Gary

Our government are pathetic and useless god I wish people would fight against them and their unwise decisions that are corrupt. Is all the government are good at is sleeping, talking shit and taking our money oh and spending it on themselves lol. Now we are stuck in the EU thanks to our shitty government bringing us apart of it without anyone's consent in the first place which will most likely make our life's worse.

I'm afraid that the EU totalitarian, Socialist superstate (EUSSR, I mean) will only lead to more erosion of our personal freedoms and rights.
The only way we can get out of the EU is to vote for a anti-EU party (and there is only ONE genuinely anti-EU party!) during the next GE.
I too dislike this oppressive Health and Safety Nanny State. Of course, health and Safety is very important, but what happened to Common Sense? For example, chemistry sets these days contain nothing more harmful than dyed sugar and plastic models of molecules! What experiments can practically be done with that? A few years ago (well, when I was about 15 years old) they contained many interesting (and moderately hazardous) chemicals, along with clear safety warnings. It was the responsibility of the user to heed the warnings and avoid injuring themselves or others by misuse of the chemicals. Nowadays, we need to be protected from danger by authorities who think they know what's good for us. We might aswell live inside hermetically sealed plastic bubbles!
It is not easy being a amateur chemistry or pyro enthusiast these days; thanks to the sensationalistic media the general public are so paranoid and 'chemophobic' that if you happen to enjoy experimental chemistry (amateur chemistry) or pyro as a hobby, then as far as they are concerned, you are 'up to no good'.

I wonder whether substituting lead tetraoxide or bismuth compounds for tin dioxide (SnO2) would work in a crackle formula? After all, tin is similar to lead in its physical properties; like lead, it melts at a relatively low temperature, and both tin and lead have similar (although not identical, of course) chemistries. Tin is in the same group as lead in the periodic table (group 14). If tin dioxide produces a good crackle effect in a microstar formula, it has the added bonus of being a little less toxic than lead. I might order a small batch of tin dioxide from a ceramic dealer, just to see if it is any good. Even if the effect is not exactly the same as the loud report produced in lead or bismuth crackling microstars, it still might be worthwhile. A new, novel effect might be 'discovered'!

Has anyone bought chems from pyroworx? They stock reasonably-priced chlorine donors (parlon, pvc powder), but the asking price of some of their metallic fuels and oxidisers is a bit overkill! A good selection of pyro chems, including the more 'exotic' chems like ammonium perc, hexamine, barium chlorate, but some of these are quite pricey.

Voted yes. Making my own and firing them for personal entertainment (hobby pyrotechnics) gives me far greater enjoyment than commercial fireworks ever could. I am very much a 'do it yourself' or 'hands on' person. I am also a amateur chemistry enthusiast and have a interest in the chemistry-orientated aspect of pyrotechnics.

You made those yourself? They're quite good! I would expect to see shells of such quality at a professional public display. There's a special satisfaction derived from constructing your own fireworks from scratch; something which far surpasses the enjoyment derived from firing consumer fireworks (and let's face it, a lot of consumer fireworks are quite expensive and their display performance is sometimes of a poor quality). What are 'yankee flasher' stars by the way?