Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Homemade and Repurposed Lab Gear

I thought that "bumper" was a quick guide for measuring???

I use it for that too.

battoussai114 - 13-3-2015 at 19:06

I have been considering a plain stirrer unit for about $100.00.

I have also considered building one under / into my lab bench so that I could simply set a beaker over the spot, and let it stir away.

Are these computer fans strong enough? I mean do they have the torque to spin 1000Ml beakers with anything more viscous that water or anything w/ solids?

Not sure if it's strong enough... but you can always make an adapter with a couple belts and pulleys and use a Dremel to spin the magnets

Zombie - 13-3-2015 at 19:36

That;s just a bit more than work. I can deal w/ screwing a fan to the underside of a bench tho.

j_sum1 - 13-3-2015 at 21:36

Welcome to my lab.
Seriously, just about my whole lab is cobbled out of whatever I had available. I will take photos later. But in the meantime, here is a list.

I use Pasteur pipettes and 16mL test tubes for ampoules. I have regular ampoules also but sometimes a wide neck is helpful (such as when I wanted to store a sample of Cd rod.)
I have a magnetic stirrer that consists of a 5V cellphone charger, a PC fan and a couple of Nd magnets. It is good for thin liquids and beakers up to 250mL
I have a bunch of bungs of assorted sizes. These are rubber covers for chair legs that I bought from the hardware store. Some have had holes put in them for tubing etc.
My condenser is a repurposed broken burette about 450mm long. I made a jacket for it out of 1½ inch plastic pipe. To help keep it in the right position there is a spiral of 3mm plastic pipe between the two. The ends are sealed with epoxy putty. I run water through the jacket with a water-feature pump. It is a bit gutless, but it works. I don't think I will try anything too ambitious with it -- that will wait until I buy a ground glass set. I am limited by my chair-leg bung connectors.
My retort stand is some lengths of reinforcing steel that fits into holes drilled in my bench and bolted to the rafters. I had to paint them with rust-proof spray paint though.
Shelving for my gear is constructed with whatever I could find. An assortment of timbers and two Ikea Lac tables that were hand-me-downs from my kids.
I have a food processor that I have used for grinding aluminium foil for thermites. It doesn't quite get fine enough and so I have a partly constructed ball mill made from PVC downpipe and fittings and a packet of marbles. I must finish that one day soon.
I have a 40 piece crockery set that failed to sell at two yard sales. It is now a collection of disposable crucibles, evaporation dishes, thermite vessels and whatnot.
Stirrers/spatulas are disposable coffee stirrers. I have a hundred or so 80mL paper cups that have been put to a large number of different uses as well. Plenty more of these from my neighbour if needed.
Evaporation dishes are glass dishes designed for serving olives and dips etc.
My bushner funnel comes from a stainless steel stove-top espresso maker. I haven't had occasion to use it yet.
I have a piece of wooden dowel that I have rounded the end of with sandpaper. It fits snugly inside my test tubes and is perfect for cleaning test tubes.
I have a silicone cupcake oven tray. I use it as a mould for setting samples in resin.
My chemicals are generally stored in plastic peanut butter jars and jam jars if they didn't come in appropriate containers.
I also have a little bottle-shaped steel reaction vessel that came from a confetti cannon.

I am sure there is more. But the bulk of my lab is repurposed somehow. Actually the building itself started life as a chicken coop. There are big chicken footprints in the extremely un-level concrete floor.
The general intent is to make do with whatever I can find and then replace with the best quality proper equipment I can afford as soon as I wear something out, or it becomes unsuitable. It seems to be a good workable practice so far.

I'll post some pics sometime soon. But they might go in the "Tour my lab" thread.

Sulaiman - 14-3-2015 at 02:01

Homemade dual burette stand,
shown with just one burette to show drilling/cutting detail.
The black things are rubber 'O' rings for a little extra clamping force.

On the wooden base (with a thick protective coat of polyurethane varnish) are

Repurposed Maggi seasoning bottles
containing phenolphthalein, silver nitrate solution and Lugol's iodine solution,
the dark glass with PE leak proof dropper tops are quite useful.

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by Sulaiman]

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by Sulaiman]

j_sum1 - 14-3-2015 at 02:05

That is quite tidily done Sulaiman.

Sulaiman - 14-3-2015 at 02:39

Thanks,
there is one oversight though,
the horizontal bars can rotate or slide up/down or on/off,
but I should have made the vertical dowel removable from the base for easier storage.
It was made quickly from various bits of wood that were in my shed and I don't have a tap/die of suitable size.
I thought of using a tapered wood screw in the base of the dowel to make it removable but I was lazy so I just glued it in.

P.S we used to use Maggi seasoning occasionally,
but when I started chemistry last year my consumption went up

All home chemists should use Maggi Liquid Seasoning!
http://www.maggi.co.uk/products/world-foods/liquid-seasoning...
nice on egg, pizza and most meats, hotdogs, burgers....
(I hope maggi send me a free bottle after all this free promotion ! )

Breaking news: global consumption of Maggi Liquid Seasoning inexplicably rises !

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by Sulaiman]

battoussai114 - 14-3-2015 at 04:31

I have a cheap magnetic stirrer too. Mine uses a 12v power supply from my old home phone, a 12v PC fan and 2 savaged neodymium magnets.
I'm currently working on a hotplate. Got a stainless steel plate from a local metal shop, some nichrome wire and a potentiometer. The only problem is that my only available power supply output a max 6W. I'm not sure if I'll bother trying to add temperature control (even though I have some spare MCUs laying around), probably I'll just estimate the temperature based on the voltage drop across different positions of the potentiometer wiper.

Sulaiman - 14-3-2015 at 05:52

6W would be enough to just warm stuff up unless very well insulated.
As a rough guide, when convection cooling is involved,
rise in temperature (C) = (power in mW / area in cm2)^0.833
e.g for power = 6W = 6000 mW and area = 78.5 cm2 (4" dia circle)
T = 37C rise (98.66 F)
Add the area of whatever it is you are heating and maybe 20C to 30C temp rise.

for comparison, the heat output of a tea light candle is 30+ Watts !
and tungsten filament lamps produce about 98% as much heat as the electrical power input.

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by Sulaiman]

smaerd - 14-3-2015 at 08:26

Sulaiman gorgeous work there.

I guess I could ramble about some of my home-made efforts but I'm sure it bores alot of people here to tears. All of these are posted on the boards somewere.

I recently made a dispense only syringe pump (retract coming soon when I have time)
Made a rotary evaporator
Classic ATX AC->DC power supply
I also made mini-glascols for test tubes with nichrome and sheet fiberglass (not very useful) powered by a cellphone charger.
Made a short and medium wave UV Photochem-TLC lamp&housing

All sorts of stuff. I'm sure I'm forgetting more of it.

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by smaerd]

Magpie - 14-3-2015 at 08:46

Very clever burette holder, Sulaiman. Are those zip ties?

mayko - 14-3-2015 at 09:02

Oh my, this one brings up memories...
My current hot plate I got from a community college discards pile.
Before I picked that up, however, there was this fire hazard

[Edited on 14-3-2015 by mayko]

Magpie - 14-3-2015 at 09:46

clothes hanger support

qualitative analysis kit

Fulmen - 14-3-2015 at 10:34

Mayko: Sir, you are a genius. Perhaps a demented one, but a genius nonetheless

Zombie - 14-3-2015 at 17:09

Where did you finr that regulator for the Gas bottle Magpie?

Is that a camp stove Reg.?

I love the creativity on this thread. Now I feel Much better about re- purposing items.

Magpie - 14-3-2015 at 18:36

Where did you finr that regulator for the Gas bottle Magpie?
Is that a camp stove Reg.?

I found it in the BBQ section of a Ranch & Home store. I haven't seen one since. Avogadro's Lab Supply sells one like it (at an outrageous price.)

Yes, I think its intended purpose is likely for a camp stove. Mine was about $15 ten years ago.

[Edited on 15-3-2015 by Magpie]

Zombie - 14-3-2015 at 20:15

I HAVE to get one. Thanks!

radiance88 - 15-3-2015 at 01:23

Smaerd, I love to see some pictures of your work. You say that they're trivial but i'd beg to differ

I'd love to see all of those, especially that rotovap. I was just recently thinking to myself "how do I get me one of those?".

WeaponsRx - 17-3-2015 at 17:13

good old washing machines spin cycle with a little home made cradle that strap firmly to the center churn shaft of the washer for a centrifuge

radiance88 - 18-3-2015 at 03:59

My latest haul. A mason jar (love those graduations), plaster of paris(shouldn't be here.. but my god this is so hard to find in my country), and a hamster drinker, which is basically a test tube any how. It even has a glass protrusion making it ideal for generating small quantities of gas.

The Volatile Chemist - 18-3-2015 at 08:23

The qualitative analysis kit looks so cool, a list of reagents would be great!

Loptr - 18-3-2015 at 08:55

Where did you finr that regulator for the Gas bottle Magpie?
Is that a camp stove Reg.?

Yeah, I have been trying to find one as well. I tried to see where Avogrado purchased theirs, but there was no getting around them.

For now, when I need a burner I just attach the burner's latex gas feed tube to the end of a propane torch, turn on the gas, and then light the burner. It works, for now.

Texium - 18-3-2015 at 09:01

The qualitative analysis kit looks so cool, a list of reagents would be great!

Click on the picture, and you can read all of the labels. And yeah, I want to make one of those now too.
I have something slightly similar, in that I bought a rack of 25 centrifuge tubes for a few dollars and use it for storing small quantities of a lot of different reagents.

Magpie - 18-3-2015 at 09:19

The qualitative analysis kit looks so cool, a list of reagents would be great!

What you first need to get is a book or manual of the qualitative analysis procedures. Qual analysis used to be a standard course in college chemistry - I don't know if it is taught anymore because most professional analyses are done with instruments.

My procedures are in the college chemistry book by Holtzclaw et al. It's a separate section in the back of the book. Not all editions have it.

Once you have the procedures the list of reagents will fall out of those. Without knowing how to use these reagents you are just collecting - but that's alright too.

On the regulator for propane bottles - I tried to find a source for it too. The only information I could find was a company name in Mexico, which led nowhere.

The Volatile Chemist - 18-3-2015 at 12:39

The qualitative analysis kit looks so cool, a list of reagents would be great!

It's funny you should mention this - I found a book at a rather nearby library system called Quantitative chemical analysis, which was a textbook. When I do end up checking it out, I'll look more into the above analysis kit.

Magpie - 18-3-2015 at 12:49

...I found a book at a rather nearby library system called Quantitative chemical analysis, which was a textbook. When I do end up checking it out, I'll look more into the above analysis kit.

That's a different course than Qualitative Analysis.

Quantitative analysis deals with procedures like titrations and gravimetric procedures that give the %, ppm, etc of a chemical specie.

[Edited on 18-3-2015 by Magpie]

The Volatile Chemist - 18-3-2015 at 12:51

...I found a book at a rather nearby library system called Quantitative chemical analysis, which was a textbook. When I do end up checking it out, I'll look more into the above analysis kit.

So sorry, I know the difference, just mistyped.

Magpie - 25-3-2015 at 08:21

A forum member asked me about small fiberglass blankets for insulating flasks during distillations, etc. Here's a link with a picture and linked directions for making one yourself:

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=32482#...

Loptr - 25-3-2015 at 08:50

A forum member asked me about small fiberglass blankets for insulating flasks during distillations, etc. Here's a link with a picture and linked directions for making one yourself:

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=32482#...

I just purchased 8 sq. ft from Amazon for $8.99 with free shipping from Rain Writer, one of the alternative sellers.

http://www.amazon.com/Bondo-20128-Fiberglass-Cloth-sq/dp/B00...

(others available in new condition)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002JRGOT8/ref=dp_olp...

EDIT: Be careful not to purchase the fiberglass mats that seem to not be braided, which I assume would not be very coherent and difficult to keep a uniform covering.

[Edited on 25-3-2015 by Loptr]

The Volatile Chemist - 26-3-2015 at 13:24

Interesting. Is the use of Asbestos a totally bad idea? I know it's use isn't promoted now, but is it actually super dangerous, or just treated that way?

morganbw - 26-3-2015 at 13:32

Interesting. Is the use of Asbestos a totally bad idea? I know it's use isn't promoted now, but is it actually super dangerous, or just treated that way?

Mostly treated that way. Personal opinion only, no data to back my thoughts up.
Do not breath its fibers and I think it is good to go.
I am too tired to research to back up my thoughts

gdflp - 26-3-2015 at 13:35

Interesting. Is the use of Asbestos a totally bad idea? I know it's use isn't promoted now, but is it actually super dangerous, or just treated that way?

It's actually not that terrible. There are still many older floor tiles that are made out of asbestos, the real issue arises when you inhale it. Most wire gauzes still use asbestos, as I believe that it has rather superior properties and is cheap. As most chemicals, being exposed to asbestos dust a few times is not the end of the world, it takes a chronic exposure to get asbestosis.

Loptr - 26-3-2015 at 13:51

Interesting. Is the use of Asbestos a totally bad idea? I know it's use isn't promoted now, but is it actually super dangerous, or just treated that way?

I have a friend that fought abestosis for decades. It sounded horrible.

Take that for what its worth. There is a shipyard around here were a lot of people were exposed.

If you get it, its pretty bad.

The Volatile Chemist - 26-3-2015 at 13:51

Interesting. Modern textbooks describe it as death incarnate. Vogel appears to have used it a lot. I'm pretty sure he lasted a long time.

Loptr - 26-3-2015 at 16:42

Interesting. Modern textbooks describe it as death incarnate. Vogel appears to have used it a lot. I'm pretty sure he lasted a long time.

I am also sure he wasn't ripping it from the ceilings and getting it all over him.

Hellafunt - 26-3-2015 at 23:51

exactly, there is a big difference between being the end user of an asbestos product and being involved in the manufacture or abatement of said product. breathing small particles of asbestos is not really a worry when using a pair of gloves for instance. they are wonderful for hot sugar work

Sulaiman - 27-3-2015 at 01:44

My shed/lab has an asbestos roof/ceiling and it does not worry me at all
Provided that I do not drill or saw it I consider it safe
Orders of magnitude safe compared to what happens beneath the roof !

I think that it is safe to say, if you don't inhale the dust, then asbestos is relatively safe to use

[Edited on 27-3-2015 by Sulaiman]

Loptr - 27-3-2015 at 08:13

My point is that it isn't a risk to be taken lightly, and something to be cognizant of, since it is a real risk. Not just one of the potential risks you hear about nowadays, but one that has actually wrecked MANY peoples lives.

There is a difference.

I am not saying remove all asbestos, but don't mess with it, and if you do have to mess with it, you might as well go ahead and remove it.

The Volatile Chemist - 27-3-2015 at 08:40

Interesting. Modern textbooks describe it as death incarnate. Vogel appears to have used it a lot. I'm pretty sure he lasted a long time.

I am also sure he wasn't ripping it from the ceilings and getting it all over him.

I cracked up thinking of old man Vogel replacing the asbestos in his ceiling in his lab

But I get your point. It isn't too bad.

Magpie - 27-3-2015 at 08:54

I had linoleum containing asbestos in my front entry way and in my kitchen that I had to remove so that I could put down new floor coverings. I found this out by submitting samples to a professional lab where I believe they identify it by microscopy and crystal shape. Although I received a lot of advice saying "oh, you can remove it yourself, just keep it sprayed down" after making a couple cuts with my skil saw I hired professionals to do it. It wasn't that expensive. I sleep good knowing I didn't take an unnecessary risk with my family's health and mine.

But I would have no problem with using an asbestos covered wire screen or an insulation board in the lab. I would be more careful using an asbestos fiber mat in a Gooch crucible, however. I remember doing that in my analytical chemistry class in 1964.

The Volatile Chemist - 27-3-2015 at 09:42

Sheesh, that's the year after my father was born...
Does cutting of asbestos cause problematic splintering?

Loptr - 27-3-2015 at 09:48

Sheesh, that's the year after my father was born...
Does cutting of asbestos cause problematic splintering?

It's a pleasure we have such a wealth of collective knowledge, wisdom, and experience available on this forum!

[Edited on 27-3-2015 by Loptr]

The Volatile Chemist - 27-3-2015 at 11:51

Sheesh, that's the year after my father was born...
Does cutting of asbestos cause problematic splintering?

It's a pleasure we have such a wealth of collective knowledge, wisdom, and experience available on this forum!

[Edited on 27-3-2015 by Loptr]

LOL, I just said that because I wanted to portray my old man better, but had no good reason to post here

j_sum1 - 28-3-2015 at 02:25

My cite is my sister who is a doctor.

The problem with asbestos is that the fibres are a lung irritant that is effective at inducing cancer. Unlike a toxin there is no safe dose. It only takes one fibre, orientated in a particular way to cause the damage. The effects of course are long term and any damage caused may not be evident for decades. So, really, handling of asbestos is a probability game. The risk is inhalation. There are steps that you can take to minimise the risk. The probability of any particular exposure causing harm is relatively low.

My advice is to leave asbestos where it is if you can. Avoid chipping or breaking and, especially dust, if you do have to handle it. Dampen down surfaces and wear a mask. And don't make it a habit.

But I would have no problem with using an asbestos covered wire screen or an insulation board in the lab. I would be more careful using an asbestos fiber mat in a Gooch crucible, however. I remember doing that in my analytical chemistry class in 1964.

Actually, I would be more concerned about a flexible wire gauze covered in asbestos and that I was handling regularly than any asbestos floor tile or wall sheeting. Still, I would consider that less risk than drilling or cutting the stuff (which I have done) and far less risk than regular occupational exposure such as in demolition or in an asbestos mine.

Magpie - 28-3-2015 at 08:19

Most wire gauzes still use asbestos, as I believe that it has rather superior properties and is cheap.

I would be surprised if any wire gauze covering made in the last 20 years has any asbestos content.

As a related anecdote, the city of Duluth, MN draws (or did draw) its drinking water from Lake Superior, the same lake into which a taconite processor discharged its waste water. Duluth tried for years to sue said company for contaminating the lake as the wastes contained asbestos-like fibers. This was in the '70s. I don't know who won as I moved out of state before the end of the litigation.

Here's a pretty good synopsis:
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/09/29_he...

[Edited on 29-3-2015 by Magpie]

The Volatile Chemist - 2-4-2015 at 11:25

As a demonstration, a captain once drank a glass of water from a nuclear reactor on his ship. ...And I've completely derailed this thread...

thanos thanatos - 11-4-2015 at 21:05

Most wire gauzes still use asbestos, as I believe that it has rather superior properties and is cheap.

Jeez, this seems pretty silly. Asbestos is insoluble in water, so it's easily filtered out with a decent particulate filter. I'd be much more worried about other things dissolved in the water, including the chloramines they use to treat it, than I would about asbestos dumped in the lake.

Of course, maybe someone could sue the company on behalf of all the fish who got asbestosis of their gills

gdflp - 11-4-2015 at 21:10

Most wire gauzes still use asbestos, as I believe that it has rather superior properties and is cheap.

I would be surprised if any wire gauze covering made in the last 20 years has any asbestos content.

Now that I looked into further, you're absolutely right. The funny thing is that the particular wire gauze that I bought was marketed as an "asbestos wire gauze", but when it arrived, the label specifically notes "Contains no asbestos". Not sure what happened there.

thanos thanatos - 11-4-2015 at 21:10

Most wire gauzes still use asbestos, as I believe that it has rather superior properties and is cheap.

Zombie - 12-4-2015 at 10:05

Back to re-purposing...

I have a novel idea for a stir plate. The plan is to router out a section under my bench top, and build in a stirrer. This way I don't lose any space due to a separate stirrer, and a silicone mat will work to hold glassware in place.

The re-purposing aspect comes in, in the motor, and controller... A GoodWill store record player.
I cruise the junk shops for the odd treasure, and occasional idea.
Yesterday I found a 3 speed, direct drive, turn table (KLH) for 5 bucks. The moment I plugged it in to test it I saw a stir plate motor, and controller in my minds eye.

Today I took it all apart, and built a housing to mount under the bench. I simply cut the platter into a 3" diameter, and spring mounted the motor, and platter into a housing from a computer power supply.

Six hardware store springs for under four bucks, a five dollar record player, three feet of wire from an old vacuum cleaner (to relocate the controller), and a free case from a power supply yielded a 9 dollar / below the bench surface stir plate.

I don't have the bench top yet but will be getting that this week. Eventually I'll buy a cheap phone so I can post Picts.

[Edited on 4-12-2015 by Zombie]

The Volatile Chemist - 14-4-2015 at 11:50

Sounds like a good plan! Be sure to post pictures!

violet sin - 15-4-2015 at 02:27

so I finished a few projects lately and figured I'd share some of the gained experience.

I set out to finish making DIY buchner funnel cheaply. in the process I made some additional tools to accomplish this.

- first off, since I was using PVC and other plastics for quick projects it was necessary to be able to cut it easily with good control. so my soldering iron's tip was loosened and I found a suitable size of copper ground wire to take it's place. this iron had 2 set screws and a hollow center, so the snug fitting Cu wire slid right in waiting to be secured. the length was such that it filled the entire cavity and extended the normal distance out. this wire was put in between two strips of wood( with a small 1/2 channel cut in each) then in a vise to secure it. I hack sawed in ~3/4" on one end. a piece of copper flashing was cut in a scalpel shape and set in, then wired in place with some smaller copper wire. viola a heated plastic cutter

( pic 1)

(1)

(2)

in pic two you can see the heart of the project. the white cap in the upper left hand is a 4" drain pipe cover with built in handle from ace. I LOVE these things, cheap, light, useful. the brown plastic strip I cut from is a venting material used in eaves of a house to vent the attic. free to me from a job site. obviously the two semicircles were cut from it after tracing over the cap. I didnt get a profile of the vent material, but edges used to fasten it normally are sittin above the vent surface by about 3/8" inch, creating a nice little stand off working in my favor. the pieces were trimmed carefully within 1/16" of the edge or less and caulked in place (pic 3) you can see the stand off here. the solid edge was opened for airflow below the filter surface. (pic 4) shows both sides in, caulked and smoothed out. I later used a pin to open and clean some of the holes prior to drying.

(3)

(4)

originally I wanted to use one of my larger stoppers already on hand, but no, it was too small, only had one hole and was too nice to cut up or tape the crap out of for a snug fit... I was gettn mad cause so close but so far away and I didn't want to order one. but as luck would have it, the first caulking tube I grabbed was silicone and went off in the tube on my shelf. so one big cylinder of set silicone to play with(pic 5), I began marking and cutting (pic 6)

(5)

(6)

this was trimmed 2x to fit the right cone shape, as the first cut was insuficient and doing it all at once would have made it easy for errors. I will say it wasn't easy to make sure the razor blade was lined up with both marks and perpendicular to center axis( pic 7). a nice snug fit was achieved

now the ever fun task of finding a way to drill an even hole into a very reluctant material... I had the idea of using some copper tube, with a rough or sharpened edge. I tried this with some small diameter first as a pilot hole if nothing else. it worked nice ( pic 8). you can see a little "worm" of silicone coming out of the tube after it was through

(7)

(8)

so I made some more "drills" from larger copper tube, cut, straightened, put in the drill press and reamed with a standard drill bit( pic 9). then it was polished and re-chucked in the drill press, lubricated with a bit of oil, and away we go making holes( pic 10). the next part was a bit harder, I took a length of copper tube, and cut a "V" out of the side such that it almost went all the way through the tubing, but when bent together, it made a nice 90' angle. soldered it, took a couple tries to get all sealed, and I had to use some flux( home made zinc chloride from penny's) as the solder wasn't sticking. few pics of that part, as the frustration got to me.

(9)

(10)

cant add any more pics here so I will continue in a second post, sorry for doubble posting but it had to be done.
-Violet Sin-

violet sin - 15-4-2015 at 02:41

here is the soldered tube and the finished product. also included is the HV rectifier I made from PVC and 4 microwave oven diodes( attached to the big capacitor on a working machine)

fun couple of days
-Violet Sin-

and ya, I totally could have bought these things, but way more to gain from doing it the hard way

Deathunter88 - 15-4-2015 at 02:47

here is the soldered tube and the finished product. also included is the HV rectifier I made from PVC and 4 microwave oven diodes( attached to the big capacitor on a working machine)

fun couple of days
-Violet Sin-

and ya, I totally could have bought these things, but way more to gain from doing it the hard way

Careful using a normal flask for vacuum filtration, there is a chance it could implode from the vacuum. Still, don't let that discourage you from using it because I too believe making one is far more rewarding than buying one. Might want to wrap 2 lines of duct tape around the flask for the 1 in 1000 chance it does implode.

[Edited on 15-4-2015 by Deathunter88]

violet sin - 15-4-2015 at 02:54

its a weak rotary vacuum pump, that was tested the glass in a plastic over container while wearing a full face shield and leather apron. I can put the vac tube to my skin and it doesn't even make a purple mark... but it was free.

I have already tested it on an aluminum hydroxide suspension which was a horrible choice, but it was what I was doing at the time it was finished. it worked very nicely, just not on that

I was working on a precursor to refractory experiments to come.

though I tested it safely, you are correct, I didn't include a warning for those that did not do the research I had.. should think of that next time

[Edited on 15-4-2015 by violet sin]

The Volatile Chemist - 15-4-2015 at 03:47

The rectifier bridge is cool, ny particular reason you made it?

Zombie - 15-4-2015 at 07:44

Very cool stuff Violet sin. I love the hollow "drill bit" idea.

violet sin - 15-4-2015 at 10:45

@The Volatile Chemist: yes, I made it so I could use a voltage tripler scavenged from an old tv, with my oil burner transformer. The OBT is centertapped secondary providing AC, the trippler was working @ 1/2 effency at best. Seemed like less. The neg side feeding *into the tripled is also the neg side return of the higher voltage it produces. BIG angry constant arc now instead of a repeating arc from AC as it was. All used for learning and notes on NO2 production. The OBT was More than capable of making an orange cloud in a mason jar in a few sec with platinum electrodes. Tantalum, though high temp resistant, wasn't doing near the same work. Magnets were used to make a disc arc finally. Way down the road I wanted to have it all run on a small solar pannel in my back yard for free. Just have to build the frame and start soldering there. Maybe the +100'F summers will be providing HNO3 if I get some more time to work it. Controller, tabbing, 12v batts etc. On hand, time not so much.

@Zombie: thanks, it was a rewarding project.

blanket!

Loptr - 16-4-2015 at 07:55

I went ahead and made the first blanket using the instructions of Magpie and ordenblitz. However, I did put silicone on both sides of the blanket. The silicone was a mess to work with. I think you need to be able to clamp the fiberglass blanket down somehow, because it slides, and then you try and correct it and end up with it on your glove. It then starts to make its way around the rest of the blanket.

My next blanket will use fiberglass tape and maybe some silicone under the tape to help bind the fibers together better. I tend to be a perfectionist, to the extreme. It's something I am working on--just being able to do something with the understanding it won't be perfect. I talk it to death for a year before actually attempting it. This is actually a big step for me, as those smudges are bugging the living day lights out of me.

(Notice the anhydrous nitric acid ring under the blanket? That was worrisome, but I neutralized it and sanded down the charred area. I made several tables, and have put a hardener and epoxy coating on them now.)

[Edited on 16-4-2015 by Loptr]

Zombie - 16-4-2015 at 13:12

Fiberglass is my "thing"

You can stripe out a square on the table using double sided tape, and stick the cloth to that. This will hold it "true" so you can then use painters tape on the top side to mask off a clean line for your silicone edging.

Let that side cure, and then flip it over, and do the reverse.

Keeping the cloth square while you work will get rid of all the issues.

I'm going to have to make a few of those when I get the chance. I really like the idea

Loptr - 17-4-2015 at 07:58

Fiberglass is my "thing"

You can stripe out a square on the table using double sided tape, and stick the cloth to that. This will hold it "true" so you can then use painters tape on the top side to mask off a clean line for your silicone edging.

Let that side cure, and then flip it over, and do the reverse.

Keeping the cloth square while you work will get rid of all the issues.

I'm going to have to make a few of those when I get the chance. I really like the idea

That is a good idea. I really wish the silicone could be painted on, rather than having to be smeared, since that is where most of my problems came from. This is where my idea of using a volatile solvent to add to a pool of RTV silicone came from, since I figured it would be easier to dip or paint the edges.

I will be making several more of these in various sizes, and will probably try a couple of different techniques. The use of the painters tape to mask the edges is a really good idea.

Thank you, Zombie.

The Volatile Chemist - 17-4-2015 at 13:02

@The Volatile Chemist: yes, I made it so I could use a voltage tripler scavenged from an old tv, with my oil burner transformer. The OBT is centertapped secondary providing AC, the trippler was working @ 1/2 effency at best. Seemed like less. The neg side feeding *into the tripled is also the neg side return of the higher voltage it produces. BIG angry constant arc now instead of a repeating arc from AC as it was. All used for learning and notes on NO2 production. The OBT was More than capable of making an orange cloud in a mason jar in a few sec with platinum electrodes. Tantalum, though high temp resistant, wasn't doing near the same work. Magnets were used to make a disc arc finally. Way down the road I wanted to have it all run on a small solar panel in my back yard for free. Just have to build the frame and start soldering there. Maybe the +100'F summers will be providing HNO3 if I get some more time to work it. Controller, tabbing, 12v batts etc. On hand, time not so much.

@Zombie: thanks, it was a rewarding project.

Cool. Any particular reason you enclosed it that way? (the Bridge).
You're oil burner transformer reminded me of mineral oil cooled computers, though totally unrelated. Anyone tried one of these?

violet sin - 18-4-2015 at 04:52

stupid compy dumped my comment twice now after having written several paragraphs each time. using the lap top with out a mouse can be a pain.... ya PVC is cheap, durable, machinable and available... coulda used epoxy.

Zombie - 18-4-2015 at 09:50

There are several versions of liquid silicone available. Most are 2 part mixes.

We use them in the marine industry to coat propellers on large yachts to prevent marine growth such as barnacles, algae, slime, oysters mussels, ect...

http://www.amazon.com/QSil-Clear-Liquid-Silicone-2-Part/dp/B...

31+fKdEFP1L.jpg - 13kB

ave369 - 9-7-2015 at 05:47

My go-to source of improptu test tubes is a Chinese brand of street thermometers which is freely sold in my town. These thermometers are encased in glass containers that, essentially, are test tubes.

Drugstore bottles are another source of glassware I use. Especially the fanfura vials. "Fanfura" is a cheap, over-the-counter form of ethanol or ethanol-based tinctures which are sold in my country with no questions asked. They are, in fact, vodka concentrate sold to the population without paying the vodka tax. I'm no stranger to using the fanfura for its intended purpose, as a recreational beverage, but the vials and jars in which it is sold are perfectly good containers for chemicals.

Another easily repurposable container is the plastic bottle in which lamp kerosene is sold in my region. It is the best container for strong mineral acids or alkaline solutions. It could be even used to store hydrofluoric acid, if it wasn't in my category of "stuff I'll never work with".

A small electric stove is a good substitute for a hotplate. The traditional Russian brick wood stove is surprisingly easy to repurpose as a fume hood: it already has a built-in fume hood, only without the fan, because it's for removing hot smoke that's already lighter than air. A low-tech, medieval fume hood made of brick, clay and stone, but it's still a fume hood

To use it for removing room-temperature fumes, you just put an electric fan into the "vyushka" lid-box, turn it on and close the lid-box door.

[Edited on 9-7-2015 by ave369]

[Edited on 9-7-2015 by ave369]

Praxichys - 9-7-2015 at 05:52

stupid compy dumped my comment twice now after having written several paragraphs each time. using the lap top with out a mouse can be a pain....

Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C. Backup text to clipboard regularly. Even better, write the reply in notepad, then paste to SM when done.

Also, if you go back and hit the refresh button when it says "confirm form resubmission" you'll get most of it back.

The Volatile Chemist - 10-7-2015 at 10:50

Hah, you should try typing any long email on a Nokia N800 2008 internet tablet. THing mistakes the 'delete' button for a navigate backwards due to some random bug...but it runs OS2, so I can ssh to the SDF(Super Dimension Fortress)!

Your mileage may vary

diggafromdover - 10-7-2015 at 11:54

Interesting. Modern textbooks describe it as death incarnate. Vogel appears to have used it a lot. I'm pretty sure he lasted a long time.

I had a good friend who played in a basement as a child in which asbestos firebrick was used around the furnace. He died of Mesothelioma in his 40's.

Asbestos which is shredding or fraying is potentially deadly, but not for every person every time.

Had his father simply painted the bricks - or left them at the shipyard - perhaps I'd still have my friend.

Zephyr - 24-8-2015 at 21:36

I've constructed a lab jack.

And fixed a vacuum pump that hadn't worked for >15 years.

kecskesajt - 25-8-2015 at 00:28

Im using coffee glass because thats heat proof.
Also I'm using a 100ml sirenge instead of a sep. funnel.
And I have a complete gas stove instead of a hot plate.

Tabun - 25-8-2015 at 02:03

Just took a look around and I found some 20 and 50 mL glass bottles,some IDK what kind of plastic bottles(some round,some square shaped,maybe they are good for storing things),a lot of glass jars,two big lightbulbs(I'm thinking about using them as round bottom ballons.I think they have a volume of about 400mL),some...thing made out of glass which looks like a long neck,flat bottom baloon(Idk if this is the right name...I don't know how to translate it in english but I think you know what I'm talking about) and another jar which looks like a very large neck erlenmeyer flask.I also find some hoses(I don't know what they are made out of).Another thing was a gas lamp.
Maybe I should search the attic too.

ave369 - 26-8-2015 at 06:31

Maybe flask, not balloon? Balloon is a bright-colored, inflatable rubber thing popular at parties.

Tabun - 26-8-2015 at 11:24

Quote: Originally posted by ave369

Maybe flask, not balloon? Balloon is a bright-colored, inflatable rubber thing popular at parties.

Or yes,flask.We call "balloons" whatever has this form here and "flask" the other things like berzelius and erlenmeyer but it seems like they are all flasks in english...

chemrox - 26-8-2015 at 11:46

stupid compy dumped my comment twice now after having written several paragraphs each time. using the lap top with out a mouse can be a pain.... ya PVC is cheap, durable, machinable and available... coulda used epoxy.

I use a track ball with my laptop The little pads are usually too problematic. I write on RTV with a sharpie

battoussai114 - 26-8-2015 at 12:51

Quote: Originally posted by Tabun

Quote: Originally posted by ave369

Maybe flask, not balloon? Balloon is a bright-colored, inflatable rubber thing popular at parties.

Or yes,flask.We call "balloons" whatever has this form here and "flask" the other things like berzelius and erlenmeyer but it seems like they are all flasks in english...

Same thing here... never got why balloon but wtv I guess.

Little_Ghost_again - 26-8-2015 at 14:07

Havnt read whole thread yet but found this
http://www.teralab.co.uk/Glass_Blowing/Glass_Blowing_Menu.ht...

It has helped me alot with doing glass work and avoiding stressing the glass, it recommends putting any glass your cooling into a layer of vermiculite to help it cool much slower, anyway I found it helpful so thought I would post it, it also has a method of building a simple device to see if your new formed glass joint is stressed or not

Little_Ghost_again - 26-8-2015 at 14:14