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Tour My Lab

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NedsHead - 7-12-2017 at 02:26

Looks great j_sum1, are you building the fume cupboard from scratch too?

j_sum1 - 7-12-2017 at 02:31

Looks great j_sum1, are you building the fume cupboard from scratch too?

Yup. It won't be too technical. Just a bathroom extractor fan venting through pvc pipe to above roof height. It will be 1200 wide and about 700 deep. For a sash I will be using a piece of toughened glass from a pool fence. It will be a bit heavy but unbreakable. I intend to put perspex windows in the sides for video work.

MrHomeScientist - 7-12-2017 at 14:59

Nice! Are you cutting a hole in your roof for the pipe, or how is that exiting your space?

j_sum1 - 7-12-2017 at 15:09

The lab is under the house which is on piles. There is laced brick structure that lets air through for the side walls. (See pic above.) Between two bay windows on the house the brick wall goes straight. This means that the duct from the hood can go straight up the side of the house between the windows. It will look just like a downpipe.

j_sum1 - 20-12-2017 at 15:47

Ok. It has happened! I am now ready to show off!

Seriously though, this has been a long project squeezed into a schedule that has not really allowed for time-consuming construction of this kind. I'll be away over Christmas and so won't actually get to do anything in there for a week or so. But then....

Also, this may as well be the launch of my YT channel. Realistically it is likely to be pretty sparse until I get a camera and tripod. There is ony so much jerky phone footage that people will tolerate. But at least I can say that is up and running too.

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/SgA-HDk8hC4

Magpie - 20-12-2017 at 16:13

I want to be the first to tell you what a wonderful job you did, and I see now why it took so long. You started from gnarly bare earth!

You've got more stuff than I do. I don't have a refrigerator or a dishwasher.

That brick work is interesting and must be nice for ventilation in the summer. Are insects a problem, or is it screened?

Your vent stack opening is above your roof, right?

[Edited on 21-12-2017 by Magpie]

Vosoryx - 20-12-2017 at 16:23

I enjoyed seeing your previous posts while you were building it, i'm glad to see the finished product.
I must ask though - isn't having the sink so far away annoying? For what you can't wash in the dishwasher, such as anything with a persistent residue, how will you clean that out? It seems like a pain in the ass to have to do it all in a bucket.
How lucky you are where you live to be able to have a lab with an uninsulated wall. It's a cold winter here in Canada right now...

I hope you can get some more videos out sometime.

j_sum1 - 20-12-2017 at 17:47

@magpie. Yeah, insects and other wildlife can be a problem. Mostly cockroaches at this time of year. But I have a blue tongue lizard that has taken up residence in a large bag of scrap copper wire that I have. He will eat a lot of the roaches.
The plan is to chimney the fume hood above the roof line. If the volume flow rate is insufficient I will put an extra fan inline.

@Vosoryx. I thought long and hard about the sink and fume cupboard placement. I think it is going to be ok. I need to boil water for washing anyway and so am resigned to working from a bucket for cleaning those stubborn flasks. At this location I get access to water but I don't sacrifice usable working space. I also get a little triangle space right in the far corner of the bench where I can put buckets of condenser water. I will have a hose fitting leading directly into the fumehood so I don't have hoses all over the place. I forgot to mention in the video that the sink is piped to a rainwater tank directly on the opposite side of the brick wall. So no chlorination and reasonably pure.

CharlieA - 20-12-2017 at 18:19

Great job! You should be very proud of your work. I agree with you about the jiggly cell phone, but a ringstand and 3-finger clamp might be a temporary work-around.
Seeing your great lab makes me wish I had started mine about 30 years ago when I would have had more time to enjoy it.
I'm looking forward to more videos, but doing chemistry will be more fun than making videos (I think; just my personal opinion).
Merry Christmas!
CharlieA
(I know that is politically incorrect, but I'm old enough not to care!)

Magpie - 20-12-2017 at 19:00

You can buy hot water heaters that heat the water right at the point of use. The ones I've seen are electric but I think gas types are available also.

If drainage from the sink is not available I would get a sump pump.

I like your biological control for the roaches. I've never lived anywhere with roaches. I have a very low tolerance for those.

My main problem is cold winters. I need to get a bigger heater to add to what I now have (2000w). I would insulate the ceiling if I didn't have it filled with household junk.

FlaskBreaker - 2-1-2018 at 09:39

I'm jealous of all of these labs. Mine is slowly growing, but I can still get some chemistry done. Sadly I don't have a fume hood yet, so I have to take my "Exciting" experiments outside. As far as equipment goes, I still have a ring stand with clamps and iron rings, a few beakers, a few flasks, a few wash bottles with my most-used solvents, test tubes, grad cylinders, heat sources, and distillation equipment.

Radium212 - 2-1-2018 at 12:57

My lab is weird because I do amateur physics as well as chemistry, so there's a mixture of physics and chemistry equipment.

Texium - 18-3-2018 at 19:10

Well, here it is, the third incarnation of my lab, now complete with a Rotovap and a home made fume hood!

https://texium.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/texium-labs-3-0-reve...

Magpie - 18-3-2018 at 19:39

Very nice lab. Your bench is beautiful - it looks like it has an epoxy top?

I have no switches or outlets inside my hood. They are OK as long as the hood fan is on, I guess.

Did Sauron die?

Ubya - 19-3-2018 at 01:36

Quote: Originally posted by Texium (zts16)

Well, here it is, the third incarnation of my lab, now complete with a Rotovap and a home made fume hood!

https://texium.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/texium-labs-3-0-reve...

well i bow to you sir, really nice lab *jealousy intensifies*

j_sum1 - 19-3-2018 at 01:43

I think I am more jealous of the fume hood than the rotovap. But that might be because I have never used a rotovap.
This looks awesome, Texium. Well done. I'm sure you will get lots of interesting things done in there

Texium - 19-3-2018 at 07:46

Thanks guys!

@Magpie: Yep, it has an epoxy top. I got it at a resale store for $50. Apparently it came out of a lab in a military base in San Antonio. They clearly were unaware of its true value. Not sure about Sauron. He already ceased posting before my time, but it looked like he was downsizing his lab equipment a lot during his last couple years here.

@j_sum1: A Rotovap is one of those things that you think seems like it would be a nice luxury until you actually use one... Then you can't live without it. So I recommend never using one

XeonTheMGPony - 25-3-2018 at 05:05

well an update, Vac chamber mounted but not hooked up, lab frame been doing great, making a fume hood and sink is stuck till more time and money come in.

But it is coming along, my supplies are building up nicely though! Need to make a better extractor though I want to make a bunch of Bromine and ampule it in 10ml aliquots, Along with some SO3.

XeonTheMGPony - 16-4-2018 at 04:08

Now that what ever glitch had made me have to use a proxy and such is fixed:

I think I can say my lab is becoming well stocked! Still waiting on hard ware and to make a better fume hood, to that effect some dedicated dehumidifiers sacrificed them selfs for parts!

XeonTheMGPony - 16-4-2018 at 04:15

Second part (Don't want to get blocked again, this is where it happened, one pic too many then BANG VERBOTEN!)

The one on the counter is halon, it kills every thing! Including the fire! the second is a BC class (Specific to liquid fuel type fires)

I since installed the under counter light. Need to get a metal cabinet for the oxidizers, get the sprinkler system installed in the room and so on.

Need to make a rack for the glass wear as well.

[Edited on 16-4-2018 by XeonTheMGPony]

j_sum1 - 16-4-2018 at 19:18

Thanks for that, Xeon. Nice to see your work area.

It always seems to me that workable bench space and storage space are always the most difficult things to organise. No matter how much you have you always feel like you could use some more.

LaBoom - 10-5-2018 at 10:57

these ideas are great. thanks to everyone for posting. I do have one relevant question though, where is recommended to build a lab?

I have an unfinished basement that I have access to an unused dryer vent(which would be great to set up a ventilation hood to connect to), but my furnace that heats my house is within 10 ft of it. it is a natural gas furnace. is this considered a hazard being too close to setting up a lab in the proximity? I have considered building a partition wall in between my furnace area and where my lab area would be, but do not know if this would be any help(don't fumes float through crevices anyways?).

my other options would be in my garage, where it is insulated and can be heated but again, it is a propane heated(open flame) area, or my garden shed which is non-heated and wouldn't be able to work over the winter.

any ideas are greatly appreciated.

MrHomeScientist - 10-5-2018 at 13:09

Well once you get the fume hood running, theoretically you won't need to worry about being near a flame source.

BUT if your hood fails when distilling something flammable, bad times will follow. That sounds like a great place to set up, but you may want to avoid overly flammable volatile solvents like ether. Other aqueous chemistry will be no problem. Depends on what you want to do.

The garage is about the same, but lacks the nice fume hood hookup. The shed is very nice because it's a separate structure from your house. Chemicals generally handle cold weather fine, just make sure it doesn't get too hot in the summer. Also make sure you don't break bottles by freezing solutions!

LaBoom - 10-5-2018 at 19:28

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist

Well once you get the fume hood running, theoretically you won't need to worry about being near a flame source.

tyvm. I was considering putting dual ventilation fans powered separately on the fume hood exactly for that purpose. both would have to be equal in cfm, and strong enough to serve the necessary cu ft individually. it would be easy to put in a "Y" joiner before they reached the outside exhaust port.

MöbiusMan - 13-7-2018 at 04:05

Fumehoods are expensive.

MrHomeScientist - 13-7-2018 at 05:25

Hospital bills are more expensive!

AlexC - 13-7-2018 at 06:50

And it's not always about money, but about safety. Safety should be our first concern in chemistry. Everything else is less important. Hospital bills are more expensive if they can help you, if they can't, you know what.

Magpie - 13-7-2018 at 07:50

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1

It always seems to me that workable bench space and storage space are always the most difficult things to organise. No matter how much you have you always feel like you could use some more.

I have very little bench space outside of my fume hood. I certainly wish I had more but my garage is only so big. I put everything away as soon as possible during an experiment.

What I want to do is insulate my lab ceiling and walls so I can use it in the really cold days and the hot days, like right now. My attic is full of stuff so this makes it tough to insulate. One wall is a pull up door (double), but I haven't put a car in my garage in 20 years. My wife owns most of our garage.

[Edited on 13-7-2018 by Magpie]

streety - 13-7-2018 at 09:44

Quote: Originally posted by LaBoom

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist

Well once you get the fume hood running, theoretically you won't need to worry about being near a flame source.

The other failure mode I've considered is a splashed liquid on a heating mantle or hot plate tripping a circuit breaker and knocking out power to the lab - fans and lights included.

I'm not at the stage of being able to outfit a lab but I would definitely consider a UPS for any safety critical equipment.

MJ101 - 14-7-2018 at 05:32

@streety: Uninterupted power is a good idea. Of course, you'd have to use a UPS that doesn't contribute anything to the working environment (Lead-Acid batteries generate hydrogen while charging, IIRC) Plus the UPS would have to be in a place where none of the reagents can corrode it.

How long do you want the UPS to supply power to the lab? That would be determined by the load your equipment is placing on the UPS.
You'd have to figure that out.

I don't see myself setting up a full lab any time soon (I live in a studio in North Brooklyn, NYC) Too much risk for the people around me.
For now, I'm quite happy learning about safety, and how the basic reactions work.

But I can show pics of my electronics lab if anybody is interested.

Abromination - 16-7-2018 at 16:34

Well I recently built a fume hood for my lab and it has worked great. It's not ideal for a lot of things but for smoke, odors steams and less dangerous fumes it's perfect. I have seperate shelves for chemicals and equipment and keep salts with acids, acids and bases seperate, and organica away from eachother and everything else. I have no running water but have a jug of distilled water on top of my shelves.

Here is the design for the fumehood:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Fume-Hood-for-Under-30/

Not much chemistry lately but upgraded facilities

Sulaiman - 22-8-2018 at 00:32

Due to home renovations my Al fresco laboratory extension now has more stuff

Left-to-right;
A plastic mini-greenhouse, (bought on offer for £20)
Toaster-oven on Microwave oven on Refrigerator (£new items for kitchen)
Dual (1500W & 500W) hotplate (£15 via eBay)
Old pressure cooker (testing with water before actual runs with kerosene)
Hosepipe for water supply
Hosepipe to drain
Workbench with heat exchanger (ex-central heating radiator)

Magpie - 24-8-2018 at 18:09

Here's a picture of the AC my son and I installed in the wall of my lab. It is good for 350ft^2 floor space and removes 10,000 BTU/hr. This winter I will insulate the roof of the lab. Toggle picture to turn it.

[Edited on 25-8-2018 by Magpie]

quadrupole - 15-9-2018 at 05:09

my cluttered room..boxes of flash columns. six hplc pumps, three detectors, flash, and FTIR

C7B3B158-B8D2-4ADC-B0FD-0C84E51820CB.jpeg - 903kB

JScott - 19-9-2018 at 04:42

Here's a few photos of my basement lab. The hood closes on a piano hinge, in the photo the window is up. I have running water in the form of a hose, but no sink. I drain into buckets. The condenser is cooled from a reservoir under the bench.

The chemistry set on the top shelf in one of the photos is very similar to the one that started me in this hobby. I found it, unopened, at a tag sale. Thirty bucks for the coolest walk into the past I've had in years!

zenosxr - 23-9-2018 at 17:13

Impressive JScott!

JScott - 27-9-2018 at 06:31

Thank you,

After seeing other lab postings this is a humble offering to be sure. A good deal that needs to be improved.

Here's a photo of the electronics bench on the other side of the basement. There's also a computer lab across the room. A network of 6 PCs acting as various servers, and experimental goof off boxes. Mac, Windows, Linux.

We also do HAM radio and my wife is a amateur naturalist. There's an area for lapidary and some dissection as well.

[Edited on 9-27-2018 by JScott]

[Edited on 9-27-2018 by JScott]

quadrupole - 5-10-2018 at 11:39

https://vimeo.com/293620635

gatosgr - 18-10-2018 at 11:02

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

Here's 3 pictures of my homemade fume hood. These have been resized to a maximum dimension of 550 pixels so hopefully Taaie can put away his Dramamine. (Thanks Taaie for the software guidance

).

The hood dimensions are 41.5" H x 48"W x 28" D. (1" = 2.54cm). It is made from 14 gauge aluminum (1/16"). Inside is epoxy coated, except for the removable baffles (2 ea). There is a removable stainless steel pan with 1" high sides.

The blower is 120VAC, 1/4HP, 1000 rpm, squirrel cage, open one-end estimated to move 400-500 ft3/min. The ducting is 8" IPS 63 psi irrigation

PVC with schedule 40 fittings.

The outlet plenum is 16 gauge stainless steel. Both sheet metal pieces were fabricated by local shops to my drawings.

[Edited on 13-11-2005 by Magpie]

The 4' x 7" fluorescent light rests on a tempered glass piece silicone caulked to the aluminum frame.

[Edited on 13-11-2005 by Magpie]

Sorry to dig up this old post but I will need to operate the fume hood I built some years ago according to the dimensions you posted, right now it's a plywood box and baffles coated with 2-3 coats of epoxy, the only thing that is missing is the sliding window. According to what you posted the dimensions are as follows

box face dimensions
4' x 5' = 122 x 152 cm

window dimensions
48" x 41.5"= 122 x 105 cm

so there is a 47 cm bypass at the top or am I mistaken somewhere? Thanks.

Magpie - 18-10-2018 at 13:35

Yes, you are correct. The bypass opening is necessary to provide a path for airflow. If you were to completely close off the opening the noxious vapors would just sit there.

gatosgr - 21-10-2018 at 08:28

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

Yes, you are correct. The bypass opening is necessary to provide a path for airflow. If you were to completely close off the opening the noxious vapors would just sit there.

Yes I understand that, I am wondering if 47cm is a bit excessive as a bypass, I've used fume hoods in my uni lab and the bypass from what I remember must have been not more than 30 cm and there was a grill in front. Is 47 cm the bypass you've used for your fume hood magpie? Thanks.

Magpie - 21-10-2018 at 09:23

My bypass is 24". Most of the hood face is taken up by the sliding window.

gatosgr - 21-10-2018 at 11:56

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

My bypass is 24". Most of the hood face is taken up by the sliding window.

That's 60 cm of open space, so you have an area of 122 x 60 cm as open space(I mean the bypass) when the sliding window is closed, is that right? Have you put any grills in front? I haven't found any photos with the whole front face of your fume hood. I can literally fit myself through this bypass.

The commercial fume hoods have an extra box in front of the window at the top where the bypass is,

I've noticed that in one of your photos you show a plenum behind the sliding window at the top, is the fume hood you built a box or does it have another shape? Thanks.

Magpie - 21-10-2018 at 13:12

It's a box with a baffle offset 2" from the back wall. The baffle then comes out at an angle at the top to allow airflow out the duct. This picture is the best I have. Scroll down to see the frontal picture.

https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=47...

The inner frame has no glass. The outer sliding glass can slide up and down as required. In the picture there is a bypass in the bottom but also in the top that can not be seen here. The total of the two bypasses is 24".

[Edited on 21-10-2018 by Magpie]

gatosgr - 22-10-2018 at 10:19

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

It's a box with a baffle offset 2" from the back wall. The baffle then comes out at an angle at the top to allow airflow out the duct. This picture is the best I have. Scroll down to see the frontal picture.

https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=47...

The inner frame has no glass. The outer sliding glass can slide up and down as required. In the picture there is a bypass in the bottom but also in the top that can not be seen here. The total of the two bypasses is 24".

[Edited on 21-10-2018 by Magpie]

It's this that I don't understand, if the total height is 48" or 41.5" what is the height of X and Y in this picture?
I think I mixed up the height and width.
Can you also tell me what is the bypass at the top and the bottom separately?

hood side view - resized2.bmp - 664kB

Does the box section of the fume hood have: height 105.4 cm = 41.5" and the width 122 cm = 48" and the window 48" width and 59" height? Thanks.

[Edited on 22-10-2018 by gatosgr]

Magpie - 22-10-2018 at 15:14

gatosgr - 23-10-2018 at 12:58

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

Thanks a lot, can you also tell me what is the dimensions of Z in the picture?

Is these a specific reason for the fume hood to have this shape since I will cut it to fit the exact dimensions you provided, it's some hours of work but I will certainly do it if it improves the airflow, thanks.

hood side view - resized3.bmp - 492kB

Magpie - 23-10-2018 at 14:36

First I bought a standard window (except it has only one pane). Then I had the hood made of aluminum. The triangular shape is necessary for the mating of the two pieces. You might ask why I just didn't make the hood bigger to accommodate the window. The answer is: space limitations.

It is a right triangle with short legs of 5.5" and 9.5".

gatosgr - 24-10-2018 at 22:12

Thanks for the info. The total bypass is 24" but how much bypass do you leave at the bottom and how much at the top? I think I'll make a smaller window to avoid making the triangle do you think I should also make smaller bypass?

Magpie - 25-10-2018 at 07:08

There is a sliding window that can slide all the way to the top or all the way to the bottom. So the 2 gaps can be set anyway you want. They total 24" and the bypass area remains constant.

gatosgr - 31-10-2018 at 21:31

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie

There is a sliding window that can slide all the way to the top or all the way to the bottom. So the 2 gaps can be set anyway you want. They total 24" and the bypass area remains constant.

Ok thanks, I mixed up the height and width, do you think I should change them to what you specified or leave the fume hood as it is?

Magpie - 1-11-2018 at 08:27

If you are using a standard window your width would conform to the window. If not, use whatever dimensions you want.

Abromination - 10-3-2019 at 21:56

A little over a year after starting my home lab, I wanted to show how my lab has evolved. I went from having a few simple chemicals and pieces of glassware to a furnished lab space.

I'm sure you can tell whats new here.
The furniture is primarily made from a modified toy kitchen. It is equipt with an outlet, vacuum pump, DC power supply, eventually plumbing and the large cabinets lock for chemical storage.

Thank you all for your ideas and knowledge, I have learned a lot and come a long way

F802532D-AF3E-4393-A563-EF96940CD4E1-310-00000071F24F0E49.png - 119kB

F802532D-AF3E-4393-A563-EF96940CD4E1-310-00000071F24F0E49.png - 119kB

5833F228-EC9D-4AE0-A049-4F7E06D1DA01-310-00000071ECB3275F.png - 105kB

[Edited on 3-11-19 by Abromination]

[Edited on 3-11-19 by Abromination]

F802532D-AF3E-4393-A563-EF96940CD4E1-310-00000071F24F0E49.png - 119kB

Sulaiman - 27-4-2019 at 16:35

Sorry but your lab looks fake !

I see no burns or stains on the walls or floor, only one stain on your work surface,
your glassware is sparkling and your stand and clamps are shiny

other than that ... very nice :cool:

Abromination - 7-5-2019 at 19:30

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman

Sorry but your lab looks fake !

I see no burns or stains on the walls or floor, only one stain on your work surface,
your glassware is sparkling and your stand and clamps are shiny

other than that ... very nice :cool:

Ah you have discovered my plan!

That is only the clean glassware you are seeing, the rest is sitting dirty in a bucket on my shelf. I use those cabinets as a dry bench, and my wet bench has a glass top, although after a few years in service even that is pretty beat up :p

Short tour

Tkuze - 22-5-2019 at 16:51

Ask if you would like to see more pics of glassware/setup or have any advice.

15585723075231706343277959656081.jpg - 2.7MB

15585723602761136047278162931452.jpg - 2.5MB

15585723957666993968556367147868.jpg - 2.3MB

Abromination - 25-5-2019 at 17:29

Quote: Originally posted by Tkuze

Ask if you would like to see more pics of glassware/setup or have any advice.

If I may give my advice, I suggest against directly heating a pyrex measuring cup on a hotplate like that. They are not made of borosilicate glass, only tempered glass which can resist a lot of heat but only when it is distributed equally across the glass. This is why they say not for lab use. Get a crystalizing dish for your water and oil baths.
Nice desiccator by the way.

Sulaiman - 25-5-2019 at 18:12

Quote: Originally posted by Abromination

... Get a crystalizing dish for your water and oil baths...

I recommend a metal heating pot, not as pretty, but a lot safer.

Abromination - 29-5-2019 at 11:29

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman

Quote: Originally posted by Abromination

... Get a crystalizing dish for your water and oil baths...

I recommend a metal heating pot, not as pretty, but a lot safer.

Definitely safer, although some hotplates dont cope well with metal touching the heating plate. It creates hotspots that can overload the coils on the inside.

XeonTheMGPony - 19-7-2019 at 04:14

Well slowly making my lab look more respectable and less like a meth lab! Just need an FTIR to really round out the aesthetics!

and some new stuff arrived!

And better lab safety in a safe

Ubya - 19-7-2019 at 08:12

that's a good looking (drying) rack you got there

ps what's in the safe?

streety - 19-7-2019 at 13:32

I think the fourth photo is showing the inside of the safe. Looks like toxic/poisonous chemicals.

XeonTheMGPony - 20-7-2019 at 04:55

Quote: Originally posted by streety

I think the fourth photo is showing the inside of the safe. Looks like toxic/poisonous chemicals.

Yup and some energetics. I have friends over and on a side topic to another friend we where talking about people doing idiotic things.

Needles to say it encouraged me to put the harmless looking but yet massively deadly or dangerous into a lockable safe. Plus side if a thief ever stole it and tried to cut into it I will be very happy with end resualt, so another massive win!

Better safety and gene pool chlorinater all in one.

The rack worked so well going to make more, idea is one for each size of flask, atm it will just be 3 with mixed sizes, next too is a condenser rack as I now have a good assortment

XeonTheMGPony - 11-5-2020 at 15:58

just took 2 years to get around to it but I just made my chlorination apparatus

Mateo_swe - 12-6-2020 at 10:59

You made it yourself?
You must have good glass working skills, it looks really nice.

XeonTheMGPony - 12-6-2020 at 15:26

Quote: Originally posted by Mateo_swe

You made it yourself?
You must have good glass working skills, it looks really nice.

No I made the bendy piece on the bottom, I wish I had that level of skill

and to add to the doh log book, I made the bend in the wrong direction! But it will still work, can't wait to try it out.

Mateo_swe - 29-7-2020 at 08:21

How come the bend are needed?
Would not a standard gas absorber tube work for chlorine gas?
Like this one

XeonTheMGPony - 29-7-2020 at 16:39

it is for making chlorohydrate, for that you need strong stirring and cooling.

By aligning the bubble stream into the direction of flow of the stirring you get better mixing

Mateo_swe - 30-7-2020 at 02:39

OK, thanks for the info.

Kurt - 10-5-2022 at 10:38

Any ideas for realising a proper fume hood for this? (air duct is doing about 600m^3/hour)
or just in general some tips or similar for making it either look better or better organized/more efficent?
really any ideas or siminilar are appreciated ^^
(or how to remove those stains in the PVC flooring (tried 30% h2o2 didnt do much))

[Edited on 10-5-2022 by Kurt]

My home away from home

DocX - 8-7-2022 at 05:06

So I moved out to the countryside over the summer, and finally get some time off to do chemistry. My home lab is shiny white and fume-hooded, but out here I chose the scruffiest shed I could find. I kind of LIKE the atmosphere. It has a nice methlab feel to it

B(a)P - 24-7-2022 at 01:39

Here is my lab, packed in boxes for the last time in hopefully a long time. In two weeks we move into a house we have bought and I will be able to set up a more permanent lab. Looking forward to it!

j_sum1 - 24-7-2022 at 02:14

That is such good news, B(a)p.
Congratulations.

First post

Gammatron - 30-8-2022 at 13:30

Hi everyone. First post here so I thought I'd show off my lab. A little messy as is common with a mad scientist!

pneumatician - 16-9-2022 at 09:59

A "old" lab...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE_vu6EcNYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPe4i6_7a4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j38lPBaYfgg

SuperOxide - 17-9-2022 at 18:50

Quote: Originally posted by pneumatician

A "old" lab...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE_vu6EcNYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPe4i6_7a4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j38lPBaYfgg

I think you just need a couple more mortar and pestles... Then you have yourself a "real lab"

vibbzlab - 17-9-2022 at 22:10

This is my workbench. On the left side I do the reactions. You can see my mobile stand on which I keep my mobile for recording videos to upload on Youtube. On the right side I have my vaccum filtration setup and a Thieles tube setup for recording melting point of organic compounds that I make.

pneumatician - 18-9-2022 at 12:12

Quote: Originally posted by SuperOxide

I think you just need a couple more mortar and pestles... Then you have yourself a "real lab"

but the brass one is spectacular... where you can find one new of this today???

too much mortars??? no cross contamination

SuperOxide - 18-9-2022 at 14:57

Quote: Originally posted by pneumatician

Quote: Originally posted by SuperOxide

I think you just need a couple more mortar and pestles... Then you have yourself a "real lab"

but the brass one is spectacular... where you can find one new of this today???

too much mortars??? no cross contamination

Oh wow, I didn't even see the brass one, that's awesome! I count 15 (including the brass one), is that right?

I can hardly give you grief for having a crazy about of mortars and pestles. I myself have way too much glassware, some of which will probably never get used for anything serious, lol.

But I really do like your lab. It has an artisanal feel to it. Reminds me of The Knick (amazing TV show).

pneumatician - 1-10-2022 at 06:10

Quote: Originally posted by SuperOxide

I can hardly give you grief for having a crazy about of mortars and pestles. I myself have way too much glassware, some of which will probably never get used for anything serious, lol.

But I really do like your lab. It has an artisanal feel to it. Reminds me of The Knick (amazing TV show).

oh no, this is not mine...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Schwaller_de_Lubicz

Morgan - 1-10-2022 at 08:00

Quote: Originally posted by SuperOxide

Quote: Originally posted by pneumatician

Quote: Originally posted by SuperOxide

I think you just need a couple more mortar and pestles... Then you have yourself a "real lab"

but the brass one is spectacular... where you can find one new of this today???

too much mortars??? no cross contamination

Seeing the brass mortar and pestle reminded me I had an old tarnished one out in the garage. I tried some Bar Keepers Friend (Oxalic Acid) and then some clear ammonia not having any brass cleaner. It used to reside on my fireplace. Interestingly, it makes a loud bell sound if tapped with the pestle.
18 year old Pomeranian and hand for scale.

Morgan - 1-10-2022 at 13:19

Apparently these other bronze looking things I have are mortars without a pestle. I saw the same design and concentric ring pattern (on the bottom of them) as mine on eBay. Oddly my camera made them look more yellow like brass Maybe of interest ...

"Antique 19th Century French Bronze Mortar and Pestle Lion Heads 3”
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6~QAAOSwD1NheIVI/s-l500.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/1L0AAOSwqvdheIVM/s-l500.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/VVgAAOSwqVJheIVO/s-l500.jpg

Another listing under this title
19TH CENTURY SOLID BRONZE PHARMACY MORTAR & PESTLE ANTIQUE
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/S2IAAOSwcZNhVZ~6/s-l500.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5sYAAOSwZqthVZ~8/s-l500.jpg

[Edited on 2-10-2022 by Morgan]

Lionel Spanner - 19-10-2022 at 07:07

Over the last 4-5 months I've been converting my rather large cellar into a home lab, and by last weekend I had all the equipment and chemicals necessary to run my first procedure. So I decided to make the first concentrated chemical I ever handled in a professional setting - nitric acid.

The experiment was a dry distillation using sodium nitrate and sodium bisulphate, the latter obtained from a pool chemical kit sold at my local B&Q. The gas outlet from the receiver flask was run into a Drechsel bottle containing 10% w/w caustic soda, also from my local B&Q.

After turning on the heating mantle, nothing happened for a few minutes, but sure enough, after a few minutes, faint brown vapour appeared over the reaction mixture, which soon filled the whole apparatus - the joints were sufficiently tight that very little vapour escaped, but I had a large extractor fan set up just off-camera in case things got out of hand.

After about 40 minutes of heating, liquid started to condense in the receiver flask, and continued at a steady trickle for about an hour. Once it had stopped, the heat was turned off and the apparatus was allowed to cool to room temperature. Since the liquid in the Drechsel bottle was starting to suck back, the bottle was disconnected.

About halfway through the distillation, I replaced the cone adapter and thermometer with a closed well, as the thermometer was unreadable through the misty condensate, and the plastic washer inside the adapter perished due to contact with nitric acid vapour. The Drechsel bottle was pretty useless, as very little gas got that far through the apparatus, but the caustic soda solution was useful for neutralising the acid vapours at the end of the procedure.

On releasing the receiving flask, acrid white fumes typical of concentrated nitric acid were evolved. The yellow liquid in the flask was very carefully weighed out into an amber glass bottle, and its density was determined to be around 1.5 g/cm³, meaning it was close to 100% nitric acid - somewhat stronger than I'd expected. Assuming a concentration of 100%, the yield was 25 grams, or about 70% with respect to sodium nitrate.

(I'd falsely assumed the sodium bisulphate was the hydrate. The fact it stayed solid well above 55 °C, the nominal melting point for the hydrate, was the first clue it was anhydrous.)

To test the nature of the acid, a few drops of it were dripped onto a discarded pair of nitrile gloves - the drops burned holes in the material, and produced smoke. A few drops were dripped onto a penny; corrosion occurred at the surface, along with the formation of blue copper nitrate and the release of nitrogen dioxide.

All in all, a pretty successful first run.

[Edited on 19-10-2022 by Lionel Spanner]

hodges - 14-1-2023 at 12:55

I moved in 2016, so I got rid of all my chemicals (sold them in bulk to a member here).

When I retired in 2018, I started doing a bit of chemistry again. I am only doing chemistry very occasionally, but I still have managed to accumulate a fair collection of chemicals again.

Most of vials with homemade labels are chemicals I made myself from other chemicals.

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