Mass producing sugar rockets.
[Update a while later]
Over at Arocket, it is pointed out that probably the most hazardous thing with this is not the propellants, or tamping them, but potential shards from PVC casings.
12 thoughts on “Not Sure Whether You Should Try This At Home”
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I’m sure:
It’s a great way to blow your arm off.
When I was a kid there was this book in the library about how to make a “sugar” rocket only you put the ingredients in one of those plug-in-the-wall electric frying pans and heated it all up to some temperature – you had a thermometer stuck in the stuff. The heat melted the sugar but not the potassium nitrate – the potassium nitrate particles got suspended in the sugar.
In fact I just did a search and it’s called Rocket Candy. And Wiki lists a couple of books…one of which I probably read when I was 9 or so:
“Rocket candy is also occasionally known as “caramel candy”, a term that was popularized by Bertrand R. Brinley, in his pioneering book on amateur rocketry, Rocket Manual for Amateurs, published in 1960.
………..
Rocket candy was also employed in a small amateur rocket described by Lt. Col. Charles M. Parkin in a lengthy Electronics Illustrated article that continued over several issues, beginning in July 1958. Parkin described how to prepare the propellant mixture by using an electric frying pan as a heat source for the melting operation. This article was reprinted in Parkin’s book, The Rocket Handbook for Amateurs, which was published in 1959. Parkin’s article contributed to the increasing popularity of the rocket candy propellant among amateur rocket groups beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s.”
The Wiki says Hamas used the recipe to make rockets because the materials are easy to get.
I’m surprised that guy in the video still has all his fingers. I remember reading about this kind of rocket several years back. I actually considering doing one then I read more about it. I think the propellant was sugar and potassium nitrate which you mixed in a blender. The guy joked it wasn’t a good idea to use the blender in the kitchen because it could blow up. Curiously enough this guy seems to be doing the blending in the kitchen. He’s even using a baking oven.
AFAIK bi-propellant liquid rockets are a lot safer but there is way less info on how to build one for the hobbyist market.
He’s using the blender to powderize, not to blend. I think he does that by hand.
Right you are. I suppose that makes it a lot safer since there’s less friction. But I still wouldn’t do it.
Would an X-Ray be able to see plastic shards embedded in you?
The PVC pipe used is probably UV stabilized with tin compounds (in the US; internaional markets often use Pb compounds), and can contain up to 1% Sn by mass. This might dominate the x-ray opacity.
Hmmm…I guess I wouldn’t mind a little lead in the bloodstream if it meant the doctors could find the shards of death creeping closer to my internal organs.
If you think that’s crazy dangerous, take a look at this where he tests autoignition temperatures of some pyrotechnic compositions.
That is better to use ABS than PVC. ABS is much less brittle so it doesn’t tend to fracture into small sharp pieces. Just saying
I don’t think this is any more dangerous than reloading ammo. The tap down is really the only dangerous part. By themselves both saltpeter and sugar are very stable. Even as a mixed dry powder it is still pretty safe (I think it is probably comparable to a big box of strike anywhere matches) But once you start to compact it into a enclosed case… then it gets iffy. When mixing or grinding, I’d be more concerned with static buildup than heat. So like he shows, hand mix it with wood utensils. problem solved. But when compressing it into shape it would probably be a good idea to put something between your hand and the motor. Maybe a lever press with a jig to hold the motor and a small metal deflector between. Or better yet, a small hydraulic press with a computer depth/pressure control, that could do a consistent tap down while it is behind a wall. Might cost $50-$100 but totally worth not blowing your hand off and would probably make more consistent motors.
In reloading there is no packing of the propellant. Plenty of airspace in the casing. Far less dangerous
We used to make our own solid rocket engines when I was a kid. Similar method, though we used a rock tumbler filled with steel bearings to grind the powder and cardboard tubes for the casing.
We never had a mishap, but we were always under the supervision of an engineer (Dad).
We learned a lot more about rocketry than we would from buying hobby shop kits, which was why Dad had us roll our own.