paul 1

Hi all,

I’m a new member to the forum and I must say it is reassuring to know that so many people show an interest in pyrotechnics. In my teens (some time ago) I was heavily into pyro and had no end of fun. What stopped me was the uncertainty about the legality of the hobby. We seem to be in a situation in the UK where any hobby not involving kicking a ball around a field is considered weird. It was pyro that originally attracted me to a career in science and it still heavily interests me.

I’ve always wanted to experiment with composite solid rocket propellant based on the NH4ClO4-Al-HTPB formulations but I find myself perturbed in not knowing that is legal and not. Can anyone shed some light on this? In fact are their any clubs in the North West which test flight rockets with experimental propellant? I always found the motors you buy for model rockets quite lame and my interest in this soon died.

I find the situation all quite confusing sometimes. A guy at Salford University makes some whopper sized rockets using sugar-NaClO3 and his firings are occasionally shown on local news. This is clearly legal otherwise it would have been picked up on. What’s the deal?

Paul

Hi all,

I am a new member to this forum. This subject is what primarily attracted me to chemistry as a youngster. In fact it was a science teacher at secondary school who spurred this interest by conducting numerous pyrotechnic experiments after class for some interested students, me being one. If not for these experiments it is doubtful I would have continued with science and obtained a PhD in chemistry. Let’s face it, much of the core theoretical side of science is rather boring, however, without this essential knowledge it is impossible to continue. Such experiments show students that science can be interesting and bridge this barrier. One wonders if there is a correlation between schools stopping such experiments and the decline of science in this country. This is now propagating to universities and many of you will have heard of university chemistry departments closing in the UK. I would be interested to hear comments on this view.

It is reassuring that so many others in the UK are interested in pyrotechnics. I am in agreement with some members of this forum that the common public attitude of all amateur pyrotechnologists being lunatics is one of ignorance. There is a world of difference between a person interested in science and wanting to experiment with pyrotechnics for personal fun and someone wanting to use this knowledge to either damage property or hurt people. However, the general public are not also renowned for commonsense.

The above is all my personal opinion and just that. I am not familiar with the law with regards to individuals experimenting with pyrotechnics but I can imagine that it is grey and patchy. However, given the present “terror mad” situation in the UK it is not wise for anyone to be making or storing chemicals for pyrotechnic means. This is not my opinion but a fact. Many of the emails to this forum make interesting reading, particularly the “100g rule” on black powder and the purchasing of chemicals. Most chemical companies in the UK will not sell to private individuals and are likely to contact the police if that individual attempts purchase for the purpose of making exothermic material. I would like to draw attention to a news story covered not so long ago in the northwest where an individual from Liverpool was attempting to purchase chemicals to make an amateur pyrotechnic video. This individual actually made it on national news, prosecuted and lost his job. I can’t remember but I think he received a non-custodial sentence. Given the sentence they obviously believed his motives where not malicious.

I personally see you all as fellow scientists but we live in an irrational world where it only takes a malicious neighbour or so called friend to cause you a world of trouble. The message is not to spoil anyone’s fun but to be very careful. I welcome comments.

Paul