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Setlrets of Methampbetamine Manufacture, 8tb Edition Festering
Uade Fester
Including Recipes for MDA, Ecstasy, and Otber Psycbedelir Amplietamines I'llblications
 SECllTSOF
MEfllAMPIiETAMINE
MANUFACTURE
Including Recipes for MOA, Ecstasy,
and Other Psychedelic Amphetamines
Revised and Expanded

BIH EDITION
by Uncle rester

Festering Publications
Green Bay, Wisconsin
www.unclefesterbooks.com
 This book is soldfor informational purposes only. Neither the author nor the publisher intend s fiJ,. any
of the information in this book to be usedfor criminal pwposes.

Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture

Including Recipes for MDA, Ecstacy, and Other Psychedelic Amphetamines
Revised and Expanded, Eighth Edition
© 2009 by Uncle Fester

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in any form whatsoever without
the prior written consent of the publisher. Reviews may quote brief passages without the written consent
of the publisher as long as proper credit is given.

Published by:
Festering Publications
826 S. Baird SI.
Green Bay, WI. 54301

Drawings by Donald B. Parker and Ray Bosworth

ISBN: 978-0-9701485-9-9
Library of Congress Catalog Number 205900622
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. i

Chapter One

Chemical. and Equipment...................................................................................................1

Chapter Two

The Leuckardt-Wallach Reaction: An Overview ........ .

. . . . . . ............ . . . ............... .
... . .. . . .......... . ....... 9

Chapter Three

Prepar.tion of Phenylacetone............................................................................................. 10

Chapter Four

Prepar.tion of N-Methylformamide ......................................................................................21

Chapter Five

M.king Methamphetamine................................................................................................25

Chapter Six

Industrial Sc.le Production .. .. . .. ............. .

................ .. .
. ................ . ............... . . .. . .
.. .. . .. ........ . . 37

Chapter Seven

Phenyl.cetone from B - Keto Esters ........... . ............... .. .................................. . . . . . .... . ....... .

.. . 40

Chapter Eight

Phenylaeetone via theTuhe Furn.ce.....................................................................................45

Chapter Nine

Other Methods of Making Phenylacetone.............................................................................. 52

Chapter Ten

Psychedelic Phenyl.cetones from Essenti.1 Oil........................................................................75

Chapter Eleven

The Way of the Bomb . . . . ......................................... ................. ..................... . .... .

.............. 87

Chapter Twelve

Reductive Alkylation with out the Bomb..............................................................................100

Chapter Thirteen

Methylamine................................................................................................................112

Chaptfr Fourteen

The Ritter Reaction: Amphet.mines Directly from Allylbcnzene .............................................. 115

Chapter Fifteen

Methamphetamine from Ephedrine or P.eudephedrine, Amphetamine from PPA .........................119

Chapter Sixteen

Methcatbinone: Kitchen improvised Crank ................................................................... ....... 177

Chapter Seventeen

Brewing Your Own Ephedrine ...................................................................................... .... 180

Chapter Eighteen

Cooking Your Own Ephedrine .............. ............... . . ................... . . . . . . . . . . ..................... . . . . . . . . . 184

Chapter Nineteen

MDA. Ecst.cy (XTC). and other Psychedelic Amphet.mines ............................................. ........ 188

Chapter Twenty

Ice .......................................... ......................................................... ..................... ...... 195

Chapter Twenty One

Calibrating the Vacuum .............................................................................. ..................... 196

Chapter Twenty Two

Production from AJlylchloride and Benzene ................................................................ .......... 197

Chapter Twenty Three

Phenyl.cetone from Benzene and Acetone ................................................................ . . . . ...... .. 206

Chapter Twenty Four

Last Resort: Extracting 1- Methamphetamine from Vicks Inhalers ................................... . . . ......... 209

Chapter Twenty FIve

Keeping out of Trouble ........................................................................................... .......... 210

Chapter Twenty Six

Legitim.te Uses of some Chemicals . . . . ................... . . . . . .......... ...... . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 216

Chapter Twenty Seven

Web Sites ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . ............. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... .... 217

 Introduction

SECRETS OF M ETH 8th EDITION

Introduction

Welcome to the Eighth Edition of Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture. Beyond any doubt, this
is the best book ever written on the subject of clandestine chemistry, by anyone, anywhere, anytime,
period! Your humble and gracious Uncle has been training champions for over 20 years now, and this
tour de force of clandestine ingenuity is living testament to the fact that the game hasn't passed me by.
What this work reveals, even more than my other books, is the utterfu tilitv of the so-called "War on
Drugs." Of course, there can be no such thing as a "war" on inanimate objects - there can only be a war
on people. Endlessly adding more common chemicals to lists to be watched by America's secret police
has done nothing to stem this nation 's voracious appetite for illegal drugs. Any laws against victimless
crimes can be easily evaded - "criminals" are just plain smarter than the Drug Clowns. Even the most
cursory reading of this text shows that most of my references are from common standard chemical
literature - that's right, folks, "drugs" are merely chemicals, and knowledge of how they are produced can
never be removed from the body of civilized knowledge. So grow up, "Drug Warriors," and get a life'
Try to do something useful for the society you feed on instead of destroying our freedoms.
So what new treats do we have in the Eighth Edition? Since I wrote the Seventh Edition of this book in
2004, all ephedrine and pseudoephedrine pills have been pulled off the shelves and are now a "show ID"
item. 1 have uncovered a very simple and effective method of cooking your own ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine on potentially large scales using hardware store and health food store materials. I have
also added new meth cooking procedures which totally eliminate the need to obtain iodine or red
phosphorus or anhydrous ammonia. I have also revamped the previous recipes to allow the use of the
weaker or adulterated materials now found on shelves. How about forgetting all about those pills and
cooking crank from cinnamon oil? I know you'll like that! Or maybe setting up shop using common
flavoring ingredients') Or any number of most common and easily available industrial chemicals that can
never be put under any sort of effective sales scrutiny?
The police state goon squads and their lowest common denominator, pandering-politician masters,
have once again been exposed for what they are with this Eighth Edition of Secrets of Methamphetamine
Manufacture. They have bitten off more than they can chew, and it's going to be my pleasure to jam it
right to them! Public ridicule and a practical demonstration of their impotence are the only things which
politicians and police-staters dread: This Eighth Edition will heap both upon their heads in liberal
portions. If they thought they were getting their butts kicked before, well, they haven ' t seen anything yet'
Let us pray they take their newfound humility well.
Enjoy this latest installment of the Journal for Clandestine Cookers. It will educate, entertain, and
shake pillars all at the same time. You'll be quite pleased, I ' m sure!

Fester
 Chapter One
Chemicals and Equipment

Chapter One
Chemicals and Equipment

The heart of the chemical laboratory is the set of glassware collectively called "the kit." It consists of
several round bottom flasks, a claisen adapter, a still head with thermometer holder, a thermometer, a
condenser, a vacuum adapter and a separatory funnel (sep funnel, for short). These pieces each have
ground glass joints of the same size, so that the set can be put together in a variety of ways, depending on
the process being done. For the production of a quarter to a third of a pound batches, 24/40 size ground
glass joints are used. Also necessary are one each of the following sizes of round bottom flasks: 3000 ml,
2000 011 and 500 011; and two each of 1000 011 and 250 011. Two condensers are also required, both of the
straight central tube variety, one about 3 5 cm in length, the other about 50 cm in length.
The standard taper glassware kit suitable for use in doing distillations and reactions has become very
risky and difficult to obtain by any method other than theft or diversion from a friendly source. We can
take this as further evidence of the creeping police state we are caught in. The aim of the system is to
produce a disarmed and dumbed-down populace, a goal which is being achieved to an alarming degree.
The very thought that home chemical experimentation might have some purpose other than drug
manufacture has been banished from the general consciousness. In keeping with this, the suppliers of
glassware keep their purchase records open for regular inspection by agents of the police state. Further,
most of the suppliers will not do business on a "cash-and-carry" basis. Rather, they insist upon setting up
an account, whereby they compile a dossier on their customer before doing business.
Fortunately, this is not a real obstacle to production. The chemical manufacturing industry gets along
just tine without using standard taper glassware in which to cook their chemicals. They rightly view it as
expensive, and very prone to breakage. Instead, they construct their reaction vessels and distillation
apparatus from materials like stainless steel and Teflon. The only thing lost from the use of these
materials versus glass is that you can't watch the batch cook or distill, and magnetic stirring is prevented.
The inability to stir magnetically is quite easily circumvented by use of a mechanical stirrer. These are
available commercially, or may be constructed at home. The preferred construction materials are a
stainless-steel shatt, and a Teflon paddle. Teflon-coated steel is also acceptable. A typical stirrer is
shown in Figure 1.

Figure I

Construction of stainless-steel cooking apparatus is simplified if the necks of cooking vessels and
condensers are made wide enough for the shaft of the stirrer to fit down into them, and yet have enough
tree space for the condensation of vapors and their easy return to the cooking pot.
The inability to see what is going on inside the apparatus is more troublesome. An oil bath must be
used to heat the vessel, so that by tracking the bath temperature, one can guard against overheating the
contents
Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture
Eighth Edition

beyond the ability of a condenser to return the reflux. During distillations, both the oil bath temperature
and the thermometer reading at the still head must be used to keep track of what is going on inside the
vessel. For those with lots of practice doing distillations, this is an easy transition. For those who are less
experienced, some practice filled with trial-and-error will be required before completely getting the hang
of it.
The actual construction of a stainless-steel "kit" is a fairly easy and low-profile operation, thanks to the
widespread knowledge and use of the metal working arts. A good glassblower is almost impossible to
find, but good welders and metal workers are a dime a dozen. Let's start with the items which comprise
the majority of parts in the kit: round bottom flasks of various sizes. Figure 2 is the typical round bottom
tlask. Figure 3 is its stainless-steel counterpart.

---

Figure 2 Figure ]

This is merely a stainless-steel (preferably 304 or 3 1 6 alloy) cylindrical canister with a round hole cut
in the top. To that round hole is then welded a %-inch-Iong section of stainless-steel pipe with fine
threads on the inner surface. A series of pots with different volumes are constructed, each with the same
size stainless-steel threaded-pipe neck welded to the top.
Construction of a condenser is similarly straightforward. Note the standard glass condenser in Figure
4.

Figure 4

A stainless-steel condenser is made by taking a section of stainless-steel pipe 1 y, to 2 feet long, and
cutting fine threads on the outside at the "male" end and inside at the "female" end. The pipe's diameter
should be chosen so that it will screw into the top of one's stainless-steel cooking vessels. Then a pipe of
larger diameter is overlaid around the central section of the pipe to fonn the water jacket. It should cover
at least'!. of the length of the inner pipe. Welding the two together, and then drilling in a couple of nipple
adapters for water tlow in and out of the j acket, completes the construction.
Making a claisen adapter, as shown in Figure 5, is self-explanatory.
 Chapter One
Chemical.• and Equipment

Figure 5

For distillations, two additional pieces are required:

I.
I · '.,

FlglITt 6 Figun 7

Note the drip tip inside the delivery end of the vacuum adapter ( Figure 6). This is very i mportant, as the
drip tip prevents the product from being sucked down the vacuum line during vacuum distillation. The
stillhead ( Figure 7) can be used for vacuum distillations as shown by plugging the top with a one-hole
stopper into which is inserted a thermometer. The thermometer should be pushed through to the usual
depth for monitoring the temperature of the distilled vapors.
There are some applications where stainless steel isn't enough to stand up to the chemicals being used.
For instance, strong hot acids will dissolve even 3 1 6 stainless. This means that a stainless pot and reflux
column isn't suitable for use i n the H I and red P reduction of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or
phenylpropanolamine to meth or dexedrine. I n other reactions in this book, boiling hot hydrochloric acid
is used. A stainless-steel reaction vessel and reflux condenser will be eaten away here as well.
For these conditions, another alternative should be the first choice. That alternative is to construct the
reaction pot and reflux condenser from copper, and then coat the inside surfaces of these two pieces with
either Teflon or a Teflon-loaded paint such as Xylan 1 006. Of these two, the latter is preferable because
the Teflon paint doesn't require that a primer first be applied to the metal surface. The basic procedure is
to thoroughly clean the metal surface to remove all dirt and grease. Then the surface of the metal is
roughened, either by sandblasting the metal, or by scouring it with a wire brush. This roughening makes
footholds for the Teflon paint to grip onto. Then a thin coat of Teflon paint is applied to the inner
surface, and after allowing any excess to drip back into the paint container, the coated piece is bake-cured
at about 3000 F. This is followed by a second coat, applied the same way, and bake-cured at 3000 F. If
one can
Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture
Eighth Edition

follow this second bake with a third bake at around 5000 F, even better results are obtained as the Teflon
in the paint will melt throughout the coating. See Vest Busters for complete details on how to order and
apply either Teflon or a Teflon-based paint such as Xylan 1006.
Your Uncle works as a chemist in an electroplating and metal finishing shop. I have personally seen
Teflon and Teflon-based paints in action. Once applied properly, nothing is going to touch these
coatings. The only way to remove these coatings is to either bum them off, or mechanically scrape them
off. A regular check of the inside of the coated reaction vessels with a flashlight and dentist's mirror is
all the maintenance they need.
That is all there is to making one's own organic glassware "kit." With it, another layer of
snoopervision is rendered useless, and the shop can be set up with a far greater degree of the safety to be
found in anonymity.
For some simple meth production methods, clandestine operators like to turn everyday household
items into reaction vessels. For example, the HI and red P reduction of ephedrine to meth requires that
the mixture be boiled, and the vapors which rise up ofTthe boiling mixture be cooled, condensed back to
liquid, and returned to the reaction vessel. To accomplish this, some people put the reaction mixture into
a Pyrex casserole dish, then put the lid on upside down, and put ice cubes into the lid. As the ice melts,
they will remove the meltwater with a turkey baster and add more ice.
For the lithium metal in liquid ammonia reduction of ephedrine to meth, a plastic pail works just fine
as a reaction vessel. A countryside location where the fumes of ammonia won't be noticed is required
with this crude setup, but it works nonetheless. Similarly, a pressure cooker can be used to steam the
�ctive ingredients out of the new formulation ephedrine pills.
Using household items as " cookware" when possible has the advantages of easy acquisition and super
stealthiness, Friends, snoopy landlords and even police can look at a Mr. Coffee pot, and see just that
rather than the boiling reaction vessel it really is.

Wotwn

I
II JJJ
I Vacuum

An ASpill1il!

'---J WDIIl

Figure 8

Another necessary piece of equipment is a source of vacuum for vacuum distillation and filtering the
crystal product. Here there are two choices, each with its advantages and disadvantages.
One choice is the aspirator, also called a water pump. It works by running tap water through it under
good pressure, producing a vacuum in the side arm theoretically equal to the vapor pressure of the water
being run through it (see Figure 8). For this reason, the best vacuum is obtained with cold water, since it
has a lower vapor pressure. The vacuum is brought from the side ann to the glassware by an automotive
type vacuum hose such as can be purchased at an auto parts store.
The vacuum adapter and filtering flask each have nipples to which the other end of the hose is attached,
making it possible to produce a vacuum inside the glassware. The top end of the aspirator is threaded so
it