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woelen
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ScienceGeek, there always is a trade off between price and quality. I myself am more the type of person who only wants to pay for what really is
needed. That bottle of nitric acid you show is nice, but probably it costs EUR 20 or more. I can get acceptable quality nitric acid of similar
concentration for 1/3 of the price. E.g. for nitrating cellulose, you really don't need such pure reagents.
I certainly do not say that we should use the stuff like household cleaners, loaded with dyes and other crap. With that, no real chemistry can be done
(unless one first purifies the active ingredients and some people on this forum do a really nice work on that). But the very pure reagent grade
chemicals for most of the experiments we do are overkill. I know of people who make firecrackers with ACS-grade KNO3.
I do have some reagent grade chemicals, but only in very small quantities. These mostly are chemicals, which find no use outside a lab and simply
cannot be purchased at technical quality.
I can say that for 99% of the chemistry we do at home, general lab grade already is more than sufficient, and I have noticed that even pottery grade
metal salts are very suitable for a fantastic range of experiments.
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ScienceGeek
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I completely agree.
I merely wanted to say that sometimes, lab- grade chemicals are needed, as when making silver salts, for instance, that needs to be pure.
For other reasons, such as when performing the Thermite experiment, Iron Oxide from the nearest pottery supply will more than suffice.
It all depens on what kind of experiments you do!
PS: I didn't buy the bottle of Nitric acid. My chemistry teacher donated it 
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woelen
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Well, if chems are donated, then of course you want the highest possible purity  .
And I also agree that certain transition metal experiments require pure chemicals. I sometimes find very peculiar color changes with complexes of
transition metals and then it always is good to know that these are not due to impurities, but really are due to some interesting unknown (at least to
me  ) complex.
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stoichiometric_steve
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showing off...more to come!
i just had to post this
Distillation of MeOH, recycled from CTH attempts.
The final parts needed for this solvent still were sniped on ebay: the column is a 50cm Vigreux (60EUR), the column head (40 EUR) has a double face
condenser and permits intermittent draining or change of the receiver vessel while maintaining vacuum.
Close up:
I will attach a 3-way valve to switch between the funnel receiver for solvent recycling and a fraction collector for smaller volumes, so i don't have
to reassemble the still each time.
The pump pulling the vacuum is a KNF N022 AN.18 diaphragm pump which needed new valves (40EUR for the pump, 3EUR for the valves).
I have 2 more of these KNF pumps, if anybody is interested. they pull 100mbar/75torr/mmHg. Data sheet here.
To the very right you can catch a glimpse of a Thermovac TM201 highvac gauge (a PTFE tape roll on top) attached to an Edwards E2M1.5 2-stage rotary
vane oil pump (1*10E-4mmHg) via a TR201 Pirani sensor, standing next to a KNF N735.3 AN.18 2-stage diaphragm pump (13mmHg), waiting to have sex with
the other 2-stage N035.3 AT.18 in the storage room. I hope they will have many, many siblings.
All of those are situated below this lovely shiny cabinet:
Don't ask how much i've spent on lab equipment, gotta be in the 1*10E4 EUR range as of late... 
I'm penta-gone for today! pz
[Edited on 21-2-2008 by stoichiometric_steve]
[Edited on 21-2-2008 by stoichiometric_steve]
[Edited on 21-2-2008 by stoichiometric_steve]
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SecretSquirrel
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^ Wow! That is a nice setup. What kind of reaction were you performing?
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Jor
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I love the fume good. I guess the 3 large bottles on the lower part of the fumhood are nitric, sulphuric and hydrochloric?
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stoichiometric_steve
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Jor
I love the fume good. I guess the 3 large bottles on the lower part of the fumhood are nitric, sulphuric and hydrochloric? |
Nope, they are 2x 2.5L tert-Butyl-methylether and 2.5L of Cyclohexane. top row: 2x 500ml + 1x1000ml BF3*Et2O, a bit of CHCl3, 1L CHCl2, 1L DMF, 3x1L
MeOH, the rest i cant remember.
I only store organic solvents in the hood. Acids and bases stand nearby on the shelf. I don't even have nitric acid
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domaani
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Some pictures from my lab, has changed a bit now.
[img]http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?domaanikuva=uoz[/img]
http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?uoz&avase
[img]http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?domaanikuva=ciw[/img]
http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?ciw&avase
[img]http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?domaanikuva=hoX[/img]
http://sooda.dy.fi/fpaste/?hoX&avase
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stoichiometric_steve
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NICE, domaani!
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NERV
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Domaani you have an very beautiful lab!!! Looks like you keep busy with all that glass. Very nice Buchi rotovap there in the first picture I am jealous.
Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur.
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12AX7
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You call that a lab!? The stainless isn't even rusted!
Tim
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chemkid
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Is that personally or comericially funded? Whoaa...its cool either way. Thats some nice glassware.
Chemkid
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The_Davster
A pnictogen
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I like the last picture...I like the pictures of obviously well used labs
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Klute
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Very impressive!
I sware, one day, I'll have a similar lab! And I will never come out of it
\"You can battle with a demon, you can embrace a demon; what the hell can you do with a fucking spiritual computer?\"
-Alice Parr
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kaviaari
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I though it would be nice to post a new picture. The lab has changed a bit since the last one was taken.
[Edited on 30-6-2008 by kaviaari]
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Jor
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Nice!
But... CLEAN UP!
I clean up all the time, and it's a pleasure to work in an ordened place. however, my desk is stained. Cause: Iodine.
These are some bad stains, very hard to remove:
[Edited on 30-6-2008 by Jor]
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DJF90
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Sodium thiosulphate solution is good at removing iodine stains. You'd probably need to scrub a little but it should work wonders 
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Jor
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Yes, I know, but I have only little reagent grade (100g or so) of sodium thiosulphate. I really don't want to waste that on cleaning. Rather use it
for experiments.
Sodium thiosulphate is not so cheap reagent grade at Fisher,Baker,Acros,Merck,Panreac,Interchema, Aldrich or Chem-Lab(so buying it at those companies
is not really an option, I buy most of my chems there though) , but it is at www.hekserij.nl. However, that will be not effective. Too much shipping costs.
I tried potassium metabisulphite (very cheap), and did not work out great.
I will try to remove these stains this weekend.
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pantone159
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Maybe try some photo suppliers? Thiosulfate is extremely commonly used for fixing silver film, and is generally cheap.
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Magpie
lab constructor
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Jor, if you can't get those reductants to work I suggest using a standard kitchen abrasive cleaner. The one I used on my ss sink is Comet (US brand)
which is an abrasive powder with a tiny amount (~1%) of chlorinating agent. My sink isn't smooth stainless likes yours, however, and the abrasive
may scratch it noticeably.
A milder abrasive is the one sold here to clean the glass tops of stoves. That might work and leave less scratches.
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prole
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I've been looking around at lab furniture to get ideas for my own space. I must say that the pics posted in this thread are inspiring! My darkroom
doubles as a lab and is getting way too cramped and untidy, so I'm designing some work stations and casework to locate in the new 'facility'. It
would be nice to have my glassware brought out of the Rubbermaid bins stacked in the corner and properly stored. But right now I am asking for ideas
for a suitable countertop surface that I can construct myself, and that won't absorb spills or react with chemicals. I can't do exotic resins or
stainless steel for budgetary reasons. Uncoated wood is right out. I was thinking maybe dyed concrete coated with sealer, but many sealers I am
aware of are acrylic based and might react or dissolve in the event of a spill. Is there a coating or laminate that is chemically restistant that one
might obtain and apply relatively easily (ie, at standard temperature and pressure)? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.
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DJF90
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I was planning on using a laminated "kitchen worktop". I think the laminate is formica. However I am now going against that idea as it is much cheaper
to buy some 12mm thick MDF and "paint" it with epoxy resin. I would then sand it smooth, and add another coat, this time sanding with very fine
sandpaper as to not remove much of the epoxy, but to leave a smooth finish on the worksurface. This is essentially what I will do to build a fumehood
when I finally get myself sorted out... so many plans but no implementation as of yet 
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prole
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That seems like a good idea. Coat some MDF or plywood with a suitable epoxy resin, like some garage floor coatings. I'm off to the hardware store to
get more info on what's available, and also to get a new respirator for all the dust it looks like I'll be making. Though I was sorta looking forward
to the problems and headaches that go with casting concrete countertops, this looks to be an easier, and quite frankly, a better idea. Thanks, DJF90.
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DJF90
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No problems. Make sure you come back with pictures so we can see how it goes I
will be doing this myself at some point also, and so any advice you can give after going through the process would be appreciated.
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DNA
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I will also post pictures of my just newly finished laboratory as soon as I cleaned everything and the paint is dry and all glassware is in the
cupboard.
I am only wondering magpie what kind of suction do you have in your fumehood as I noticed that my fumehood won't make a tissue being sucked in at the
bottom like you mentioned.
Did you also make aerodynamic plates so that there is a particulair circulation?
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