ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Sal Ammoniac Sublimed from Dung Soot, the Egyptian Way, Ure 1839
Ichwarsnur (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Charlie

Created by

Charlie

14. October 2026DE
1
0
0
0
0

Sal Ammoniac Sublimed from Dung Soot, the Egyptian Way, Ure 1839

Sal ammoniac takes its name from the temple of Ammon in Egypt, where it was made from the soot of burned camel dung. Andrew Ure (1839): pack the soot into loam-coated glass globes over a furnace and heat them to a dull red; the salt rises and sets as a cake inside the top. Keep the necks clear or the globes can burst. The picture: ammonium chloride crystals.
Advanced
A week

Instructions

1

Burn dung for soot

Dry the dung by plastering it on a sunny wall. Burn it in the furnace with an iron sheet set as a hood over the smoke (ours), and scrape the soot off the sheet as it builds up.

Materials for this step:

Animal DungAnimal Dung100 kg

Tools needed:

Brick FurnaceBrick Furnace
Iron SheetIron Sheet
ShovelShovel
Dust MaskDust Mask
Leather Work GlovesLeather Work Gloves
2

Coat and fill the globes

Coat glass flasks with a thick skin of loam (clay) and let it dry. Ram the soot in firmly, leaving two or three inches empty at the neck.

Tools needed:

Round-Bottom FlaskRound-Bottom Flask
ClayClay
Wooden MalletWooden Mallet
Balance ScaleBalance Scale
Dust MaskDust Mask
3

Sublime

Set the globes in holes over the furnace flue and fire with dry dung, slowly at first, until they glow a dull red. The salt rises and cakes inside the top. Clear the necks often with an iron rod: a blocked neck can burst the globe.

Tools needed:

Brick FurnaceBrick Furnace
Animal DungAnimal Dung
Iron RodIron Rod
Leather Work GlovesLeather Work Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
4

Knock out the cake

When cold, the globes are usually cracked. Break the glass away from the white cake at the top with the back of a hatchet. Bruise the residue at the bottom and add it to the next charge. Store the salt in a jar.

Tools needed:

AxeAxe
Glass JarGlass Jar
Balance ScaleBalance Scale
Leather Work GlovesLeather Work Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
5

Salt from your soot

Loading Jupyter Notebook...

Materials

1

Tools Required

14

This blueprint makes

Thumbnail
Placeholder

Ammonium Chloride (NH4Cl)

Free

175
0
1

Related Blueprints

These blueprints share knowledge with this one — techniques, materials, or principles that connect them in the learning graph.

Charcoal Air Furnace for Crucibles, Drawn by a Chimney

Charcoal Air Furnace for Crucibles, Drawn by a Chimney

by ForgeNO

Metalworking

3
0
0
0
0
0
Round-Bottom and Florence Flasks Blown from Glass Tube

Round-Bottom and Florence Flasks Blown from Glass Tube

by BubblesIT

Glassworking

3
0
0
0
0
0

CC0 Public Domain

This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.

Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.

Discussion

(0)

Log in to join the discussion

Loading comments...