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a_bab
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Mood: Angry !!!!!111111...2?!
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No more sodium from ebay
Maybe it didn't deserve a thread, but I just noticed that there are no more interesting elements on ebay to buy, such as Na, K, Sr, Ba etc.
Instead, there are "sprectral discharge tubes" for K.
Gone are the days when it was possible to get 2 lbs bricks of Na from ebay...
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Elawr
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Gentlemen, the time has arrived for you to build that Castner cell and get it up and running!
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len1
National Hazard
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Registered: 1-3-2007
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Mood: NZ 1 (goal) - Italy 1 (dive)
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Yeah well the reason why we have a lot of posts but no action is that its a lot more work to do stuff than to talk about it.
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chemrox
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speaking of which I just bought citric acid on ebay from one of several competing vendors with other items for sale. Things come and go on ebay.
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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a_bab
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I really doubt citric acid could be considered as "dangerous" by the fedgov for now. In the future, who knows...
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JohnWW
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Citric acid is usually used in analytical chemistry to make buffer solutions. It may be able to be nitrated with HNO3 to make an explosive under
certain conditions, I suppose. Or azide groups added to make an even more dangerous explosive.
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a_bab
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Yeah, right. Let's ban the cotton pads then. Or the sugar. They can be nitrated too.
In Europe, citric acid is really easy to get. It is used in some food recipies. In the states, it looks like it's not OTC and seems a difficult find
(I know that from holography people who need all kind of odd chems)
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woelen
Super Administrator
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Yes, over here citric acid is very easy to find. We also use it in food and as such it can be purchased in many places (shops with all kinds of spices
and other ingredients for exotic non-dutch meals, these shops are called "toko" over here and there are many of them).
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NeutralIon
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Citric acid is generally available in the US from places that sell to amateur winemakers [a worthwhile hobby to take up]. It would be food grade so
relatively pure.
Such places generally would also have tartaric and ascorbic acids, possibly malic.
Knowledge is Good
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Magpie
lab constructor
Posts: 5939
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Location: USA
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Mood: Chemistry: the subtle science.
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Citric acid and ascorbic acid are also available at health food stores in the US. Drug stores, on the other hand, have been neutered in the US and
have very little of interest to the home chemist anymore.
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Rich_Insane
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Citric acid can be found in grocery stores, if you want something food grade. It's pretty cheap too.
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UnintentionalChaos
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Well, true about the sodium not being around much. Didn't that guy say he got them from work? I suspect he got fired in that case.
Citric acid is indeed available from wine supply places in the US. It's only a few dollars per pound. They also have tartaric acid, and metabislfites,
which are just two molecules of bisulfite, less one molecule of water. A little acid and they are a great source of SO2.
I've seen strontium and barium for sale on ebay recently, for about $1/g. Calcium too, for 1/4 that price.
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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stateofhack
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I still have 400g of Sodium under paraffin so i am set for a while! But i have seen that DCM and MEK have gone away on ebay  Such a shame and useful solvents!
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Globey
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Had a nightmare. Somebody recently bought half a liter of propiophenone on Ebay from a BillyTK vendor, and now they are being watched for the rest of
their lives. What on Earth were they thinking?
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Globey
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Someone should build/market a Down's Cell actually. Yeh, more is involved, but the simple input makes it priceless. Plus you get two very useful
elements out of it.
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undead_alchemist
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Ebay keeps pulling my listings for acids.
They claim that they can't be shipped, so then they can't be sold.
Even by their own guidelines, it can be sold and shipped.
The rules say if it can't be shipped via the postal service or common carrier then it is prohibited.
Yet, I keep seeing other sellers selling the same acids and they are never pulled.
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MadHatter
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Acids
Interesting that I can still purchase citric. hydrochloric, oxalic and sulphuric acids OTC but
eBay prohibits at least 2 of these(hydrochloric and sulphuric) for sale ? I'm convinced it's
nothing more than paranoia on their end ! 
From opening of NCIS New Orleans - It goes a BOOM ! BOOM ! BOOM ! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !
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undead_alchemist
Hazard to Others
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It is nuts, I can still find other sellers of of both hydrochloric and sulphuric acid on ebay.
One that I do know that the do like to pull is Nitric.
Maybe I should try and list some ether and see if they pull it.
Ebay has yet to pull the Glacial Acetic Acid that I have up. but maybe no one bothers to look for it.
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Jacked_is_out
Harmless
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If you have bought it before just contact the person and handle in privately.. I know someone that use to do that all the time for Na.
That has been a long time ago though. Things change.
Na has different shipping requirements than acids due to its reaction with fire fighting liquids, Water... That could be an issue? I don’t know,
Just speculating...
Tighten Up (UH)
[Edited on 30-5-2009 by Jacked_is_out]
[Edited on 31-5-2009 by Jacked_is_out]
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zed
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E-bay has developed a system that encourages, back stabbing. Most likely, someone considers you a competitor(perhaps you post lower prices).
When this competitor sees your postings, he promptly complains to E-bay, and your listing is pulled.
E-bay encourages such behavior.
It has become difficult for me to list on E-bay. Things that I actually bought on E-bay a few years ago, they now forbid me to list. The list of
forbidden items is so extensive, that you couldn't possibly remember them all.
For that matter, when you are actually perusing the verbotten list, it seems that there is very little that you actually are allowed to list and sell.
All the while, E-bay is whining that profits are down. Duh.
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MagicJigPipe
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Posts: 1554
Registered: 19-9-2007
Location: USA
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| Quote: |
Yeah well the reason why we have a lot of posts but no action is that its a lot more work to do stuff than to talk about it. |
Many valid excuses for this exist:
1. Not enough time (school, job, family, etc...)
2. No appropriate workspace (apartment, small house, etc...)
3. Some people prefer theory over experiment. There's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
4. NOT ENOUGH MONEY. Not everyone is as fortunate as you, period.
So, don't be a dick. Ever since I saw you complaining about this I've wanted to say something about it.
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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len1
National Hazard
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Registered: 1-3-2007
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Mood: NZ 1 (goal) - Italy 1 (dive)
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Yeah, thats all these are, excuses. It requires blinding vanity, to believe that you can contribute theoretically to a subject created by many hours
of work of some of the best minds in the world, without putting in any hard work in the form of getting a proper education or doing the hard yakka in
the lab. The world has never been that way and never will be.
With flasks going for $10 on ebay if you cant afford that, you shouldnt be able to afford the internet. Much the same goes for the rest of your
comments.
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un0me2
aliced25 sock puppet
Posts: 205
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Blinding vanity perhaps, but the fact remains that some of us are less likely than ever to be "able" to contribute pics etc. It is a form of paranoia,
but in my view it is the healthy form of the affliction. It is sad, but the fact remains that we are living in a very nasty period in history to be
caught practicing amateur chemistry. Some aren't strong enough to weather the fear (and it is real) that their door too will be broken down and they
too will be charged with an horrific list of offences and forced to fight for their very liberty.
Then again, there is some theoretical stuff about that is only still just coming to light - the conversion of BF3 to BBr3, the conversion of Boron
Halides to diborane over aluminium in a hot tube. These are papers I've yet to see anywhere discussed, but they have just come to light. Kind of
interesting in fact, given that THF.BH3 is about equipotent to LiAlH4 (at least in terms of carboxylic acids), given that BF3 is not exactly hard to
make... I don't believe BBr3/BCl3 have EVER been on ebay, let alone diborane, so yes, there is still room for those who are hunting to find gems, they
still exist it is just chancing upon them.
[Edited on 31-7-2010 by un0me2]
Attachment: Hurd.The.Synthesis.of.Boron.Trichloride.pdf (245kB)
This file has been downloaded 594 times
Attachment: Gamble.Gilmont.Stiff.The.Reaction.of.Boron.Trifluoride.with.Aluminium.Chloride.or.Bromide.pdf (359kB)
This file has been downloaded 593 times
Attachment: Hurd.The.Preparation.of.Boron.Hydrides.by.the.Reduction.of.Boron.Halides.pdf (455kB)
This file has been downloaded 636 times
quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam
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aonomus
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I've found that a good alternative source to ebay are lotion/soap/perfume formulation suppliers that generally sell to the public. A few things of
interest, nothing exciting. I recently got a kilo of USP grade citric acid with a CofA, and 2kg of USP grade sodium bicarbonate (again with a CofA).
Other places have various chemicals in their pure forms as viscosity modifiers, 'solvents', etc.
As for ebay itself, I've come to see by other examples that they have no issues giving up your private personal information towards any federal power
(even though I'm in Canada). Not to mention that paypal dispute resolution is a real pain. I've been burned by more American sellers than Chinese for
that matter on electronics parts.
All of that aside,
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/
http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca and http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com
are the ones I've purchased from before with no issues.
As a side note, lotioncrafter appears to be based off of an island, so shipments do take some time for the weekly ferry to move stuff.
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MagicJigPipe
International Hazard
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| Quote: |
With flasks going for $10 on ebay if you cant afford that, you shouldnt be able to afford the internet. Much the same goes for the rest of your
comments.
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I can't afford the internet (I use the school's and Starbucks down the street; no, I don't drink coffee)... because I have to pay for school and work
less in order to attend school. Do you have a problem with my lack of experimentation at the moment?
I have plenty of flasks and glassware really but then, at the moment, I live in an apartment.
What would you suggest other than performing experiments at school? If you can suggest experiments that fit into my schedule and can be performed
safely in a apartment with minimal cost I will be all ears--no, joke--I love experimenting, give me some ideas that would be useful to the forum.
EDIT:
I do experiment often but it wouldn't be useful here (too simple and crude).
[Edited on 8-1-2010 by MagicJigPipe]
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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