totse.com | The Poor Man's Electric Detonator

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To produce these devices, you'll need an explosive powder that can be set off by heat. The powder from match heads is the most easily avaliable. Of course, any other very heat-sensitive explosive powder will do. To obtain match powder in a fine form with very little in wood remains, I used a somewhat complicated procedure.

3b. If the stuff that didn't came through the 1 mm sieve still contains LOTS of match 'head', then repeat from step 2 with that.

5. Filter the stuff that has been ground again through a second, fine sieve (about 0.15 to 0.2 mm hole size). To speed up filtering, I also put in a few BB's (6-10 mm diameter) to 'help' the fine particles through the sieve.

5b. Do step 4 again with the stuff that didn't came through the second sieve until the material remaining after step 5 consists mainly of wood fragments.

6. The stuff that came through the second sieve is the usable powder. It's VERY FLAMMABLE and absorbs moisture, so keep it safe & dry.

Be careful when grinding the match heads. It is possible that the stuff could ignite. Do it with a small amount at once. I actually tried to set off small amounts, even by beating the grinder with a hammer (I used steel objects as grinder & bowl) but it didn't ignite, BUT that was ONE kind of match. There could be other, more sensitive brands.

Another thing you should be careful is to safely dispose the waste. Hundreds of matches with the heads cut off could trigger some suspicion. Pack them in a non-transparent plastic bag and smuggle that into household garbage. Make sure that family members (esp. parents) don't catch suspicion.

short piece of pipe, closed at one end, 15-30 mm long, 6-10 mm in diameter (that's the container; material is not really important, but plastic recommended)

Take two strands of the insulated wire. Twist them together for about 10-15 mm length, leaving 8-15 mm free. Remove the insulation from the ends for about 5 mm length. Twist the resistor wire around the blank ends. Solder the twisted resistor wire to the electric wire. This is necessary because resistor wires can't be soldered, but fixing the twisted wire with a drop of solder metal will ensure proper connection.

Insert the completed ignitor part (the copper wires and the resistor wire) into the container. Fill the powder into the container. Use a FINE funnel or the front piece of a ballpoint pen. Stuff the powder GENTLY (you don't want to rip the wire!). Add more if needed. The container should be about 2/3 full. Of course, you can use any kind of explosive powder that can be ignited or detonated by heat.

After this is finished, seal the whole thing with the sealant. A kind of sealant is needed that won't be soaked up by the match powder. Cyanoacrylate glue ('Krazy glue'), mixed with fine sawdust of flour, is ok, but it begins to harden in 1-2 minutes when exposed to air, so you'll need to mix that sealant quickly and apply it quickly. The sawdust is needed to soak up (contain) the glue, preventing it from being soaked up by the match powder, and to give the whole stuff some viscosity. I only tried this kind of sealant and it works. It takes several hours to solidify completely. After the sealant (whatever it is) has hardened completely, the device can be used.

The voltage and current needed to detonate the device depends from the kind of explosive powder being used and the resistor wire. Using wire coiled off from old resistors and ordinary match powder, I could make the things detonate from 1 A at 2 V. This means that the voltage and current from 2 AA or even AAA cells can be sufficient.

If the casing is made of metal, then the explosion can be very strong, but a metal container must be insulated at the inside to prevent a short with the resistor wire's contacts.

The device will be dustproof, and, with a waterproof container and sealant (like the Krazy Glue & sawdust mixture) also waterproof (moisture proof).

Make a small hole in the bulb glass. You can file a small hole with sand paper. Be careful not to break the glass or to rip the filament. If the bulb glass breaks, you can even cut yourself real bad. Fill the bulb with match powder through the hole. Use a FINE funnel or the front piece of a ballpoint pen. After the bulb is full, shake it GENTLY to settle the powder. If there is still room for more, fill in more. Don't try to stuff the powder, the filament can be ripped very easy. If the bulb is full, seal the hole. A piece of plastic foil glued on with a drop of Krazy Glue is very reliable, but a piece of duct tape also works.

This explosive bulb will quickly and safely detonate from 1..1.5 times the normal operating voltage of the used bulb.

To test these devices without detonating them, a current must be passed through that is low enough not to heat up the filament, so it won't detonate the device. A multimeter's resistance measure function is likely to be ok. The higher ranges probably use minimal currents. If the filament is ok, then you'll get a very low resistance. A multimeter can also detect a short if the test current for the low ranges is still low (that is the case for the modern digital models).

The devices shown here could be used as initiators for high explosives, or to light flammable materials like gasoline. A device like Fig. 1, with a metal casing and a well-packed powder fill could maybe detonate unsensitive explosives like ammonium nitrate.

The Poor Man's Electric Detonator

by Good Boy 404

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

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