BLACK POWDER & red conglomerate rock

[RICOCHETAZ]

I am digging my own water well. It is 8’ in diameter and I am down to around 20’.
At around 10’- 11’ I hit red conglomerate bed rock. Using an SDS max rotto-hammer drill with a home made 1 1/4” x 37” bit. Then making my own black powder I make tubes or sticks about 8” long by 1”-1 1/8”in diameter with home made electric igniters. I drill 4-5 holes in one half of the bottom drop one stick in each hole then gently tamp in about one full newspaper sheet and top that off with quick set mortar mix to the top of the hole. Let it set for 1 1/2-2 hours check each shot for continuity with a meter then wire them up. About 200’ of 10/3 extension cord plug it in and bang she’s done. It busts out about half of the floor to the drill hole bottom and breaks everything up the size of a football or smaller. As I said before I am at a depth of about 20-21’ deep. The well is about 35’-40’ from a creek bank that is normally dry. But some times I will have from 2’ to 8’ of water come up in the well and some times I can not pump the water down and keep it down enough to be in there to drill or muck it out. Winch is a good thing as I am in the AZ desert.
When the water table is down enough for me to drill and it takes an hour for the drilled holes to fill with water I have set my rounds and been able to shoot them with no problems. I would like to know is there some other low power explosive that I could make that would be water proof.
I realize that you would need to know much more as to how I make my sticks and igniters etc. I am just looking for some good information how to proceed.
Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance: poor boys poor ways.

 

[nytsnax]

I am digging my own water well. It is 8' in diameter and I am down to around 20'.
At around 10'- 11' I hit red conglomerate bed rock. Using an SDS max rotto-hammer drill with a home made 1 1/4" x 37" bit. Then making my own black powder I make tubes or sticks about 8" long by 1"-1 1/8"in diameter with home made electric igniters. I drill 4-5 holes in one half of the bottom drop one stick in each hole then gently tamp in about one full newspaper sheet and top that off with quick set mortar mix to the top of the hole. Let it set for 1 1/2-2 hours check each shot for continuity with a meter then wire them up. About 200' of 10/3 extension cord plug it in and bang she's done. It busts out about half of the floor to the drill hole bottom and breaks everything up the size of a football or smaller. As I said before I am at a depth of about 20-21' deep. The well is about 35'-40' from a creek bank that is normally dry. But some times I will have from 2' to 8' of water come up in the well and some times I can not pump the water down and keep it down enough to be in there to drill or muck it out. Winch is a good thing as I am in the AZ desert.
When the water table is down enough for me to drill and it takes an hour for the drilled holes to fill with water I have set my rounds and been able to shoot them with no problems. I would like to know is there some other low power explosive that I could make that would be water proof.
I realize that you would need to know much more as to how I make my sticks and igniters etc. I am just looking for some good information how to proceed.
Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance: poor boys poor ways.

I can't advise on making explosives but I can say that water intrusion has always been a challenge when working near creek beds, even in dry seasons. In the past, we used commercial cartridges rated for wet conditions but those were handled under strict permits and oversight. If you're dealing with fluctuating water levels, you might wanna look into mechanical methods or hydraulic splitters that don't rely on ignition. Have you checked with your local authority about what's allowed for blasting in that area?

 

[bl00dymary]

@RICOCHETAZ bro, instead of trying to waterproof your charges, you should focus on beating the water with a pump.
Can you rent or borrow a beefier submersible trash pump or even a high volume gasoline pump?
If you can drop the water table for 10 minutes, you can set your holes and use quick setting hydraulic cement instead of mortar for tamping. that stuff sets hard, fast, and underwater

 

[Sammy_]

I'm with @bl00dymary, you're fighting the hydraulic pressure of that creek, which is a losing battle for homemade powder sticks.
Instead of trying to waterproof the powder, you need a pump that can dewater your 8 foot wide pit faster than the inflow rate. Look for a pump with a very high GPM (Gallons Per Minute) rating.
the pros use a setup called pump and dump, where they run a high volume submersible pump 24/7 to create a cone of depression around the worksite. If you can rent or borrow one, this is the most effective way to keep the bottom dry long enough to drill and work safely