Signal cannon

[AfterDark]

I've got a steel 72 that failed hydro, it did not go back to size after the pressure was released. I'm thinking of making a small black powder noise maker for my front yard. No projectiles just some BP and a wad make go BOOM! Anybody ever do this?

[davetowz]

Sounds like a lot of BP to get a bang. Look at the dimensions of the tank, better served by a smaller diameter vessel for your application I would think. Even better, make a lamp and buy a BP cannon.

[AfterDark]

Sounds like a lot of BP to get a bang. Look at the dimensions of the tank, better served by a smaller diameter vessel for your application I would think. Even better, make a lamp and buy a BP cannon.

I'd love to buy a BP cannon where does one go to buy a BP cannon big enough for the front yard?:coffee: My second choice would be a bell. Lamps are well ..to ordinary for me.;) A lot of BP would make a big boom! I thought start with a 1/4 cup packed with a ball of newpaper and work up from there.

[Tortuga68]

Guys, guys... a black powder cannon? Really?

Didn't you learn anything from this thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pub/392850-racism-scuba.html)??

[AfterDark]

Guys, guys... a black powder cannon? Really?

Didn't you learn anything from this thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pub/392850-racism-scuba.html)??

Stop it.:D

[miketsp]

Guys, guys... a black powder cannon? Really?

Didn't you learn anything from this thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pub/392850-racism-scuba.html)??

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[DennisS]

Make a carbide cannon out of it, it's a lot safer than loading it with BP.


The valve hole would make a great location for the sparker

[Tortuga68]

Thread seems to be inaccessible

Yeah you have to be a member of The Pub to access it... don't worry, I was just making a silly joke ;)

[DIWdiver]

Remind me to put on my flack vest when you light this thing. It failed hydro because something is wrong with it, and you want to load it with explosives?

On a practicality note, this cannon would be classified as a 50-pounder. That's a BIG cannon. You'd need a serious wad to make it go BOOM instead of PFFFFF.

I would think you'd be better off with one of those Spare Air tanks. It would be easier to get a bang, and if it exploded the shrapnel wouldn't penetrate the neighbor's houses.

Then maybe graduate to a D-size oxygen tank.

[AfterDark]

Remind me to put on my flack vest when you light this thing. It failed hydro because something is wrong with it, and you want to load it with explosives?

On a practicality note, this cannon would be classified as a 50-pounder. That's a BIG cannon. You'd need a serious wad to make it go BOOM instead of PFFFFF.

I would think you'd be better off with one of those Spare Air tanks. It would be easier to get a bang, and if it exploded the shrapnel wouldn't penetrate the neighbor's houses.

Then maybe graduate to a D-size oxygen tank.


You make it sound so dangerous. A 50 pounder WOW! That's like 105 Howister! :rofl3: I think Hartford is far enough from RI you'll be OK.;) I'll point it west let me know if you hear it. I don't have neighbors that close but, I'll go down to the river anyway and use a long fuse so I can get the heck out of the way!:shocked2: Maybe I'll setup a video camera to record the disaster.....I mean event! No balls no glory! Man your ramrod!

[rhwestfall]

absolutely foolish.....

[AfterDark]

[QUOTE=rhwestfall;6021686]absolutely foolish.....[/QUOTE

Killjoy!:(

[rhwestfall]

its crap like that which causes it to be nearly impossible to obtain BP anymore in most areas. You need a little more respect for the materials you are handling.... and a little more common sense.

[AfterDark]

its crap like that which causes it to be nearly impossible to obtain BP anymore in most areas. You need a little more respect for the materials you are handling.... and a little more common sense.

Hey pal I can get BP, well..... pyrodex anytime. There's no shortage here. I've been doing things like this since I was a young man. I make my own ammo including making cases for my 8mm from 30.06 cases. I cast my own bullets, this ain't some 1st time tryout. I'm haven't a little fun online,maybe even get a little advice or ideas. When I do this nobody will be endangered. If you don't like it don't click on the thread. Thanks for your input.

[DennisS]

You make it sound so dangerous. A 50 pounder WOW! That's like 105 Howister! :rofl3: I think Hartford is far enough from RI you'll be OK.;) I'll point it west let me know if you hear it. I don't have neighbors that close but, I'll go down to the river anyway and use a long fuse so I can get the heck out of the way!:shocked2: Maybe I'll setup a video camera to record the disaster.....I mean event! No balls no glory! Man your ramrod!

How much BP are you planning to use?

Go with the carbide, it gives a satisfying boom without shrapnel

[AfterDark]

How much BP are you planning to use?

Go with the carbide, it gives a satisfying boom without shrapnel

The only sharpnel will be newpaper...confetti:D I'm actually thinking of welding the barrel of an old .69 flintlock horse pistol with broken lockwork that would cost more to fix then to buy another one to the "bottom" of the cannon. That is after cutting off the 4 inches from the tank bottom turn it over put the barrel at the base of the valve hole and weld the bottom through the valve hole. Then turn the tank over and weld a couple of stiffners to the inside of the tank with collars that secure the front of the pistol barrel. Details like drilling a hole for the fuse and lining it up with the hole in the pistol barrel I'll work out I'm still in the planning stages. About 70grains of FFF BP and a little balled up newspaper should make quite a bang coming out of that tank!;) Plus it'll look like a real cannon!

[nielsent]

On a more interesting note, one of the reason's that BP is hard to find in many parts of the world right now is that its one of the most efficient ways of dealing with IED's. So the army's are buying it up in large quantities.

As for the cannon, I recently watched the firing of a carbon steel replica 12 pound canon fired. It made one hell of a boom with an 8oz powder charge in a small nylon bag. The apparent trick was that the charge was loaded into the bag and a steel pin was jammed into the bag to break up the nylon and gain access to the powder. There was no wadding used. Thought it was a rather slick way to make a boom.

Now with a cannon made from a Steel 72 that didn't pass hydro, I wouldn't be using much more than 6oz for a charge as it would be very nasty if she broke apart.

-- nielsent

[AfterDark]

Read my last post it's a little more than just stuffing BP into a tank. You're talking oz. I'm talking grains.

[Slamfire]

its crap like that which causes it to be nearly impossible to obtain BP anymore in most areas.If you have trouble accessing BP, make your own. My brother and I used to make it all the time when we were kids. 75% potassium nitrate, 15% ground up charcoal, 10% sulfur. My Dad used potassium nitrate to cure hams, and he used sulfur as a fungicide for plants. Then we discovered that home made BP could become more "aggressive" by simply replacing the potassium nitrate with potassium chlorate. Those were good old days, before the age of "nanny-states" and other fear motivated changes in lifestyle.

[DennisS]

If you have trouble accessing BP, make your own. My brother and I used to make it all the time when we were kids. 75% potassium nitrate, 15% ground up charcoal, 10% sulfur. My Dad used potassium nitrate to cure hams, and he used sulfur as a fungicide for plants. Then we discovered that home made BP could become more "aggressive" by simply replacing the potassium nitrate with potassium chlorate. Those were good old days, before the age of "nanny-states" and other fear motivated changes in lifestyle.

Very, Very, bad idea. Sulfur and chlorates can create a friction and impact sensitive mixture. .

Potassium chlorate, in many ways one of the best fireworks ingredients, may under certain conditions of temperature and acidity, slowly break down giving chloric acid, or chlorine dioxide, both of which are more active oxidizing agents than potassium chlorate itself. When this happens, potassium chlorate mixtures are extremely hazardous, with disastrous results often occurring. Sensitivity to heat, shock, friction and impact are greatly enhanced with ignition occurring, in some cases, as little as a flick of the fingernail. Sulfates, sulfides, and sulfur itself may be slowly oxidized to form sulfuric acid, which can then break down the potassium chlorate into dangerously active chloric acid.



The nanny state hasn't quite taken over

http://www.skylighter.com

[rhwestfall]

Hey pal I can get BP, well..... pyrodex anytime.

Pyrodex is NOT BP. Ttry and shoot a flintlock with it, you will know the difference.......

the fact you are proposing now to use Pyrodex scares me even more as the pressures generated are even higher and faster than BP.....

[Slamfire]

Very, Very, bad idea. Sulfur and chlorates can create a friction and impact sensitive mixture. .

Potassium chlorate, may under certain conditions of temperature and acidity, slowly break down giving chloric acid, or chlorine dioxide, both of which are more active oxidizing agents than potassium chlorate itself. When this happens, potassium chlorate... Sensitivity to heat, shock, friction and impact are greatly enhanced with ignition occurring, in some cases, as little as a flick of the fingernail.Too bad (maybe it's a good thing :D...) we didn't know that when we were kids. Otherwise we probably would have left batches of chlorate BP aging just to see if we could ignite it by flicking fingernails... and probably by now I would have had stubby hands or fingers...

For us chlorate BP was the "good stuff" so it would get used up faster. The nitrate BP was the one that would be left aging because as long as we had chlorate we would prefer to burn that first.

[AfterDark]

Pyrodex is NOT BP. Ttry and shoot a flintlock with it, you will know the difference.......

the fact you are proposing now to use Pyrodex scares me even more as the pressures generated are even higher and faster than BP.....

You're scared! Oh my hope you haven't soil yourself. Why do you keep scaring yourself by opening this thread? I'm glad I don't have you for a neighbor. To use pyrodex to fire a flintlock you need to grind it to a fine powder but it works. Do you shoot much or just sit around wring your hands? Read my later post the tank is a shell, a decoration. The real "cannon" will be a barrel from an old flintlock pistol welded to the inside of the tank.

[adurso]

As a kid I made any number of black powder cannons from pipe of various dimensions, big fun.

Enjoy

[AfterDark]

As a kid I made any number of black powder cannons from pipe of various dimensions, big fun.

Enjoy

I guess you didn't have rhwestfall for a neighbor. Me too, I'm reliving my childhood before I get to old to.:D

[DIWdiver]

When I was a kid we used to have a great deal of fun with various bits of pipe, firecrackers, BB's, smokeless powder, waterproof fuse, rocket engines, match heads etc. When my backyard neighbor stopped coming to school, I found out he'd had an accident. Months later a new kid showed up at school. I had to ask around to find out it was him, because he wasn't recognizable. I wasn't exactly scared straight, but I gained a healthy respect for what explosions can do, and a great desire to understand what I was doing before I did it.

[adurso]

I guess you didn't have rhwestfall for a neighbor. Me too, I'm reliving my childhood before I get to old to.:D

I did have a neighbor who complained about me blowing sh!t up......did not stop me. Made my own powder too...when I was in high school there was a chemistry teacher who made his own fireworks. He showed the advanced students much...my neighbor really wigged for a while after that...

[DIWdiver]

You're scared! Oh my hope you haven't soil yourself. Why do you keep scaring yourself by opening this thread? I'm glad I don't have you for a neighbor. To use pyrodex to fire a flintlock you need to grind it to a fine powder but it works. Do you shoot much or just sit around wring your hands? Read my later post the tank is a shell, a decoration. The real "cannon" will be a barrel from an old flintlock pistol welded to the inside of the tank.

Sure, now the tank is a decoration and you're using grains of pyrodex in a flintlock, but at the beginning you were talking about a quarter cup of BP and some wadding in the tank...

The current plan sounds a lot more effective, and safer to boot.

[AfterDark]

Sure, now the tank is a decoration and you're using grains of pyrodex in a flintlock, but at the beginning you were talking about a quarter cup of BP and some wadding in the tank...

The current plan sounds a lot more effective, and safer to boot.

I said in one of my posts I was having a little fun online and hoping to maybe get a few ideas. I've got several other concepts rollin' round in my noggin. The these days real BP has been mostly replaced by pyrodex, I've got into the habit of interchanging the words. Still a 1/4 cup of pyrodex in a tank with some wadding wouldn't blow up a steel scuba tank. It's not being confinded just compressed a little. It's not pushing a projectile so it's not building up anywhere near the pressure it normally would. The pressure is going out the "barrel".
An old timer showed me how forgiving BP is. He filled his muzzle loader almost to the muzzle with BP, rammed a patched ball down the barrel and fired it from his shoulder. A big flame, a big boom and lots of smoke. The gun and shooter were fine. I'll post some pictures when I'm done and maybe a video.

[miketsp]

If all you want is a bang, mix up some Nitrogen Triiodide in the tank, let it dry and then drop a feather into the tank.

Nitrogen triiodide is a very unstable explosive that's not really practical due to its tremendous instability and cost. When wet it is stable but when dry the touch of a feather can cause it to detonate. Wet nitrogen triiodide should be spread out as much as possible or numerous small piles made. When dry the nitrogen triiodide will not explode from its own weight if spread out, a single large pile will.

Many years ago when I was a boy we used to play with this stuff. Great for killing insects. We used to soak sheets of paper in this stuff. Once dry, all it needed was an insect to land on the paper for both the paper and the insect to disappear in a flash.
We found lots of ways to use very minute quantities for a variety of pranks.

Suggested quantity - Put 2 g of iodine crystals into a beaker, crush them as much as possible, add 40 mL ammonium hydroxide. After 2 hours the reaction should be complete.
Pour the solution over a filter to collect the crystals, any excess can be rinsed out of the beaker with water. Put the crystals where you want them immediately because they're only stable while wet. Drying will take about 1 hour.
ONCE DRY - LITERALLY ANY TOUCH OR IMPACT WILL CAUSE DETONATION.

[AfterDark]

duplicate

[AfterDark]

Thanks for the info Miketsp but I think I'll stick with what I know for this. I want to be able to reuse the cannon and I don't think I want my hand in front of the muzzle when I drop the feather in:shocked2:! Also I like the smoke and smell of the BP! Sounds like intertesting stuff.

[DennisS]

As a kid I made any number of black powder cannons from pipe of various dimensions, big fun.

Enjoy

I was about 13-14 when I made my last "cannon" out of a pipe. We lit it and waited for it to shoot the gravel out of the end, next thing we knew there was metal buzzing all around us, somehow we didn't get hit by any of it, the biggest piece was about 20 ft away. That was with a potassium chlorate/sugar propellant, an excellent mixture to lose body parts. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" I gave up on pipe "cannons"

[DennisS]

When I was a kid we used to have a great deal of fun with various bits of pipe, firecrackers, BB's, smokeless powder, waterproof fuse, rocket engines, match heads etc. When my backyard neighbor stopped coming to school, I found out he'd had an accident. Months later a new kid showed up at school. I had to ask around to find out it was him, because he wasn't recognizable. I wasn't exactly scared straight, but I gained a healthy respect for what explosions can do, and a great desire to understand what I was doing before I did it.

The former president of PGI (Pyrotechnics Guild Int'l) was a plastic surgeon. His advice, "keep your back to it, it's easier to make the back look like it used to, than the front"

[DIWdiver]

He was looking down the barrel. Hard to do that with your back to it. I guess that deserves another quote "never get in front of anything that's loaded unless you intend to kill they guy behind it". That was someone on a military range many years ago.

By the way, it was dry pool chlorine and gasoline in a coffee can. It self-ignites. Eventually.

[Tom Winters]

In my last year of prep school, there was a kid who was a real genius with chemistry. He also liked blowing stuff up. Towards the end of the school year, there was an unholy explosion down by the gym - pretty far from the academic buildings that rocked the whole campus.
The kid wound up going to MIT to study chemical engineering, but his right hand, right eye, right ear, and a lot the right side of his face stayed in Connecticut.
Screwing around with explosives in a steel scuba tank is sheer brilliance. You're talking about a 7+' diameter - the destroyers that I was on only had 5" bores. Have fun.