thoriumthorium
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Buying from Chinese/Indian suppliers
I'm from the United States. I can't for the life of me find any chem. suppliers here willing to sell to hobbyist chemists. I don't like the idea of
doing something dodgy like setting up a fake business either.
I found sites like Alibaba that list products from manufacturers selling mostly in bulk. Try searching something like THF and you'll find some
suppliers with a minimum order as low as "1 barrel" or "5 kilograms," which are very reasonable provided one has the storage space. Does anyone have
any experience with this?
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Lambda-Eyde
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I don't know anything about these suppliers, but I can promise you that the DEA is much more interested in you if you order a fucking barrel of THF
than if you buy a bottle from eBay... Oh, and 200 L of extremely flammable, peroxide-forming liquid is not something I'd like to have in my back yard.
Oh, and speaking of eBay, you haven't looked very far...
[Edited on 28-12-2012 by Lambda-Eyde]
This just in: 95,5 % of the world population lives outside the USA
You should really listen to ABBAPlease drop by our IRC channel: #sciencemadness @ irc.efnet.org
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thoriumthorium
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THF was just an example. I wouldn't buy it from a chem. supplier anyway since it's so common.
I've bought chemicals on eBay and Amazon before. I think it's a great source for individuals, but very hit and miss. When you try searching for something useful on eBay, lo and behold, there's nothing.
Why do you say the DEA would care? As far as I know, THF is not restricted. Besides, they can investigate all they want. I'm not a fucking meth cook.
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kristofvagyok
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Nowdays even Sigma makes a lot chemicals in India, because it's cheap.
But if you are ordering from a noname supplier found on Alibaba than don't be surprised if the THF will contain some peroxides or some water. I
wouldn't trust them.
I have a blog where I post my pictures from my work: http://labphoto.tumblr.com/
-Pictures from chemistry, check it out(:
"You can’t become a chemist and expect to live forever." |
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woelen
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To my opinion Alibaba is a shady website. I am amazed to see what is offered at that website. A lot of drugs precursors in huge quantities. I also
have the impression that the suppliers on this website are somewhat shady. Another issue is that the chemicals are offered in bulk, sometimes even in
tonne quantities and this is aimed at industry. For many industrial processes, technical grade with lots of impurities is good enough.
I would go for eBay if you want to buy online. There are a few online shops, which do sell chemicals at decent prices, at good purity and which have a
decent reputation.
Some examples:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/reagent_shop/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs...
http://stores.ebay.com/CHEMSAVERS-INC
The last one only ships to the USA.
There are also quite a few sellers in the UK which ship to the EU and there also a few Polish sellers, who ship to the EU.
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thanos thanatos
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Do you have any experience with that first seller? They sell lots of things that would raise some red flags somewhere, and they ship from Japan or
South Korea, so whatever you buy has to go through customs - which can be a pain even with non-suspicious chems, especially if they're hazardous
materials.
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morry-cule
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"cis-2-Butene-1,4-diol, 95.5% (GC), 500ml"
Don't mind if I doo... 
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zed
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Ali Baba is just an advertising venue. Some of the folks advertising there are major players, some are major jerk-offs.
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chemrox
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"but I can promise you that the DEA is much more interested in you if you order a fucking barrel of THF than if you buy a bottle from eBay... "
Why do people here speak with great assuredness about what the DEA cares about and watches as though they were DEA agents themselves or DEA policy
makers?
I've met with DEA and spoken on the phone with them a number of times and I don't think they give a shit about nearly the amount of stuff that
amateurs fantasize about. Certainly not about solvents. They focus on large, repeated orders of scheduled materials when those orders are reported
to them by goody two shoe companies. Not too many of the Chinese qualify. If you go to China for purchases get a broker and beware of super deals.
[Edited on 11-1-2013 by chemrox]
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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jamit
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Quote: Originally posted by thoriumthorium  | I'm from the United States. I can't for the life of me find any chem. suppliers here willing to sell to hobbyist chemists. I don't like the idea of
doing something dodgy like setting up a fake business either.
I found sites like Alibaba that list products from manufacturers selling mostly in bulk. Try searching something like THF and you'll find some
suppliers with a minimum order as low as "1 barrel" or "5 kilograms," which are very reasonable provided one has the storage space. Does anyone have
any experience with this? |
If you live in the United States, you should have little problem finding lab equipments and chemicals (with the exception of DEA restricted
substances). If you can't find it... it is for the following reasons:
1. You are too young and underaged,
2. You are too lazy and not looking hard enough,
3. You are not looking in the right place(s)
If [1] applies to you, then get your parents involved and let them purchase the chemicals for you.
If [2], then you don't have any right to pursue home chemistry. Laziness can become a fatal problem in home chemistry as it can surly cause injury
and even death if you don't do you homework and just want a quick thrill.
If [3], then look at ebay, pyro supplies, craigslists, nuclear united, elemental scientific, amazon, etc.
Despite all the restrictions on chemicals and lab equipments due to drugs and terrorism, the united states is still, in my opinion, the best place to
pursue home chemistry. While you can't get iodine or phorphorus, you can make it if you try hard enough.... along with any other restricted
chemicals. I mean it making your own chemials half the fun and enjoyment?
My suggestion -- be patient and look carefully, there are many over the counter chemicals and lab equipment on ebay.
Read chemistry books. Get involved in this forum and share your results or the experiment you want to try and humbly learn. Good luck.
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LanthanumK
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I have not purchased chemicals from overseas and I am unlikely to do so in the future because of the potential of 1) customs seizure 2) quality issues
3) bad return policies
hibernating...
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thoriumthorium
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I doubt tosyl chloride, sodium borohydride, or alkali metals are on craigslist, not to mention transition metal catalysts (although these can be
realistically produced in a garage). I also want a small, tabletop stainless steel reaction vessel. I've seen sodium metal on eBay before, so I could
make NaBH4 myself. I could possibly make do with what is available to consumers in very small and expensive bottles. Or I could
just buy more than I'll ever need from China/India (with enough left to hawk on eBay to cover the costs) and be done with it. I'm just saying that if
you're willing to go through the trouble of making your own reagents, why not make the less than equivalent effort to buy them from people who don't
give a shit that you're "not a corporation"?
It's even hard to find "pure" toluene in hardware stores these days (as in it's not just 20% of some "paint remover" mixed with useless junk).
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