Rich_Insane
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Registered: 24-4-2009
Location: Portland, Oregon
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In Need of Some Equipment
Hey everyone!
It's that time of year when I go around looking for equipment I may need for future experimentation. Now I've already found sources for all of these,
but the costs do add up, and I'd love to get some feedback from fellow amateur experimentalists.
The most important piece of equipment I am acquiring is a hot plate. Unfortunately, as a teenager with a very restricted budget, I can only really
afford cooking stoves. I did find a hotplate on Amazon (Ceramic Top Laboratory Hotplate), and it falls within my price range, but it looks a bit shady. Has anyone had experience with this particular
product? I only really need a heat source (no stirrer), but it should heat up relatively quickly and be able to maintain a relatively constant
temperature (no higher than 120oC is needed).
I'm also looking for ways to improvise a) A lab stand + clamp or b) A flask weight. This is to keep a 100-500 ml RBF secured in a water/oil bath
without the flask bobbing up in the heating fluid and spilling the contents all over the bath vessel (which will probably be an aluminum bowl or
cooking pot). The heating element is the main concern. I do need a hand-driven vacuum pump to run a vac. filtration setup, but there's probably no
real good way to substitute that and it's not exactly OTC for prices cheaper than what Elemental has to offer.
As for reagents, I was wondering if there were any good sources (OTC or online) for 14-15% bleach (most household bleach here is ~5% and contains
other substances), sodium bisulfite, THF and ethyl acetate. I can find toluene, xylene, acetone, naphtha etc at the hardware store, but I cannot find
ethyl acetate anywhere. Nor can I find THF or dioxane (obviously the former is likely more widely available).
Feedback is well appreciated!
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ScienceHideout
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Hey, Rich_Insane!
Not to advertize or anything, but on my website I have several hotplates for sale.
Hotplate number HP-0003 has a suspected buyer, so I will give him first priority to that, but I have 3 more nice ones. Each is $40 including shipping
and I might even throw in a couple extras!
Please contact me by email if you are interested. admin@sciencehideout.net
hey, if you are reading this, I can't U2U, but you are always welcome to send me an email!
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UnintentionalChaos
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Registered: 9-12-2006
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Quote: Originally posted by Rich_Insane  | Hey everyone!
It's that time of year when I go around looking for equipment I may need for future experimentation. Now I've already found sources for all of these,
but the costs do add up, and I'd love to get some feedback from fellow amateur experimentalists.
The most important piece of equipment I am acquiring is a hot plate. Unfortunately, as a teenager with a very restricted budget, I can only really
afford cooking stoves. I did find a hotplate on Amazon (Ceramic Top Laboratory Hotplate), and it falls within my price range, but it looks a bit shady. Has anyone had experience with this particular
product? I only really need a heat source (no stirrer), but it should heat up relatively quickly and be able to maintain a relatively constant
temperature (no higher than 120oC is needed).
I'm also looking for ways to improvise a) A lab stand + clamp or b) A flask weight. This is to keep a 100-500 ml RBF secured in a water/oil bath
without the flask bobbing up in the heating fluid and spilling the contents all over the bath vessel (which will probably be an aluminum bowl or
cooking pot). The heating element is the main concern. I do need a hand-driven vacuum pump to run a vac. filtration setup, but there's probably no
real good way to substitute that and it's not exactly OTC for prices cheaper than what Elemental has to offer.
As for reagents, I was wondering if there were any good sources (OTC or online) for 14-15% bleach (most household bleach here is ~5% and contains
other substances), sodium bisulfite, THF and ethyl acetate. I can find toluene, xylene, acetone, naphtha etc at the hardware store, but I cannot find
ethyl acetate anywhere. Nor can I find THF or dioxane (obviously the former is likely more widely available).
Feedback is well appreciated!
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Methyl Ethyl Ketone has been abandoned by WM Barr, so that's hard to come by now, but the "MEK replacement" that they now sell is nothing but ethyl
acetate. THF is hard to come by. There is a fair bit of it in PVC pipe cements, but it's mixed with other solvents and would be a pain to purify.
Dioxane can be made from ethylene glycol and sulfuric acid. See youtube. I think reactionfactory has a video about it.
For sodium bisulfite, look for sodium metabisulfite. It's essentially the same thing, just missing a molecule of water. Online wine and beer making
equipment suppliers carry it as a sterilizing agent and some stump removers are now metabisulfite. Bleach is rarely available in the 14-15% range as
it's inherently unstable. 10% can be had from pool supply stores, or you can make it from NaOH solution and a chlorine generator.
[Edited on 9-28-12 by UnintentionalChaos]
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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Hexavalent
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MEK is available on eBay, and in the UK I can get EtOAc as acetone-free nail polish remover (just mixed in with 5% iPrOH and glycerol, nothing a quick
distillation can't fix); sodium (meta)bisulfite is carried in my local hardware store with the brewing supplies (and lots of organic acids) and 14%
bleach was available on eBay the last time I checked.
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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willchem
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I have that exact hot plate. It heats up very fast,but only has one setting(hot). You have to turn it almost all the way on before it will start
heating. Then if you turn it down any it goes off. Or at least that is what mine does. If all you want is to boil a liquid it works well for this. In
regards to the amozon one,not sciencehideout one. Also the ceramic top cracked the first time I used it.
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elementcollector1
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Registered: 28-12-2011
Location: The Known Universe
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To DIY a lab stand and clamp, an idea i've had for a while is to take a piece of rebar, and drill it into something inert (fiberglass, plastic, wood
if you're cheap). The clamp could be made a number of different ways, from attaching a hair clamp to a clothespin, to more complicated stuff. this is
speculation, and probably would not hold together as well as a real stand, but its an idea.
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
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UnintentionalChaos
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Registered: 9-12-2006
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| Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1 | | To DIY a lab stand and clamp, an idea i've had for a while is to take a piece of rebar, and drill it into something inert (fiberglass, plastic, wood
if you're cheap). The clamp could be made a number of different ways, from attaching a hair clamp to a clothespin, to more complicated stuff. this is
speculation, and probably would not hold together as well as a real stand, but its an idea. |
I just took a large rectangular disposable container with a snap on lid, inverted it, cut a hole in the bottom centered and toward one end, filled it
with mixed plaster and stuck a steel rod in it which was supported upright until the plaster cured. Real lab clamps work well and if I'm going to risk
having glass being held by it fall ($$$), I'd rather my spending be preventative in nature
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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Dr.Bob
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| Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1 | | To DIY a lab stand and clamp, an idea i've had for a while is to take a piece of rebar, and drill it into something inert (fiberglass, plastic, wood
if you're cheap). The clamp could be made a number of different ways, from attaching a hair clamp to a clothespin, to more complicated stuff. this is
speculation, and probably would not hold together as well as a real stand, but its an idea. |
Rather than rebar, I would suggest a threaded rod or straight rod stock, as smooth as possible. Home Depot and Lowes, plus others, sell rod like
that. For the base, a chunk of 2 x 10 also works well, or scraps of granite, soap stone, or solid surface from a kitchen counter shop.
For clamps, I have some nice larger 3 prong ones left.
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elementcollector1
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Oh, I have soapstone! It's a huge slab, perfect for this sort of thing. I do actually have a straight, smooth metal rod, but i was planning to use it
for something else.
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
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zenosx
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On the stand idea
I use standard lab clamps, but needed a spare lab stand so to make I used the following.
Purchased a bar of aluminum at the local hardware (I think 1/2") for $8, and 3 of those tool hangers made to Screw into wood, looks like a Y kinda
with the threads being on the part pointing down.
I then took a block of wood about 2x2x4, and drilled a main hole in the center for the support rod, and 3 pilot holes in a triangular manner at a
slight angle around the base of the block.
I can now use the threads of the hangers to adjust the level of the rod, and it works perfect. It's no where as good as my iron bases for holding
heavy objects, but works great as a single flask holder, condenser support etc. You could use a large piece of wood for higher stability.
I can post a picture if you need one.
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