How To Make a Smoke Bomb

Do you enjoy the sight of heavy smoke? Smoke bombs are fun, right? But it's even more fun when you make your own smoke bombs and use them and say right? Well here is how to make one.

Potassium Nitrate and Sugar Method

1. Buy Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeter) at your local drug store or possibly Home depot. How much you buy is based on how many smoke bombs you want to make.
2. Get some sugar (preferably dark brown as it makes the smoke thicker).
3. Next get a container with an open lid.
4. Grind the saltpeter and sugar separately into fine powder. It must be a fine powder. Because these materials are flammable, you have to be very careful to avoid sparks while grinding.
5. Mix them together, three parts saltpeter and two parts sugar by weight.
6. Put in a tablespoon of baking soda.
7. Pour the mixed powder into the soda can.
8. Now get a fuse or piece of string soaked in lighter fluid.
9. Stick it in the top of the can so that enough is sticking out for you to leave.
10. Place it somewhere strategically, and light the fuse.
11. Have fun, and be careful.

Method 2

1. Get Saltpeter and sugar.
2. Mix 3:2 ratio together in a cast iron pot.
3. Heat slowly over flame stirring constantly until the mixture is completely melted (should look like peanut butter).
4. Carefully pour/scrape into mold or container and let it cool.
5. Insert fuse while mixture is soft.
6. When it is completely hardened, take it to the desired location and light the fuse.
7. Alternative: When pouring into the mold, insert another tube, about the size of a marker. Try to get it all the way through. This will create a shaft to allow for more rapid combustion and thicker smoke production. You can then use a fuse the full length of the mold, packing it in with cotton, to let it start faster.

Confection Carton Method

1. Read the "Things You'll Need" section (for this method) and get all of these materials.
2. Put on your gear (gloves, goggles, and filter mask).
3. Cut the confection carton with knife or scissors and make bands 2 cm in width and almost as tall as the can (just 0.5cm shorter).
4. Pour both the ethanol and your fuel (see "Things You'll need") into the pot and stir it until it transforms to a solution or mixture.
5. Soak the bands in the mixture and again stir it.
6. Place the pot outside and leave it alone to let the ethanol vaporize.
7. Check it; make sure all of the ethanol is vaporized and all that is left are bands with fuel materials clinging on their surface. Bands shall look like abrasive papers.
8. Drill small holes hip and thigh on the can to make the air (Oxygen) go into the can and smoke come out of it.
9. Make a paper cylinder out of the slim paper, then place it inside of the can; it must cover and sheath all of the small holes from inner side to prevent fuel powder from leaking out of the can.
10. Load the can with bands; place them in the can together and make sure there is no free space remaining between bands.
11. Fill and seal the 0.5cm of free space above the bands with remaining fuel powder until the can is fully loaded and no free space is remaining.
12. Drill a hole according to diagonal size of your fuse, in the door of the can, then thrust at least 1/3 of the fuse in to the hole.
13. Assemble the fused door on the can and close it hard. Congratulate yourself, you made yourself a powerful smoke bomb.

Ping-Pong Ball Method

1. Gather three or four ping-pong balls.
2. Cut a hole in the top of one of the balls.
3. Crush the others and put the fragments in the hole.
4. Wrap the entire ball in tinfoil. Make sure you know where the hole is. You may even want to mark this spot with a pencil.
5. Poke a hole in the tinfoil ping-pong ball where hole is.
6. Hold a source of heat (lighter, match) next to the "smoke bomb."
7. Once it lights, throw it and run.

Tips

For: Potassium Nitrate and Sugar Method

• When grinding them into powder, grind well.
• If you can use a "mortar and pestle" to grind the potassium nitrate and the sugar
• Also, you can use a paper towel as a case for when it hardens, and as a fuse when you light it.

For: Confection Carton Method

• Confection cartons burn excellently.
• We added fuel material to a confection carton to make it burn faster and release more smoke in a period of time. If you don't add fuel to it, the smoke bomb would take a hour to burn completely and it's not acceptable for a "Smoke Bomb" that is expected to burn fast and release a large amount of smoke within a short time.
• Use ethanol in the process because it evaporates fast. Water could be used too but it takes very much longer time to evaporate and this long time may maul your bands, but at least water will not produce acids when mixed with the fuel.
• In step 2 try to make as many as holes you can drill; The more holes means more oxygen and more oxygen means faster burning and more smoke.
• Don't worry about the slim paper that covered holes from inside, it works as a seal to prevent powders from coming out of the holes when you handle your bomb or store it, and when you ignite your bomb the slim paper will be burned fast with the heat that it creates and then air can come into the can and smoke goes out.
• Be careful when moving fuel covered bands from the pot to the can and loading the can. The fuel coating is sensitive and will drop off the bands if you handle or load them roughly.

For: Coffee Strainer Method

• You can make it have a trail when you throw it by ripping a somewhat large hole in the bottom.

For: Ping-Pong Ball

• The bomb may take a while to light.
• Use no more than five crushed balls when making this bomb.

Warnings

• This is very dangerous and should be attempted only by people with training and experience. This is provided as information only and is not a recommended activity.
• Potassium Nitrate is perfectly legal to buy in the US, if you can't find it at the drug store, look for it at a garden or home improvement store labeled as stump remover.

For: Potassium Nitrate and Sugar Method

• Do not inhale the smoke.
• Using the second method, be sure not to ignite the mixture within the pot or else you might be burned.
• Obviously do not light the mixture indoors.

For: Confection Carton Method

• Most steps of this article would be very hazardous and poisonous if be done without safety equipment (Gloves, Goggles, and Filter mask).
• Unwanted hazardous materials that would be made during the process may vary from poisonous gases to corrosive acids or both! It depends on what you use as fuel, for instance match heads can release poisonous gases when soaking them in ethanol or boiling water.
• While the article implies the smoke is nontoxic, it is not recommended that you breath it.
• Never ignite the fuel indoors.

For: Potassium Nitrate and Sugar Method

• Saltpeter
• Sugar
• A beverage container
• Baking soda (it slows the combustion of the mixture, thus resulting in more smoke)
• A lighter or match
• Mortar and Pestle or something to grind the saltpeter and sugar into powder.

• Cooking Pot
• Stove or other heat source

For: Confection Carton Method

• Safety gears: Latex gloves, goggles, effective filter mask
• Confection carton. any other carton can be used.
• A Can
• Enough Fuel materials, like match heads, black powder, or other flammable material. It doesn't matter which you use, but one which burns faster and produces more heat is better.
• Enough materials to fill 0.5cm of the can.
• A Fuse, Black match fuse works best.
• A Pot, non-metal is preferred.
• Scissors or Knife
• A Small Spike for drilling small holes on the Can.
• Piece of slim paper, the slimmer the better.

For: Coffee Strainer Method

• Coffee strainer
• Flour
• Twist tie/twine or thin rope

For: Ping-Pong Ball Method

• 4-5 ping-pong balls
• tinfoil
• source of heat (i.e. lighter)
• pencil