APAN is one of the most easily made explosives and with its supplies readily available at most hardware stores. I know that there are plenty of threads out there concerning APAN. But in this tutorial, I will cover the synthesis of Acetone Peroxide and share the measurements and yields of my best results, how to activate AN properly, how to make a sufficient blasting cap, concentrating Hydrogen Peroxide, uses of APAN, and proper safety techniques while doing all of this. Plus I hope my pictures will make it easier to understand.

First, I will go over how to make AP. You will need the following:

Acetone
Hydrogen Peroxide (30% or higher is preferred)
HCL (27% or higher)
Glass Thermometer
Ice Bath

First, measure out 100 ml of acetone and 60 ml of H2O2. I know megalomanias says half this amount, but use this measurement for a better yield since we are making APAN.
After placing a container in the ice bath, mix the acetone and H2O2 together. At this point, you need not worry about how quickly they are added. The temperature will go up to about 20 C. Wait for it to go back down to 10 C before continuing.
Acetone/H2O2 mix (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7290007.jpg)

Once it has cooled, measure out 7 ml of HCL and begin to slowly add it to the mixture. Be sure that the temperature does not exceed 10 C. If it does, you will get dicycloacetone peroxide instead, which is even more unstable than acetone peroxide.
Addition of HCL (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7290010.jpg)

Once all of the acid has been added, stir the mixture for about 5 minutes. Then, close the container and place it in a cool place. I usually just put it in my refrigerator, which stays around 5 C. Leave it for about 24 hours. In that time, you should get something like this:
AP Crystals (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7300011.jpg)

If there is still a decent amount of liquid present, let it sit a while longer. Now, pour the contents of the container into a coffee filter. Normally, I collect the left over liquid and put it back in the fridge after adding a couple drops of HCL to get more AP. Usually I am able to get about 2g or so more out of it. Wash the crystals with alcohol and/or distilled water to remove any acidity still remaining. Allow the filtrate to dry for 24 hours.
AP Yield (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7300012.jpg)

From this amount, I usually yield about 25-30g of AP with 35% H2O2. Make sure you store it in a safe place, safe from heat, shock and friction. AP is extremely sensitive, and unconfined it will detonate when in quantities of 2g or more. AP is actually more sensitive than Nitroglycerine (although not nearly as powerful), so be careful with it! It didn’t get nicknamed “mother of Satan” for no reason.

Now that you have your AP, I will go into how to properly activate Ammonium Nitrate. Usually, I use fertilizer grade AN off e-bay for like 18 dollars for 10 lbs. It cannot be used as an explosive in this form, so first you take the amount of AN you need and grind it in a coffee grinder until it looks like this.
Powdered AN (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7290003.jpg)

Now take the newly ground AN and put it in a container. I like to use larger, shallow Tupperware containers. Pour water into the container, allowing the AN to absorb the water. When there is just enough water to not be fully absorbed, stop adding it. Decant any excess water.
Decanting AN (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7290004.jpg)

Now place a heat lamp over the soaked AN. Give it about 24-30 hours to fully dry. It should harden into chunks again in a re-crystalization process, looking like this.
AN Activated (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P7290009.jpg)

Take the newly dried AN and put it back in the coffee grinder. Now, to be absolutely certain that the AN is anhydrous, place it on a metal baking pan and put it in the oven. It is very important to make sure there is as little water as possible, as it will weaken the explosive. Put the oven at 150 C (approx. 300 F) and allow to heat for about 30 minutes. Don’t worry, AN decomposes at 210 C and melts at 169 C. Once the AN has been removed, let it cool in a dry place to room temperature. If need be, send it through the grinder again.

Now comes the fun part of making a blasting cap. From 100g of APAN or less, a 1g charge of AP pressed into a expended 7.62x39mm shell worked great. From experience, anything larger should be given a 2g charge. However, considering the instability of AP, I would not recommend making a charge larger than 150g. Believe me, a 150g charge of this stuff will do the trick, it’s pretty impressive. APAN should not be used as a base charge, but normally as a booster to set off ANFO charges or more stable and more powerful explosives.

For the cap, find an expended rifle or handgun cartridge. If you can’t, then get some copper pipes from the hardware store or get creative, and use those syringes you’ve been using for heroin this whole time. Get two sheets of paper and measure out required amount of AP for your charge. Place the AP on one of the sheets and the cartridge on the other. Fold the sheet with AP and begin to slide the AP into the cartridge.
Blasting Cap (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P8110028.jpg)

Find something thin enough to fit into the top of the cartridge and CAREFULLY apply pressure to the AP inside, packing it down. Apply very little pressure, just enough to push the AP down in the cartridge.
Pressing AP (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P8110030.jpg)

Now cut a length of fuse, and put the end down into the cartridge. Use a pliers to crimp the top. Make certain that there is no AP near the top where you are crimping.
Crimping the cap (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P8110031.jpg)

Once it has been closed, duct tape the top and make sure the fuse in secure and won’t fall out.
Completed Cap (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/P8110032.jpg)

Your cap is ready to go. Now you must mix the AP and the AN. For finding the best AP to AN ratio, check out the thread called Optimizing APAN by rjche, its got some good stuff in there. His measurements say use 12% AP to 88% AN, so that’s what I use. So, for a 100g charge of APAN, you want 12g of AP and 88g of AN, obviously. Just thought I would put that out there, because there are some people who didn’t do so well at math back in school. Measure out your 12% AP and place it onto a sheet of paper with the AN. Use the diaper method, rocking them back and forth to mix them. Be sure they are fully mixed before proceeding. Do not store APAN for long periods, due to AN absorbing moisture very quickly and AP’s instability. If you do, use an air tight container and place in a cool, dry place.
Mixing APAN (http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u6/pudgedog69/APAN/APAN.jpg)

Whatever you decide to use to hold your APAN, make sure it does not come in contact with the fuse from the cap. Just two days ago a 12% 50g charge fizzled because it came in contact with the fuse. Just the AP made a poof, while the AN was obviously not detonated. This ruined the entire charge, as the cap was not enough to detonate AN alone. As for the VoD of APAN, I’m not exact on it, as I’m sure it depends greatly on how dry you’re AN is and your AP to AN ratio. But AN detonates at about 5200 m/sec while AP is at about 5300, so I’m assuming its somewhere around there.

I will briefly cover concentrating H2O2. If all you can get is 3% at the Walgreens, that’s ok, you can still make AP. Just add 500 ml of the 3% into a pot. Set it on the stove just enough to heat it so steam appears, but not to the point of boiling. Let it sit until there is about 100 ml or so of liquid. This generally takes several hours and still only gives you about 12-15% H2O2. But if that’s all you can get, then do what you gotta do.

That’s it. If you have any questions or insults, throw them at me. Good luck.

You photo links don't work, and it's not just our buggy redirectors' fault either, but that the URL's you used are malformed and don't work.

If you were signed into to Yahoo and copied those picture links, they will NOT work for the rest of us.

Use photobucket or imageshack. Or, you can put them in a compressed RAR or ZIP, and provide me with a download link, and I'll insert them in the proper place IF they're worthy.

Also, you don't stir AP into AN, you 'diaper' mix it on a a sheet of newspaper and gently pour it into your container. Stirring may create too much mechanical friction in the AP, resulting in a BOOM! :eek:

I fixed the photo links, and the part about using the diaper method. Thanks nbk, just figuring out the forum. :cool:

Your picture shows pressing a metal bodied cap by hand with a glass? rod. (Your thermometer again?)

People who enjoy the use of their hands, vision and hearing press primary explosives remotely, behind a barrier. A simple press mechanism could be made of scrap wood in minutes. A scrap of plywood between you and the operation will stop small metal fragments. Plexiglas will allow viewing the operation, but ANYTHING is better than air. Searches of the forum will show discussions of safer methods, complete with diagrams.

I very seldom comment in the HE sections. However, obvious safety lapses need comment for the sake of those with even less experience than you.

Hate to bring up a very old thread, but eh any chance that somebody has some alternative links to the pictures? At least for me they don't work anymore.

Thanks

Yeah, I deleted those pictures a long time ago. There is no way to get them right now, and I'm not uploading them again. It is still a straight forward process, just use your imagination and be smart about it.

Also, the blasting cap portion is poorly written. Search the forum for more information on details of how to properly and safely press your primary into a casing. This was one of my first posts, so I hadn't yet fully understood the forum :o (not sure if do to this day). Most of that information can be found in the Other Explosives section.

Also, if you are uncertain about any of the steps, don't hesitate to first SEARCH the forum thuroughly, and if that fails, ask questions in an intelligent, polite and professional manner. Follow those simple suggestions and you should do just fine here.

Seems a shame you went to all that trouble and let it go. Have you thought about making a little pdf file and uploading it to the FTP or something?

A long time back I knew someone that put some time into writing a GREAT little paper about using common ammo to make a grenade (as per para-military usage, etc) and made some pics to go with it.

He put it together in a little pdf file and it was quite nice; very professional presentation. If you still have the pictures; it's shame to waste the effort. The whole hobby is really about information (IMO).

Tonight I decided to follow this method to make some APAN, I started with 0-0-34 fertilizer then ground it up in the coffee grinder. I then added water and decanted the excess the consistency seemed to contain less water that an average slurry. It was then placed under a heat lamp fixture with a black light for the bulb. The lamp was placed 6 inches above the container and left for 6 hours. Well when I came back I defiantly noticed the crystallization had started however, I noticed bubbling and that it seemed no water had started to evaporate but chunks were forming.

Could the lack of evaporation actually just be the AN melting due to the heat lamp being so close? And if it is how far away should the lamp be?

If it counts for anything I just took the surface temperature of the AN on the spot the lamp is over it reads 71 C. However the corner of the container only reads 56 C. So if the melting point of AN is 169 C that just makes me lost. Let me know if pictures would help.

Could the lack of evaporation actually just be the AN melting due to the heat lamp being so close?

No.

I'm a little confused by your post. Did you mean you dumped the prills into water until they dissolved, decanted the solution, and chucked what remained? (what you should have done)

Or that you added some water, stirred, and then decanted and tossed the solution? (in this case you wasted most, if not all of your AN)

To get the AN out of solution, you'll probably want to boil off the water very gently in a large dish over a longer period of time.

Yeah you don't want to fully dissolve the AN. It is suppose to be dampened, not soaked to the point of having too much water to decant. Just having the AN dampened is appropriate to begin a successful recrystalization. If there is excess water, it may be best just to let it evaporate off as to not lose any AN. The reason I put to decant it was to save time, and I assumed you would know better than to not fully dissolve the AN in water :p. I get AN in large enough quantity that I don't care if I lose a bit here and there. However, this may be different for others...

I usually use a heat lamp to dry the AN. I have never had a problem such as the one you are experiencing, but I would recommend maybe backing the heat source off a bit and seeing if that makes a difference.

Well I did it perfect then I don't know what activity I could have been seeing. When Lewis posted his method I was very concerned but I did it exactly how Rbick intended.

I have set off the charge it was 500g APAN in a cylinder Tupperware with 6g of AP pressed into a film canister for a cap. I had a full detonation and it was beautiful, there will be a video coming soon.

Excellent! That is quite a bit of APAN, I look forward to seeing the video...

The only activity I see when recrystalizing is something that could be described as a "wave" that goes accross the AN as it is drying. It happens repeatedly and the "waves" are short lived, but very obvious. It is kind of cool to watch, almost mesmorizing. It is interesting to read about chemistry, and to calculate and hypothosize what will happen, but it is another world when you actually see it happening :)

Good morning to all, I'm a new user to this forum, I hope you can understand, I'm attempting to learn English*.

I tried and tried to optimize the AP production method and I found a method that produces a decent yield:

90 mL acetone
110 mL Hydrogen peroxide
30 mL 20% Hydrochloric acid

I hope this helps.

++++++++++
* But failing miserably - Improve your grammar.