Smoke "Grenade" Design

[Suseer]

Hey guys,

 

I'm new here, so please go easy on me encase i'm doing something wrong!

 

What i'm attempting to do here is make a canister-type smoke grenade. I've made and used lots of kn03/sugar in the past, and just put them inside a toilet paper tube. It's been great in the past; but what i'm aiming for is something that requires no external lighting, and possible to re-use.

 

Here's what i've come up with so far

 

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9706/52511886.png

 

Basically, it has 2 parts. The "body" and the "top". It would be constructed from a steel threaded pipe with 2 caps.

I would use a 9v batter, and small christmas light and switches to create a push-button ignition. The christmas light would have powder form sugar and kn03 in it, with a small piece of tape holding it in. (Much easier to put in there rather then the melted form I would assume)

It would have 2 or more exhaust ports drilled into the top, so all smoke that has been ignited can escape from.

 

Of course i'm trying to do this as safely as possible, therefore i'm looking for advice from the members here to check over my rough draft and bounce ideas from. I feel as long as it has those exhaust ports, it should be quite safe.

 

Thanks guys!

[TheEskimo]

My thoughts--

1. Use a chlorate smoke mix, or the parraffin wax smoke. Seeing as you're new here, I would suggest the paraffin wax smoke, rather than chlorate mixtures.

2. KNO3/Sugar burns at extremely high temperatures. I cannot see you ignition setup (battery, wires, switch) being in any way salvagable after ignition.

3. DO NOT USE A STEEL CANISTER. If the burn increases in any way, you will end up wtih a literal grenade. Stay with cardboard, or buy some proper paper tubes. You could even make your own. Since you wish to use this device without having to carry a lighter, I assume its for use in paintball, airsoft, etc. You don't want to be toting a possible grenade around.

4. Try one of these ignitors. http://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/3755-pull-ignitor/

5. The paraffin wax smoke. It burns much slower, puts out a lot more smoke, and is cheaper and safer to work with than chlorate smokes and assorted dyes.

60KNO3

40Sugar

40Paraffin wax

Mix the KNO3 and sugar thoroughly. I've found that powdered sugar works just fine. Melt the wax. Remove the chemicals to a safe area, and then work the melted wax into the KNO3/sugar mixture. Form it into the shape or container you wish, insert ignition device, and allow to solidify.

[Suseer]

Hey thanks for the reply! I appreciate it.

 

Thats a great idea regarding the wax, i'll definitely try that when I make my next mixture.

 

As far as this for airsoft/paintball - It's actually not surprisingly! I'm a big fan if military surplus, and really just want to try and replicate what a M18 smoke grenade looks like to the best of my ability.

 

http://www.nbc-links.com/nbcgraphics/smk/m18_grenande.gif

 

I just figured it would have been made from steel! But I suppose you're right, if the exhaust ports did clog up, or were to small it would act as a real grenade.

 

Is there any way I could safely make something similar to an M18 grenade?

[xBangergoosEx]

What are some Chlorate smoke mixes?

[Suseer]

What are some Chlorate smoke mixes?

 

I found...

 

http://www.smokegrenades.us/PDF/Large%20White%20M-18%20Pull%20pin%20Smoke%20grenade-MSDS.pdf

 

Has a full spec sheet for their smoke grenades, this one uses chlorate. Hope this helps!

 

So, how do these smoke grenades work anyway? Pull pin, which lights a fuse - but, where does the smoke come from? I can't see any exhaust ports on it.

[NightHawkInLight]

The simplest way to make smoke grenades that can be lit without a lighter is to make them out of the usual cardboard tube, then dip the tips of the fuses in a strike anywhere composition. Something such as:

 

Potassium chlorate - 5

Sulfur - 5

Dextrin - 1

 

As a dry powder that is a very sensitive composition, so the components should only be mixed wet, outdoors, and FAR away from any other chemicals that could become contaminated. The end of fuses is then dipped in the wet slurry so that a bead of the comp is left to harden on the tips. As with anything that is strike anywhere, you do not want to carry the smokes in your pocket.

 

As has already been said, do not use anything but a cardboard casing for your grenades. The one exception that I would give are aluminum soda cans. The aluminum is too light and thin to cause damage if the cans explode, and they are convenient casings for smokes.

[Suseer]

Although I am VERY inexperianced with these chemicals listed above, just from my limited reading and research isnt one of the main things you're suppose to keep as far away as possible from chlorate, sulfur? I thought if those came in contact with one another it would ignite instantly? Or is that only when the chlorate is molten, as seen when you drop sugar in it.

[NightHawkInLight]

Chlorate and the high quality sulfur that is available today will not ignite instantly upon contact with each other. They do however make a very impact and friction sensitive mixture which is not a good thing in the usual firework applications. For a device that needs to ignite without an external ignition source, whether it be by a strike anywhere fuse or a spring loaded pin, a mixture that is inherently sensitive to friction and impact is required for such a thing to operate. That is why these two chemicals that should never touch each other in fireworks (except by the EXTREMELY experienced) are combined in the composition I listed. You would not want the components of a firework shell being capable of 'striking anywhere' as you're carrying them around, but in the case of a smoke grenade, that's the whole point of it.