26 replies to this topic

[digger]

I used the man myself a couple of times in the early days.

Yes his service was very painful, however I did always eventually get the orders through (having his phone number helps).

As you say Phil he can certainly source some interesting chemicals.

I get a feeling some of them are synthesised by him, as I have had a couple of chems that were not properly dried out.

Oh by the way the German black is sort of a dark grey, much lighter than the Indian black stuff.

If it is bright flake then 1Kg will occupy about 3 liters whereas 1kg of dark flake will occupy somewhere in the region of 3/4 - 1 liter. Does that help?

Edited by digger, 15 February 2009 - 11:58 PM.

[Potassium chlorate]

On eBay, you cannot give people negative feedback, otherwise they will give you negative feedback. Because of the fact, many sellers such as a specific lad from lithuania who recently sold me 4200 mesh aluminum which was more like 200 mesh get away with selling aluminum to hundreds of customers.

It wasn't on eBay. It was a very well known chemical supplier in Poland. I read on a Norwegian forum that he had pissed a lot of people off in Norway too with his ignorant attitudes.

[Potassium chlorate]

Well if it says German Black on the container and it isnt BLACK complain. Id never do that to someone! If I didnt have something Id say and let them decide not just send it

The weird thing is, he didn't have magnesium, which he did tell me, so I said, "OK, I'll buy magnesium the next time", because I'd already paid the order and the exchange through the bank was very beneficial for the bank but not for me.

The reason that I hesitate to complain is that it still all in all was much cheaper than if I'd bought it in Sweden. I usually don't take the piss from anyone, but, like I said, the other stuff was good and some isn't even available in Sweden, and we have (still) more liberal laws than the UK in this respect, even if the prices are disgustingly high among the very few Swedish suppliers. So he's all in all a good supplier but with a shitty and ignorant attitude.

[Potassium chlorate]

Pyroswede said: I bought it from a certain Pole

I'm just wondering if we are talking about the same person I'm thinking of.

I had some dealings with a site at hxxp://K****.org.pl and eventually I ended up pursuing a Paypal claim which I won successfully.

Surprisingly enough I won by default because the guy didn't even respond to Paypal's enquiries.

If we are talking about the same person I agree, he seems very lax about supplying the goods.

I often wondered if he takes the orders and then sources the goods after so he doesn't have to keep stock on the shelf ?

My own decision was to use a 10 foot bargepole and stay well clear.

Yes, that's the man, and I also think that he is that slow because he gets the chemicals himself after the customer's order. That's what the Norwegian guys thought too.

[Potassium chlorate]

Problem is, he offers hard to get chems at reasonable prices and sometimes delivers them. That is not a recomendation to use him BTW - that must be your choice/risk.

Yes. He has many chemicals that are impossible to get in many other countries. Poland and the Czech Republic are still the "Wild East" concerning chemicals. And if you in fact get the chemicals, even the ones that are available in your own country, they are extremely cheap.

There are very few dedicated pyro suppliers in the UK, or who will deliver to the UK. We will not have a good environment for suppliers until the hobby is clearly legal and this is an uphill struggle.

I supplied pyro chemicals for a couple of years, and nobody is going to make any money from a couple of orders a week.

We have to work as an organisation to get legal, then good suppliers will spring up - and be able to make a living, or at least a profit!

We have even less suppliers in our country, of course. They're very good to make business with and very helpful but expensive. They probably must be with our high taxes and the relatively few pyro hobbyists in a country with only 9 million people.

I'm pessimistic about our hobby to tell the truth. The EU seems to want to restrict the laws concerning pyrotechnics even more.

Edited by Pyroswede, 16 February 2009 - 07:22 AM.

[Potassium chlorate]

I used the man myself a couple of times in the early days.

Yes his service was very painful, however I did always eventually get the orders through (having his phone number helps).

As you say Phil he can certainly source some interesting chemicals.

I get a feeling some of them are synthesised by him, as I have had a couple of chems that were not properly dried out.

Oh by the way the German black is sort of a dark grey, much lighter than the Indian black stuff.

If it is bright flake then 1Kg will occupy about 3 liters whereas 1kg of dark flake will occupy somewhere in the region of 3/4 - 1 liter. Does that help?

Yes, it certainly will. Then it seems to be German Black after all and the stuff I always thought was German Black must be Indian Black. And then he hasn't fooled me at all...my Swedish supplier always called the black stuff German Black and many Swedish pyro hobbyists assured me that the name came from the actual colour of the stuff...

The thing is that a guy who is that ignorant when it comes to actually shipping the stuff you already paid for (he's also infamous for his lousy packing earlier) of course makes you suspicious.

I guess the Poles have another concept of efficiency than the Swedes or the Brits...

Edited by Pyroswede, 16 February 2009 - 07:52 AM.

[StephF]

I guess the Poles have another concept of efficiency than the Swedes or the Brits...

I think it is just Lukasz that is fairly useless, I have used another supplier in Poland called Tomasz.

His site addy is somewhere on the board, he was way better.

But of course we should not forget our very own Cooperman who tops the board at customer service.

[digger]

I think it is just Lukasz that is fairly useless, I have used another supplier in Poland called Tomasz.

His site addy is somewhere on the board, he was way better.

But of course we should not forget our very own Cooperman who tops the board at customer service.

Yep I have used him too, much better, limited selection though.

[phildunford]

I'm pessimistic about our hobby to tell the truth. The EU seems to want to restrict the laws concerning pyrotechnics even more.

It's easy to get pessimistic, but don't! If you do, you let the faceless bureaucrats win. As I have said before, in this country rocket enthusiasts have won the right to, cut grains, add black powder and store significant amounts of propellants without a licence. They have dozens of sites where they can persue their hobby. They did this by getting their organisation large enough that it could negotiate with the authorities. We could do the same, it's not impossible. If we don't believe this, we might as well give up now!

[Potassium chlorate]

I think it is just Lukasz that is fairly useless, I have used another supplier in Poland called Tomasz.

His site addy is somewhere on the board, he was way better.

But of course we should not forget our very own Cooperman who tops the board at customer service.

Well, he seems honest, especially since it seems to be GB after all, but slobby and not very service-minded.

[Potassium chlorate]

It's easy to get pessimistic, but don't! If you do, you let the faceless bureaucrats win. As I have said before, in this country rocket enthusiasts have won the right to, cut grains, add black powder and store significant amounts of propellants without a licence. They have dozens of sites where they can persue their hobby. They did this by getting their organisation large enough that it could negotiate with the authorities. We could do the same, it's not impossible. If we don't believe this, we might as well give up now!

It's a bit like guns. Every time an idiot makes something stupid, they blame it on the gun and not the idiot. If someone blows up himself it's the chemicals' fault too, even if several millions of people can use them in a responsible way. But it's never a car's fault when someone drives like an idiot or a knife's fault when someone gets stabbed...

No, I'm not giving up, I just hate them for their self-righteousness and "von oben"-attitude.

[Potassium chlorate]

It is extraordinary good alu, so I was wrong. What you can complain about with Lukasz is the sloppy attitude after you've paid him. Though some people say that it takes just a few days, but that seems to be when he has the chemicals in store.