DON'T make your own!

[mooman76]

Dynamite needs to be turned. The nitro in it will settle in one spot and seep out, that's what makes it dangerous as it gets old and uncared for. Also it is suppose to be kept from freezing.

 

[Carbon 6]

Folks might want to take a lesson from the Atomic Boy Scout.

 

[sgtsquid]

I never found dynamite, but I once found a box of 40+ year old road flares in a friend's garage that almost made me have to change my shorts. Working at some rocket companies that were run by amateurs, I have found stuff that makes dynamite look pretty tame. There was one company where I found a box with bags of powdered aluminum on top of a plastic tub full of ferric oxide just sitting on a shelf. I'll let you look that up if you don't know what that makes. At another company I found a bottle of a hypergolic chemical that the Germans had tried in their rocket program and quit using it because it was too dangerous. When I found that I walked into the boss's office holding the bottle and asked her "Do you know what this is?" Then I explained what it was and asked her what they were doing with it, since the Nazis in WW2 thought it was too dangerous to mess with!

I know this is now way off topic, but after that experience the risk of making BP isn't really such a big deal to me. I guess it's about how much risk you are willing to take, as long as you don't take anyone with you.

 

[Zonie]

I think this topic has ventured far enough off track and after 4 pages, it does give someone who is thinking about making black powder some wise things to consider so it has done its job.
Therefore, I'm going to close it before someone violates the forum rules about discussing the making of black powder.