Home Workshop Explosives, Second Edition

Practical application is fun.

I recently purchased the Home Workshop Explosives book and found it an interesting and quite fascinating read. The author appears to have an extensive knowledge in the subject matter. I grew up with model rocketry and experimenting with chemistry as a hobby. Although now retired, I still enjoy learning about technical things in how things are made, science and electronics. But I mention this with a caveat - just because you study a subject doesn't mean you should try to create everything you learn about.Being prior military and retired law enforcement as well as still being involved in Emergency Management, I can see legitimate purposes for this book as a informative and educational treatise on how certain chemicals react with each other as well as what type chemicals first responders may want to acquaint themselves with for safety purposes. Actually my primary reason for purchasing the book was I hoped to find some safe and legal pyrotechnic information that I could use in my special effects photography and 3D art. But I discovered this book does not go into this type chemistry at all but just focuses on how an individual could create high explosives in their garage workshop. Having worked with commercial / military explosives in my earlier careers on a limited basis, I must say that if a person has a legitimate need for explosives, I would highly suggest they obtain them legally with the proper permits. Obtaining this book for educational and informative purposes is one thing - fiction writers would also have some great reference materials for realism in their writing. But I cannot stress this enough that formulas such as presented in this book should not be attempted by the reader. Homemade explosives of this nature are not only highly dangerous to make, but will subject a person if he survives his workshop chemistry project to severe legal ramifications on both Federal and State levels. I don't mean to come across as an old stick in the mud as this book is quite a fascinating read, but it is well known in both the military and law enforcement that people who play with such chemistry without the required expertise frequently manage to blow themselves up. This applies to both weekend science buffs who just want to see if they can create explosives for their idea of fun to those who have much more sinister purposes. So please, if buying this book - enjoy the read, but please don't try to create any of the actual formulas as you are just risking too much including your life. Nuff Said!

Perfect !!

I purchased this out of curiosity but was different then i thought as far as being able to understand some of the scientific lingo, also not written very well and I ended up returning it.

Im about half way through. Ive studied some of the basics on chemistry and some mildly advanced stuff. The majority of things in this book are highschool level chemistry and should be easily understood by the average guy just looking for a good read. That said, the writing, Although conversational, needs editing. Theres a point midway through Detonators that just cuts off. Atleast it seems to, it ends a sentence on a page and then picks back up on the next page without capital letters leaving me thinking i had missed a paragraph or two but it just happened to be the editing. also a paragraph gets repeated at some point. I can understand why its edited in such a way, having or even talking about this sort of stuff is considered taboo so why would some poor sod want to edit it for this guy. Hell, producing it is a big no no in the laws eyes. Dont try this stuff at home and just enjoy reading it. likely to get put on a list if youre not already for purchasing this i bet.

Written well, the seller did a great job.

This book is hilarious! My kids learned some things about science and pyrotechnics. Dad needs to supervise most of the activities but it’s fun and keeps kids engaged.

If, like me, you love the science of explosives, and often dream of being a MAD scientist, you will love this book! I've never made anything in it, and probably never will, but I thoroughly enjoy re-reading it every few years. Plus, in these times, it simply makes me feel better to know something about the subject.Note, the description above states that the second edition has 172 pages, and when using "Look inside," the Table of Contents suggests a similar page count. However, I contacted the author (via his website), and he confirmed that the second edition has 150 pages, and that both the description and the Table of Contents in this listing are incorrect. Also, I'm fairly certain that the words "Second Edition" can only be found on the book's spine.

Interesting

This is a awesome book like all in this authors categories. Arrived in great condition. Very happy Worth the purchase to have as a physical copy instead of the common PDF version floating adljnd

Umm this one is in the shed

Bien documenté.J'ai trouvé ce que je cherchais.Quel expérience!Merci

Nice book thanks