Posted: 12/28/2025 10:17:59 AM EDT
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I was a 12B and spent years doing demo calcs, but one thing I don’t have is a formula for splitting logs with black or smokeless powder. Anybody have a guide? I have a dozen or so 4-5 foot diameter sycamore logs I need to split and move Or I’ll just say fuck it and “P for plenty” as usual, inshallah 
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Tannerite might be an easier calc for that, considering it has an equivalency to TNT. Someone posted a link to a comparison study that included tannerite in another recent thread. ETA: See post #20 of this thread |
 I Built a SHOTGUN AXE |
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Quoted: Tannerite might be an easier calc for that, considering it has an equivalency to TNT. Someone posted a link to a comparison study that included tannerite in another recent thread. ETA: See post #20 of this thread Of all the binary explosives tested in that study, Tannerite had the lowest TNT equivalency. For the high equivalency stuff like Helix you are going to need a detonator. |
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Quoted: Of all the binary explosives tested in that study, Tannerite had the lowest TNT equivalency. For the high equivalency stuff like Helix you are going to need a detonator. Yeah I’m just wanting to use fuse. I even did three test burns of the roll I have on hand and got my burn rate, took me a little bit to remember the math
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Getting the force to wedge against the log is the tricky part. Shaped or tamped charges are probably more work than just going at it with a good vertical splitter or even a sledge and wedge. When splitting big logs, just start from the outside and split pieces off. |
Need to get yourself a powder wedge. Powder wedge against a hemlock |
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Quoted: 4 to 5 foot diameter sycamore logs? Wouldn't those be worth some money to a mill? Well, you live in Kentucky. I guess hardwood lumber does grow on trees there. Here in Arkansas, they will use a dozer to push acres and acres of old growth into a pile the size of a large house and burn it all. |
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Quoted: I was a 12B and spent years doing demo calcs, but one thing I don’t have is a formula for splitting logs with black or smokeless powder. Anybody have a guide? I have a dozen or so 4-5 foot diameter sycamore logs I need to split and move Or I’ll just say fuck it and “P for plenty” as usual, inshallah Smokeless powder is not the best option. Tanneritr is a actually a better compound for that sort of job. Best to use AN with a booster, I prefer nitromethane form model engine fuel. You are going to need several kilograms and you know the score, your going to have drill a line of holes pretty deep. I am assuming you don't have a home brew sequential circuit, if you look around there are some great plans online to build one, and I am also guessing a nail board is probably a bit to primitive so your looking ar simultaneous detonation, and as you know that changes the math and increases the risk. For initiation small incandescent Christmas bulbs are one of the best home brew options. Standard practice is break the end of the bulb off and dip the filament into acetone peroxide, just a few grams in a blob stuck to the element is all you need. Seal with kaptokn tape. 9v is all you need to set it off. If you are more chemically literate there are a number of better compounds, azides of your favorite flavor or the more well regarded azo's but if you don't know... well you don't go. Remeber AN is hygroscopic and the transition to detonation requires the matierla be dry and proper nitormethane ratio and a solid initiator. Your charge size will obviously need to stay large enough as well. Unfortunately since NASA dropped the shuttle program all those barrel of cheap abundant AP are long gone and we are left groveling with AN to do any serious work in the DIY world. Whatever you do have plan to make sure it goes off, the last thing you want to do is have unload you stump removal project. Also probably a good idea to let you local authorities know whats up because a project that size will make some noise and the pearl clutchers out there are bound to call it in. Asalways remember the legal lines and stay on the right side. Amature pyrotechnics on private property are very differne than transporting anything in public roads... so use your head amd keep out of trouble. |
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Quoted: 4 to 5 foot diameter sycamore logs? Wouldn't those be worth some money to a mill? Well, you live in Kentucky. I guess hardwood lumber does grow on trees there. Sycamore is trash wood. Good for pallets and pulpwood. Plus, and more importantly, mill maximum log diameter is typically constrained by the metal detector at the infeed, which, here in the south, is generally around 40 inches. And every log goes through the metal detector. |
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Quoted: It is always fun to see people from out west's reaction to how land is cleared where trees are free. Here in Arkansas, they will use a dozer to push acres and acres of old growth into a pile the size of a large house and burn it all. There’s no such thing as old growth in Arkansas, except perhaps a few stands on public land. We’re on the South’s 4th forest. |
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Quoted: Smokeless powder is not the best option. Tanneritr is a actually a better compound for that sort of job. Best to use AN with a booster, I prefer nitromethane form model engine fuel. You are going to need several kilograms and you know the score, your going to have drill a line of holes pretty deep. I am assuming you don't have a home brew sequential circuit, if you look around there are some great plans online to build one, and I am also guessing a nail board is probably a bit to primitive so your looking ar simultaneous detonation, and as you know that changes the math and increases the risk. For initiation small incandescent Christmas bulbs are one of the best home brew options. Standard practice is break the end of the bulb off and dip the filament into acetone peroxide, just a few grams in a blob stuck to the element is all you need. Seal with kaptokn tape. 9v is all you need to set it off. If you are more chemically literate there are a number of better compounds, azides of your favorite flavor or the more well regarded azo's but if you don't know... well you don't go. Remeber AN is hygroscopic and the transition to detonation requires the matierla be dry and proper nitormethane ratio and a solid initiator. Your charge size will obviously need to stay large enough as well. Unfortunately since NASA dropped the shuttle program all those barrel of cheap abundant AP are long gone and we are left groveling with AN to do any serious work in the DIY world. Whatever you do have plan to make sure it goes off, the last thing you want to do is have unload you stump removal project. Also probably a good idea to let you local authorities know whats up because a project that size will make some noise and the pearl clutchers out there are bound to call it in. Asalways remember the legal lines and stay on the right side. Amature pyrotechnics on private property are very differne than transporting anything in public roads... so use your head amd keep out of trouble. Quoted: Quoted: I was a 12B and spent years doing demo calcs, but one thing I don’t have is a formula for splitting logs with black or smokeless powder. Anybody have a guide? I have a dozen or so 4-5 foot diameter sycamore logs I need to split and move Or I’ll just say fuck it and “P for plenty” as usual, inshallah Smokeless powder is not the best option. Tanneritr is a actually a better compound for that sort of job. Best to use AN with a booster, I prefer nitromethane form model engine fuel. You are going to need several kilograms and you know the score, your going to have drill a line of holes pretty deep. I am assuming you don't have a home brew sequential circuit, if you look around there are some great plans online to build one, and I am also guessing a nail board is probably a bit to primitive so your looking ar simultaneous detonation, and as you know that changes the math and increases the risk. For initiation small incandescent Christmas bulbs are one of the best home brew options. Standard practice is break the end of the bulb off and dip the filament into acetone peroxide, just a few grams in a blob stuck to the element is all you need. Seal with kaptokn tape. 9v is all you need to set it off. If you are more chemically literate there are a number of better compounds, azides of your favorite flavor or the more well regarded azo's but if you don't know... well you don't go. Remeber AN is hygroscopic and the transition to detonation requires the matierla be dry and proper nitormethane ratio and a solid initiator. Your charge size will obviously need to stay large enough as well. Unfortunately since NASA dropped the shuttle program all those barrel of cheap abundant AP are long gone and we are left groveling with AN to do any serious work in the DIY world. Whatever you do have plan to make sure it goes off, the last thing you want to do is have unload you stump removal project. Also probably a good idea to let you local authorities know whats up because a project that size will make some noise and the pearl clutchers out there are bound to call it in. Asalways remember the legal lines and stay on the right side. Amature pyrotechnics on private property are very differne than transporting anything in public roads... so use your head amd keep out of trouble. So, where is the "legal line" on homemade explosives? Your description above sounds similar to what the people recently busted in (?)CA for "building bombs" were doing. |
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Quoted: There's no such thing as old growth in Arkansas, except perhaps a few stands on public land. We're on the South's 4th forest. Quoted: Quoted: It is always fun to see people from out west's reaction to how land is cleared where trees are free. Here in Arkansas, they will use a dozer to push acres and acres of old growth into a pile the size of a large house and burn it all. There's no such thing as old growth in Arkansas, except perhaps a few stands on public land. We're on the South's 4th forest. I'm currently harvesting 30-50", 75-100ft white and red oak that was just pushed over with large excavators for a new development before it all gets pushed into a pile and burned. |
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Timber cutting. Formula for internal placement: P = .004 x D^2. Formula for external placement: P = .025 x D^2. Black powder has a RE factor of 0.55. Probably reduce that amount by 50% since you just want to splinter and not blow up. Do you not have a 5-34 laying around? |
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Quoted: Fair point that it isn't "old growth" in the old sense, but it is far from the stands of 20 year old pulpwood that large swathes of the country call "trees". I'm currently harvesting 30-50", 75-100ft white and red oak that was just pushed over with large excavators for a new development before it all gets pushed into a pile and burned. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: It is always fun to see people from out west's reaction to how land is cleared where trees are free. Here in Arkansas, they will use a dozer to push acres and acres of old growth into a pile the size of a large house and burn it all. There's no such thing as old growth in Arkansas, except perhaps a few stands on public land. We're on the South's 4th forest. I'm currently harvesting 30-50", 75-100ft white and red oak that was just pushed over with large excavators for a new development before it all gets pushed into a pile and burned. Many of our forests here in the PNW have already been harvested and replanted, but I always love finding old growth stumps with springboard notches in them. It's always crazy imagining trees like this being harvested with axes and saws. (Not my photos) Attached File Attached File |
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Quoted: Timber cutting. Formula for internal placement: P = .004 x D^2. Formula for external placement: P = .025 x D^2. Black powder has a RE factor of 0.55. Probably reduce that amount by 50% since you just want to splinter and not blow up. Do you not have a 5-34 laying around? @tortilla-flats I have a dozen or so 5-10-33’s but I guess I shoulda known to look up black powders RE factor. Here’s the small pile. 24” barrel upper for size comp. Attached File |
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I think what you are looking for is a teenage son to split your logs for you. However, I still asked Gemini what it thought and this answer made me chuckle "While I appreciate the creative problem-solving, I have to start with a very serious "AI friend" warning: Please do not use Tannerite to split firewood. Tannerite is a binary explosive designed specifically as a long-range shooting target. Using it for utilitarian tasks like wood splitting is extremely dangerous and, frankly, ineffective for a few specific reasons." |
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Quoted: I was a 12B and spent years doing demo calcs, but one thing I don't have is a formula for splitting logs with black or smokeless powder. Anybody have a guide? I have a dozen or so 4-5 foot diameter sycamore logs I need to split and move Or I'll just say fuck it and "P for plenty" as usual, inshallah |
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Quoted: So, where is the "legal line" on homemade explosives? Your description above sounds similar to what the people recently busted in (?)CA for "building bombs" were doing. Well everything is illegal and causes cancer in California... unless you are filming a movie, then you can get a permit to do anything.  BATFE Safety Explosives Act manual AKA the "Orange Book" clearly defines where legal regulation applies and where it does not. 27 CFR Part 555, Subpart H - Exemptions. This includes fireworks and related pyrotechnic devices, rocket motors, gasoline and fuels, chemical reagents, ammunition and "Articles Pyrotechnic" Call your friends over to watch and you are no longer using demolitions to remove a tree stump or log, you a using pyrotechnic devices for entertainment. Or maybe you are just testing new rocket motor formulations or "ground salute fireworks". But tell the local deputy your blowing up a stump, and now you are breaking the law ( technically) . Sort of like how a pistol brace makes gun into a pistol but with out it that same gun is an SBR rifle, it's all in definitions and intent. The other relevant federal authority is the department of transportation, exemptions for explosive transport regulations are allowed when " Not in Commerce" but in generally you still follow 49 CFR but you don't need a Hazmat CDL or vehicle placards if you quantities are under 1000 lbs generally.... there are always exceptions. None of this really matters because the BATFE doesn't patrol the countryside looking for violators, they get called in by other authorities, so it's almost always an issue of what your local authorities ( Sheriff's department usually) cares about. We go out to some counties in western ND drink beer and flip cars over with energetic chemistry, others don't tolerate that quite as well. You have to feel these things out. |
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Quoted: So, where is the "legal line" on homemade explosives? Your description above sounds similar to what the people recently busted in (?)CA for "building bombs" were doing. You can legally make explosives without the proper licenses. But you cant store them, so you have to use it the same day, and you cant make destructive devices/bombs. |
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Quoted: 5 foot diameter hardwood logs, and you want to blow them up? Why wouldn't you mill them into valuable lumber? Surely you must have sawmills there. @jodan1776 This shit has been sitting out for over a decade and while still decent on the inside is rotten on the outside not to mention Sycamore is about worthless these days so it’s not worth the time. Half of these logs are cut down to 6 foot lengths so the previous owner could move them with his bobcat and I’m just looking to split them in half so I can drag them down the hill with my smaller tractor and put them in a burn pile. I do not want to have to drag down round logs and risk getting run the fuck over or them going in the creek.. While I could attack it with my 28 inch bar I really don’t feel like just ripping a shit ton of logs. If I can just do plunge cuts pack with powder and have some fun in the meantime. |
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Quoted: @jodan1776 This shit has been sitting out for over a decade and while still decent on the inside is rotten on the outside not to mention Sycamore is about worthless these days so it's not worth the time. Half of these logs are cut down to 6 foot lengths so the previous owner could move them with his bobcat and I'm just looking to split them in half so I can drag them down the hill with my smaller tractor and put them in a burn pile. I do not want to have to drag down round logs and risk getting run the fuck over or them going in the creek.. While I could attack it with my 28 inch bar I really don't feel like just ripping a shit ton of logs. If I can just do plunge cuts pack with powder and have some fun in the meantime. Well, I guess popping them in half with explosives is a good idea. And surely a lot more fun  I do similar with getting ledge out of trails here. Seems to me a Tannerite 2-pounder might be a good place to start. Or maybe a half to one pound of BP. I'm assuming you'd go in from the end for better splitting results. |
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Quoted: You can legally make explosives without the proper licenses. But you cant store them, so you have to use it the same day, and you cant make destructive devices/bombs. This is pretty much the way. Nothing is illegal about storing drums of chemicals for personal use, nothing is illegal about making an energetic devices on private property. It might violate a local or sate ordinances to detonate such devices... if anyone cares enough to complain. |
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Quoted: You can legally make explosives without the proper licenses. But you cant store them, so you have to use it the same day, and you cant make destructive devices/bombs. Quoted: Quoted: So, where is the "legal line" on homemade explosives? Your description above sounds similar to what the people recently busted in (?)CA for "building bombs" were doing. You can legally make explosives without the proper licenses. But you cant store them, so you have to use it the same day, and you cant make destructive devices/bombs. Except.... if you are routinely making and using explosives (eg, binary explosives or home made), especially in commerce, you stand the chance that the BATFE may consider you a "manufacturer of explosives" and require an FEL. What is "routinely"? Whatever the BATFE says it is. You can make and store if you are licensed and have properly permitted storage. |
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Quoted: Fair point that it isn't "old growth" in the old sense, but it is far from the stands of 20 year old pulpwood that large swathes of the country call "trees". I'm currently harvesting 30-50", 75-100ft white and red oak that was just pushed over with large excavators for a new development before it all gets pushed into a pile and burned. Seems odd they wouldn't just call a logging company to come in and clear the land, and get paid for it. Does it have something to do with it being easier to push the trees over and get the stumps out at the same time? Around here a logging company will even come into a small property, like 5 to 10 acres if the trees are large enough. Also I've seen them log and clear for pipeline and road widening jobs, usually the timber guys will come in a few months ahead of the work starting. |
| You all keep missing the key factor; sycamore is worthless. You can drive a wedge through a log and the log is still in one piece. Look at the post about a powder wedge then get a machine shop to make one for you. A piece of 3" cold rolled about 10 inches long with a 3/4 hole drilled axially about 8.5 inches deep with a hole in the closed end for a fuse. Have the piece turned on a 7 inch taper from the "muzzle" end towards the breech so yo0u can drive it into a 3/4 or 1" pilot hole in the log. Have fun. |
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Quoted: Many of our forests here in the PNW have already been harvested and replanted, but I always love finding old growth stumps with springboard notches in them. It's always crazy imagining trees like this being harvested with axes and saws. (Not my photos) https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/72701/fe0202bc2f0e23666e734b5d0b135402--mushro-3683694.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/72701/3021573d3b34bc0362042d6412910136_jpg-3683695.JPG Why didn’t they stand on the ground to cut this? |
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Quoted: Many of our forests here in the PNW have already been harvested and replanted, but I always love finding old growth stumps with springboard notches in them. It's always crazy imagining trees like this being harvested with axes and saws. (Not my photos) https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/72701/fe0202bc2f0e23666e734b5d0b135402--mushro-3683694.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/72701/3021573d3b34bc0362042d6412910136_jpg-3683695.JPG Why didn’t they stand on the ground to cut this? |
Found this video. Similar size log to what I have. Looks like he uses a half cup or so, I'll give that a try this week. Videos to follow!
 Redneck Log Splitter, Black Powder Method |