flat-pack explosive (squib)

This is a small electrically triggered flat pack explosive. Commonly called a "squib", it is often used in stage and film to trigger various special effects.

*** WARNINGS:***

• THIS INSTRUCTABLE INVOLVES HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.
• OXIDATION HAZARD.
• EXPLOSION HAZARD.
• YOU CAN HURT YOURSELF.
• NOT FOR CHILDREN.
• FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY, AND USE COMMON SENSE.

**********************

Step 1 Gather materials

Materials you will need:

• nichrome wire (for igniter). Failing this, you can use some thin (30 AWG) copper wire
• medium gauge (16 AWG or so) insulated wire (stranded), for trigger wires
• normal bond paper
• cellophane tape
• aluminum power
• potassium perchlorate

Tools you will need:

• wirecutters
• wire strippers
• a small scale (capable of weighing small numbers of grams accurately)
• a metal cylindrical roller
• an anti-static computer bag

Comments

[SD_cyborg]

Can there be a lower scale substitute for this?
Where i can use a 9V battery.. ( making it portable :D)
and maybe replace the flash powder too?

[VadimS]

You can use thin steel wire (much better then copper) for the igniter, a 9v battery should do the trick.

[lop145]

4x4 centimeter or inch?

[VadimS]

" means inch

[jweaks]

Gracious sakes! Don't plug into house current! Use a battery.

[szechuan53]

i'm 14. teenager, not child, w00t!
but seriously, i can handle this. i am willing to bet that i am the only one of my age interested in purchasing xenon diflouride and knows where to get it. i can handle a squib.

[PerfectPantaloons]

i mix all my own explosives and i'm only 14, i can handles squibs too... PYROS UNITE!!!!!

[dla888]

Don't be too cocky.
A gunpowder squid you could handle but a flashpowder squib shouldn't even be made. A pile of flash powder will go boom, but you gotta put gunpowder in a case to make it go boom.

[Archive555]

I'm 14, and I too am interested in purchasing it ;)

[szechuan53]

umm... do you even know what it is?

[Kataze]

You'd be surprised, man.

[Tombini]

What would you want it for? Fluridation? Anyway Sulfur Hexafluride (SH6) is much more fun 6 times as dense as air and safe for the lungs

[nutsandbolts_64]

uhh excuse me, safe for the lungs?
now helium being lighter than air and inhaled makes your voice sound squeaky
Now think about sulfur hexafluoride being much dense, your voice will be deeper
and don't try it at home like what the mythbusters did ( usally its adam )
he said it "don't try it at home"

and may I remind you that your lungs need oxygen not SH6
plus SH6 is very reactive.

[Tombini]

SH6 may be reactive, if it actually existed...

Sulfides -2 charge and Hydrogen +1 (-1 in some cases)

Therefore; H2S = hydrogen sulfide, rotten egg gas
This is clearly not Sulfur Hexafluride which has a chemical formula of SF6
SF6 is almost completely stable I will use a quote from the wikipedia page on SF6 to prove this ;
"There is virtually no reaction chemistry for SF6. It does not react with molten sodium, but reacts exothermically with lithium."

And may I remind you that breathing in He or SF6 intermittently can be completely safe, the mythbusters only say to not try this at home because of stupid people using it in excess and drowning themselves.
SF6 is not reactive, and is completely safe if you do SOME REASEARCH

[nutsandbolts_64]

4 words you have a point

[Kataze]

six times as dense, about a million more times as expensive. :P

[ekulmeekul]

i thought air was free? Plus not all 15 yr old teenagers (myself included) have access to a chemical supply or anywhere that will supply them with any sort of bottled gas no matter how harmless. not even oxygen! cmon who doesn't like to see extra oxygen fed to an explosive. Oh i know, the police!

[Honestinwilkesbarre]

Your comments illustrate exactly why it;s illegal to provide such materials to teenagers (in the US). Just because oxygen is all around us, and a gas we need to live, doesn't mean it's harmless. Pure oxygen is highly flammable, and burns with an invisible flame. You could walk right into an oxygen flame and not know what happened to you. It would resemble spontaneous human combustion to anyone observing you. Concentrated oxygen could also have toxic effects. 

[ekulmeekul]

oxygen on its own is not flammable... you need some sort of fuel, and yes, any flame when supplied with oxygen become almost invisible... so i get that bit, but a huge bubble of pure oxygen? burning? and someone walking into it? get realistic man! i dunno what planet your living on, but where I'm from, there aren't giant pockets of pure oxygen floating around the atmosphere, i hope that helps...

[Honestinwilkesbarre]

Hmmm. You must be from a medically backward region. Where I live, those with lung disease sometimes are prescribed oxygen. My father was one of those, and the oxygen (which is pure) was delivered in pressurized green metal cylinders. Pure pressurized oxygen is also used in wielding. So I do live in a world with "packets" of pure oxygen all around us. You are correct, tho', oxygen on it's own does not burn. It needs fuel, and the fuel is what technically burns. Unfortunately, almost everything can be a fuel when oxygen comes into contact with it. Sometimes explosively. Perhaps you've forgotten, or never heard of, Apollo 1.

[ekulmeekul]

'giant pockets of oxengen floating around the atmosphere'... 'someone walking into it' Took that one out of context didn't you...

[szechuan53]

maybe for an element sample, as most other available forms of xenon aren't very visual. and, yes, i know what sulfur hexaflouride is. i'm crazy, not stupid.

[Falling_Jihad]

Were can i obtain some of this aluminum powder and potassium stuff.

[Thelonelysandwitch]

this makes flash powder, just open some fire works, and it is premixed.

[lop145]

yeah and just mix it with other powders and accidently blast your hands of.
BAD IDEA.

[Thelonelysandwitch]

not if you know what your doing

[lop145]

if u mix 2 kinds of gunpowder with each other it proves u dont know what u are doing.

[Thelonelysandwitch]

no it just prooves that im stupid but im safe when i do things

[lop145]

then how exactly are you safe when you are being stupid?

[PerfectPantaloons]

ever heard of a real life paradox???

[garrettanderson983]

Mixing flash powder in a bag is a smart way to blow your damn hand off!!! that crap is DANGEROUS!!!

[struckbyanarrow]

its an anti static bag flash powder (FP) is ignited by friction, static, and heat, as long as your not heating or hammering the bag you are okay.

[jam BD]

He He He Ha HA HA
BOOOM!!
looks good
Does it actually do any damage??

[Klive]

it wont do to much on its own but if you use it as a primer for a more volatile mixture (anfo for instance) it can be SUPER EFFECTIVE.

[coast2coastcreator]

For a squib on like a wall or a rock seen from a medium distance, this seems okay, ( except the whole ac power deal... a bit unsafe), but the whole flash powder bit is extremely risky. 1 to 1.5 grams of flash powder is officially a federal offense to produce in your home w/o a license. I beleive the legal limit is .05 of a gram, and that is about the amount that goes into a Black Cat or other similar products. i make a simple FP (Mag/AN) and a gram of that stuff strapped to my chest would be a problem. You could use a mix of 74% Potassium Nitrate, 26% charcoal as a BP formula, use like .05 or less in place of the FP . Check out Indy Mogul for all kinds of good stuff like this

[LawyerSteve]

What is a Black Cat? Has anyone tried this recipe on a living person (amounts adjusted for survivability assumed)?

[kicker109]

just watched the movie is there anyway that that would look like a gunshot? and with less smoke?

[frontier]

just curious i thought primarily gunpowder only exploded if it was in a solid container etc that can withstand some pressure? , which i dont think paper can.. is this only for regular gunpowder / black powder, and not for flash powder?

[Archive555]

I thought gunpowder didn't explode full stop, and that it just burnt EXTREMELY quickly, thus leading you to the conclusion that it actually explodes. Prove me wrong :D

[nutsandbolts_64]

I don't get the last of what you said but gunpowder deflagrates or something but if contained the hot gasses will build up and then BOOM!!! It explodes with a lot of smoke.