PyroGb Posted December 31, 2023 Posted December 31, 2023 Any advice is welcome I have a star roller an ok ball mill potassium nitrate sulfer charcoal road flares a few star pumps thus far I’ve made (I think very good) smoke bombs they burn for four min and put out tons of smoke, rockets, and artillery shells that always work🤥 well not always but whatever thx 😊
Chillardbee Posted December 31, 2023 Posted December 31, 2023 does Sky lighter or any of the other companies not ship there? shipping might be $$$. I live in Canada (just below you in BC in fact) and trying to get the chems to make stars is tough enough and paying through the nose for it too. Because the American companies don't ship to Canada, I'm resorted to Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay. Believe it or not, the hardest thing for me to get is red gum. Think I might just go with shellac instead. unfortunately, I have to do a lot of google shopping for my chems.
PyroGb Posted December 31, 2023 Author Posted December 31, 2023 I’m looking at skylight but ya I’m not too worried about shipping $$$ this is my main hobby and I don’t have too many other things that I need also I have someone up here that has offered to machine tools so all I need is the chems I’ll try thx 👍
Arthur Posted December 31, 2023 Posted December 31, 2023 Message your favoured supplier, as if they supply to your area, and for what price. Going Fedex by land incorporates two borders with customs. Going by air could restrict what you can ship for hazardous cargo.
Arthur Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Most "within the USA" means within the contiguous States of the US. Too many things need special rules for air freight to islands or passage through another country -Canada for Washington to Alaska journeys. If it's going by road the parcel has to be legal in Canada. Simply no supplier wants to risk loss of parcel or worse prosecution for illegal shipping. Most certainly you don't want to pay hazmat shipping for your tiny parcel through another country and two international borders. Just remember that many chemicals have "regular" uses so may already exist in Alaska.
PyroGb Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 I have found this in things like kno3 in stump remover and low grade strontium in flares but I’m still unsure where else to go from here.
CountZero Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Do you have any pottery suppliers around? They have strontium and barium carbonate and some oxides that might be useful.
PyroGb Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 Wait do you need to separate the carbonate or does it work as is?
CountZero Posted January 3 Posted January 3 You can use it as is(with perchlorate, if it is pure enough) or convert to nitrate.
PyroGb Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 Do you mean I can use the strontium carbonate for stars as is? Without chemically replaceing the carbonate?
All10Fingers Posted February 20 Posted February 20 If you still need, I can link you to a eBay seller who sells Indian Blackhead and they ship to all 50 states. Under 20$ a pound discounts for larger orders and free shipping
SharkWhisperer Posted February 20 Posted February 20 On 12/31/2023 at 11:39 PM, Arthur said: Message your favoured supplier, as if they supply to your area, and for what price. Going Fedex by land incorporates two borders with customs. Going by air could restrict what you can ship for hazardous cargo. By air for sure. Not necessarily by 'ground'. Ship-borne cargo between Washington state and Alaska are common means of transport. You need to deal with shipping company policy, some of which are rather lax, but not customs.
SharkWhisperer Posted February 20 Posted February 20 (edited) On 1/4/2024 at 4:29 AM, PyroGb said: Do you mean I can use the strontium carbonate for stars as is? Without chemically replaceing the carbonate? Strontium carbonate red comps are fueled by a hotter oxidizer--typically perc. Carbonates are high-temp oxidizers that are insufficient by themselves as the oxidizer in fireworking comps. You can probably find somebody to mail you strontium nitrate if you don't want to extract if from road flares. Typically $5/pound from most USA vendors. p.s. There's some discussion of carbonates in the Veline vs Rubber thread in Pyrotechnics, too. Edited February 21 by SharkWhisperer
Arthur Posted February 21 Posted February 21 If there is a US boat from USA to AK then order your stuff (plenty!) and take yourself to Portland to collect it. Unless you can find a chemicals dealer in AK then you are a bit stuck without putting some time and effort in.
SharkWhisperer Posted February 22 Posted February 22 4 hours ago, Arthur said: If there is a US boat from USA to AK then order your stuff (plenty!) and take yourself to Portland to collect it. Unless you can find a chemicals dealer in AK then you are a bit stuck without putting some time and effort in. Besides cruise ships (many) and cargo ships (many), not sure if there's any regular people ferries between Portland/Seattle and Juneau/Kenai/Anchorage. Probably a few at least, tho you'd need to check customs requirements/bypassing if not disembarking at any Canadian stops, if any. I stayed longer than planned in Kenai area into the winter a few years back. Because my jeep had no functioning heater and it was February, I tossed it on a cargo ship in Anchorage and flew myself and the mutt 3 hrs to Seattle to meet it (some 3 weeks later...). I'd imagine anything could have been in that (very flammable) truck... I'm guessing smokeless powder for NC is cheaper in OR/WA than AK. And many other things. But Arthur's suggestion of a trip might be fun, for sure! Right now's almost starting to warm up in the Northlands and it's always gorgeous along the PNW/BC/AK coastline!
Arthur Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Make a trip of it, if work will allow. Go shopping then go to a Pyro event. Meet like minded people, collect stores, drive back to WA put things on a boat and either cruise home or fly home collecting your freight later. Or you could get a supplier to put your order in one or two blue drums and freight them to a port. Have you actually asked (eg) Fedex whether they can freight your package by land, through Canada under customs seal for delivery in USA (AK) later? It's not likely that you would be the first person to want this. There could well be a freight forwarder in WA who has done this before, and finds it easy
PyroGb Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 I. Going To North Carolina and then driveing up through Canada so I will look into it.
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