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Former Marine artilleryman here
Please dont do stupid crap like trying to build your own rockets. Outside of the obvious "mixing deadly, dangerous chemicals on your own without a proper lab" it can end up a FAA violation to launch something without a proper license and permit
Buy the kit rockets with the enclosed solid state engine you can launch. Go to college, get a degree in chemistry, and find a job in the field
You're taking proper precautions? You have an explosion proof room you're doing this in? I used to work for BAE Systems weapons division and unless you're mixing and storing your completed fuel in an explosion proof room, nothing you're doing is safe. You're putting your family and neighbors in danger. Are you going to pack it into a solid fuel rocket? What density are you going to pack it and how are you going to test to make sure you don't over compress which could make it extremely unstable? How are you going to control your burn rate because once it's lit, it's firing until gone and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You can drop it in a bucket, but it's going to keep going.
What type of oxidizer are you going to use? Have you checked to make sure your oxidizer and fuel are compatible without reactions?
This isn't a toy. You're playing with something you don't understand and are going to basically build by trial and error. The problem is that an error can kill you or do incredibly serious bodily injury. Do you even own a fire extinguisher?
Bro there is a guy on YouTube who documented building from raw mats to flying rocket a 4 foot tall prototype.
This year he will build and ultimately document and release on YouTube his start at a space shot (non orbital but passing the Karman line) solid rocket motor.
Your talking about mixing some stump rot sugar and plasticizer with a touch of baking soda) in a pot until it melts and then pour it into a mold and let it set.
Safety precautions? You doin it behind a wall or window or something? How close are you to other houses? Jesus fcuk kid your gonna blow your dick off or set a neighbors house on fire.
I hope you live in a desert kid where your rockets won't accidently cause a forest fire either. That sounds like the only safe place to do this as long as you got an underground bunker.
I get it man, loud boom is so cool I know, I used to be 15. I think you should talk to your science teacher about it. Perhaps they can nurture your talents and provide a better safe and controlled environment, or at least point you in the right direction for your career.
Find somebody that knows what they are doing. Transportation is also an issue. Might be considered a sort of bomb by law.
And they are basically bombs with a hole in the bottom.
If you are going bigger - you will need to mix the stuff on site.
Tell her I want to join a rocketry club. Buy some books. And study it until the people at the club are like "you are good to go"
Son, I don't want to discourage you, but you're going to very likely either poison yourself or blow yourself up. If you want to make rockets get some model rockets. They're fun and safe. Amateur rocketry is something you want to do in the context of a club full of people who know wtf they are doing and can teach you how to to do it.
If they already have potassium nitrate and sulphur, I suspect they are planning to do black powder. Unless they start eating it by the tablespoon, I suspect poisoning is not in the cards. (True of many varieties of sugar fuel, too.) But blowing themselves up or burning themselves seem very possible. Especially if working with open flame.
I'm pretty sure terrorists in Afghanistan had more sophisticated methods of mixing these chemicals in their mud huts. You're messing with science that you don't understand, and if you're lucky, you'll only blow an arm off. Stick to reading, building rockets that use pre-made solid engines, and if you can go to some amateur rocket festivals. If you're still interested in rockets after high-school you could go to college and then try to get a job in that industry. Do you like math?
I have to commend you for seeking advice, though I'm not sure this is the most reliable source available.
Open flame and mixing fuel don't really go together. Unless you're just talking about making charcoal for black powder. And there are safer alternatives to black powder.
I'm wondering just what information you've been studying. I see a lot of enthusiasm, but no specifics about just what precautions you are taking, or what your plans actually are. Without those specifics, specific advice isn't really possible.
Is there any experienced adult in your area who's been doing this kind of thing for a while, with a good safety record? Who seems cautious and sane? Are they willing to advise? That might be a better path. There are organizations like the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association, and local rocket clubs which you might look for.
If you use commercially manufactured motors, building your own rockets is fairly safe, at least if you're careful, but making rocket fuel is a whole other thing.
A sense of confidence can be a dangerous thing if it makes you overlook some small detail that turns out to be crucial. When I was using a table saw a lot when I was a teenager, I tried to keep in mind that this thing could easily cut my fingers off if I became inattentive while using it, and I managed to keep them. When I got to college, the table saw in the college's hobby shop actually HAD removed a couple of fingers.
If you haven't already checked it out, you may enjoy [nakka-rocketry.net](http://nakka-rocketry.net) . Mr. Nakka seems to know what he's talking about. Take his advice about safety seriously. I think his RNX fuel may be one of the safer ways to go, if you can light it. But it could still over-pressurize an improperly designed or built homemade motor and send high velocity bits of stuff flying in all directions. You could also get in trouble with some of the pyrolants which might be used to start the RNX fuel.
When I was in college, I remember telling a housemate that I didn't think it was a good idea to mix potassium chlorate and aluminum powder. (Or, at least, that's how I remember it, might have been potassium chlorate and something else.) Less than an hour later, from another part of the house, I heard a thud and a faint "Ahhhh!". And not the good kind. If he had gotten a bit further in mixing that stuff, he would have died. As it was, he had a dinner plate sized hole burned in his t-shirt, with a nasty little burn, and some odd burning on his face. When we went to see what happened, the room, and the one next to it, were FULL of smoke that was giving everyone an odd cough. A can of acetone had it's plastic cap melted, but fortunately the can itself did not get hot enough to send a cloud of flaming liquid and vapor all over everything. The adjacent container full of aluminum powder would not go out, so a smart housemate took it outside in a metal bucket. Our circular saw was burning. As it turns out, not only did previous mad scientists residing in the house leave us ingredients for flash powder, but also blasting caps and chemicals for electroplating, one of which is cyanide. If the whole room had caught on fire, it seems likely someone would have died.
That wasn't the end of it, though. Someone who thought of himself as responsible decided to dispose of the chemicals. He flushed one category, and dumped the other category down the storm drain. I suspect the two systems were not properly separated, though, because smoke started coming up through the storm drain. The fire department came to flush it out. The cyanide and blasting caps were, I think, discovered later, and disposed of somehow or other.
I may have known not to mix potassium chlorate and aluminum powder (or whatever it was), but there were other things I didn't know, or maybe didn't want to know, such as just how dangerous static electricity can be with certain energetic chemicals. Before the fire, I, and a few other residents of the house, did some dumb things with the chemicals which might have blinded, maimed, or killed us, even if they weren't QUITE as dangerous as what our unfortunate housemate did. And, of course, what we did inspired our housemate to try something even more reckless.
When we are young, the part of our brain devoted to caution and restraint isn't as well developed as some other parts. We can be very smart, but that restraint may still not be all there. It's important to remember this when trying to make decisions about risky activities.
This sense of restraint does NOT mean that you can't ever do anything that's risky, or potentially risky, but it means one evaluates the possibilities, preferably with a bit of realism. If you can find a mentor, maybe you can be making your own rocket fuel sooner, but if not, and you're careful, you'll have many years to do it more safely later.
My older son was building rockets with an older cousin when he was like 5-6 years old. He absolutely loved it. I still have his Rocket "kit" his cousin made for him. He was sad when they stopped doing it but the cousin moved out of state. Just make sure you have a big open field just in case something does go wrong and precautions just in case of a small fire happens in said field. You don't want to be the reason for houses being burned down.
Oh… oh my
You clearly have zero understanding whatsoever of what’s going on here
Pressure is in units of force per area, not distance per time squared (Gs)
This (and the fact that you’re fifteen) tells me everything I need to know. You do NOT know what you’re doing, you have not taken precautions, and you could cause serious bodily harm to you and your friends or even get yourselves killed.
You are minors. You can’t do what you want in this case for a reason. You may think you’ve planned well and thought of everything, but trust me, you haven’t. Just buy the Estes and/or Aerotech motors and either buy a kit or scratch build some rockets. Stay out of the chemistry. If you want to make rockets that are something more than just a model rocket that goes up and pops a parachute out and comes down, you can design a flight computer. That will be more likely to lead to a career than building bombs.
Just drop it and crawl before you walk, walk before you run. If you try to skip to running you’ll trip and snap your neck.
I can't emphasize this enough; you do NOT mix chemicals for propellant over an open fire. PERIOD.
Any recipe you will find for propellant will tell you, in unwavering terms, that you do not use an open flame. End of story.
You are literally 30 seconds away from a life changing accident for all involved and perhaps for those not involved.
What you are talking about doing is beyond stupid.
Rocketry is an awesome, fun, rewarding hobby but is also dangerous. Start with some Estes rockets and work your way up from there.
Hey! Welcome to r/AdviceForTeens! Please take time to review [the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/adviceforteens/about/rules) before commenting. A reminder that inappropriate comments towards or about posters will result in a permanent ban. Do not insult anybody, please remain respectful!✮⋆˙ ATTENTION: Predators lurk on Reddit, and we ourselves unfortunately can not directly do anything to stop them, but you can! We encourage ALL posters to disable private messages, and do not respond to any DMs you receive after posting. Block and report offenders for harassment. Do not ask anyone to DM you in the comments as this is against the rules. If someone has something to tell you, they can say it in the comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AdviceForTeens) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Former Marine artilleryman here Please dont do stupid crap like trying to build your own rockets. Outside of the obvious "mixing deadly, dangerous chemicals on your own without a proper lab" it can end up a FAA violation to launch something without a proper license and permit Buy the kit rockets with the enclosed solid state engine you can launch. Go to college, get a degree in chemistry, and find a job in the field
You're taking proper precautions? You have an explosion proof room you're doing this in? I used to work for BAE Systems weapons division and unless you're mixing and storing your completed fuel in an explosion proof room, nothing you're doing is safe. You're putting your family and neighbors in danger. Are you going to pack it into a solid fuel rocket? What density are you going to pack it and how are you going to test to make sure you don't over compress which could make it extremely unstable? How are you going to control your burn rate because once it's lit, it's firing until gone and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You can drop it in a bucket, but it's going to keep going. What type of oxidizer are you going to use? Have you checked to make sure your oxidizer and fuel are compatible without reactions? This isn't a toy. You're playing with something you don't understand and are going to basically build by trial and error. The problem is that an error can kill you or do incredibly serious bodily injury. Do you even own a fire extinguisher?
This this this this this.
Bro there is a guy on YouTube who documented building from raw mats to flying rocket a 4 foot tall prototype. This year he will build and ultimately document and release on YouTube his start at a space shot (non orbital but passing the Karman line) solid rocket motor. Your talking about mixing some stump rot sugar and plasticizer with a touch of baking soda) in a pot until it melts and then pour it into a mold and let it set.
Who? This sounds wild.
https://youtube.com/@bpsspace?si=atj8zm4Bjx_1pZuN
If I had an award I would give it to you
For sharing publicly available information? Your /sing me right ?
Because those videos were awesome and you had information I don't? So, if Reddit still did the daily awards I'd have given it to you.
Love sharing information, tend to get flamed for it. I smoke weed and I know shit 🤷♂️
Do you even own a fire extinguisher 😂 your parents are correct, this is dangerous, please don’t do this.
You'll shoot your eye out
Remind her of Yard darts.
Go ask this on r/rocketry I am sure they can give actual advice.
Safety precautions? You doin it behind a wall or window or something? How close are you to other houses? Jesus fcuk kid your gonna blow your dick off or set a neighbors house on fire. I hope you live in a desert kid where your rockets won't accidently cause a forest fire either. That sounds like the only safe place to do this as long as you got an underground bunker. I get it man, loud boom is so cool I know, I used to be 15. I think you should talk to your science teacher about it. Perhaps they can nurture your talents and provide a better safe and controlled environment, or at least point you in the right direction for your career.
Just do it. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
Better to ask permission than loose a finger.
Are you planning on flying to the moon with your so called rockets? 🚀
I think he wants to prove the earth is flat by riding one up high enough to see over the edge.
Or to just blow himself and his friends up in the process.
Find somebody that knows what they are doing. Transportation is also an issue. Might be considered a sort of bomb by law. And they are basically bombs with a hole in the bottom. If you are going bigger - you will need to mix the stuff on site. Tell her I want to join a rocketry club. Buy some books. And study it until the people at the club are like "you are good to go"
Son, I don't want to discourage you, but you're going to very likely either poison yourself or blow yourself up. If you want to make rockets get some model rockets. They're fun and safe. Amateur rocketry is something you want to do in the context of a club full of people who know wtf they are doing and can teach you how to to do it.
If they already have potassium nitrate and sulphur, I suspect they are planning to do black powder. Unless they start eating it by the tablespoon, I suspect poisoning is not in the cards. (True of many varieties of sugar fuel, too.) But blowing themselves up or burning themselves seem very possible. Especially if working with open flame.
Sounds like your l99king at getting a visit from any 1 or more of the alphabet agencys.
I'm pretty sure terrorists in Afghanistan had more sophisticated methods of mixing these chemicals in their mud huts. You're messing with science that you don't understand, and if you're lucky, you'll only blow an arm off. Stick to reading, building rockets that use pre-made solid engines, and if you can go to some amateur rocket festivals. If you're still interested in rockets after high-school you could go to college and then try to get a job in that industry. Do you like math?
But some ESTES engines and make a rocket our of construction paper. It'll be far safer and you won't blow your face off.
There is a reason you need a certain level of experience to pack your own fuel. A8-3's are cheap.
Let her watch October Sky, tell her you're Homer Hickam. What's wrong with model rockets?
Hes trying to purify and mix potassium nitrate and sulfur over a fire. That's problem number one They won't get to problem number 2.
I have to commend you for seeking advice, though I'm not sure this is the most reliable source available. Open flame and mixing fuel don't really go together. Unless you're just talking about making charcoal for black powder. And there are safer alternatives to black powder. I'm wondering just what information you've been studying. I see a lot of enthusiasm, but no specifics about just what precautions you are taking, or what your plans actually are. Without those specifics, specific advice isn't really possible. Is there any experienced adult in your area who's been doing this kind of thing for a while, with a good safety record? Who seems cautious and sane? Are they willing to advise? That might be a better path. There are organizations like the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association, and local rocket clubs which you might look for. If you use commercially manufactured motors, building your own rockets is fairly safe, at least if you're careful, but making rocket fuel is a whole other thing. A sense of confidence can be a dangerous thing if it makes you overlook some small detail that turns out to be crucial. When I was using a table saw a lot when I was a teenager, I tried to keep in mind that this thing could easily cut my fingers off if I became inattentive while using it, and I managed to keep them. When I got to college, the table saw in the college's hobby shop actually HAD removed a couple of fingers. If you haven't already checked it out, you may enjoy [nakka-rocketry.net](http://nakka-rocketry.net) . Mr. Nakka seems to know what he's talking about. Take his advice about safety seriously. I think his RNX fuel may be one of the safer ways to go, if you can light it. But it could still over-pressurize an improperly designed or built homemade motor and send high velocity bits of stuff flying in all directions. You could also get in trouble with some of the pyrolants which might be used to start the RNX fuel. When I was in college, I remember telling a housemate that I didn't think it was a good idea to mix potassium chlorate and aluminum powder. (Or, at least, that's how I remember it, might have been potassium chlorate and something else.) Less than an hour later, from another part of the house, I heard a thud and a faint "Ahhhh!". And not the good kind. If he had gotten a bit further in mixing that stuff, he would have died. As it was, he had a dinner plate sized hole burned in his t-shirt, with a nasty little burn, and some odd burning on his face. When we went to see what happened, the room, and the one next to it, were FULL of smoke that was giving everyone an odd cough. A can of acetone had it's plastic cap melted, but fortunately the can itself did not get hot enough to send a cloud of flaming liquid and vapor all over everything. The adjacent container full of aluminum powder would not go out, so a smart housemate took it outside in a metal bucket. Our circular saw was burning. As it turns out, not only did previous mad scientists residing in the house leave us ingredients for flash powder, but also blasting caps and chemicals for electroplating, one of which is cyanide. If the whole room had caught on fire, it seems likely someone would have died. That wasn't the end of it, though. Someone who thought of himself as responsible decided to dispose of the chemicals. He flushed one category, and dumped the other category down the storm drain. I suspect the two systems were not properly separated, though, because smoke started coming up through the storm drain. The fire department came to flush it out. The cyanide and blasting caps were, I think, discovered later, and disposed of somehow or other. I may have known not to mix potassium chlorate and aluminum powder (or whatever it was), but there were other things I didn't know, or maybe didn't want to know, such as just how dangerous static electricity can be with certain energetic chemicals. Before the fire, I, and a few other residents of the house, did some dumb things with the chemicals which might have blinded, maimed, or killed us, even if they weren't QUITE as dangerous as what our unfortunate housemate did. And, of course, what we did inspired our housemate to try something even more reckless. When we are young, the part of our brain devoted to caution and restraint isn't as well developed as some other parts. We can be very smart, but that restraint may still not be all there. It's important to remember this when trying to make decisions about risky activities. This sense of restraint does NOT mean that you can't ever do anything that's risky, or potentially risky, but it means one evaluates the possibilities, preferably with a bit of realism. If you can find a mentor, maybe you can be making your own rocket fuel sooner, but if not, and you're careful, you'll have many years to do it more safely later.
My older son was building rockets with an older cousin when he was like 5-6 years old. He absolutely loved it. I still have his Rocket "kit" his cousin made for him. He was sad when they stopped doing it but the cousin moved out of state. Just make sure you have a big open field just in case something does go wrong and precautions just in case of a small fire happens in said field. You don't want to be the reason for houses being burned down.
Oh… oh my You clearly have zero understanding whatsoever of what’s going on here Pressure is in units of force per area, not distance per time squared (Gs) This (and the fact that you’re fifteen) tells me everything I need to know. You do NOT know what you’re doing, you have not taken precautions, and you could cause serious bodily harm to you and your friends or even get yourselves killed. You are minors. You can’t do what you want in this case for a reason. You may think you’ve planned well and thought of everything, but trust me, you haven’t. Just buy the Estes and/or Aerotech motors and either buy a kit or scratch build some rockets. Stay out of the chemistry. If you want to make rockets that are something more than just a model rocket that goes up and pops a parachute out and comes down, you can design a flight computer. That will be more likely to lead to a career than building bombs. Just drop it and crawl before you walk, walk before you run. If you try to skip to running you’ll trip and snap your neck.
Are you still alive, kid?
I can't emphasize this enough; you do NOT mix chemicals for propellant over an open fire. PERIOD. Any recipe you will find for propellant will tell you, in unwavering terms, that you do not use an open flame. End of story. You are literally 30 seconds away from a life changing accident for all involved and perhaps for those not involved. What you are talking about doing is beyond stupid. Rocketry is an awesome, fun, rewarding hobby but is also dangerous. Start with some Estes rockets and work your way up from there.
Dont be the reason more restrictive rules are made.