Pumukli - 22-7-2019 at 02:52
I thought I'd start this thread on the most useful equipments we use. I'd like to hear about YOUR most useful tools/equipment/etc which gets used a
lot in your lab and how/why it is so important to you!
The most useful things what I use very often and I feel indispensable in my lab / hobby are the following:
- Number one is hands down that little chinese vacuum pump what Sulaiman mentioned years ago in one of his posts. I quickly ordered one and I'm very
grateful to both Sulaiman (to bring the thing in my attention) and the chinese factory where these are made because I really like this thing! The more
I use it the deeper the love and appreciation! It makes filtering so much easier! I think I could not do any meaningful synthesis work without it.
- Number two is my magnetic stirrer / hotplate. (An old, used Heidolph.) This thing is always on when I do something. Be it just heating, or just
stirring or both. Very useful item.
- Number three is the digital scale I bought a few months ago. It is so convenient to put a beaker/flask/Petri dish on the scale, have it measured or
tared AND NOT BOTHER ABOUT the time-outs of auto power off! All my cheap chinese scales have this auto power off annoyance. Not to mention the
resolution is great (nice to be able to measure things in the 1 mg range with some confidence) too.
What are your most useful lab gadgets?
unionised - 22-7-2019 at 04:12
Anyone who has had occasion to actually "use" safety goggles will probably agree that they are very useful.
In terms of usefulness per dollar I think a simple mercury-in-glass type thermometer is hard to beat.
XeonTheMGPony - 22-7-2019 at 04:19
Quality Hg Thermometer set.
Distillation set up (Includes heating mantle)
Digital scale.
Hot/plate stirrer I view as a luxury item but not vital to do chem, just makes life super easy! The top three you can not do chem with out some form
of ability to weigh and measure temp.
karlos³ - 22-7-2019 at 04:28
Magnetic stirrer,
Distillation-setup,
and a proper digital scale,
so I absolutely agree with Xeon 
elementcollector1 - 22-7-2019 at 10:58
For me, it'd be:
-Furnace
-Vacuum chamber
-Pliers
Then again, I mostly do high-temperature inorganic stuff, so mine are probably very specific to me.
teodor - 22-7-2019 at 11:41
1. Books.
2. Books.
3. Books.
I prefer paper books but most of them are in electronic form, alas.
DavidJR - 22-7-2019 at 12:34
1. A high quality, secondhand chemical-resistant diaphragm vacuum pump
2. Local exhaust ventilation blower with hose that I can position where needed (planning on building a hood but haven't gotten that far yet, but a
powerful blower with a flexible hose is really good in itself)
3. A big box of 3ml disposable polyethylene transfer pipettes
j_sum1 - 22-7-2019 at 17:07
I continue to survive without a hotplate stirrer. I know when I get one it will be indispensible. But it does not make the list for now.
My pump needs some maintenance and I feel its loss acutely. But I am managing with gravity filtration so it does not make the list.
The thing that comes to the top of the list is clean beakers. I seem never to have enough.
Digital scales is second.
Probably third is a roll of cleaning cloths. My lab accumulates dust and I need to be wiping everything down constantly.
Do I win the prize for the most boring and mundane?
Pumukli - 23-7-2019 at 10:49
j_sum1: not boring, because I also need a good dishwasher/someone/as a last resort me to do the washing up! And all my appropriate sized beakers seem
to be full/waiting for the washing up when I need them.
Cleaning cloths are also important! I use anything I can (tissue papers, paper towels, old cotton T-shirts) in the lab.
A furnace would be also nice to have sometimes, yes.
A distillation setup, of course! I have more than one so I take it "granted". But without it - phew.
Good vacuum pump for distillations. Yes. This is on my "dream list".
Btw. I bought a box of 2 ml plastic syringes. I think I use them for similar purposes as DavidJR uses his plastic pipettes.
DavidJR - 23-7-2019 at 11:55
I go through a fair number of 1ml/2ml/5ml/10ml syringes too!
RedDwarf - 23-7-2019 at 14:19
I'd have to agree with Teodor as books are probably what inspire me most.
In terms of what I run out of most it would have to be bench space, although if I washed up those beakers and put away some stuff and tried not to do
a dozen experiments at the same time it would probably be easier
Abromination - 23-7-2019 at 17:47
Ring stand with clamps, hotplate stirrer and 24/40 round bottom flask kit.
SWIM - 24-7-2019 at 11:40
1 My Buchler magnetic stirrer/ thermostatic hot plate.
2 My aspirator
3 My lab assistant, seen here monitoring the air for HCN vapors.
Note: must find new lab assistant.
RedDwarf - 24-7-2019 at 12:12
@SWIM
Do you have different lab assistants for different poisons or are they (/was he) multi-talented?
SWIM - 24-7-2019 at 13:00
Actually she's fine, but I've wanted an excuse to post that somewhere for a long time.
She is very sensitive to noxious gasses though.
She gets off the bed if I fart.
happyfooddance - 24-7-2019 at 14:45
Eyes, ears, nose
Ubya - 24-7-2019 at 16:45
as i'm focusing on distillations right now, my most important things (that i use the most) are:
magnetic stirrer/heater
distillation glassware
ice, i need so much ice my freezer is always full of just ice cubes and plastic ice blocks
the moment i'll finish to build my water chiller i'm going to be freeee hahahahaha, no seriously, distillations are going to be much less labour
intensive