                                Article 9

                        Making Potassium Chlorate 

The following is an excerpt from The Jolly Roger's book on explosives:
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Making Plastic Explosives from Bleach           by The Jolly Roger

Potassium chlorate is an extremely volatile explosive compound, 
and has been used in the past as the main explosive filler in 
grenades, land mines, and mortar rounds by such countries as 
France and Germany.  Common household bleach contains a small 
amount of potassium chlorate, which can be extracted by the 
procedure that follows.

First off, you must obtain:

[1]  A heat source (hot plate, stove, etc.)
[2]  A hydrometer, or battery hydrometer
[3]  A large Pyrex, or enameled steel container (to weigh 
     chemicals)
[4]  Potassium chloride (sold as a salt substitute at health and 
     nutrition stores)

Take one gallon of bleach, place it in the container, and begin 
heating it.  While this solution heats, weigh out 63 grams of 
potassium chloride and add this to the bleach being heated.  
Constantly check the solution being heated with the hydrometer, 
and boil until you get a reading of 1.3.  If using a battery 
hydrometer, boil until you read a FULL charge.

Take the solution and allow it to cool in a refrigerator until it 
is between room temperature and 0 degrees Celcius.  Filter out the 
crystals that have formed and save them.  Boil this solution again 
and cool as before.  Filter and save the crystals.

Take the crystals that have been saved, and mix them with 
distilled water in the following proportions:  56 grams per 100 
milliliters distilled water.  Heat this solution until it boils 
and allow to cool.  Filter the solution and save the crystals that 
form upon cooling.  This process of purification is called 
"fractional crystalization".  These crystals should be relatively 
pure potassium chlorate.

Powder these to the consistency of face powder, and heat gently to 
drive off all moisture.

Now, melt five parts Vaseline with five parts wax.  Dissolve this 
in white gasoline (camp stove gasoline), and pour this liquid on 
90 parts potassium chlorate (the powdered crystals from above) 
into a plastic bowl.  Knead this liquid into the potassium 
chlorate until intimately mixed.  Allow all gasoline to evaporate.

Finally, place this explosive into a cool, dry place.  Avoid 
friction, sulfur, sulfides, and phosphorous compounds.  This 
explosive is best molded to the desired shape and density of 1.3 
grams in a cube and dipped in wax until water proof.  These block 
type charges guarantee the highest detonation velocity.  Also, a 
blasting cap of at least a 3 grade must be used.

The presence of the afore mentioned compounds (sulfur, sulfides, 
etc.) results in mixtures that are or can become highly sensitive 
and will possibly decompose explosively while in storage.  You 
should never store homemade explosives, and you must use EXTREME 
caution at all times while performing the processes in this 
article. 
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I have two words for this article:  BULL SHIT!

Mixing Potassium Chloride with Bleach is NOT going to give you Potassium
Chlorate.  I tried it myself with precise scrutiny and it did not work.  I 
tried it several times, and still it did not work.

Now, mixing Potassium Chloride with Sodium Hypochlorite (the principle 
ingredient in bleach) does form Potassium Chlorate when heated EXTREMELY hot.
But the probelm is that you need potassium chloride solid, and sodium 
hypochlorite solid too, so you'll have to dehydrate the bleach.

The next problem is that the Potassium Chloride and the Sodium Hypochlorite 
must be heated together at high temperature.  What will happen though is that
you can't tell when the two have completed the reaction, and it you let them 
heat for too long, they'll form Potassium chlorate, the Potassium chlorate 
will ignite and form Potassium Chloraide again!

Basically, I say don't waste your time with this process.  I will look around
and see if I can't come up with a better idea to make this stuff.  Or you
could call around to some chem supply places (Chemfil Canada I believe will 
supply this stuff) and just buy it!  If they ask what it is for, tell them 
it's for your chemistry set or something and you want it to experiment with
Stoichiometry :)  Or if you don't want to do that, steal some from your
Chem lab! :)

