A confluence of circumstances got me thinking about this. I used to do a fair bit of this, making smoke bombs, rockets, basic types of metal precipitates, object platings, one attempt at bio-diesel, hydrogen balloons, and generally just geeky stuff like that in my parents basement/backyard. Repeating or expanding what we did in high school, and being the late 90s, you could find various chems on the net pretty easy, as well as interesting things to do with them. I was curious if anyone else here did, or does do this still?
The reason I thought of it is that my parents are getting ready to sell the house and came across a box of my old stuff and wanted to know which if any chemicals were dangerous. That, combined with this recent story from here where a guy was held for 5 months during trial because he had some scary sounding chemicals. Of course the whole situation started when his wife called the police, showed them a private email he made to a friend where he made a joke about throwing it at people, because she was scared her children might find this chemical.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scoti...-1.3125493
I looked into it once, and I guess sales of many chemicals are now severely restricted, and if you do have a hobby lab you run a very real risk of being accused/arrested as a terrorist or drug maker but nosy scared neighbors (or in this case wife). Or at the very least having your home raided and gear seized.
It got me thinking how much times have changed in even ~15 years. It made me think that I'd almost be foolish to do some of the things I did now, and then that that is really a shame. That if you have an eccentric interest atypical for your age you're automatically suspicious, and run a real risk of life ruin.
The reason I thought of it is that my parents are getting ready to sell the house and came across a box of my old stuff and wanted to know which if any chemicals were dangerous. That, combined with this recent story from here where a guy was held for 5 months during trial because he had some scary sounding chemicals. Of course the whole situation started when his wife called the police, showed them a private email he made to a friend where he made a joke about throwing it at people, because she was scared her children might find this chemical.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scoti...-1.3125493
I looked into it once, and I guess sales of many chemicals are now severely restricted, and if you do have a hobby lab you run a very real risk of being accused/arrested as a terrorist or drug maker but nosy scared neighbors (or in this case wife). Or at the very least having your home raided and gear seized.
It got me thinking how much times have changed in even ~15 years. It made me think that I'd almost be foolish to do some of the things I did now, and then that that is really a shame. That if you have an eccentric interest atypical for your age you're automatically suspicious, and run a real risk of life ruin.