                                Article Five

                          Peroxy-Acetone Made Easy

The following are instructions given in the file HANDBOOK.TXT on how to make
Peroxy-Acetone:
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    A. Peroxyacetone

    Peroxyacetone   is   extremely  flammable and has been  reported   to   be
shock sensitive.

Materials-

  4ml Acetone
  4ml 30% Hydrogen Peroxide
  4 drops conc. hydrochloric acid
  150mm test tube

    Add 4ml acetone and 4ml hydrogen peroxide to the test tube. Then add 4  
drops concentrated hydrochloric acid. In 10-20 minutes a white solid should  
begin to appear. If no change is observed, warm the test tube in a water   
bath at 40 celsius. Allow the reaction to continue for two hours. 
Swirl the slurry and filter it. Leave out on filter paper to dry for at 
least two hours. To ignite, light a candle tied to a meter stick and 
light it (while staying at least a meter away).

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Ok, these instructions have some major problems!  Let's see...

1.  Peroxy-Acetone IS extremely flammable, but it is NOT shock sensitive.
    That is, the Peroxy-Acetone that you can make at home isn't.  You will
    be limited to using (at best) only 31.4% Hydrochloric Acid and only 3%
    Hydrogen Peroxide (that's the only concentration sold in drug stores).
    What this means is that your reaction will not occur as fast, and will
    produce less Peroxy-Acetone then mentioned in the above passage.

2.  Suggestion:  If you are going to do this, due to the weak concentrations
                 of your chemicals, do it on a larger scale with the same
                 ratio.  For example:   4 parts Acetone
                                       40 parts H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide)
                                       22 drops HCl
                 I haven't actually tried these specific amounts yet, but 
                 mathematically speaking, they sound good.  Since we want
                 30% H2O2 in the solution, and we only have 3%, adding 10
                 times the amount of 3% H2O2 should contain enough to
                 react properly.  The increased amount of HCl should 
                 compensate for the concentration problem, aswell as the 
                 excess water in the solution (ie. the H2O2 is 3% Hydrogen
                 Peroxide and 97% water so there is all that water in our
                 solution because of it).

3.  The reaction MAY produce white crystals in the solution as early as
    in 20 minutes, but don't count on it.  Be patient, they'll form!  Give
    it 12-24 hours.  If nothing occurs after that, try heating the solution
    a little either through a hot water bath, or gently heating over a 
    candle (make sure you don't catch the Acetone on fire, it's EXTREMELY
    flammable).

4.  Filter out the crystals and leave them on the filter paper to dry.  When
    dry, use them right away.  Ignite them with an open flame.  To be safe,
    use a long piece of wood (30cm should do it) and light the one end 
    somehow, or use a fuse.  This stuff goes up FAST as in INSTANTANEOUSLY!
    So make sure you're watching, or you'll miss the flame ball :)

NOTE:  Acetone is carcinogenic!  In other words, it causes cancer (in large
       amounts).  So don't start inhaling the stuff, and try to keep it off
       of your skin (it'll take the natural oils out of your skin).

