Hints and tips for Australians

[stix]

I recognise sarcasm when I see it,I'm sorry that I forgot to cross my eyes and dot my tees.I realise now there is a clique here ,no probs

 

Lozzard, I'm at a loss. What's brought this on? I can't seeing anything in the above posts for your comment to make sense.

 

I agree with Lloyd that this forum certainly isn't a 'clique'. I'll go as far as saying it's the best forum that I'm a member of. The reason is simple. On most other forums people tend to have a view to push, or like to rant about this and that - in the end it doesn't really matter if your Soufflé doesn't rise because no-one is going to get hurt.

 

But on a pyrotechnics forum such as this, everyone for the most part, is very considerate because saying the wrong thing could have serious consequences. Those that are full of shit or just want to cause trouble soon get weeded out.

 

If you do some research first, then ask relevant questions then you'll earn a little bit of respect and people will help you and you'll also learn lots.

 

If you call that a 'clique' then perhaps it is.

[Lozzard]

All good fellas ,I started reading this forum in 2013 when I first stopped work .i only joined this year and started donating ,I don't come from a chemical background and last time I was schooled was 1989 when I finnished tafe ,I'm not used to being grammatically correct and it was a few days before I read the reply ,I was probably pissed off at the time due to other circumstances.i apologise if I offended anyone .

[Lozzard]

I have always believed a bit of common sense goes a long way .So does life experience,I also believe in the notion that 2 heads are better than one and so on ,I'm not here to cause trouble ? Maybe I need to get glasses ,maybe it was me reading it wrong .I am not good with computers and I hate iPhones .i start small with everything ,that's how I am ,I don't expect to jump to the top rung of the ladder and that is why my learning curve is with my hand made tools and shells 1 gram of flash is enough for 10 headers on my rockets they are that small.Anyway I will do as yous say and use the forum to study and find the answers I seek that will be in the relevant sections .Ffs now am paranoid where I put commas etc lol.

[stix]

Ah... now I see where this all came from: Post #539.

 

Well honestly, that post didn't put you in the "best light" and probably the "KC104" thing made it look that way.

 

Nevertheless, MrB did also say:

Anyway... Lots of places now restrict sales of (per)chlorates, your best bet might be making it on your own.

 

So you did get good advice regardless.

 

If pyro interests you, then take your time asking questions. Attention to good grammar also helps.

Edited December 6, 2017 by stix

[Lozzard]

Yeah I definitely need to go to the optometrist.My bad.

[AustralianPyromaniac]

Ah... now I see where this all came from: Post #539.

 

Well honestly, that post didn't put you in the "best light" and probably the "KC104" thing made it look that way.

 

Nevertheless, MrB did also say:

Anyway... Lots of places now restrict sales of (per)chlorates, your best bet might be making it on your own.

 

So you did get good advice regardless.

 

If pyro interests you, then take your time asking questions. Attention to good grammar also helps.

I think you mean #540 stix

 

Regards, AP

[stix]

I think you mean #540 stix

 

Regards, AP

 

Yeah both. I think #540 was a result of #539

 

Hang on, I think I screwed it up there.

 

#540 was a result of #538. Yours was #539, my apologies.

 

Feel sorry for Lozz being scrutinised like this. My bad this time.

Edited December 6, 2017 by stix

[MrB]

Nevertheless, MrB did also say:

Anyway... Lots of places now restrict sales of (per)chlorates, your best bet might be making it on your own.

 

So you did get good advice regardless.

 

Life is to short to walk around bored. If someone calls around to suppliers and lab's asking for KC104, they for sure made their day, and i'm all for that.

Was my answer in any way helpful to fix that? Sure. I don't know the legal status of (per)chlorates in Australia, (I presume it's like everywhere else. If it isn't already illegal, it will be. Make your own.) but it would, for sure, help if one asks about the right things when trying to find a source. Was the answer "tongue in cheek" ? Of course it was. As i stated just above, life is to short to walk around bored...

[Lozzard]

I feel like a dick about the whole thing ,at least a positive came out of all this .I have recognised that I need to get a pair of bifocals.

And a few other things to ponder about the way messages can be misunderstood if you don't have correct grammar etc ,i really think I need to embrace tech a little more.Tbh I was more on point 30 yrs ago when life was simpler

[lloyd]

Lozzie,

 

It's not 'language' or grammar so much as 'precision' and knowledge of what certain materials can do. We are engaged in a dangerous art. It's an art I love, but I know some of the risks.

 

I don't know if you've read any of my diatribes concerning "my accident", but because of a lack of insight into how magnesium powder can behave when thoroughly aerated, I received MAJOR 2nd-degree and some 3rd-degree burns over a large area of my face and left arm.

 

So... we're not declaiming your intent, so much as advising you that precision in this art is of utmost importance to your own longevity in it.

 

I hope you take our comments positively, rather than thinking that we're just "on your case". We want you to be both successful AND SAFE!

 

Lloyd

[OldMarine]

Lozzard, just fill one of these out and file it with the interweb gods. We've all faced the Lloyd of the Rings at one time or another!

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by OldMarine

[lloyd]

I haven't even SEEN you yet, Patrick, but I'm gonna get you! Just you wait!

 

<grin>

Lloyd

[Oldsalt]

Hi blokes. New here. Kind of new to pyro as well except for model rockets as a kid and a career of being an end user.

Currently spending a bunch of time in a lab in the UK making fun stuff.

Can see myself wanting to continue when I get home.

So, clearly theoretical question, what’s hard to get back home/hard to make, and easy to get here?

It looks like quickmatch and fuse?

I feel like flags are going to be quickly raised ordering certain forms of metals and chemicals back home?

Here you just go to Amazon and it tells you what ingredients to buy with what ingredients!

[AustralianPyromaniac]

Hey mate, it is a little restrictive back here in Aus but we make do. There are sources of most chems and QM can be made without any issue. Maybe the only thing thats not so easily had here is visco. However, for the love of all that is good don't bring anything back with you in your bag. Not only may you get caught but it's downright dangerous.

 

You can get visco shipped over which is what I do and everything else well get sorted out with a few connections when you get back. Personally, I do all my pyro OTC. Well, when I get the time. So busy these days. Anyway, nice to see another Australian.

 

Regards, AP

[jessoman]

Anyone up far north QLD?

[Oldsalt]

Cheers AP. No, nothing coming back on me. Or in plane.

I don’t see difference in danger between shipping back and shipping direct from company though?

 

I’m interested to see there’s a community, will look up when I get home.

I’ll likely be ACT based.

[AustralianPyromaniac]

Jessoman, you haven't posted here in years and now just pop by in such an off-hand fashion! I have heard a lot about you but never talked to you myself. Are you getting back into pyro or just dropping in? I'm in Brisbane, so closer than many, but still quite a fair away.

 

OldSalt, I do agree, shipping companies will be no safer but then it's not your life at risk. Even with such a small risk.

 

The Australian community is of a decent size, I don't post on the APC much for lack of time but if you need any help getting started PM or this chat will get most Australians attention. I monitor this one so as always to offer help to Australians who need it.

 

Regards, AP

[Arthur]

What you need to learn is what industries will legitimately supply the ingredients that you want. Then you have to develop contacts that enable you to have access to small amounts, no-one does hobby pyro by the ton! Almost everything in pyro has a legitimate use for something else, or is a waste product that you can obtain easily.

 

Unless you are in China's fireworks towns then pyro is a very minor industry in any country so takes what it can from wherever it can and can't afford to be too picky. Some older formulations have gone out of use because the ingredients ceased to be available easily or safely -especially with toxic things like mercury, and suspect carcinogens. Some of the old iron flake materials simply ceased to exist when old factories stopped using particular production methods from which the flake was a waste material.

 

Magnesium and aluminium come as anti corrosion anodes for boats and with a small foundry then cracked automotive alloy rims will contribute to making magnalium.

Usually the "nicer" the town the fewer suppliers of useful chems or scrap exist.

[Oldsalt]

What you need to learn is what industries will legitimately supply the ingredients that you want. Then you have to develop contacts that enable you to have access to small amounts, no-one does hobby pyro by the ton! Almost everything in pyro has a legitimate use for something else, or is a waste product that you can obtain easily.

 

Unless you are in China's fireworks towns then pyro is a very minor industry in any country so takes what it can from wherever it can and can't afford to be too picky. Some older formulations have gone out of use because the ingredients ceased to be available easily or safely -especially with toxic things like mercury, and suspect carcinogens. Some of the old iron flake materials simply ceased to exist when old factories stopped using particular production methods from which the flake was a waste material.

 

Magnesium and aluminium come as anti corrosion anodes for boats and with a small foundry then cracked automotive alloy rims will contribute to making magnalium.

Usually the "nicer" the town the fewer suppliers of useful chems or scrap exist.

 

Cheers Arthur. Having a well stocked lab does feel like a luxury. Ill see what it looks like when I get home. Edited March 7, 2018 by Oldsalt

[AussieBombTech]

Hey everyone, if I order Visco into Australia will I get it? Or get in trouble? I really need some. Any ideas?

[AustralianPyromaniac]

Sent you a DM with a web link mate. For anyone referencing this in future, I won't include the link, but I'll say that as long as the company is happy to ship it, it'll arrive no issues at all. If you are caught though charges would apply. But I've imported it four times before to QLD with no issue.

 

Regards, AP

[lloyd]

A mill jar of an empty capacity of 1 gallon (US) needs approximately 29lb of lead media to fill it to the optimum 50% full.

 

You can use that ratio of 29lb/gallon to calculate how much other-size jars might need.

 

Here are the comparative masses of other types of media:

 

Medium Spec.Grav. Charge/gal

porcelain 2.38 6 lb.

high alumina 3.30 8.5 lb.

zirconia 5.50 14 lb.

Burundum 3.42 9 lb.

steel 7.85 20 lb.

lead 11.35 29 lb.

 

Charge based on 50% of jar volume.

 

Lloyd

[Download]

Any aussies that have some off cuts of HDPE poly pipe lying about? I was thinking PN16, 75mm OD, 61mm ID. I only need a metre. I can pay for it and the shipping of course.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Download

[AustralianPyromaniac]

Any aussies that have some off cuts of HDPE poly pipe lying about? I was thinking PN16, 75mm OD, 61mm ID. I only need a metre. I can pay for it and the shipping of course.

I've got about 7m of 61mm ID HDPE. Happy to chuck it under the drop saw and cut you some mortars if that's what you're after? Do you have a way to plug them up? If not I could probably cut out some plugs and seal them up as well.

HDPE is cheap as dirt and I just have it laying around so it wouldn't cost too much.

Just shoot me a DM and I can get it sorted out for you.

 

Regards, AP

[Arthur]

I do plugs for HDPE with resin intended for GRP. Drill holes into tube, insert nails pour in resin with warm dry sand as filler, add glass fibres if you have/want. the nails hold the plug in the tube (nothing sticks to those plastics) Usually I use enough resin/sand mix to fill the tube to about half it's internal diameter. (3" tube filled with 1.5 inches of resin mix.) The nails used to retain the plug should be one third of the tube OD in length so that when the holes are bored and the heads counterbored a little the outside is smooth and the nail points nearly meet,

 

If you use sand, it's important that the sand is DRY. if you use the sand warm then the resin cures more quickly (too hot and the resin burns!)