GuiltyCol

Thanks Brightstar, that's as definitive as it gets.

alu powder, plastic bag, static charge, 404 error...

Can I just check here please, are you saying storing things in plastic bags is bad?

IPP page 31, in the section "Black Powder (BP) via the Precipitation Method", under the title "Safety Notes" says:

All black powders are sensitive to friction and sparks. Black powder must never be stored in glass jars or metal cans with press fit lids (like paint cans). Old black powder cans are ideal. Ziploc™ bags are also commonly used.

So I bought some Ziplock plastic bags exactly for this purpose.

I have to agree with marble, it seems like a lot of effort, but reading through those long postswith lots of information in them is well worth it

I'm glad then that we all agree with each other then. Just to be clear, I never said that it wasn't worth reading it, it most definitely is. I was simply making the point that some wouldn't (or couldn't cope with it), and perhaps vital safety critical information could be presented in a more succinct way.

NO_ONE can give you all the skill and experience instantly

If you have the impression that that's what I was after, then you badly misunderstood my post. I hoped I'd been quite clear about how careful and slow I have been taking things, indeed it's taken me nearly 2 years since joining this forum to actual start making my first batch of BP!

A sticky, closed thread that contained a link to a good noob tutorial would be of great use.

Nice way to reduce my entire starting post down to a single sentence!

Thank you all for the well reasoned replies. I'm not going to debate this, as my intention was not to argue, I do just want to clarify a few points on the off chance I may have been misunderstood:

> YT2095: Science is Not about "Instant gratification"

Agreed, I made a point of saying that that is a perfectly understandable approach.

> YT2095: I don`t think Anyone here has ever been told off / shouted at, or shot from a 24" mortar for asking a question that hasn`t been covered

It's exactly that helpful attitude that makes this forum one of the better pyro resources on the net.

> W.P: there would be so much information it would be impossible to condense into anything more than the "monster threads" as you described them.

That's an interesting point. There would be a fine line between being succinct and reckless brevity.

> W.P: there certainly is an unwelcoming atmosphere to newbies here

I'm not actually sure I agree with that, I've been to forums that are a lot more hostile to noobies than here. I've generally been of the opinion that providing people are prepared to put the work in and ask sensible questions, they have been readily accepted here. Take my post for example, ok I registered a couple of years ago now (has it really been 2 years!) though would still consider myself "new", I wouldn't have been surprised at receiving a fair amount of invective in the replies, but I haven't. So far everyone has been extremely considerate. Thanks for the resource list btw.

BrightStar: I suppose an analogy here is cookery. Have you ever seen a complete beginner pick up a cookery book and produce a really good dinner?

True, though I hoped the tutorial I was proposing would be the cookery equivalent of "How To Boil An Egg" i.e. the simplest possible task that was the foundation for everything else.

pyrotrev: I don't think there's any deliberate policy to exclude information from newbies on this forum

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that's what I thought, it isn't and I don't believe there is such a policy.


Thanks again to all for the excellent responses.

Thanks Andrew.