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Author: Subject: Homemade and Repurposed Lab Gear
Morgan
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[*] posted on 26-1-2018 at 20:11


You can get several different diameters from one of these telescopic golf ball retrievers. Or those pool cleaning extendable poles with the net at the end.
https://www.carlsgolfland.com/jp-lann-15-round-ball-retrieve...

I've cannibalized several small tripods from bargain stores as well to repurpose the legs for experiments. There are those aluminum crutches with the nice frosted finish that can be had for peanuts at thrift stores too where you can cut sections of tubing from the crutch. And even the height adjustable segments at the bottom of the crutch seem like something that might come in handy.

I've also eyed the Harbor Freight flag poles for larger sizes.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ft-telescoping-flag-pole-62...
And I've bought some coiled aluminum tubing from an auto speed shop. So yea, lots of sources out there. Even some aluminum arrows I happened to have ...

On the small sizes for about 15 dollars you can buy a copper pipe tubing expander that you can adjust the end diameters of your tubing.
Pipe diameter range: 6-22mm (6,8,10,12,16,19,22)
1/4 "-7/8"(1/4" 5/16" 3/8" 1/2" 5/8" 3/4" 7/8")
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Best-Seller-Hand-Refrigerati...

Sometimes even old wind chimes can come in handy for a piece of aluminum tubing or once a child's xylophone that happened to have colorful aluminum tubes instead the more common flat bars was another source for me.


[Edited on 27-1-2018 by Morgan]
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RogueRose
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[*] posted on 23-2-2018 at 23:58
Stainless Steel trash cans for boiling pots


I've found that some places sell some pretty nice stainless steel trash cans, often for bathroom use. I found one that is about 1.75 gallons and is probably 304 SS and I picked it up at a flea market surplus store for $3.50. It's round and about 9" diameter on the bottom and 12" at the top and is about 15" tall.

I've used this for a number of things, holding liquids of various types that don't eat SS. I decided to try it on my stove and it works SO much better than most of my pots b/c it is so tall, which makes boiling solutions a very easy task as there is no splatter surrounding the burner. It was great for boiling down various solutions where a larger pot would have had splatter around the edges and I can put all the liquid in at once (most of the time).

I've seen about 20 different trash cans that would work for this and I've seem them very often at flea markets, farmers markets, thrift stores, as well as stores like Big Lots, Ollies, Marshals, TJ Maxx, etc.

Using these also allows you to keep any cookware seperate from the chemistry fun so the significant other doesn't get upset in case you get pickeling on the metal (yeah, that is fun to explain - "But it wasn't supposed to do that, this pot isn't made of what it says it is made of!! Don't blame me, blame they lying cookware manufacturer!!)



trash can.jpg - 213kB trash can 2.jpg - 245kB

[Edited on 2-24-2018 by RogueRose]
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RogueRose
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[*] posted on 24-2-2018 at 04:12
Boiling flask from old metal halide bulbs - 1.5L per bulb and thicker than RBF'S!


SO I had some old 400w sodium or metal halide bulbs and I cut them open with a diamond wheel on the dremel. They cut very nicely on the far end (where it screws in) and is just under 2" diameter making it perfect for a 2" bung/plug.

These might be great boiling flasks/distillation flasks where there may be remains in the bottom that are difficult to impossible to break up. These are borosillicate glass and they are thicker than both beakers and round bottom flasks that I have checked (broken) by about 20-40%. The setup is self explanitory and I'm going to test it down the road and see what the results are. I plan to use glass tubing coming out of the bung leading to a condenser. IDK if there is anything I need to think of before this, but it seems a plausible idea.

The 400w bulbs (Phillips brand & most brands are same size) are 1,4L to 1.5L which is a very nice size and smaller 250w, 175w, 120w, 100w, etc are all freely available from electricians and gives sizes from 220ml up to the 1.5L.

I used a simple hose clamp around the neck with some tape to give it something to hold onto.



light bulb as flask.jpg - 494kB
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[*] posted on 22-3-2018 at 09:14


Dialysis membrane can be found on amazon cheap along with the plastic clips to secure it. If for some reason you cannot obtain it through AMAZON, sporting good stores (ACADEMY, CABELLAS, BASS PRO SHOP) sell pig and sheep intestine casing for sausage making, you can use this for dialysis (that how the first dialysis machines were made) just be sure to wash all the salt out first, and they won't last long after you do that.

For separation you can use a centrifuge of course, baring the ability to get a centrifuge, you can modify an old multi speed bicycle's rear tire and turn it on it's side as a make shift centrifuge. For mass separation you can get an all plastic cream separator that's hand crank.

For a sterile chamber, glove box. check out resale shop, church donation resales, and good will/salvation army for plastic aquarium on the 20 gallon size for cheap, use a rotozip to cut a couple of holes in the front and bolt a plastic toilet flange (4") into the front, and seal heavy rubber gloves to it, you can get plastic panel cheap from home improvement stores or salvage from local trash to cover the top of the aquarium. You can get a cheap computer fan and a HEPA filter for a shop vac to create a positive pressure input to the box.




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NeonPulse
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[*] posted on 29-3-2018 at 20:52


Testing out my heating mantle today. Last year I bought a replacement mantle for a 500 ml heater off eBay for 10$ I placed this into an old paint can for the base and packed the surrounding space with Kaowool. It was powered with a PID/SSR combo which was also from EBay for under 25$ last year. The leads are some old sections of oven wiring harness. I understand the 400c PID devices are cheaper still which would suit this application just fine. I’m using it to distill Glacial Acetic Acid and it works very well. So that’s a home made heating mantle for under 50$. I did run it at max power for a short while and it can get to about 330c. I wouldn’t run it like that most of the time due to the possibility of the nichrome burning out but these mantles are cheap enough so that’s no problem if it did. I bought 3 of them.

934BC68E-7FD1-4899-ABB3-0C3B02807246.jpeg - 1.8MB




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violet sin
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[*] posted on 29-3-2018 at 21:12


If you are referring to the rex-c100 eBay PID controller... It can be easily reprogrammed to open the sense range to the limit of included K thermocouple probe.

http://www.instructables.com/topics/Rex-C100-temperature-con...

First thing that popped up.




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RogueRose
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[*] posted on 30-3-2018 at 05:40


MAybe you can help with this as I've searched for years. What is the material between the ceramic blanket and the glass flask. It looks like a braided material, kind of like a rope wrapped around in circles (starting in center bottom and wrapping around and out up to the top where we see it).

I've also seen heating mantles that use I have seen mantles that use "alkali-free glass fiber insulation material, the resistance of nickel-chromium wire insulation in the insulation layer, woven into a semi-heat within the heater."

So to me it seems that it might be a quartz based fiber (much like fiberoptic which is mostly SiO2 and VERY high melting point compared to even borosillicate glass).

Here is a good article that describes the heating mantle repairs, modifications and builds, but the list of parts (heat resistant fabric??) seem to be limited
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=15844

[file]66675[/file] [file]66677[/file] [file]66679[/file]

mantle - fiber basket 2- 500ML-250W-Fiber-White-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Sets-_57.jpg - 118kBmantle - fiber basket - 500ML-250W-Fiber-White-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Sets-_57.jpg - 96kB

Attachment: f.jpgiberglass matt woven (450kB)
This file has been downloaded 998 times

Refractory-material-heat-Insulation-fireproof-ceramic-fiber.jpg_350x350.jpg - 28kB
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DavidJR
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[*] posted on 4-4-2018 at 14:56


The stem of my polypropylene buchner funnel fits perfectly into this adapter:

buchner-adapter.jpg - 76kB
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mayko
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[*] posted on 14-4-2018 at 09:10


I came across a wine bottle that had its bottom cut off; apparently this is a thing fancy people do to have nice things and isn't difficult to DIY:
https://crafts.stackexchange.com/questions/544/how-do-i-cut-...

This solves an annoyance I've had, which is with the standard inverted-funnel suckback trap and gas bubbler. Putting tubing off and on the stem risks breakage and injury; dedicating a suckback trap by putting tube on and leaving it takes a funnel out of commission. With this top half of a wine bottle, a stopper, and some glass tube, I can have a dedicated trap; I just tried it out successfully with a nitric acid distillation. One potential problem is the large headspace.

I suspect with a little more engineering, you could also use one of these to make a jacketed funnel, for doing hot filtration.




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CobaltChloride
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[*] posted on 14-4-2018 at 13:39


I made a spirit lamp out of a jar. I pierced a hole in its lid with a knife. Through the hole I put a roll made out of sterile compresses. The exposed part of the roll was covered in aluminium foil so that only its tip is exposed to the air. The foil was glued to the lid using a hot glue gun.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I use a stainless steel cup as a snuffer. I found one which happens to fit tightly over the jar.


spirtiera.jpeg - 101kB

[Edited on 14-4-2018 by CobaltChloride]
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[*] posted on 14-4-2018 at 13:48


Use a piece of cotton from a mop-head.

Works great.




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[*] posted on 14-4-2018 at 13:51


Great idea! I'll try that.
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TheMrbunGee
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[*] posted on 15-4-2018 at 01:26
Vacuum pump and vacuum filter


Here Is my gem, vacuum pump made from 12V compressor.

It has a nice high power motor
IMAG1753.jpg - 2.5MB

It takes air from every hole in the motor and parts, so they are sealed with super glue.
IMAG1748.jpg - 2.3MB

Made a hole in the part where piston is and added a nozzle for hose.
IMAG1749.jpg - 2.4MB




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TheMrbunGee
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[*] posted on 15-4-2018 at 01:33
Vacuum pump and vacuum filter




Active cooling and some heat sinks (it was getting hot quite fast)
IMAG1750.jpg - 2.4MB

Power supply from a transformer and bridge rectifier. it eats 6-7A, and about 12, when maximum vacuum is reached. Rectifier is sandwiched between aluminum to dissipate heat.
IMAG1751.jpg - 3.1MB

And the filter - just a jar with a funel.
IMAG1752.jpg - 2.4MB


I was able to boil water in 54 Celsius. If I am not wrong its about 120 torr?





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violet sin
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[*] posted on 30-5-2018 at 16:11



(1), IMAG6150.jpg - 888kB (2), 1527725191391-1608589293.jpg - 1.2MB
(3), IMAG6152.jpg - 940kB

1- Small horizontal/vertical combo Lab clamp.
2- Clamp detail.
3- steel block ring stand, pretty disappointing.

The lab clamp was more of a necessity and I think it came out nicely. I was planning on going a different route with the build but, available materials and store prices precipitated this form. Apparently wing-nuts are spendy...over 1.30$ each at ACE. They did have some affordable threaded grommets you knock in a hole and all kinds of cheap bolts.. ~$1.70 for both pairs on the free scrap wood clamp is affordable... If you already know how to build it step wise, quick... If your learning as you go, it's a BIT TIME CONSUMING.

The pinch plates slide to allow capture without disassembling. I admit wingnuts would be faster or more convenient at least. Probably just spot weld a handle on there. I would definitely change a few things, maybe use the tablesaw to do the cuts. As was this was finished like 4:30 am in the basement so all hand tools except drill press.

The cheap Chinese ones off eBay looked terrible, are narrow opening and would take a while to get here. Would love aluminum version, but who has time to ground up build a foundry for that for no reason. I was tempted.

The lab stand was a slab of scrap steel from the local welding shop, and a 3/8" rod from the store that was for something else but was super convenient. My harbor freight tap and die set did NOT match up well. So after all the effort of building it, the shaft won't stay in until about 10-12 wraps of PTFE tape to attempt to hold it still. But it falls out after moving some more. I will attempt to tap the other side of the block.

Brake fluid as paint stripper, not too shabby.
(4), IMAG6161_2.jpg - 424kB (5), IMAG6167.jpg - 570kB

4- overnight after one brushed on coat
5- second application after a quick wire brushing

It isn't super fantastic, but I didn't have to go buy anything. No fumes and soap/water cleanup, not bad. I got a scroll saw from a family member who didn't have time to fix it, missing cord and one side of blade holder is shot. This would have been pretty friggn useful on the clamp project, but I digress. Fresh enamel coating to come and then pressed into service.

Maybe some inspiration for someone - vs




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[*] posted on 17-7-2018 at 12:04


I got tired of using a soup can filled with sand as a test tube holder so I made a proper one from a piece of firewood I had laying around.

IMAG3911_1.jpg - 402kB
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[*] posted on 17-7-2018 at 12:25


Quote: Originally posted by Plunkett  
I got tired of using a soup can filled with sand as a test tube holder so I made a proper one from a piece of firewood I had laying around.



Very nice, Plunkett!
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[*] posted on 17-7-2018 at 13:35


I am very proud of my magnetic stirrer. Its made from a fetta cheese container, some pieces of scrap plastic a toy motor and some magnets. It is conected to a AAA battery case i made from a AA case and a knut.



List of materials made by ScienceMadness.org users:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nmJ8uq-h4IkXPxD5svnT...
--------------------------------
Elements Collected: H, Li, B, C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, I, Au, Pb, Bi, Am
Last Acquired: B
Next: Na
--------------
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[*] posted on 17-7-2018 at 13:41


Sorry, pictures didn't send

IMG_2796.JPG - 1.4MB IMG_0963.JPG - 1.3MB IMG_2787.JPG - 1.2MB IMG_2701.JPG - 1.7MB




List of materials made by ScienceMadness.org users:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nmJ8uq-h4IkXPxD5svnT...
--------------------------------
Elements Collected: H, Li, B, C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, I, Au, Pb, Bi, Am
Last Acquired: B
Next: Na
--------------
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RogueRose
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[*] posted on 17-7-2018 at 14:24


If anyone needs a good lab stand and you can't get scrap metal from a local welding shop or recycling yard (many places won't allow you to buy items because of "liability...") you can probably find old barbell plates or the weights from a stack on a universal gym (the kind with pulleys). I've seen these given away for free in the paper at times or for next to nothing - one ad had 280lbs (28 plates) on the machine for $50 for the whole thing! Just drill a hole and put a rod in and it set. IDK if threading the hole is necessary, I think in most cases it shouldn't need it if the hole is deep.
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macckone
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[*] posted on 23-9-2018 at 16:00


Just made a vacuum pump from an aquarium pump.
I bought one that has two hose attachments.
I converted one to vacuum using instructions found on instructable.

This was a Aqua Culture 60 gallon pump from walmart.
I unscrewed the four screws on the outer housing.
One screw that holds in the pump assembly.
Then on one side I removed the pump rubber oscillator.
I removed the valve assembly one screw in the center.
There is a rubber gasket under that.
The rubber gasket is removed.
There is a direction pin for the gasket.
I clipped it with a pair of diagonal cutters.
Then put the gasket and valve assembly back in 180 degrees rotated.
Put it all back together and voila.

Don't let it suck liquid into the pump.
There is a 120v electromagnet in there.
Mine is giving at least 10 feet of lift and is currently drying out.
See comment about liquid sucking into the pump above.

I now have a vacuum source that doesn't depend on my water pump.

It is also useful for parts pickup for electronics and desoldering when combined with an inkpen housing.
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[*] posted on 23-10-2018 at 07:49
Last minute stopper




IMG_20181023_173920.jpg - 417kB

(I'd love wimsy asked access if one of you two sees this).

[Edited on 23-10-2018 by Σldritch]
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[*] posted on 2-11-2018 at 14:31


Began with a capacitor clip from scrap soviet era electronics, a broken aluminum restraining clip found in a truck yard, and a metal rod extracted from a broken printer.
Cut the aluminum to a rectangle, drilled and counter-bored, and sawed in two notches. Drilled and tapped the metal rod. Used a screw and wire to firmly assemble.
Free liebig condenser support arm :)

200_8647.jpg - 25kB200_8652.jpg - 29kB
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[*] posted on 2-11-2018 at 16:22


Clever!;)
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[*] posted on 4-11-2018 at 17:10


Tea strainer
Also known as 600mL tall-form jacketed beaker.

2018-11-05 10.59.19.jpg - 73kB 2018-11-05 10.59.44.jpg - 52kB

When I get to playing with dry ice and acetone cold baths, I'll be able to see what I am doing.
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