On Wed, 22 May 2013 16:50:18 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Larry Jaques fired this volley in
:

blink I guess I knew less about dynamite than I thought, thinking
that fire or shock could detonate it.

Heh!

Larry, "shock" IS what detonates it. But not the sort of shock it would
get from dropping, or even pounding a stick (not on a steel plate) with a
hammer.

Detonators' and blasting caps' primary purpose is to supply a shock of
such a magnitude and rise time that it initiates explosive decomposition
of the compound your using for blasting.

Yes, I knew that much.


Some materials (most 'hand-carry' HEs) are totally insensitive to
mishandling, and only capable of being detonated with a cap or
detonator/booster, or with fire in a LARGE mass.

The old saw about "sweating" dynamite is true. If you see a stick of old
stuff with glistening yellow droplets on the outside, then avoid it. The
NG has migrated through the paper to the surface; and NOW it's sensitive
to handling shock!

Yeah, I've seen that a lot in westerns and knew it was true, too.


That happens rarely today. Most "dynamites" aren't even Dynamite, any
more (which is nitroglycerine dispersed in inert fillers and gas-
producing compounds). Most modern _so_called_ "dynamites" are ammonium
nitrate/metal/oil/water emulsions that don't initiate at all - ever -
without a strong cap or a booster.

Thanks for the info.

--
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight
very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands.
It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.
-- John Wayne