How to make a KNO3 Rocket Motor

[MARV361theSTAR]

u have a nice home there in forest ^^ but careful with the non-vertical launches cos u set everything on fire...

[jchasko]

If you get a nice straight 1/4" wooden dowel, the rocket will fly straight. Also use a shorter piece of 3/4" PVC for more thrust. You can also roll the tube out of kraft paper and corn starch, 6" by three feet, as I recall. Also, I dried the KNO3 in the oven, then ground to a fine powder.

The straight clay nozzle works every time when you have it set up right.

[Pupixario]

great if you live in ATHENS xD

[puffalo123]

poor newb cant make rocket fly well. if you had an actual convergant divergant nozzle it would work much better.

[mrexample99]

u could use electric ignition

[Downfacingdog]

You drilled the wrong end.

[666TECHNO666]

ok, i have a couple questions 1: i was thinking about putting about 20-50g flash powder head on one of these so i was wondering how much fuel mix i would need to lift that high in the air so it doesnt explode in my face? and 2: with the amount in the previous question, what size should the tube be and how wide should the nozzle be??? plz respond

[Northhunt]

the music between the clips, makes me feel like im about to learn the truth of the second world war. But then the redneck voice jumps in and I feel back in America again!!!ZD

[danaownsall]

20g KNO3 to 11g SUGAR, not confectionary sugar (has flour in it, slows down burn rate). dont stir the mix or shake the mix, either grind the living shit outta it, ball mill it, or put it in a coffee grinder. with that ratio, correct sugar type, and proper mixing, you shood end up with a decently strong rocket that will actually go somewhere

[ParaglidingManiac]

My mix doesn't have such a "fireful" reaction. I mixed 2/3 of KNO3 and 1/3 of sugar powder. What did I do wrong? maybe it's wet and needs to be dried?

[ParaglidingManiac]

Hi, please tell me. If I add corn syrup to the KNO3&sugar mixture and mix it all together, would it make the fuel as flammable as it was? And what if I can't find corn syrup, what can I use instead? I appreciate your help!

[Mrblahblah101101]

when i drill the hoke athe kitty litter just crumbles? any tips?

[elibaba7]

@Mrblahblah101101 you used the wrong type of kitty litter, the one ur supposed to use is betonite clay

[Mrblahblah101101]

@elibaba7 the kitty litter i have is sodium montmorillonite, which is mostly what bentonite is made of.

[bazengao]

what are the odds of that thing becoming pressure sensitive?!?

[brandaniel1]

@bazengao Honestly very low. Ive played with this stuff countless times and it is VERY stable. When you burn it it first has to melt the sugar beforeany kind of reaction takes place. You'll be fine under most circumstances. Best advice i can give you is use sturdy plastic or wooden tools because metal tends to create sparks

[bazengao]

@brandaniel1 thanks, i will!

[129MISO129]

motor is kno3????

[maik58739]

hehe epic but good *thumps up*

[andybabes1995]

is it just sugar and stump remover

[nyko604]

KIK ASSS im trying it!

[jpodejko]

you sound like weird al!

[toto69ish]

did you make a special stand for your rocket

[edster210]

Can you use something other than kitty litter? And what happened to the epic fail, it looked like you did everything right, what happened it to?

[855h0le]

@edster210 You MUST Drill all of the way through. Notice he said he couldnt cause the drill wasnt long enough? Then he tested it and it didnt launch.

[855h0le]

@edster210 Use Epoxy Rolls- The ones that have a center and outter layer. Break a piece off and "mix" it with your fingers. its very light+ ez to form. I like it for the bottom of the rocket. I shape the hole like a SLIGHT cone. / \ <<<Like This. It helps with the exhaust force be directed better than | | <<<Than this

[wessendorf15]

u should not use confectionary sugar with ur fuel confctionary sugar has starch in it and it makes the burn alot slower. just get a cheap coffee grinder and grind up ur know and regular sugar to gether at a ratio of 20grams of kno3 and 11grams of sugar

[210101232]

i have to min eg 10 g sugar with 10 potasium or something else???

[alvin147258]

is it powder sugar or table sugar

[210101232]

can you say to me all the items i need?? also if you can say me i have to mix stump remover with sugar or stump remover or sugar

[0XSpartaX0]

@210101232 Mix the right amount of potassium nitrate with the sugar to make a good fuel for your rocket.

[Hollandmyland]

+1 for ''epic fail''

[nathan33445]

or go to walmart/homdepot get stump remover pour it in a gallon take the old conatiner fill it with something else and try to return it

[Mrkrogenham]

does visco safty fuse work? please reply

[SoopaMario1]

Just a helpful tip, to reduce chances of it just sitting there and smoking, use the ratio of 2/3 Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) and 1/3 Icing Sugar. Hope this helps.

[ac23AQ]

excuse me, but how did you measure the kno3 and sugar weight. With a scale,? and if so, are their alternatives for measuring?

[meganubis]

hey i tested a rocket today and when yours failed mine had the same problum what did u do to fix that??

[666DUGE666]

There are quite a few questions on this page unanswered- but could somewone please answer this one :D - i have made several rockets and they all seem to do the same as the 1st one did here ie EPICLY FAIL, they just let off a load of smoke :[ i have adjusted the weight, ratios, and most other things but nothing works.someone help please =] cheers

[parkour2sk8]

homeade pipe bomb jk

[ac23AQ]

also, instead of kitty litter, can u use play-doh or shit like that?

[ac23AQ]

What kind of sugar can it be? Like what , plain C&H or what.?

[Ixta4521]

@ac23AQ i used pure cane sugar before and it works great, reguler sugar is ok to basically any type of sugar is ok

[SuperChevy446]

Whats the ratio of sugar to KNo3?

[yankovic1234]

if you add some sort of ball at one end filled with black powder and launch it you will have a sloppy mortar

[yankovic1234]

if you add some sort of ball at on end and launch it you will have a sloppy mortar

[TheXdudez]

thanks for the video and i have a question for u

is there any chance that it could explode while you hitting the fuel with the hammer ?

[farshad94abedi]

wat was ur sorce of KNO3? wat country u liv in? wana c if i can get it

[robweenerpi]

Volatile chemicals should be handled with gloves. I know this is relatively benign when not on fire but still, lol! Good Vid otherwise.

[nible1996]

can i buy wane?

[buenoisbuen]

is it worth putting each chemical into a ball mill? both my sugar and potassium nitrate are rather large grains...

[david1513]

missles i mean sorry typo

[david1513]

Kno3=65 Grams

confection Suger= 35 grams

iron oxide 1/2 gram

note the more iron oxide the faster it burns

then cook mixture at 250 degress, my problums is not the mixture its geting that stuff in the rocket engine, i use a steel pipe for a test bed rocket engine its only for testing its to heavey to fly, drill rocket engine hole to 9/64 inch. David the rocket enginner on nike hurcules missels

[xXMaximeCloutierXx]

those fails are caused by your mix, it is suppos to be 75% potassium nitrate 35% sugar :]

[TheToiletHumour]

@xXMaximeCloutierXx thats 110% mate

[Norbizzle2012]

what type of cat litter are you using for the nozzle

[siri19900]

Any cat litter at all will work

Doesnt matter what brand youre using

just press it hard enough

[CAIDMASTEROFPYRO]

i liked the first rocket it was a really good smoke bomb

[Alirocks0]

Awesome.

i still have some gunpowder would it work if i put that under the clay so it would explode in the air?

[jupy921]

@Alirocks0, I wouldn't recommend adding gunpowder unless you are trying to get hurt in some form or fashion.

[MrChiltan]

@jupy921 some people use karo syrup in manufacturingn, so what can be used instead of karo syrup?

[MegaLordofthestrings]

@jupy921 if you dont know KNO3 is close to gun powder and when your tapping on the wood like that your lucky it doesent explode in your face cause pressure = heat heat= boom

[MegaLordofthestrings]

@jupy921 if you dont know KNO3 fuel is close to gun powder and when your tapping on the wood like that your lucky it doesent explode in your face cause pressure = heat heat= boom

[jchasko]

@MegaLordofthestrings Not without sulfur it isn't close to gunpowder.Stick to what you know.

[3josh334]

How did you get it to lift off the ground mine just sit there and smoke

[jupy921]

@3josh334, you might not have the mix in the correct ratio, too much sugar will cause it to just smoke and smell like burnt sugar, make sure your mix is the correct ratio, and adjust if it isn't working. You also want to make sure your nozzle is the right size, too big and it won't generate enough lift/force

[Jaymansharma]

@jupy921

The ratio I know is 2 parts sugar to 63parts KNO3; 2:3 g

[altern8energy]

you've just been put on the DHS list with ties with Al-Qaeda.. homemade rockets could threaten the regime in Washing D.C. LOL!!

[jupy921]

@altern8energy, :() I bet they have bigger fish to fry then me. Look out for the bottle rockets! hehehe.

[mike12703]

@altern8energy no everyone knows obama doesnt count al quada as a threat only the american public is a threat lol

[bdf2718]

You hammered it down????

Even assuming your choice of metals guaranteed no sparking, that stuff is sensitive to compression. All it takes is sufficient friction/compression heating to liberate some oxygen and...

Oh shit, and then a power drill with a metal bit.

At least you had all your fingers at the end.

[jchasko]

@bdf2718 Sugar/KNO3 is not sensitive to compression. You have to add sulfur or chlorates for that to happen.

[ScienceOrGod]

great vid jupy. looks like alot of fun

[JimtheEvo]

I don't know about cannon fuse but when I used to play with bangers we used to coat the fuse in clear nail varnish, this had the great affect of water proofing the fuse much to the dismay of the aquatic life of Sussex... So now I'm thinking underwater rocketry... :D

[jupy921]

Strange thing is, I always wanted to do this when I was a child and never got the chance. Lucky for me I never grew up.

[jupy921]

Yes they would work great, I was just cobbling these together with materials I had on hand for testing. I have a neat Saturn Model a guy gave to me, that will be launched soon. Let me know how your rockets come out there SuperSoylent, I'd like to see the results.

[jupy921]

The Darwin awards? lol

[HHO4ALL]

use a paper towel cardboard tube and fins and you've got yourself a more stable flight path.

This looks fun, thanks for the video.

[jupy921]

@HHO4ALL, Yes if you were to take more time then I did, you can make some really nice rockets with great flight patterns. These tend to fly off in unpredictable directions. You can also buy Models and then just make your own engines instead of buying those lame Hobby store versions. Thanks for the comment HHO4ALL

[yipfur]

ill b fu**** that was awsome, 5 stars.

[jupy921]

Thanks yipfur, glad you enjoyed this one.

[skinnyjohnsen]

Metal powder for colouring makes it more of a spectacle.

[jupy921]

I wonder if I mixed in some Boric Acid, if the smoke trail would be green?

[resistanceunion]

Nice :) and ebaltrace its sounds like we should protect the stupid people from not showing them how to make fireworks etc. Take some risk will ya.

[ebaltrace]

IMO what you did was dangerous. Some people who may not be careful may try this and cause injuries or damage to property. You have the right to present this material but it may have been better if you kept it to yourself.

Ebal the Atheist

[jupy921]

You are entitled to your opinion, but there are literally hundreds of youtube videos explaining how this is done. It is more or less common knowledge, and model rocketry is a respected and fairly safe activity. Skateboarding and skiing rack up more injuries then does building Toy Rocket motors. I do not agree with the stance that people should be protected from themselves. We should be free to make our own choices.

[Zlibservacratican]

When you speed it up, you look like a drug addict playing with white powder chaking and going really fast, lol. I love these science experiment vids. Who needs Bill Nye the science guy when you have youtube?

[FromOutsideTheBox]

2:50 Classic neighbor strolling on over at a bad time...hehe

Interesting how these things are just lying around the house and all we need to do is figure out Chemically or Scientifically what they are in order to use them.

It's Almost like if we didn't know the Science behind what your doing, it would be called Magic or Wizardry.

Check out David Adair's work on rockets. Might get some Ideas.

[jupy921]

Thanks, I will do just that.

[TheOmniNerd]

I use Dextrose (Corn Sugar) in my mix. I usually use what leftovers I have after brewing a batch of beer, since dextrose is used to bottle condition (or carbonate) the beer.

I use a 2 to 1 mix by volume too, but I add a few grams of red iron oxide for that extra little kick.

[jupy921]

Why does it not surprise me that you too are a rocket maker? I didn't think about using dextrose, is there any advantage to that over powered sugar? I made some fuel by melting table sugar and KNO3, and tested it, but haven't yet made a motor with it.

[TheOmniNerd]

I think the advantage with using dextrose is either one of two things; it's a much finer powder or that particular sugar compound burns faster.

Rocket candy (the melted sugar/KNO3 fuel) is okay, but you have to be careful not to have any bubbles in the engine when it hardens. I've had a few KATOs due to malformed engines.

A good rocket candy mix I've heard of, but haven't tried is disolving KNO3 into corn syrup. I'll have to try that one come spring.

[Resurrected06]

How many did you actually get to launch?

[jupy921]

I'd say at this point, about 90% work. I'll post another video down the line with some slightly advanced designs. I am just a newbe with Rockets, but working to get up to speed. The first one I launched; I was really surprised at how high it went, much higher than the ones I got at the hobby store. I will never buy another rocket motor again. Home made ones are so much better.

[UnrelentingAssault]

Must....try :D

[jupy921]

Yes, and you will be glad you did, it is a lot of fun.

[jlumley]

jupy921 i have long suspected you have too much time on your hands, now i know it for a fact

[jupy921]

There is never enough time to do all the cool stuff this place offers up to us. I am just making the best possible use of what limited time I have here. I don't want to waste a single moment. 8))

[jlumley]

don't trust this guy around planes

[jdcmusicman]

Cool rockets man ....You ought to try a 3" piece of pipe about 3' long next time haha ....

[jupy921]

I am working on scaling up this system into something more complex; and likely much more likely to fail in a big way. I think my next set of motors will be with Cooked fuel, and perhaps multistage. It is cool stuff, and you can get all of this at the Hardware store. :)