Hints and tips for Australians

[Seymour]

I am sure you could always label fuses as yarn or wires, however not all suppliers will do that.

 

Some certainly have done so...

 

if something comes in that shouldn't, It' usually gets picked up :/

 

Not usually. Usually people get away with it. Their risk though... if it's opened there might be few questions to answer. I expect that it will result in a slap on the wrist, but at the current levels of fire danger especially, attitudes might be different.

[taiwanluthiers]

getting visco shipped to the US will most likely be much more difficult compared getting it shipped to any other country in the world, because US customs are very paranoid.

 

Anywhere else in the world though they just have dogs sniff it for narcotics or high explosives, and the X ray would see if there are bombs inside. So as long as you aren't shipping sticks of dynamite with visco attached to a blasting cap inside the dynamite, I don't think they care...

[Mumbles]

Why the hell would anyone get visco shipped to the US?

 

You really need to stop posting useless bullshit just to blather on about something or complain and hear yourself talk.

[Jst4LOLz]

Just got my visco in the mail

Very happy, cheers for the site link Mr.W (Y)

 

I'm wondering if anyone has a good source for shell hemis?(1-5")

Prefer plastic 1-2" and 2-5" paper,

or if any one, Perth local, has some spare lying around you wouldn't mind parting with...

 

Cheers

 

[aaron2233]

For bentonite clay go to Coles and grab a bag of 'homebrand' kitty litter, the bag will feel like it is filled with small rocks - this is the one you want. Its pretty much pure bentonite, it will need to be processed (reduced to powder)

 

If you want, go to a pottery supplier and buy it there, its dirt cheap there and will be already processed plus you can pick up some carbonates.

 

Colored rockets are quite difficult and require funky chemicals which are hard to find.

 

Go to a farm supply / fertilizer store and buy a bag of KNO3 there, should be about $35 for a 25kg bag. Should be able to get a bag of sulfur there as well. You will most likely need to grind up the potassium nitrate as it will come in prilled form, just grab the cheapest coffee grinder / blender you can find.

 

For charcoal, I suggest pine for rockets and poplar for BP. You will probably want a ball mill

 

Need any help, feel free to ask. PM me and ill direct some quality information your way to help you get off the mark.

thank you so much i now have a 20kg bag of kno3

[mike_au]

Hi all, it looks like we've picked up a few new west aussies since I was here last (I'm assuming MrW is over this side since he referred to "the eastern states").

 

I've been out of the game for a bit, my wife and I went over to NZ for a while (guy fawkes was good fun) and then come back and had a son (which keeps us busy).

 

If anyone is interested in grabbing a beer and talking pyro, drop me a PM.

[joker]

Hi, anyone know what happened to trueblue and diverse hobbies?

[Anarchy08]

not quite sure on that one, from what I gather true blue kinda got out of pyro for a bit with schooling and what not no time for it, and the site hosting the server didnt get paid and tbp got deleted.

it is a shame we had such a focused local community before some of the kewls/noobies took over

Edited April 25, 2013 by Anarchy08

[Nikko]

Hi all. I'm ACT based and I'm struggling to even find KCl to make chlorite with! Canberra's probably a pretty bad place to be trying to break into this hobby (been dreaming for years) what with the no farmland and lots of embassies but it's where I live, so not much can be done about that. As I said, I'm happy to make kclo3 from kcl. It's a more powerful oxidiser than kno3 anyway, though I am aware it's less stable.

 

I really hope this wasn't answered earlier. I did look through this thread and others but I may have ,issued it. Sorry if I did.

 

Nikko

[Nikko]

Also short funny story

 

My girlfriend's father was in the army for many years way back when. One day, tidying the shed, what does he find but a box of grenades. He does the right thing and calls the police bomb disposal department. "We'll be there in a week or so" was the reply.

"Uh... I live next-door to the Russian Embassy"

15 minutes is a pretty fast response time for that many people.

[joker]

Nikko,why do you want more powerful oxidizers(for bigger bangs?, theres alot more to pyro than just bangs)? Chlorate is quite sensitive in compositions and is a lot more worry with ncompatibility. I suggest not playing with it until you get alot more experience in the hobby. Get a start with good quality black powder.

"Hi all. I'm ACT based and I'm struggling to even find KCl to make chlorite with!" chlorate not chlorite, chlorite is ClO2.

Stay safe.

[Nikko]

Nikko,why do you want more powerful oxidizers(for bigger bangs?, theres alot more to pyro than just bangs)? Chlorate is quite sensitive in compositions and is a lot more worry with ncompatibility. I suggest not playing with it until you get alot more experience in the hobby. Get a start with good quality black powder.

"Hi all. I'm ACT based and I'm struggling to even find KCl to make chlorite with!" chlorate not chlorite, chlorite is ClO2.

Stay safe.

 

I'm not looking for more powerful oxidisers, I'm looking for any oxidisers at all. I was trying to say that I can't even source benign chemicals. I have been looking for kno3 for a very long time, obviously in the wrong places. I would much prefer to use it. And sorry for that mistake. Typing one handed on an iPad, and it feels the need to correct me all the time.

 

Also I didn't quite understand how unstable chlorate was until last night, perusing a book on HE that has a disclaimer in the beginning I missed first time around. It said that while making explosives has risks (to life and limb) and you accept those risks, here are some that weren't included because they are too dangerous. What was number 4? KClO3 + sucrose. At that point I was much less keen.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Nikko

[joker]

To be quite honest I am scared of the sensitivity and power of commonly made HE's, even more so than chlorate, The primaries are by their nature sensitive. With a controlled reaction nitrocellulose is pretty benign in synthesising and sensitivity. I hope I don't sound too preachy, I believe in truth rather than exaggerate claims for or against.

[leedrill]

the only reason you should want kclo3 is for some star comps and coloured smoke if so still be really careful with it cross contamination can cause severe consequences especially with chlorate

[Nikko]

the only reason you should want kclo3 is for some star comps and coloured smoke if so still be really careful with it cross contamination can cause severe consequences especially with chlorate

 

Mate!

 

As a fellow member of the best-country-in-the-world-unless-you-want-to-pyro, where can I get chems? I know it's iffy in Aussie to talk about it, feel free to PM me. I would MUCH prefer not to work with KClO3. And I am not here to make b*mz. I want to make pretties!

[leedrill]

is good to see you on here asking questions but i cant really help you other than the info on here just get to know a few on here and be part of the community im sure you will source what you need soon enough for kno3 there is plenty available on ebay inside of australia just keep reading and reading youll always find a source of what you need

[PyroJakey]

hey guys, i see this thread is getting old, is there any updates to where i can source visco fuse or similar? or any pyro chem's were shipping doesn't cost me a tonne, thanks for yor help.

 

Jake

[Bim1980]

Kno3 is not illegal to purchase. ...I got it in 25kg bags....they do want to put it under the ammonium nitrate law but unsure how thats going

[leedrill]

yes its still legal but not for our uses

[Bim1980]

This is true......last I got it he was saying they want to put it under the amonium nitrate class...so guessing you need a licence of somesort....never tried to sorce perc or chlorates so unsure of the hassles of getting it...something ill look into in time.....manly play with rockets and sulutes so all the basic bp ingredients and ally I can get with no great problem

[jessoman]

Hi there fellow Aussies and all other 'Pyro Comrades',

 

I thought here is a fitting place to introduce myself as I'm a Pyrotechnic enthusiast living on the Northern NSW Coast. I have been reading this forum for many years now and I have never bothered to register as I have been very fond of the search button as it's answered every question I've had (when paired with google)

 

I've made my presence known on here as I'm interested in meeting any fellow, safe enthusiasts to share stories about our 'secret 'hobby' (as this country is so regulated) I would for the most part rather keep it behind tight lips.

 

Also want to say thanks to those genius minds behind the keyboards sharing their knowledge and experience! It's prevented me from making silly mistakes (at the expense of someone in the past doing it and sharing)

 

Anyway I look forward to keeping up to date with the latest information and for anyone doing any international group buys please put me in your list of people to contact.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Jess

Edited November 17, 2013 by jessoman

[Seymour]

Welcome Jess!

 

I pretty much consider you a local, The Tasman sea is just a little ditch right? As I'm sure you are aware from your years reading, Australia has quite a vibrant, if secretive group of talented and enthusiastic pyros. Judging from your post, you should not have too much trouble coaxing and convincing some of them to get to know you.

 

Best of luck, and I look forward to seeing more of you around here. Perhaps some time I hop over to Straya we can even meet up and light some fuses in person

[leedrill]

a few of us are waiting for that day seymour

[Maserface]

Indeed-

[jessoman]

Thanks kindly Seymour,

 

Your definitely a local! I visit your country in the wintertime as often as I can to get a good dose of your snowfields and have always been welcomed. Lighting fuses in your landscape would be amazing! It is always funny going through the posts to see the odd poster state their from Australia and I always wonder: "What if they are just around the corner..?" So I thought it sensible to finally register and push myself further.

 

While I may not have much knowledge to offer to other members yet, I hope to one day. I have always taken slow, small steps with Pyrotechnics and don't mind it. This is mainly due to many hours at work and tooling restrictions (I would kill for a lathe amongst other tools) but i have managed to do fine and conjure up strange ideas in order to obtain my Pyro objectives.