Hints and tips for Australians

[Ralph]

firstly may I say thats an easy way to get arrested and what your making sounds dangerous secondly even an idiot can get chemical formula right (something this "chemistry enthusiast" clearly cant)

[anapogeetoofar]

KnO3, KClO3,KCl, 50%H2O2, HNO3, H2SO4,Cu(oh), CuCl CuCO3, Cu2SO4, HMTD, charcoal, S , Al, Z, HN3NO3, HN3oh, HCl, HClO4, picric acid, KMNO4, MnO2, Dextrin, BaClO3, HN32S,H2S, H3, 5L-LN2, al3s2, PVC powder, I, NI3, potassium picrate, 300g Li, 500g LiNO3, 500g reacted lithium hypochlorite mixture (1 part LiClO3+ 2 parts LiCl), CaCl and finally Ca2C

 

Sooo, let me get this straight, you have and are storing triatomic hydrogen, have somehow nitrated hydrazoic acid, turned it basic, and stuck two sulfurs on it, are storing hydrogen sulfide, 5 liters of liquid nitrogen, nearly a pound of lithium, a notoriously dangerous primary, as well as NI3, and also sell "instantly exploding smoke bombs"?

 

I wonder what kinds of "pranks" and "pyrotechnics" involve corrosive acids, nonexistent chemicals, lethal gasses, high explosives, cryogenic liquids, and alkali metals?

 

Do tell.

[jpoopdog]

sorry about some mispelling which i am sure you have picked up on.

i dont have hydrazoic acid, it was meant as ammonium, as in nitrate, hydroxide and sulfide.

 

well i do do alot of things with my chems, your firstly wondering where i got so much lithium from, well,

i made a small alkali metal cell, (as i like to call it), which is heated by a propane stove (which i made also) , which electrolyses alkali chlorides like lithium chloride, sodium chloride and so on, so aquire a relatively pure alkali metal. though , at the moment i cant get it hot enough to melt sodium or potassium chloride, even if i add calcium or lithium chloride to it. but essesntially its an electrolysis cell. i get my lithium hypochlorite in a rather pure form from a pool store, form that i make all other lithium compounds.

 

as for the triatomic hydrogen, thats called tritium, and i didnt make it, but rather coincidentally came across it shortly after my friend became obssessd with trying to get a tritium keychain. anyway, i got a thick glass housed 120ml tritium solution vial, which glows in the dark about the same as zinc sulfide plastics.

 

also, with the hydrogen sulfide, i use it so make ammonium sulfide by distilling it and ammonia gas in my distill, i decided to get some after coming across a hydrogen sulfide gas tank at the tip, which oddly is has alot of chemistry and science supplies in the tip shop, (its where i got my liquid nitrogen tank)

the liquid nitrogen i have i keep as a novelty which i use very rarely, simply to show off at friends, i got it from a friend who knows a science teacher who lets him play with chemistry supplies like liquid nitrogen and sodium metal, i dont activly store it on my house, but i do own it, and can use whenever i want.

 

i often do pranks though using my trinitroiodide, like painting toilet bowls with it, which is hilarious, also people also enjoy using it for pranking, as so i sell it.

as for picric acid i dont really use it for anything other than making potassium picrate, which i use for screamers, the hmtd i use to blow up fruit, and other very tiny high explosive things.

 

i also make flash paper from the sulfuric acid and nitric acid. which is really fun to use as at parties

 

 

 

[Ralph]

Yay! another Australian thats a dushe bag , please don't think we are all the same

[Guest no6]

The correct spelling is douche bag. Love you Ralph.

[Mumbles]

Well, as entertaining as that was to read, you are completely full of shit and banned.

[Bacon]

Well just finished reading all that, quite an entertaining few days (haha).

On a more serious note though, I'm new to pyro and I made my first fountain (non-metalic), today and I will have to test it in the next few days.

Just wondering though, are there any Australians who want some PVC powder, as Cooperman435 is selling it really cheaply (AU$3.82/kg) and was wondering if anyone wanted chip in for a group buy and save on shipping.

Also, just out of curiosity, JPoopDog mentions using K picrate for making screamers, now I don't want to do anything of the sort but was just wondering, would such an unsafe compound be used in screamer, or any other type of composition?

[Seymour]

For quite a while K picrate was the primary whistle compound, either fired on it's own with it's notoriois black smoke, or with Potassium nitrate that cleaned the burn and I do believe reduced the tendancy to explode.

 

There were some accidents, related to it's sensitivity, or the fact that it came in to contact with lead, but generally it was considered safer than the previous version.. Potassium chlorate and gallic acid.

 

Now, all of the above is considered old and dangerous, since we like the new and still very dangerous (if slightly safer) K perchlorate and certain aromatic salts type mixes (benzoates, salicylates, pthalates ect)

 

 

I hope the fountain goes well!

 

I'm in NZ, and may be interested in a kilo or two if you're not too worried about shipping it across the sea. Not too different from if you were in Vic and I WA.

[Bacon]

Thanks Seymour, the fountain went great.

I'll see what I can do about shipping, I'll drop you a pm if it can be done. Regular post should be fine for PVC, shouldn't it?

[mike_au]

I might be up for a KG or three, I'm also in NZ but I think I would probably get it shipped to WA since that is where most of my pyro gear is at the moment.

[elmarchi]

Hi

Im a newcomer to pyro and as i can't get my hands an a large steady supply of european woods like willow or holly etc. can anybody recomend anything on Australian woods that are good for charcoaling for BP.

 

Btw are there many pyros in NSW, sydney to be exact. I know its pretty restrictive in the 'burbs but am hoping there are local pyros anyway

 

Thanks

[mike_au]

Keep an eye out for weeping willows around wetlands. They are reasonably common over in Perth so I would be surprised if you don't have at least a few over there.

 

I have had reasonable success with cape lilac/white cedar, it's another imported species but apparently they do grow in NSW. You will know if you have one near by because they attract caterpillars in summer (so you won't have much trouble convincing the neighbours to let you cut it down). It's not as good as some other charcoals, but it is certainly usable.

 

If you really can't find anything, experiment. Find something nearby and grab a couple of branches. You want a soft wood, so forget jarrah, gums, etc.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

i hear many fruit tree's like apple ,peach, apricot and other pit fruits make slightly above average charcoal.

something to look into though is paperbark and tea tree. both are somewhat pourous, i havent tried them yet. they are everything ive been told to look out for when looking for good charcoal wood, and i find them growing allot near fresh water streams. at manton dam, a large water reseviour/ski lake in the northern territory, half of the dams shore line is populated by masses of the trees which im positive are in the melaleuca family.

i find they have a low density compared to other wood, and im sure its worth consideration, considering its found pretty much all around australia. as soon as i get the oppertunity, i will turn some to charcoal, ive had a big fat branch segment siting on my shelf for a month or so , just waiting to be used.

 

 

[mike_au]

I did try paperbark a while back, from memory it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as some of the other stuff I had. I think it wound up in my "Mixed charcoal" bucket for fountains, stars, etc.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

was it better or worse than pine for BP?

[mike_au]

I haven't make much pine BP, but if I had to guess I would say a little worse. My notebook is in a sea container in another country so I can't give a better answer sorry.

 

Give it a shot, worst case scenario you have some BP for core burners, primes, etc.

[jimbo]

paulownia is supposed to be pretty good and there are plantations in northern nsw or se qld they have a website,they might sell bulk off cuts or chips for cheap.I think you can order via e-mail.

[Algenco]

paulownia is supposed to be pretty good and there are plantations in northern nsw or se qld they have a website,they might sell bulk off cuts or chips for cheap.I think you can order via e-mail.

 

 

Paulownia is the best, get it if you can

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Ive seen many pictures of paulownia, and i still cant distinguish it from normal trees.

so sad for me!

[dagabu]

Paulownia is the best, get it if you can

 

If you know some kind old guy that likes you enough to send you a box, that is

 

-dag

[Algenco]

If you know some kind old guy that likes you enough to send you a box, that is

 

-dag

 

 

patience grasshopper, old farts are slow

[PyroDAD2012]

Hi to all on this great day, Im new to this form but not new to making fireworks and what a read this was WOW any help on getting a few chem's just the basics any help will do thanks and happy new year to all.

[mike_au]

any help on getting a few chem's

 

Welcome to the forums

 

What state/city are you in? I'm heading back to Perth in a few weeks and will need to restock on a few things. If you are near by I'd be happy to split a bag of KNO3, cook some charcoal, mix up some MgAl, etc.

[PyroDAD2012]

Welcome to the forums

 

What state/city are you in? I'm heading back to Perth in a few weeks and will need to restock on a few things. If you are near by I'd be happy to split a bag of KNO3, cook some charcoal, mix up some MgAl, etc.

 

Sydney west, yes that would be fine let me know?

[mike_au]

Sydney west, yes that would be fine let me know?

 

Oh, *that* side of the country.... I'm happy to send something over if you get stuck, but you would probably be better off finding a local supplier or going through diverse hobbies. Postage from Perth would add up pretty quickly.

 

EDIT: I should try to be more helpful than that... What specifically are you after? For KNO3 look at farming supply or hydroponics shops (it will be cheaper at the farm stores), charcoal you will probably want to make yourself, sulfur is available at bunnings (expensive but available at pretty much every store) and big w (cheaper, less pure, only at some stores). Pottery stores have all sorts of stuff (oxides, carbonates which can be converted to nitrates).

Edited January 5, 2012 by mike_au