Choscura Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 I'm looking at setting up my shop sometime in the next month and a half, and I'm curious where you get ingredients. charcoal isn't an issue, theres enough wood here that I can make into charcoal (although none of it that you've probably ever tried- they don't have willow trees, so how do you think mango wood would work?) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) I've found a trick for distilling out of nitrate-rich earth (at www.thedisease.net). my big problem right now is finding sulfur, so what kind of products typically have it, or how do you order it from a chemical suppleir, or (worst case scenario), how hard is it to find a volcano with sulfur deposits around it in southeast asia? also, what kind of materials do I need besides this? I'm looking at a set of metric vials, at least 1 chemistry thermometer and a glass stir stick, a few beakers and random assorted vials, and possibly a jury-rigged swamp-cooler box for a refrigerator (entirely out of my budget level and not accessible here), and I've got most of what I need to build a cheap ball mill (courtesy of spatula tzar's site, I'll link if nobody has seen it) with a roughly 8 gallon capacity (minus space for the balls). what else should I make, what other chemicals do I need, and where can I get them?
Von Bass` Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 sorry, i am confused, are you setting up a shop and want to know which chemicals to sell, or are you getting started in this wonderful hobby, and want to know what to buy/make first?
ewest Posted April 24, 2006 Posted April 24, 2006 Well, you didn't mention that you had a scale, that's a must. Preferably one that's accurate to 0.1 grams. And yes you'll need a ball mill, but 8 gallons? Are you opening a manufacturing plant or is this just for personal use? My ball mill is a small rock tumbler I make roughly 1/2lb of stuff in at any one time. Then there's all the safety equipment also, you can't forget that. Safety glasses, face shield, cotton clothes, class D fire extinguisher. For toxic chems you'll need a good respirator, latex gloves, and long sleeve cotton shirt. You'll also need several buckets, I keep a bucket of water nearby plus a plastic trash bin and a metal burn bucket outside that I empty the plastic trash bin into and burn (the trash not the bucket) after each project. As far as where to get supplies, did you say Southeast Asia? Can't help you there being that I'm in the U.S. but if you look on the forum there's a section for supplier reviews that give several well known and good sites for purchasing materials. Also, if you're just wanting to do pyro, I doubt you'll need all the glass ware.
Choscura Posted April 25, 2006 Author Posted April 25, 2006 looking at buying, and thanks for the advice. the glassware is just for the odd chance that I end up getting really seriously into this as a hobby. also, thanks for the advice on the protective gear, I was simply gonna get a filter (like you see on the news for people that don't want bird flu here) and a pair of safety glasses and a box of surgical rubber gloves (the disposable type) and call it good. also, the ball mill is so big because of the bottles available to make a suitable ball mill out of: theres no clean running water, so buying one of these jugs (roughly 5-8 galons) is a pretty cheap alternative to the 'american standard'. filling up one jug is a little over fifty cents, and there's running hard water to take showers with, etc so it generally lasts a long time (about 3 days for a family of 4 or 5). I have an extra one of these on hand, and it's good hard plastic that can take the weight of some lead/tin alloy balls, which I'll probably end up making myself- not a problem, I know how to make a cheap 1 use forge fairly easily. to make the mill it's just an issue of getting an electrical motor and a wheel and setting the jug up on a frame where the wheel rotates it. anyway, thanks all.
Mr.Dan Posted June 1, 2006 Posted June 1, 2006 a easy and cheap way to get sulfur is from a garden shop you can get 5 pounds (2.3kg) for a few bucks not the best stuff but it works.
AreteVeteran Posted June 18, 2006 Posted June 18, 2006 It would be awesome to collect it from a volcano...Think about how much you could go grab for free wow.... /AV/
optimus Posted June 18, 2006 Posted June 18, 2006 Still, it's rather annoying processing solid sulphur into a powder. I'm never going back to the stuff once it's all used up!
Mephistos Minion Posted June 19, 2006 Posted June 19, 2006 If you are near malaysia, take a trip over there, digital scales will be very easy to find there.
gwx Posted July 3, 2006 Posted July 3, 2006 I'm looking at setting up my shop sometime in the next month and a half, and I'm curious where you get ingredients. charcoal isn't an issue, theres enough wood here that I can make into charcoal (although none of it that you've probably ever tried- they don't have willow trees, so how do you think mango wood would work?) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) I've found a trick for distilling out of nitrate-rich earth (at www.thedisease.net). > kno3 you can get from agricultural supplies> also you can get it in aquarium stores. ecoculture in singapore has it I think. costs SGD$8 for 1 kg when i bought it from a friend. it works very well. my big problem right now is finding sulfur, so what kind of products typically have it, or how do you order it from a chemical suppleir, or (worst case scenario), how hard is it to find a volcano with sulfur deposits around it in southeast asia? > in SEA, you can go to those chinese medicinal stores or alternatively you can approach those army/camping stores to ask for sulphur for chasing snakes away. some medicinal stores in singapore have it. malaysia should hve it too. you can get it past customs no prob jut by saying you cant find it in your country and u using it for snakes. its not poisonous nor is it hazardous on its own. also, what kind of materials do I need besides this? I'm looking at a set of metric vials, at least 1 chemistry thermometer and a glass stir stick, a few beakers and random assorted vials, and possibly a jury-rigged swamp-cooler box for a refrigerator (entirely out of my budget level and not accessible here), and I've got most of what I need to build a cheap ball mill (courtesy of spatula tzar's site, I'll link if nobody has seen it) with a roughly 8 gallon capacity (minus space for the balls). > may i please see the site to build your own ball mill? thanks a lot.> chem thermometer costs about SGD$6. You can get it at chem stores. In singapore you can go to practical mediscience. they sell mercury thermometers reading from -10 deg C to 360 deg C.> glass stir stick. i dont know, but you don't often need it do you? you can get it for non-chemistry uses. try asking around. say you are opening a drinks store.> vials? plastic vials for chemical warfare? i don't know. probably some biology store?> refrigerator you can improvise one, by getting a styrofoam box and putting some dry ice inside. dry ice is quite cheap you can get it at cake shops or supermarkets. ask for the smaller blocks. alternatively you can get from those chemistry stores. since they are expensive stuff, most wont ask what you're gonna do with it. anyways its not harmful on its own so its okay. some can even control temperature to the nearest 1 deg C.
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