Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
Yes. Gunpowder's made from Saltpeter, Sulphur and Charcoal.
My (older) brothers looked up how to make gunpowder in an old Encyclopaedia Britannica, got the Saltpeter and Flowers of Sulphur from the local chemist, and mixed up some themselves. All good fun, laying powder trails and seeing how fast they'd burn, until they decided to see what happened if they put some in a hole in the ground. The result (unsurprisingly) was a rather loud explosion. It was the visit by a policeman that evening, who explained that the manufacture of gunpowder without a licence was illegal that put a stop to the experimentation....
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most of us in my family have grown up around gunpowder including some of the relatively minor mishaps that go along with them. one of the best parenting lessons I got was from my Uncle when one of my cousins was about 8. he had a pile of gunpowder that he was pulling little bits out of (varying the amounts), and hitting with a hammer. I asked my Uncle if we shouldn't stop him. "nope" he said. "this is a little lesson with a big impact that will go a long way." shortly after my cousin hit everything just right to have it go
FLASH!!
BAM!!!!!!
his eyebrows and some of his hair singed off, he may have peed his pants, but he had a healthy respect for gunpowder, reloading equipment and the like thereafter!
I learned that sometimes hard headed children need a little bit of a wake up call when you understand the environment
Quote:
Originally Posted by beppe
As coffee goes, I never had anything so good. Or so expensive.
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yep! fortunatley I wasn't paying for it!