrote:
Sod Teddy Bears. This article reminded me of my first childhood DIY
experiments

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8154757.stm


I had several DIY childhood experiences and the bigger the good
hiding from my parents the more damage I must have caused.

The most memorable experiment was when my brother and I found our
Dad's hammer on the landing and we smashed the bathroom sink into
bits to see how long it would take to smash the sink into bits.

So what DIY experiments did you perform as a child? I know that one
regular poster deliberately electrocuted his sister.

Ours were mainly explosive. I grew up in east London during the late 50's &
early 60's, still lots of 'bomb sites' as we called them (derelict land),
where you could find all sorts of useful stuff, build 'camps' etc.

Our best find was a metal tube about 3" diameter, 30" long hinged along its
length - this became our breach loading rocket launcher when bonfire night
came around. Penny bangers were OK, but you could get bigger ones for 3p.
Stuffed into the middle of a rotten apple from the local market clear up,
they made excellent hand grenades - if you got the timing right they
exploded mid air showering bits of apple all over the place.

We also made a paste from potassium permanganate & something else? When it
dried out it became a sort of contact explosive. We used to apply liberal
amounts to the striker plates of heavy cast iron door knockers & wait...


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk