On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:20:31 +0100, Tim S wrote:

brass monkey wibbled:


"Tim S" wrote in message
.. .
Harry Bloomfield wibbled:

The Medway Handyman expressed precisely :
We also made a paste from potassium permanganate & something else?

Glycerine!


That mix self ignites fairly quickly (10's seconds to minutes) - not a
contact explosive...

Contact bangers sound more like NI3 - but pot.mang isn't used to make
this AFAIK. Perhaps there's some extra fun to be had with pot.mang?

Wasn't it something like ammonium iodide? or something iodide.

NI3 = Nitrogen Tri-Iodide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_triiodide

You can make Nitrogen Tri-Cloride but that blows up pretty much as soon as
you make it, according to our chemistry teacher.

Ah, memories. Worked in a chemi lab in the mid 60s. Started off with sawn
off burettes and nickel balls (not much range but could destroy a
winchester quart - stopped that when 2.5li od fluorosicilic acid went
walkies), then moved on to explosives. Had various substances to try, so
blowpipe-launched was a natural progression. Doing well until an explosion
occured part-way down the pipe. The boss decided that we'd had enough fun
and he wanted his empire intact :-(
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.