I am considering getting a pyrotechnics forum, with a different URL, and completely unrelated to this site or any others. I'm not to sure if I am going to do it or not yet, but basically the goal of the forum would be to encourage more people to get interested into chemistry, and in turn make doing chemistry as a hobby more acceptable.

I know that one more forum, especially dealing with pyro, and what not isn't really going to make that much of a difference when it comes to making chemistry at home more acceptable, but I'd like to help out the home chemists as much as I can and fight this unannounced war on chemistry that we face.

I realize that many good pyro/chem sites already exist but I believe it is beneficial to have many when it comes to encouraging people to become open minded to home chemistry.

I'd like some suggestions, such as if this is just a crazy and stupid idea that won't actually encourage more people to become friendly to the home chemist, to what sort of topics would be best to have on such a forum.

Also suggestions for a name would not be bad. I am thinking about having it called something related to an animal/bug, idea, or an object. I was thinking something like firefly, firebug, glowworm, etc, but personally I don't know how much I like those names.

These are the topics I am **considering** having on such a forum. This is a rough draft, and I wonder how it could be improved. I don't know how much I will even want such a forum in the morning, but right now it sounds like a good idea, and it will not cost but 5 or so dollars to get a new URL. When looking at the structure of the drafted forum below, please let me know if you see any that interfere with one another, making it confusing as to where to post. That is never good, and I've tried to avoid it, but I feel it still may have some problems.

I don't want this to border anything like roguescience, more so APC forum, or UK pyrotechnics, but hopefully encourage more chemistry some how and be friendly to the new unexperienced members.

Structure:

Site
- Site Matters
- Member Introductions

Pyrotechnics
- Fireworks
- Compositions
- framework
- Ignition

Rocketry
- High Powered Rocketry
- Low Powered Rocketry
- Propellants
- Casing & Nozzles.
- The Mathematics of it all (figure thrust, heat, acceleration, height, specific impulse, etc)

Chemistry
- General Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Beginnings 
- High Explosives
 
Acquisition
- Chemicals
- Equipment


Misc.
-General Discussion
- Safety
- References, Info, etc.


As always.. criticism, suggestions, comments, etc are greatly appreciated.

Id like the focus on not just how to prepare, but all the potential one can do with it, or may be able to do with it/  I second the exploration stuff, and not just for things that go bang, or give you a bang, but them as well. The focus being chem rather than the bangs, or no bangs. Their are cool arhives of some very good chem and I'd also like the mechanism of such chem detailed, as a way to help each other learn this ART.
Dont like saying it, but if how home chem is going to be viewed is important, and wanting some change, then safety/handling/storage issues for a home chem may need to be more addressed.

2b

Alchemist, isn't that basically sciencemadness? I'd love to have a pure chemistry forum, and will eventually. I could do it at the same time I create this pyro forum - that is, if I do.

It would be hard for me to create a pure chemistry forum with out using nearly the same layout of sciencemadness. That site really seems to have its stuff together, and I don't know how I would go about creating it. If you guys can come up with a nice layout I'd more then happily put that up as well.

The reason I want a pyro forum though is because I think it would encourage more people into chemistry, I know I got started in chemistry via rocketry as a child - in about 6th grade I decided that the Estes rockets were a rip off and wanted to make my own rocket propellant, this got me interested in fireworks, explosives, and other things like that, eventually leading to a strong interest in chemistry. I think that is the route that most people take - well, that or trying to make some sort of drug.

2Bfrank, good point, the forums should have a stronger hold on chemical safety then most other forums do.

I have built a ball mill (well, almost - it will be running by today) and this will allow me to do some pyro posts such as the difference in burn rate of ball milled BP, Al powder,Fe powder, How to make charcoal, etc. Also I plan to do some electrolysis of KCl to make KClO3, and a write up of how to make KNO3 from NH4NO3 and KCl via fractional crystallization. I figure other people have projects that could be seen as pyrotechnic and would likely help out starting the forum. Simple distillations, and other such things could be posted about as well, since this would be a chem and pyro forum.

I was going to advertise via my signature on some forums, and by making video's of various propellant formulations on youtube, linking it directly to the forum. Also sites like instructables, etc. I'm sure others would see this and help the site out, a lot of people helped get this site started and I'd imagine even more people would do it as well for a pyro/chem site since it reaches a greater audience then this sites main topic does. Plus, don't people like to show off their ball mills, their fireworks, and the knowledge they have about such subjects anyways?

Does anyone want to put a layout of their ideal pure chemistry forum, or suggest improvements of the pyro forums layout?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Well, that seems more like a member issue, and how people generally act vs what I can do forum wise. Unless I am not understanding you correctly?

I'm not to sure, I'd say as soon as I can think of a name, can post a few tutorials, and can get some little banners and stuff for a theme. I'll need a URL sometime, probably in the next three or four weeks. Come the end of august I'll be extremely busy and I don't know how much time I will have to post on forums, and do stuff, so I'm not exactly sure how much free time I'll have, and then how much of that I can dedicate to the forums. Getting a forum going can be pretty labor and time intensive.