However, it may be impossible to prevent the publication of all information concerning
the
making and use of explosives. The problem of easy availability of information on
how to make improvised explosive
devices is compounded by the ease with which anyone can also obtain the necessary
materials to make a bomb.
Improvised explosive devices can be manufactured from such common chemicals as
acetone (fingernail polish remover),
peroxide (hair bleach), and one additional readily available ingredient. For
example, Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), a
combination of these ingredients, is currently the most common explosive used by
terrorists in Israel.
I have seen too many "dangerous" mistakes in this NG when AP is being discussed. I
will rather give you the correct details that
you make it and do not blow off your hands.
You will need 30% Hydrogen Peroxide (6% will give you a rather poor yield). Now to get
the 30% Hydrogen Peroxide, go to
your local hospital chemist. 30% will never be sold to someone for their hair so don't
try that story, so spin a story that the
Peroxide is to clean a wound as it is a great disinfectant (diluted of course).
The acetone can be bought at either a hardware store or at a hospital or normal
chemist. If you get asked why you need the
acetone, spin a story that it is used to thin paint, or to strip paint. Remember that
acetone is highly flammable.
The Hydrochloric Acid can be purchased from any swimming pool shop, or from your local
hardware store. The type that goes
into your pool is normally 31.5% and is perfect for what you need. The Hydrochloric
acid will give you a trimmer, sulphuric
acid will give you the dimmer version of the AP.
Now that you have acquired all the ingredients, take a beaker or clean 500 ml bottle
and place it into some nice cold water.
Into this beaker, add 200 ml hydrogen peroxide (try not to get any of this onto your
skin). Now add 150 ml of the acetone.
Remember to do this outside as the fumes are rather unpleasant to breath in. You will
feel the beaker will start to get a bit
warm. Now add 50 ml hydrochloric acid to the mixture and stir with a glass rod. There
that is all you have to do.
Do this experiment in the evening and let the AP stand over night. In the morning you
will see that you will have +- 2.5 cm of
crystals at the bottom of the flask and +- 0.5 cm floating on the top of the flask.
Take a glass funnel and insert coffee filter
paper or oil filtering paper and filter the AP crystals out. Place these crystals out
onto a sheet of clean paper and leave them to
dry +- 1/2 a day to a day. Try to keep the crystals out of direct sunlight, preferably
in a shady area.
Place these dry crystals into a camera film container. Please do not hit these
crystals with a hammer as a bright person claimed
to have done, you could land up with that hammer in your forehead. AP is sensitive to
heat and to friction. When the crystals do
not respond to either friction or impact it simply means that the crystals are still
too wet.
WARNING: Acetone Peroxide is dangerous and very sensitive to FRICTION,
SHOCK, HEAT OR FLAME. Handle with great care!! This
composition is dangerous
and would need to be handled by someone with a lot of
common sense. If you do
not have experience with explosives DO NOT MAKE THIS. I
can not stress
enough how unstable and dangerous acetone peroxide is.
This explosive is the
most unstable of all other explosives. Making large
quantities is suicide as the
weight of the crystals will detonate themselves.
Information on Acetone Peroxide:
Acetone peroxide is formed when hydrogen peroxide 30% acts on
acetone. The
introduction of dilute sulfuric acid causes the reaction to go
into completion.
There are actually two isomers of acetone peroxide, the first
is tricycloacetone
peroxide and the second is dicycloacetone peroxide. Both of
these compounds are
very similar, but the reaction seems to favor the tricyclo over
the dicyclo. Both will
be made in the reaction to differing degrees. The trimmer has
about 80% the power
of TNT.
A quantity the size of a pea in contact with a flame will burn
instantaneously with a
small 'pop' and producing a fireball, much like HMTD does. Any
sign of confinement
will ensure that ignition will rapidly give rise to detonation.
Acetone peroxide is a powerful primary explosive. It, as with
other explosive
peroxides, seems to be very volatile. In standing 10 days at
room temperature,
50% of the sample will completely volatilize. It's vaporizable
nature makes it a
explosive that would have to be used immediately after
manufacture. However, this
explosive is compatible with metals and will not cause their
corrosion and the
subsequent dangers involved. It is also compatible with picric
acid, R.D.X., T.N.T.
and P.E.T.N. It is highly friction sensitive and extreme care
should be taken to
avoid this. Acetone peroxide is one of the most sensitive
explosive known to man.
Great care would be needed to handle this explosive carefully.
Mixtures of R.D.X.
and Picric acid with acetone peroxide are reported to be used
between primary
explosive and the base charge. Mixtures such as picric acid /
acetone peroxide
(40/60) or similar mixtures with R.D.X. and P.E.T.N. will give
explosives greatly
increased resistance to impact without losing much performance.
These dried
crystals would be ready to load into detonators for immediate
use as the storage
stability is not very good.
DETONATION VELOCITY: 3750 M/sec. @ 0.92 G/cc
5300 M/sec. @
1.18 G/cc
FRICTION SENSITIVITY: Very Sensitive!!!
Materials Sources
----------------
Acetone C3H6O - Used as a solvent for stripping paint and
cleaning brushes.
It can be purchased in pint to gallon sizes at hardware
stores or paint supply
stores rather cheaply.
Sulfuric acid H2SO4 - Available at chemistry stores.
Hydrogen peroxide H2H2 - Available at a beauty supply
store and possibly a
pharmacy.
Procedure For Tricycloacetone Peroxide
--------------------------------------
This information is no longer available. However I will give
some tips on the procedure:
I used a 500-mL beaker during the stirring/preparing of the AP.
Make up a salt-ice
tub. Place the beaker in the tub and cool it to 50 C. When
adding concentrated
(75%) sulfuric acid, do it drop by drop using an eye dropper.
Stir the mixture
continuously while adding the acid, keep the temperature
between 50 C to 100 C,
stop adding acid if the temperature gets to high. After adding
all the acid continue
stirring for 5 minutes. Keep the mixture in the tub for about
24 hours. After sitting a
white precipitate should have formed. The mixture is poured
over a filter to collect
the crystals, then the white product is washed three times
with distilled water.
Allow the crystals to dry before using. Keep them damp if
storing.
I would suggest using this explosive within several days
because it will quickly
vaporize. If you wish to store the crystals, you should keep
them damp.
NOTE: If the crystals vaporize inside a container it will
crystallize into a
unstable form that will explode at the touch, even if damp!
-----
>From the Diane Feinstein Center for the First Amendment
