the BEST way to make sugar/kno3

[demilus]

Kenny- I'll make a video of myself eating some of it
Theoretically, I could (It was put in the armies food suply to stop them from getting boners for petes sake!) because it is non-toxic. I wouldn't do it with the stump out though! KNO3 is not a dangerous chemical at all.
IT IS IN TOOTHPASTES FOR SENSITIVE TEETH AND IS A FOOD PRESERVATIVE! Hell, you can get it from manure and rotting organic material. Show your mom this and tell her that it's really not dangerous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate

[jimmy101]

Demilus: A little bit of corn starch in the sugar isn't going to make any difference. Heck, straight corn starch can be substituted for the sugar. "Starches" and "sugars" are the same chemical class and starches have been used as the fuel in explosives.

Oh, and paaiyan, ammonium nitrate isn't an explosive either. It is used in the same way potassium nitrate is. Both are used as the oxidizing agent for the fuel.

[demilus]

Ammonium nitrite, if I remember correctly, is a MUCH stronger oxidizng agent than KNO3. I.E. The Oklahoma city bombing, fertilizer bombs, etc. Ammonium nitrate can also more readily react with common substances than KNO3 which can make it seem unstable.
Although sugar and starches are both in the same chemical class, I think that sugars are more readily reacted with. Also, I think sugar has more energy in a smaller volume.

[Kenny_McCormic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_bomb says here baking soda will reduce the burn tempeture im thinking like 10% as an expeiriment

[demilus]

Oooh, good catch kenny. I completely missed that. Make sure you post results of your experiments, I'm very intrigued. Make sure you write how you mixed the mixture (i.e. dissolved in water, dry, or melted together)

[GalFisk]

Ammonium nitrate can detonate if properly sensitized and initiated, but as an oxidizer it's not that much different from KNO3. IIRC it's less used because it's hygroscopic.
If you want cheap and pure KNO3, buy it as fertilizer, not stump remover. The latter is both more expensive and has more crap in it.

[demilus]

GalFisk- Do you know of any places where I can get a bag of KNO3 fertilizer? I've poked around locally, and can't find anything. I'm not sure , but I remember hearing that they stopped carrying KNO3 as a fertilizer.

[GalFisk]

Depends on where you're living, I live in Sweden and can get KNO3 fertilizer under the brand name Krista K-plus (25 kg for about 200 SEK).
The chemical name is often not obvious on fertilizer bags, look for 13-0-46 fertilizer.
If farming supply stores don't carry it, you may be able to get it from a paint supply store, they often sell base chemicals.

[Kenny_McCormic]

do you think the kno3 feralizer is available in smaller quantanties than 50lb bags? if not stump remover will probably have to do. what is in the stuff other than kno3 anyways?

[iPaintball]

GalFisk- Do you know of any places where I can get a bag of KNO3 fertilizer? I've poked around locally, and can't find anything. I'm not sure , but I remember hearing that they stopped carrying KNO3 as a fertilizer.

No, they stopped selling NH4NO3 (Ammonium Nitrate) as fertilizer because of how easy it is to make ANFO explosives.

[ammosmoke]

Well, when I say faster, I mean I don't want a constantly burning lump of really hot, well, fire. I paintball in some woods and there's a lot of flammable underbrush. I'm trying to get something that will more just poof instead of burn. You get what I'm saying? I don't want burn, I want a big puff of smoke. Can you do that with this stuff if you powdered it?

If you want to keep flame from burning things you can always just put it in a cardboard tube with endcaps like the storebought ones. Cheaper than a steel can, and much lighter, and less likely to burn you when you pick it up.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and you want to use the kind that is really thick, like this.

http://www.cannonfuse.com/store/pc/view ... product=20

[Spudinator]

KNO3 can also be purchased in pure grade on ebay for cheap. I used to buy 5lb bags all the time, its like $20 a bag plus shipping.

And whoever wanted the quick flash of smoke...

6 parts KNO3
3 parts magnesium powder (you can get it from pyrotechnic websites)
1 part sugar


Makes a hell of a big flash of smoke and light, doesnt burn more than half a second, and its cheap (if, of course, you shop for the igredients in the right places). www.skylighter.com is a good place to start. gotta be over 21 for some stuff, sorry. Ebay may also have the magnesium.

www.unitednuclear.com also has it, but it is much more expensive, only buy from here if you want small amounts without going through a hassle to get it.

[thrasmussen]

Is there any difference by using brown sugar instead of white?

[Spudinator]

Yah, big diff. Brown Sugar tends to have a lot more moisture in it than pure white sugar, so its out for pyrotechnics. White sugar (not powdered sugar) is best.

[PCGUY]

Pfft... YouTube lets that video stay up but my video of the same thing that I made about a year ago got taken down. In fact I am banned from YouTube, I was told I was making instructions for terrorists to use (with my smoke vid).