I went to my local hardware store looking for some saltpeter to amke your basic smoke bomb. When I got there. I went to look for stump remover and found a bottle of flaky stuff called Stump-Out by Bonide. There was no place anywhere that it said what the ingredients were and I also asked the people working there. No one knew. Therefore. I didn't buy it because I don't have money to throw around on a gamble. So, is this the stuff I need for a smoke bomb? Or what other products contain potassium nitrate?

Thanx

Bagger

Perhaps you can search for a few chemical tests to determine if any nitrates are present. You may also want to try to search the manufacturer’s website and look for an MSDS for the product. The MSDS should list all of the ingredients unless it is a proprietary formulation (unlikely).

As for other consumer products with KNO3, there are many examples here on The Forum, but such materials are getting tougher to find.

Hmm... I think I hear angry footsteps.

Anyway, I live in Canada, which is fairly careful about dangerous substances commerce. And I had no trouble at all finding relativley pure KNO3 in 4 pound bags at my local farm/garden store.

How hard can it be?

Alright, I found the MSDS for Stump ou t and it does not contain the right KNO3. So, what else is potassium nitrate used for (besides stump remeval) that I could try and find at the hardware store? Is it used for gardening, is it a pestiside, or is it a fertilizer? Thats all I need to found the right stuff.

Thanx

Bagger

You’re really asking to be spoonfed, it’s a bannable offence.

Alright, I found the MSDS for Stump ou t and it does not contain the right KNO3.

What do you mean by the "right" type. Does it contain other chemicals? They can probably be removed, just like in fertilizers.

Also if you go to a farming area you can find KNO3 quite easy in Australia (as fertilizer), if worse comes to worse you could always order it from a chemical company.

If you can find potassium sulfate you could always mix it with magnesium or calcium nitrate, when they are combined in a solution you get a solid of magnesium sulfate or calcium sulfate that can be filtered out leaving you with a potassium nitrate solution.

I get all my KNO3 from a Pharmacy, almost every pharmacy has it(and its PURE) and if they ask you what youre going to do with it just tell them ur gonna use it to throw on meat.(if your younger than 21 just tell them your father sent you to buy it, he works with meat or something)

A good smoke-bomb I always use is 55%KNO3 5%Iron Oxide and 40% sugar.Its also a great rocketfuel.The better and finer its mixed the better it works.((I use a liquidizer to make it powder)By the way it hasnt exploded YET, but it can!dont put the mixed stuff in the liquidizer!))

I just don't realize how Bagger hasn't been banned for this yet. He broke every rule with his post, and on top of that, didn't write KNO3 down correctly.

He's clearly a dumb "kewl".

Sometimes one can be indulged since he actually phrased his question in the way I prefer newb questions to be phrased. He also has a valid question since KNO3 is hard for me to find in my area... A 2006 edition of where people get theirs would be useful.

That's the odd thing about chemical availability, it varies so greatly depending on where you live.

For instance, in my city has a huge drug/crime problem (the highest in Canada per capita), so chemicals are really scarce and have a lot of government red tape to obtain due to the amount of drug labs in the city. I've had trouble buying even 70% isopropyl solutions.

But, oddly enough, the first place I went to sold me 3, 4 pound bags of straight KNO3 labelled as such, no questions asked.

If only people on this forum could trade chemicals, depending on what is more available in what area. We'd all be set!

Raffikki:

Your percentages..... are they by volume?

I asked for KNO3 for the first time in my life (I don't do chemicals, but this forum inspired me) and found they sell it by the kilo. Guy did ask what I wanted it for.... I said it is fertilizer for growing roses. That went down very nicely.

Corona:

Sorry its by weight.I discovered it by buying rockets that you build the motor by yourself and saw that it is Saltpeter with Sugar and IronOxide.You dont have to ad the IronOxide it onlly makes it burn faster.If you want a hell of a smoke bomb you can ad rubber(it will be a bit toxic).You should play with it a little and see what works best.

Rose fertelizer is not a bad excuse..........didnt think of that

Other than our desired uses, kNO3 is used as a fertilizer, in meat processing,
and stump removal. In the past it was used as a diuretic and to suppress
the sex drive of men although I don't think it's used in either of these cases
given the modern medications available.

Raffikki:

Thanks for the idea of the rubber and the percentages.

I was planning to add rubber cement and a bit of electrical-tape to the nitrate and sugar mix.

Btw, KNO3 should also be good for chilies and tomatoes besides roses. Tell them you're growing .... name some obscure chili pepper.... and impress the heck out of them.

His "Stump-out" contains Sodium Pyrosulphite >98% (Na2S2O5).
On the MSDS it says "Violent reaction under influence of oxidising agents".

Chem supply stores are a good one to try. 25kg not too expensive either (Tech Grade). If it isn't illegal to order over, try getting it shipped to you from somewhere.

Ebay. Not bad prices! On some listings it is stated as 99.9% pure. :o

I'm not sure about the purity of this but you could try buying from this online pharmacy http://www.americarx.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=15653

One 6oz bottle for four bucks or three for twelve dollars. I myself was wondering if this would be a good source or if there are better ones out there.

I'd hate to be the one to tell you, but that sounds like it is safe to say is a horrible price. I'm sure there is a The Home Depot or Lowe's near you. Stump removers with 95%+ purity that I know of are, Grant's Brand, Green Light Co., and Spectricide. But still in California it will end up being about $6 bucks a pound. Just remember patience and looking around (a lot) is the best way to find what you want.

Raffikki: I don't mean to insult you, but adding Fe₂O₃ to a sugar/KNO₃ mix is not a novel idea. It is actually very well documented and with video proof by a highly reputable source. Visit James Yawn's website and you'll see what I mean. Again not trying to be insulting, but I would consider that common knowledge.

Other than that. I do know a reliable online business that sells tech grade potassium nitrate at a "decent" price, I won't post but I do check my PM's.

Deadman:

Just trying to help a newbie just like you.:D
Btw Ive been building rockets for about a year now using James Yawn website:p

I bought 5kg of KNO3:) (100%) for $18 NZ, which is about $10 American from a hydroponics website, heres the link...

http://www.hydroponics.co.nz/bulk-chemicals.html

This probably won't be a very usefull link though because I don't think they ship overseas.:(

So bagger, did you ever find what you need? Try not to let your thread die off like that. Please show some appreciation and don't leave us wondering if we helped or not. By the way, don't leave a signature at the end of your post, check out the thread: http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/water-cooler/2774-newbies-forums-unwritten-rules-written-down.html

KNO3 is fairly easy to get in the UK, at the moment. Although I've never actually seen it for sale in a physical shop, there are 3 online stores that do it (that I know of).
The Green Man seems to be the best option at present, unless you know of a friendly chemical supplier :D .

But the way things are going, I doubt that pure chemicals are going to be available for much longer :( .

What do you mean pure chemicals aren't going to be available much longer? KNO₃ isn't under that much controversy that I know of. Even if it was you could always go with a nitre bed.

What is going on in the UK right now? Anything like in the US?

It's not under controversy as such, but suppliers of chems seem to be getting fewer and fewer.

Add to that the hype over the threat of terrorism, and I can't see pure materials being sold to the general public soon. After all...for all the apparent action by the 'security forces', if I wanted to blow up a train, I could have a suitable bomb within a week. Because it could take a week to get some of the chemicals delivered.

Sooner or later people are going to realise that they can walk into a few shops and get the stuff needed to cause a nightmare scenario. And they're not going to like the idea.

I live out in a heavily farmed portion of the US which gives me access to large fertilizer distributors. After working a deal with the manager, I was able to purchase it in 5 gallon drums, but no smaller. Before that, they only offered it in 1 ton quantities.

If you have access to ebay, they sell it in quantities of 1,2,5,10,20 and 50 lbs.

Drifter.

As you will probably come to realise on this forum, eBay is not generally an "accepted" method of chemical supplies. Out of all things, I certainly wouldn't go buying too much nitrate off there. It is handy for the odd thing here and there, but buying too much on that site will look very suspicious and eBay are more than happy to hand your details over to any agency asking for such info.

Even though I do not doubt that KNO3 (like everything else) is becoming harder to find, I should probably think it was one of the chemicals still readily available in most places, alot more so than other products. I personally don't have much use for it, as I prefer to use other things, but everyone should be able to purchase it from a pyro supplier online if your garden store doesn't yield any results.

KNO3 is an interesting one... I found that I can easily source it (without the eyebrows being raised) from horticulture stores that specialise in Hydroponics. KNO3 is particularly good for 'dosing' aquatic plants and leafy greens, and therefore very popular in the hydroponics arena. They also keep it pure, no other nitrates added in.

"I don't think it's used in either of these cases given the modern medications available."

Apparently the story that it can cause impotence and lower the sex drive in men is a complete myth.. A guy from a0tu consumed an ounce in an experiment to test this, and reports back were that everything worked afterwards :)

You guys are so lucky with your KNO3 sources.. In Ireland, it is very difficult to get nitrates.. We had the IRA blowing up most of Ulster with em, so they're all regulated.. A friend of mine managed to get some from a company, and managed to avoid the whole licence issue.. KNO3 in any normal garden centre is unheard of, you'd need to go to a specialist. :(