Meaningful discussion outside of the potato gun realm. Projects, theories, current events. Non-productive discussion will be locked.
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Fnord
- First Sergeant 2

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Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:49 am
eh.. figures. If its entertaining and dangerous its against the law

Dont you have to have a license to legally pack rocket engines yourself? I think someone told me you do a long time ago, but I never found out if it was true or not.
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Solo
- Private 2

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Fri Apr 13, 2007 2:41 pm
Ok, in case anyone is wondering, Fe203 is indeed a catalyst. You are right that it doesn't decompose, but it doesn't have to to be a catalyst. It would only have to decompose if you wanted it to be an oxidizer, which is what happens with thermite. It works admirably as burn rate catalyst, it can increase burn rate 50% or more at high pressure for KN03/sugar!
KN03/sugar is a lot safer for large motors, but for ease of manufacturing at small scale, bp is better. You can pack powdered KNO3/sugar into paper casings if you want, but it's weaker than bp that way. Although, the ISP of the sugar fuel is indeed 120 or so compared to 80-ish for black powder.
Ammonium nitrate is crap. It sucks as a fuel, and it's too hard to convert it into potassium or sodium nitrate to be worth the bother. Other than the internet, I think the best place to look is for stump remover at a big chain hardware store/ home improvement center.
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SpudBlaster15
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Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:09 pm
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Last edited by
SpudBlaster15 on Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SpudBlaster15
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Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:00 pm
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Last edited by
SpudBlaster15 on Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Solo
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Sat Apr 14, 2007 5:27 pm
@Spudblaster: I don't know why you don't get any changes. Where do you get your iron oxide? Do you melt your sugar propelant, or pack it as a dry powder? I don't think that should effect it, but it might.
Ok, so you're using a precipitation method instead using KOH and letting the ammonia boil off. Makes sense. Do you know what percentage yeild you get?
@BC: I live in a farming area, and I can pick up 50lbs sacks of the stuff for pretty cheap. Not very good quality, and of course it's hydrated.
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BC Pneumatics
- Sergeant

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Sat Apr 14, 2007 5:55 pm
Yeah, living in Ca has very few advantages, but access to fertilizers is one of them.
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sandman
- Corporal 2

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Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:08 pm
_Fnord wrote:eh.. figures. If its entertaining and dangerous its against the law

Dont you have to have a license to legally pack rocket engines yourself? I think someone told me you do a long time ago, but I never found out if it was true or not.
size G motors and under you are aloud to pack if you do not have a license
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SpudBlaster15
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Sat Apr 14, 2007 11:16 pm
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras nec placerat erat. Vivamus dapibus egestas nunc, at eleifend neque. Suspendisse potenti. Sed dictum lacus eu nisl pretium vehicula. Ut faucibus hendrerit nisi. Integer ultricies orci eu ultrices malesuada. Fusce id mauris risus. Suspendisse finibus ligula et nisl rutrum efficitur. Vestibulum posuere erat pellentesque ornare venenatis. Integer commodo fermentum tortor in pharetra. Proin scelerisque consectetur posuere. Vestibulum molestie augue ac nibh feugiat scelerisque. Sed aliquet a nunc in mattis.