I'm looking to buy alum in a solid form. Alum is for cooking,
especially canning pickles, tanning, and water treatment, it is
readily availible in a powdered form. Alum has the ability to absorb
many times its weight in water. I'm looking for about 5 ounces.

Dear mthrelke-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. I looked into your inquiry for some time and was only able
to find two sources for the material you are seeking (they are
apparently rare, as you are probably aware). CHEM ASSOCIATES was one
of them, offering a solid variety of different measurements of Alum in
both crystal and lump form. Here are some examples of what you can
purchase from them. As you can see, you can buy a great deal more than
5-ounce increments if you are inclined to do so:

Aluminum Potassium Sulfate (Lump Alum), FCC, 3oz - Single Unit
$2.00 
   
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate (Lump Alum), FCC, 3oz - 12 Pack
$18.00 
  
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate (Lump Alum), FCC, 1lb - Single Unit
$6.95 
   
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate (Lump Alum), FCC, 1lb - 12 Pack
$63.00 

CHEM ASSOCIATES
http://shop.chemassociates.com/shopsite/rasheman/CA-aluminumpotassiumsulfate.html

You can get the Material Safety Data Sheet for this item here at no
additional charge:
http://shop.chemassociates.com/shopsite/rasheman/CA-msds_sheets.html



There simply aren’t many sources for this material but I did manage to
find another source for solid Alum. POST APPLE SCIENTIFIC, INC happens
to be another one of the rare places that offers solid Alum in both
crystal and lump form in a variety of measurements:

POST APPLE SCIENTIFIC, INC
http://www.postapplescientific.com/reagents/aps-b.html


I had hoped to find a number of sources for you but quickly realized
why you placed such a high price on your question. Finding these
sources was like finding a needle in a haystack. I hope you find that
that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions
about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating
the answer. I welcome your rating and your final comments and I look
forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you for
bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga



INFORMATION SOURCES

DEFINED ABOVE



SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

SOLID "ALUMINUM POTASSIUM SULFATE"

BLOCK ALUM

BAR ALUM

SOLID ALUM

ALTERNATIVELY REPLACED THE SEARCH TERM “ALUM” WITH “ALUMINUM POTASSIUM
SULFATE”

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 21 Aug 2003 16:59 PDT

UPDATE: My wise (and beautiful) colleague "Pinkfreud" offers this to
you as well in hopes of providing yet another rare source.

BRAINERD CHEMICAL COMPANY
http://www.brainerdchemical.com/Catalog_results.asp?search=Aluminum+Potassium+S

If I am able to round up any more sources I'll be happy to pass them
along too.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 21 Aug 2003 18:59 PDT

...and a couple more from the lovely and talented "Pinkfreud":

J T BAKER
http://www.jtbaker.com/asp/ProdPage.asp?sku=0546&marketname=research&searchdata=Aluminum%20Potassium%20&startnum=0&language=

ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC AND CHEMICAL, INC
http://207.36.101.47/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ALU115-500GR

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

I believe that styptic pencils are basically solid alum. Styptic
pencils are sold at drug stores, and are use to stop the bleeding if
one cuts themselves while shaving. The large ones probably weigh about
an ounce.