Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Super Precise Hamilton Syringe

Super Precise Hamilton Syringe

1281371269 - 22-2-2011 at 14:47

I just won an eBay auction for a Hamiton 700 series syringe of 5ul capacity, calibrated to an accuracy of +-0.1ul

It is used but has been well cared for and the wire moves smoothly.

I bid on it because I thought it was very cool, not really expecting to win. Whilst I do think it's a thing of beauty, I realise have no practical use for it and would much prefer it to go to someone who does.

I'm based in the UK but could easily post it internationally for a low cost (I'd guess £10-20max)

Please PM me if you're interested.

peach - 23-2-2011 at 00:47

Quote:

I bid on it because I thought it was very cool, not really expecting to win.

Stop bidding on stuff you don't want, you're artificially driving the price up for the rest of us, and it's already eating a hole through my pocket money!

I suspect quite a few of the people we end up bidding against are other members from here.

Unfortunately, when bidding on science gear, I quite often find myself wondering if the person bidding against me actually has any use for it or is just bidding for the fun of it; especially as the price triples.

John is not a mean bastard. <----

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I think it would be nice, and have proposed it before, if we set up a forum section specifically for swapping gear between ourselves, to cut out eGimp and the related charges and hassle. I honestly thought my last eBay invoice was wrong, given the amount of charges on it, and that didn't include the paypal charges.

[Edited on 23-2-2011 by peach]

1281371269 - 23-2-2011 at 07:48

Damn, I could have got that fume cupboard.

To be fair, I only bid the starting price and there wasn't a single other bid, so I think on this occasion I'm guiltless.

Definitely like the idea of a trading section of the forum. However, I know that the issue has been raised before and was unpopular for a number of reasons. Perhaps a better proposition would be to have a section that dealt only with the trade of equipment and not of chemicals, because then there would be far fewer legal issues.

Edit: Peach, I remember you saying once that we had both bid on the 5L of H2SO4 from an ex biodiesel guy in Archway.

[Edited on 23-2-2011 by Mossydie]

peach - 23-2-2011 at 08:04

You could still potentially get that fume hood if you get in touch with her soon, as I haven't heard anyone say they've got it yet.

You will need to be sure you want it however, and be able to sort picking it up; which may be harder than it sounds. With things this big, they usually expect you do all the work, including taking it apart and moving it out of where it is, with your own gear; e.g. a pallet truck, since the people who work there aren't paid to lift heavy objects for you and their insurance won't cover it if one of them gets squashed in the process.

In terms of chemicals, I would limit that to people who are well established here. For instance, it would be bad if we started swapping chemicals and a bunch of first time posters turned up to buy them as the next thing will be "My child built a bomb with chemicals and guides from the site 'Science Madness'!". But bits of glass, syringes and so on, I don't see much problem with that being an open forum.

Winning on the opening bid is more forgivable, but not entirely guiltless, as then other people will say... "Arrrr well, that sold for... so..." or not bid. Say three thousand Hail Hawkings for your sins!

[Edited on 23-2-2011 by peach]

itchyfruit - 23-2-2011 at 08:36

Quote: Originally posted by Mossydie

Damn, I could have got that fume cupboard.

To be fair, I only bid the starting price and there wasn't a single other bid, so I think on this occasion I'm guiltless.

Definitely like the idea of a trading section of the forum. However, I know that the issue has been raised before and was unpopular for a number of reasons. Perhaps a better proposition would be to have a section that dealt only with the trade of equipment and not of chemicals, because then there would be far fewer legal issues.

Edit: Peach, I remember you saying once that we had both bid on the 5L of H2SO4 from an ex biodiesel guy in Archway.

[Edited on 23-2-2011 by Mossydie]

I think that was me bidding on the 5L of H2SO4 sorry again, on the plus side i may have some stuff (including a fume cupboard) that could go towards this new 'stuff available' thread.
I also have a fair bit of glassware, a triple hotplate magnetic stirrer, plus a fair amount of reagents including some hard to find organic solvents and stuff like perchloric and nitric acids.

Theirs a lot of stuff and i'd like to sell it in fairly big lots. I can also deliver within and just around the M25/London.

I would be interested in bio diesel processing stuff as i hope to start making some for myself.

1281371269 - 23-2-2011 at 09:03

Too late with the fume cupboard - I've built my own. However, I'm fairly confident that it would fit into my car if I folded the back seats down, and Cambridge is only about an hour away. Shame I didn't know about it a few months ago.

And don't worry, I don't bear any grudges about the sulfuric because at £20 it was still an amazing bargain (though getting it home was interesting)

peach - 23-2-2011 at 09:11

Neither do I, because I've never bid on any sulphuric acid.

I was tempted to bid on a litre of hydrochloric at one point, but the guy said he wouldn't post it. After calling the normal couriers, and being quoted a few hundred pounds to post one bottle of it, I didn't bother with that.

1281371269 - 23-2-2011 at 10:29

Sorry, I meant to refer to itchyfruit there.

I'm surprised that you had problems with HCl. There are at least three eBay companies which sell 36% in 250ml to multi-litre quantities. I bought some about a month ago and it was shipped via Royal Mail at normal cost.

peach - 23-2-2011 at 10:36

Probably cos they didn't know what was in it.

Quote:

If we find prohibited goods in the post, we will return them to the sender or dispose of them. In some cases, the sender may face prosecution.

Hydrochloric is specifically noted on their Restricted Substances guide under Corrosive substances

Quote:

Substances which can cause severe damage to living tissue, other freight, or transport by its chemical reaction are prohibited, including aluminium chloride, caustic soda, corrosive cleaning fluid, corrosive rust remover/preventative, corrosive paint remover, electric storage batteries, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulphuric acid.

The same list is used by all the normal couriers. Some of them are even longer and filled with stuff like 'Banjos', where they've obviously had a tough time with banjos in the past. After all, you can't drop kick a banjo into the van.