152 replies to this topic

[Loci]

an old washing machine or tumble drier or some thing like that, I know there is a whole shed of electric motors near where I live, but I dont know how suitable they would be, I can look for you though

[pyrotechnist]

Thinking of it why would most of the people chuck them out maybe the motor was faulty or damaged or got old and died out on them or they just wanted rid to get a new one. And another thing is there out in the rain the plugs are out to they could be rotten in side. I made some gunpowder today with my pestle and mortar was nice and fast. Burnt with a purple yellow flame thou is that normal by any chance I fort it just had to have a yellow flame the purple was only very light thou and burnt quickly. Thanks

Edited by pyrotechnist, 13 February 2004 - 08:13 PM.

[Richard H]

To make meal powder would require several hours in a ball mill, so either you've been grinding it by hand for a few days or thats green meal

I would also avoid grinding oxidant/fuel mixtures by hand.

[pyrodude]

if my ball mills being used for mixing other concuctions then i often use a mortar and pestle for BP i know it shouldnt but sometimes itsthe quickest way to make some green powder. (little bit dangerous though!!!!)

[The_Djinn]

Pyrodude,

If your ball mill is already in use and you want to resort to the mortar and pestle then that is fine, but do each of the ingredients separately that way you remove a lot of the risk. Once they have been ground individually then use the diaper method to mix. It shouldn?t take much longer than it already does but is a lot safer at the end of the day.

Mark

[BurlHorse]

Or.......Wait til the mill is freed up, and do it right. I'm amazed it burnt with any energy at all. As to the Mortar and pestle....1) Thick leather welders gloves are a great investment if you intend to do this as a whole part comp. 2) If you are in a hurry, your already breaking a cardinal rule.... but I digress, grind the Charcoal and KNO3 to your hearts content.....Grind the sulfer by itself, then as Mark pointed out diaper them together. this might yield marginal results compared to commercial Meal-D. As the Head Honcho pointed out, Milling is really the only way to go. Mill the 75-15-10, wet it, press it, dry it, corn it and mill it again, now you have the real thing. I suppose this is common knowledge so my appologies for being redundant.

I really can't stress the being in a hurry as breaking a cardinal rule........everytime I hear of an accident, it almost always starts out with, " I was in a hurry so I...." or "I just had to get it ready before....."

Working with energetic materials has enough variables that you can't control, so it's up to you to control every single one that you can.

Regards, Stay Green,

Bear

[Creepin_pyro]

Old topic, but I thought this would stirr things up a little.

Quote from E-mail correspondance with un-named American company:

"We can ship most products to the UK except for fireworks.
The visco fuse is sort of a "gray" area, but we might be able to stick it in
your package in a discrete location."

nuff said

[Rhodri]

This is NOT a good idea. The receiver NOT the sender could be prosecuted. It's simply 'smuggling' and smuggling controlled substances - even worse - 'explosives'.

You'd have very few excuses to escape from criminal (not civil) prosecution.

I know obtaining fuse is a big issue but obtaining it via this route carries a very high risk - especially in the current 'world climate'.

Homemade black match, if made with care, will more than suffice as 'passfire'.

Apologies for the 'downer post'.

[Creepin_pyro]

I see what yer sayin'

Funny that in the "legal" section of their website, it clearly states that it is ILLEGAL to ship fuse outside America. I can just imagine customs opening it up, and me getting a free one way flight to Guantanamo . Its tempting, though. I wasen't sure if I could be held legally responsible, as they offered to ship, but this seems obvious now.

Don't worry, I'm not going to try to order this. Just wanted to clarify the legal situation. I think I will get back to the company asking them to confirm just how "grey" the area is.
Someone who didn't check the legal issues could order from them, thinking they are on the right side of the law, then be landed in deep doo doo. They'd have to be quite stupid not to notice the BOLD RED notices letting us poor U.K'ers know that we are allowed to order sod all.

Time to move to America, Methinks.

[Rhodri]

Thanks for reading the note in the 'light' with which it was written. No one wants to attract the attention of legal authorities especially when we all enjoy such a rewarding hobby.

Maybe one day we will be able to obtain pyro pre-cursors legally.

I look forward to that day!

Stay safe!

[The_Djinn]

The legalities involved with fuse are strange. There is very little under UK law with regards to a person having safety fuse. You find it is more the suppliers that have regulated its sale rather than goverment. Items such as detinators are controlled though and if you start poking about it can boild down to which UN number a particular fuse falls under.

Put it this way, if customs opened the box you would get a visit as they would want to see what you are up to, which is understandable.

Mark

[Rip Rap]

Put it this way, if customs opened the box you would get a visit as they would want to see what you are up to, which is understandable.

I am not sure about this. I know the US laws may have changed, but have the UK customs laws changed?
The only reason I say this, is that about 3 years ago, when good ol' Skylighter still shipped alot of "goodies" over here, I received visco from them that was clearly labelled "Visco Fuse - Pyrotechnic safety fuse" on the customs declaration form attached to the package. I received 3 packages labelled like this. I received no HM Customs officials popping around for coffee & interrogation

The legalities involved with fuse are strange. There is very little under UK law with regards to a person having safety fuse. You find it is more the suppliers that have regulated its sale rather than goverment

I agree. UN number 0105 is exempt from paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 12 & 13 of the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991, and does not require explosives authorisation to acquire. You require no licence or permit to LEGALLY acquire it, but in practice, it is, as you say regulated by the suppliers - & who can blame them. They don't want to see their livelihood ruined because the government department of bans steps in, if they can "sensibly" regulate things themselves.
So have our customs laws changed? It is after all perfectly legal to acquire. Or was I just very lucky on 3 occasions? (seems unlikely).

[The_Djinn]

Rip Rap,

I doubt that fact you were not visited was down to luck. Just that now days things have changed and with many country's at a hightened state of alert items such as fuse arriving from destinations outside the country may or may not be followed up. A lot of suppliers in the States have stopped shipping certain items due to changes in their laws as well although there are still a few that will ship such items.

In a lot of cases officials will look at each case based on quantities and various other information. If you happened to live in an area listed as a hot spot known for various dubious activities then the likelyhood is that you may very well find members of the law doing a personal delivery for you

Mark

[Loci]

It could even be worse! maybe the SAS knocking would be knocking at your door.... or rather repelling through the windows and skylights.....

All in the name of counter terrorism eh?

Fraz

Edited by Loci, 24 February 2004 - 09:37 PM.

[Rip Rap]

Unfortunately, this "heightened state of alert" does not look like "lowering" any time soon