How to Build a Smoke Bomb with Homemade Products

Get your materials together. A basic smoke bomb, which produces thick gray smoke with a purple flame can be made using just two components:granulated white sugar and potassium nitrate, an ingredient found in cold compresses.Mixing these two simple components together produces a slow burning, long lasting smoke bomb.

• If you don't have sugar in granulated form, you can use powdered sugar although the process of making the smoke bomb will be a little different.
• If you don't have a cold compress, look for another source of potassium nitrate (also known as saltpeter).It is often sold in the fertilizer section of hardware and/or garden supply stores.You can also buy it online or make it yourself if you're feeling ambitious.
• You will also need a medium-sized pot, aluminum foil, a mold and a piece of waxed string (optional).

Make a mold for your smoke bomb. You can shape tinfoil into any type of container for your smoke bomb.The shape of the container affects how the mixture burns.If you wish, it is possible to create more than one smoke bomb in order to compare the different shapes and establish which of your models produces the best combustion.Here are some ideas for molds to use:

• Cut the top off a milk carton and use the bottom half as a mold if you want it to take on a cube shape.Line the cardboard with aluminum foil or tin foil.
• Line a bowl with a layer of aluminum foil.Any type of bowl works, whether flat or deep.
• Make small smoke bombs by covering votive candles or cemetery lights with aluminum foil.
• Try making them tubular in shape, perhaps lining the inside of the cardboard cylinders at the end of the toilet paper rolls with aluminium, making sure you have completely lined the inside of the wrapper.
• You can also try making it in the shape of a funnel, lining the funnel with aluminum foil.
• Use your imagination and transform any type of container that might arouse your interest into an artistically shaped smoke bomb.

Measure the doses of sugar and potassium nitrate. If you're planning on making a large smoke bomb (one that's easy to light and burns for a long time), the most important thing to keep in mind is the ratio of ingredients.You will need three parts potassium nitrate and two parts sugar.Use a cup to avoid mistakes, use one or one and a half for the potassium nitrate and one for the sugar, this will allow you to create a decent-sized smoke bomb.

• Exaggerating with the amount of sugar will make the combustion of your smoke bomb very slow and difficult to light.
• Exaggerating with the quantity of potassium nitrate, however, will make the combustion of your smoke bomb rapid and its ignition will be immediate.

Place the ingredients in a pot and cover it with the lid. Be prepared to blend the two ingredients so that the sugar caramelizes along with the potassium nitrate.Remember to cook the ingredients on a low heat.It is essential that these two components dissolve slowly to work them correctly.

• When cooking the two ingredients, use a wooden spoon to mix them.You will be able to observe how the sugar begins to dissolve.If the agglomerate starts to smoke and you notice a strange odor, reduce the heat immediately.
• Continue cooking the mixture of the two ingredients until the sugar has completely dissolved, mix gently.
• Stop stirring when the sugar has dissolved.Allow the mixture to cook until the sugar has completely caramelized and turned bronze.When this happens, remove the pot from the heat.

Pour the mixture into the mold you have chosen, but be careful: melted sugar is extremely hot!Fill the mold almost entirely.If you want your smoke bomb to come with a lighting wick, let the mixture sit for a minute inside the mold, then add a piece of waxed string to the center so it stands upright.Allow the smoke bomb to cool completely inside the mold.

Remove your smoke bomb from the mold. After about a couple of hours, the mixture will certainly have solidified, it's time to take it out of the mold you used, then turn the mold upside down and let the solidified mixture come out of the aluminum-lined container.Get rid of the aluminum foil around the smoke bomb.

Light your smoke bomb. Do this in an open space clear of anything that could catch fire.A backyard or other outdoor location is much more suitable than any enclosed space.Place it on the ground and use a match or lighter to light it.If you have equipped your smoke bomb with a fuse, you can obviously use that for ignition.Otherwise, light the smoke bomb directly, burning should start immediately!

• If your smoke bomb doesn't light, you probably overdid it with the amount of sugar compared to the amount of potassium nitrate.Too much sugar makes it difficult to light, try again trying to enter the right quantities.
• If your smoke bomb ignites and burns instantly, you probably overdid it with the amount of potassium nitrate when cooking the mixture.Try the preparation again by adding more sugar.