[billnotgatez]

This organization promotes citizen science.
Here is a listing of chemicals etc. common sources provided by a member.

http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-06-16/feature2/index.html

Address change

http://www.soamsci.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-06-16/feature2/index.html

(thanks Wastrel)

Link broken again trying to fix it

[Mitch]

Great list. Nice find.

[sophotect]

I know this thread is long dead but also noticed it is sticky so am pitching in my .02 for better or worse.

First, none of the prior links work.

Secondly, for the home enthusiasts in the United States, I would like to mention that many useful reagents can be bought cheaply at ceramic stores. At my local ceramics shop, I can purchase high purity silica, silicates, alumina, metal oxides, carbonates galore.

Other reagents like high purity sodium bisulfate, sodium sulfate, sodium acetate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, urea, alum, dry ice, ethanol, isopropanol are available at the grocery store, sometimes at the dollar store.

Numerous solvents, mineral acids, lye, at the hardware store. Slaked lime at farmer's market, bone meal, blood meal, diatomaceous earth. Brewing stores have sodium sulfite.

I've seen hexane at Michael's craft store but as yet have no specific use for it. 90% cinnamaldehyde at wedding/cake/candy store. I found that AFTER I separated cinnamaldehyde from ground cinnamon using vodka. House reeked of cinnamon for days. In retrospect, I should have used denatured alcohol, since I lost a lot of product to water.

I intentionally left a few key things off the list so no one blames me for cowboy induced tragedy, but I didn't list anything of less than 90% purity or that cost me more than a 6 pack of beer. In the US, the real challenge to amateur chemists isn't procuring chemicals, it is storing & handling them safely.