How to make Potassium Nitrate

How to make Potassium Nitrate by The Jolly Roger

Potassium Nitrate is an ingredient in making fuses, among other
things. Here is how you make
it:

Materials needed:

-3.5 gallons of nitrate bearing earth or other
material
-1/2 cup of wood ashes
-Bucket or other similar container about 4-5 gallons in
volume
-2 pieces of finely woven cloth, each a bit bigger than the
bottom of the
bucket
-Shallow dish or pan at least as large in diameter as the bucket
-Shallow, heat
resistant container
-2 gallons of water
-Something to punch holes in the bottom of the
bucket
-1 gallon of any type of alcohol
-A heat source
-Paper & tape
/> Procedure:

- Punch holes on the inside bottom of the bucket, so that the

metal is"puckered" outward from the bottom

- Spread cloth over the holes from
the bottom

- Place wood ashes on the cloth. Spread it out so that it covers
the
entire cloth and has about the same thickness.

- Place 2nd cloth on top of the wood
ashes

- Place the dirt or other material in the bucket

- Place the bucket
over the shallow container. NOTE: It may need
support on the bottom so that the holes on the
bottom are not
blocked.

- Boil water and pour it over the earth very slowly. Do
NOT pour
it all at once, as this will clog the filter on the bottom.

- Allow
water to run through holes into the shallow dish on the
bottom.

- Be sure that
the water goes through ALL of the earth!

- Allow water in dish to cool for an hour or
so

- Carefully drain the liquid in the dish away, and discard the
sludge in the
bottom

- Boil this liquid over a fire for at least two hours. Small
grains of
salt will form - scoop these out with the paper as they
form

- When the liquid
has boiled down to 1/2 its original volume let
it sit

- After 1/2 hour, add
equal volume of the alcohol; when this
mixture is poured through paper, small white crystals
appear. This
is the posassium nitrate.

Purification:

- Redissolve
crystals in small amount of boiling water

- Remove any crystals that appear
/> - Pour through improvised filter then heat concentrated solution
to dryness.

- Spread out crystals and allow to dry

Compiled by -= RFLAGG =-

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