Eosin Y
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Cheap glassware
As mentioned elsewhere, I am starting a home laboratory. I have so far done all my work at boarding school, but I need to be able to do some work at
home.
Does anyone know where to find cheap glassware and other equipment (stir bar hot plates etc.) I have looked, but they are stupidly expensive from
most places. I have around £200 pounds to spend on everything (including chemicals, glassware and everything else needed.)
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kt5000
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Keep an eye on this forum and you'll see some really good deals on used glassware. The stuff I've bought used has been around 25% the price of new
and is generally better quality (Chemglass, Synthware, etc.)
Dr. Bob has a thread with a bunch of equipment for sale, but he ships from the states and shipping cost to the UK may be a bunch.
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j_sum1
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With a budget of £200 I would not get too ambitious.
I would geta few beakers and stirring rods
a thermometer or two
a jeweller's digital scale 500g/0.01g
a measuring cylinder
filter paper and funnels. You always need more funnels.
a heat source -- probably an electric heat gun
spoons, spatulas scoops -- something
recycled bottles/jars/containers with lids
as many OTC reagents as I could get my hands on from the supermarket and hardware store
I would then pocket the remaining £100 and keep it until my experimentation pushed me in a particular direction. Then I would buy whatever else I
discovered that I needed.
And I would keep reading around here for ideas for experiments as well as novel ways to expand my lab. That and add some good experimenters to my
youtube subscription list. (Start off with nurdrage and his battery dissection.) After you have spent two thousand of your original £200 you will
discover you are hooked.
Welcome to SM. 
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Eosin Y
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I'll just start with NurdRage's nitric acid distillation, ethylene glycol from antifreeze, distillation of sulphuric acid from drain cleaner and
perhaps some simple OTC experiments. So far I think the following:
-KNO3 from stump remover - £9.99
-HNO3 from KNO3 + acid
-H2SO4 from drain cleaner - £7.12
-NaOH from oven cleaner - £2.95
-Erythritol from supermarket - £1
-Ethylene glycol from antifreeze - £5.50
-KMnO4 - £7.99
-Iodine crystals - £8.99
-TCCA and sodium dichloroisocyanurate from pool cleaning tablets -£10 or so
That's a decent lot for starters, working out at around £40.
[Edited on 9-5-2016 by Eosin Y]
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j_sum1
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Add a lantern battery and a bit of work and you can get
carbon rods
carbon powder
manganese dioxide
manganese sulfate
zinc metal
zinc chloride solution
lots of fun starts with manganese dioxide
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Eosin Y
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Ah yes...
Manganese dioxide can be used as a sensitiser in certain pyrotechnic mixtures, can't it?
Carbon rods for an arc furnace
Manganese dioxide as an explosive sensitiser
Manganese sulphate for general use
Zinc metal --> zinc powder --> zinc perchlorate (if I can safely refine HClO4)
Zinc chloride will also be useful just to have.
Thanks.
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j_sum1
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Don't forget all of the lovely oxidation states of manganese http://www.explorechem.com/manganese-redox.html
as well as the other fun things that can be done with it http://www.explorechem.com/manganese_top.html
http://woelen.homescience.net/science/chem/exps/index_metals...
There's plenty of tangential reading on those links.
Have fun getting lost.
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Eosin Y
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Oh, I will!
EDIT:
Read and got lost. These are very beautiful! Manganese heptoxide is a very good colour too, isn't it?
[Edited on 9-5-2016 by Eosin Y]
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kt5000
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Amen!
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Eosin Y
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Any links to cheap distillation apparatus? I need it for basic reactions (distillation of nitric acid, perchloric acid, sulphuric acid and loads of
other things.) However, my £200 budget is stretched by £60 distillation apparatus.
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aga
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000ml-24-29-Distillation-Apparatu...
There are Many like it.
ben0135 is a good seller.
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Eosin Y
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Thanks Aga
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DFliyerz
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Despite the stigma of Chinese suppliers on eBay having poor quality glassware, I've had only good experiences with most. They're very cheap, as long
as you're willing to wait a while for shipping.
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Sulaiman
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I am a 2-yr chem. hobbyist so startup memories are fairly clear,
The chinese distillation kit was not available when I started, excellent value.
Although I've not done it myself yet, distilling sulfuric acid in the advertised kit may be too risky due to the temperature required,
I'd leave that until you've given your kit some use,
and ask for advice here at SM before you start but after you've done your research.
I have found members here utterly supportive.
it is obvious but I'll type it anyway, you need
. a method of heating the still flask with control
. cooling the condenser
. venting 'fumes' or applying vacuum
. STANDS AND CLAMPS and good goggles
If your budget + ingenuity does not allow for ALL of the above then I think you should leave distillation for later,
when you're 'hooked' and you will find the cash somehow.
Visit thrift/charity stores/shops and look at domestic glassware,
and start collecting jars and bottles.
Filtering seems to be quick and coarse with coffee filters plus gravity,
or very slow with filter paper and gravity,
or quick and efficient with vacuum.
Separatory funnels aren't cheap, neither are drip funnels,
a bag of 100 disposable 1, 2 or 5 ml pipettes is super useful.
The cheap digital weighing scales via eBay etc. are really good value,
volumetric glassware not required as weight is accurate, except maybe for density measurements,
but any vessel can be calibrated using scales, distilled water and a thermometer..
[Edited on 12-5-2016 by Sulaiman]
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