Shulgis Laboratory

This is really cool indeed.
How not to store chemicals !
What a collection!

To my suprise there is no fumehood, just one exhaust fan.
Quite remarkable for such a well stocked lab.
I am also still dependant on a gasmask but that is certainly the first thing that has got to change, annoying and tiresome to walk around with.


[Edited on 18-8-2021 by Belowzero]

Amazing indeed !
There are some unusual and fun items in that lab

I love the huge frame for setting up whatever assembly you could dream of.
The sink needs some cleaning though !

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber

I love the huge frame for setting up whatever assembly you could dream of.

Quote: Originally posted by Belowzero

Since I will need to move my lab in the near future I was looking for inspiration and I gotta say that such a large frame with both sides accesible is definetely something to adopt. Perhaps a sink in one of the table tops would finish it up. Looking around it also reminds me how much skill apart from chemistry is required such as plumbing, engineer, electrical, electronics etc. Truly a versatile hobby.

Quote: Originally posted by Belowzero

This is really cool indeed. How not to store chemicals ! [Edited on 18-8-2021 by Belowzero]

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber

Amazing indeed ! The sink needs some cleaning though !

Quote: Originally posted by Fyndium

What I see missing is a good fume hood and ventilation, which I consider must, because many reactions just produce gaseous side products or are so smelly, toxic or both that you really want to suck them out. A difference between gas chamber and a lab can be very small.

Consider that his lab was in a shed on his property and not in the house, and combined with the relatively mild climate throghout the year in this part of the states, I figure it might have been just as good to simply open all the doors/windows in the lab and let a mild breeze flow through.

And considered some of the substances he used quite often, e.g. oxalyl chloride, SOCl2 or POCl3 in Tihkal for example, one of them is used in the preparation of every single compound in that book, and all of them are quite obnoxious, corrosive and unhealthy.
Guess, if you're used to this, it could probably be easier.

His lab was, so to say, almost halfway outside.
They must have been quite used over the time to that working space, him, Nichols and whoever joined them at that.... or... have they even done all the work at Shulgins place?

Or, maybe Nichols got his own homelab too.... they worked together in Shulgin's lab after all.... and Nichols is one of the handful of people who also managed to obtain such a DEA-license, up until today if I'm not mistaken.
Maybe thats where some of the magic happened too?
Maybe that hypothetical lab is better equipped?
It probably hasn't even existed back then, considered how young Nichols was at that point... if it even exists now?
Doesn't matter actually, its just distracting

The point I wanted to get at, is, everyone who ever had the opportunity to do chemistry outside or similar likewise halfway protected, will understand that this can be a quite effective way to dissipate some nasty clouds very quickly.
And consequentially, when I had an opportunity to work outside and took it, I tended to do things I probably wouldn't even have done with a fume hood on the inside.
With a fume hood, you are of course better protected, but compared with simply ripping all the doors in the lab open, even with just a mellow wind blowing, you can't dilute any gasses as quickly when its in the fume hood.
Especially in case you need to access whats inside the fumehood....

Maybe thats why he doesn't had one?
Or, maybe he even had one and has gotten rid of it, because he considered it impractical with the lab at such a location?

Thats what I would say.
It would probably be different if the lab would have been located inside another building, like most labs everywhere are.
As said, I guess its not really required in a shed like this, or maybe it was rather due to the long experience and good working practice, while being used to the work in that place, that a fume hood didn't seemed neccessary to him(or better, them, including the few others who worked with him in there on occassion)?


It looks comfy and like a nice working space I would enjoy to do stuff in

Quote: Originally posted by Syn the Sizer

[ Now I also look at this, no fume hood and minimal ventilation lots of narcotics and he still lived to be 88 years old, he was doing something right, maybe the well made drugs clean out the toxins lol

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69

Quote: Originally posted by Syn the Sizer   Now I also look at this, no fume hood and minimal ventilation lots of narcotics and he still lived to be 88 years old, he was doing something right, maybe the well made drugs clean out the toxins lol Apparently all the scientists who worked with plutonium on the Manhattan project lived well into there eighties