Alkali
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Selling Calcium & Strontium metal on ebay
Dear people of the Forum:
I'd like to let you know that I'm offering Calcium & Strontium metal samples in ingot form in different quantities on ebay.
As being part of the Mad Science Forum myself I feel there must be people here interested in these alkaline-earths metals and as I recently started to
sell them I just want all who might be interested to have the opportunity to have them in their collection and/or for experimentation purposes.
You can search on "strontium metal" & "calcium metal" on ebay and you will surely find my listings as this is just me and
other person who are offering these kinds of metals on ebay. My user Id is 'jbilic', so you can recognize my auction easily.
Do not worry wherever you live in , I ship worlwide in secure little packages. I have already shipped items to USA and the UK.
Thank you.
[Edited on 8-6-2004 by Alkali]
[Edited on 8-6-2004 by Alkali]
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hodges
National Hazard
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I have bought both sodium and calcium on E-Bay before.
I know everyone goes for sodium, but I actually like calcium better. You can pick up a small piece of it with your bare fingers without getting hurt,
then drop it into water to make hydrogen. No explosions or flying molten metal (at least not when done in cold water with small quantities). Great
for blowing up balloons.
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Alkali
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Yeah! That's true. Calcium is not that dangerous. You can touch it freely knowing it won't hurt, although it's a shame that the metal
would corrode more easily specially if you have sweaty hands and because of the fatty acids a person naturally has within the skin tissue.
Once I was brave enough (or silly perhaps) to touch sodium. I mean, it was more than just "touching". I was delighted, it was like cold
butter or wax. I squeezed it in my bare hands, crush it, cut it with my own fingers, etc, and nothing happened. Of course it's something not
recommended to do at all normally, and that must not be done at all, and least if the person knows nothing about the substance he is handling, and
worst of all, do not even think about it if your hands are sweaty or have an open wound. In that moment my hands were soaked with some mineral oil
from where the sodium was submerged so it would have been more difficult the metal could react with the little moisture I could have had on my hands.
Actually, sodium metal itself is not that dangerous, as long as there is no moisture on your skin. Problem arises when your hands are sweaty, as
highly caustic sodium hydroxide would be formed followed by the reaction of this with your skin forming soap which literally means the destruction of
your skin tissue causing serious and painful injuries.
Strontium metal is a bit like Calcium, but fairly more reactive, altough nothing compared to sodium.
Several times while I was cutting these metals I even had little filings of strontium metal and calcium spread on my hands with no injury at all, just
when I washed my hands I started to feel some little things burning and they were in fact these metallic filings reacting with the washing water and
making it real hot.
In practice alkaline-earth metals are not really dangerous but one never knows when an improper action could lead to accidents of different kinds.
So, the use of gloves and protective glasses is ALWAYS highly recommended even when working with alkaline-earths like Calcium.
Regards.
[Edited on 11-6-2004 by Alkali]
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Alkali
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Added new items in my stock!
Hello everybody!!
Besides of my e-bay auctions, I would just like you to know that I'm now also offering some metals like copper, aluminum, iron, lead, magnesium,
zinc and antimony in powder form and with the highest Mesh available which make them special for pyrotechnics and lab experiments.
On the Calcium line I'm now selling Calcium in 500grs blocks and lumps in irregular size/weight.
Strontium is now offered in factory argon-sealed 1Kg Strontium metal ingots or as requested.
Also some interesting chemicals like: Potassium Bromide, Potassium Chlorate,
Lead Nitrate, Sodium Azide, Hexamine, Ammonium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Chloride, Oxalic Acid, Citric Acid, Strontium Chloride, Manganese Sulfate,
Chromium Sulfate, Potassium Carbonate, Sodium Hydroxide in pellets, Potassium Hydroxide in flakes, Sodium Dichromate and Phenol.
If you are interested please do not hesitate to send me a private with your e-mail address and I'll contact you immediately and send you a
complete price list of the items I'm selling.
I'm now accepting Paypal as a payment method so you could make the purchase on ebay or direct from me.
Thanks for your time and any doubt you have feel free to ask me!
Regards!
Jorge Bilic.
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chemoleo
Biochemicus Energeticus
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Are you selling these items (Sodium Azide, Phenol, Potassium Chlorate) on ebay too?
I would be very surprised if you are going to sell them much longer....just in case u aren't aware of the legal problems.
But 1 kg of Sr metal... mmmh... hard to resist!
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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vulture
Forum Gatekeeper
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Selling strontium and calcium metal, ok.
But with the new items in stock you're asking for trouble.
A) Either you are genuine and you'll get into trouble with ebay atleast, maybe even the cops or the EPA.
B) You are a sting operation to trick members of sciencemadness into buying explosive precursors, whereafter they would be detained...
This sounds harsh, I know, don't be offended. Sadly enough this warning is required in these post 9/11 times.
Before 9/11 I would even have bought from you without blinking an eye, but sadly now...
EDIT: 1kg of Sr metal still sounds fucking awesome though! 
Calcium metal...hmmm....Cesium making anybody?
[Edited on 4-8-2004 by vulture]
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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The_Davster
A pnictogen
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I checked ebay for some of his items and I was unable to find them. So this must be a special deal for us... Or, as Vulture stated, a sting.
PS: I only checked for NaN3 and lead nitrate
Edit: Sorry for any offence that was given, but with roguesci recently being shutdown, everyone is a bit paranoid.
[Edited on 5-8-2004 by rogue chemist]
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Alkali
Harmless
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Location: Argentina
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Hi all people!
Please I feel kinda offended by this and you make me feel like a criminal, but I clearly understand your position and you have the right to be
doubtful about this.
Please in case you could not find the links, please go to the link below:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&...
...And you should be able to find the items I'm selling at the moment (Strontium & Calcium), or you can look up my user ID which is
'jbilic'. Once you find my auctions you can also check my 100% positive feedback and easily ask the people who purchased items from me what
they think of the service and the products I sold to them.
My specialty are the alkaline-earths metals (Calcium & Strontium) and some others like Cobalt, Cadmium, Manganese, Chromium, Sodium, Bismuth, etc.
Concerning Sodium Azide and other possible explosive precursors, I did never think of offering them on ebay, of course. I know that could be dangerous
for me and not legal. Just in case anyone's interested I can send you a price list and safely sell this kind of substances to the people of this
Forum, there is no problem with that. Each one of this substances is not explosive nor dangerous at all in its common state (only sodium azide is
poisonous) and less if handled with care.
I should think all the people in this Forum are responsible for their acts and are mature enough not to commit a stupid act or harm anyone else. As
being part of the same Forum, I think we all like and enjoy science in its different levels and I think most of us here have a common sense on what we
are doing. Me, as being an element collector myself and chemical hobbyiest love to sell these substances and offer them to people with the same
interests I have. But I cannot take responsibility for the misuse of the products I'm selling which is something stated in all my alkaline-earth
metal auctions.
You can check for yourself on ebay with other people about my auctions. Please have confidence. All I claim to sell is true and clear.
If anyone feels offended by something I said, please accept my sincere apologies.
And do not hesitate to ask anything you wish. I can also send you photos of any element you may be interested in.
Thanks to everyone in this Forum!
Regards.
[Edited on 5-8-2004 by Alkali]
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vulture
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You know, we've been allowing you to make free publicity here, which normally isn't allowed.
What about a 20% (negotiable) cut for all 100+ posts sciencemadness members, as we're giving you a huge consumer base?
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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Alkali
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Hello Vulture:
Sorry, but I do not understand clearly your offer or proposal.
I'd really appreciate you could be more clear in your comments. I do not understand about "the 20% cut for all 100 posts"
Thanks!
Jorge.
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chemoleo
Biochemicus Energeticus
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What he is suggesting is that for every 100 posts a member has written, a 20% discount is applied (because he kindly allows you to advertise here  )
I.e. your 11 g of Calcium cost 30 dollars to start off with (as a side note...certainly not exactly on the cheap side).
So in Vultures case... with 1100+ posts, it makes a 11 x 20 % price reduction.
That would be 30$ x 0.8^11 = 2.57 dollars.
I think that's a much more reasonable deal, don't you? Just imagine all the customers (and posts  ) you'll get!
PS what will u be charging for 1 kg of Ca? By your current prices this will be nearly 2400 $ - which is certainly excessive
[Edited on 5-8-2004 by chemoleo]
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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vulture
Forum Gatekeeper
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Nonono, that would be a bit unrealistic and promote postwhoring.
What I meant is that all members with more than 100 posts get a 20% discount on your products because we allow you advertising here.
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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chemoleo
Biochemicus Energeticus
Posts: 3005
Registered: 23-7-2003
Location: England Germany
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Lol I know... I was just messing about... I thought that was obvious! Seems u lack the English sense of humour
Still i think the prices are somewhat exaggerated. Ca can be definitley gotten cheaper.
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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Alkali
Harmless
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About the prices
Hello to all once again!
Well, I think I clearly understand now. It seems more logical and fair. Well, let's make 15% final, I agree with that, it seems fair and I think
it will be fair for the people who post on this Forum.
What's more, I will make this offer to everyone in this Forum whether they have 1 or 500 posts if you agree with that, but I would appreciate the
items are purchased direct from me as e-bay charges me a listing fee and a final fee when one of my items is purchased. If you buy my items from e-bay
I cannot lower the prices too much for the reason I explained. I highly recommend you to ask me first before bidding or buying an item. I'll see
what I can do and whether I could manage to lower the prices a bit more.
Concerning the Calcium prices, thanks for your suggestion Chemoleo, I'll try to lower them down, really. I will only suggest searching for
similar items on E-bay and you will surely find only one person besides me, which I must say he has an excellent service and quality on what he
offers, who is offering almost the same item for much more..!!
You may also visit www.smart-elements.com This austrian store has a superb service and the guy who owns it is a great person to deal with. I highly recommend it! I
could even finally get my beautiful 2g Cesium metal ampoule from this site some weeks ago which I could not possibly have gotten from almost anywhere
else on this planet. You may also compare its prices (e.g. Calcium & Strontium) and check the quantities offered for those prices. Of course, it
is a store oriented specially for element collectors. Check for yourselves!
Let's do not forget these two metals I'm offering are hard-to-get metals, specially Strontium. Ok fine, you can easily find Calcium in
granular shape which is cheaper and offered regularly in some auctions in E-bay at low prices, although you won't find this metal in other exotic
and not so common shapes. I can assure you that.
These kinds of items are often purchased by metal collectors as these ingots I sell are also offered in vials well suitable for display and safe
long-term storage of the product.
I'm not saying in any way that my prices are cheap at all, although I think I'm offering one of the best prices over the Internet you might
find (if you find better ones rest assured I will try to lower mine) Also consider the labor invested (cutting, packing, etc), e-bay fees, Paypal
fees, this must be included in the final cost.
For you to have an idea, the cost of let's say 1Kg of calcium won't cost you $2400 nor even close to that.
As said before the price of the metal ingots offered in my auctions includes my personal labor of cutting them, packing them, some pieces/filings of
the metal are always wasted in the cutting process, etc. I'm also selling 500grs solid calcium blocks at a price of U$D100!!!. Why is that? you
may ask...Well, those pieces of metal come factory packed and sealed in triple argon filled bags. There is no personal labor included here. Besides I
have plenty of these blocks which is also the reason of the lower price.
Also keep in mind that the greater the quantities requested the better the prices I can offer.
Of course it is best and recommended for you to buy these blocks.
I'm also offering lumps of Ca metal in the same fashion at almost the same price.
Please also keep in mind that here we are not cutting and packing other common hard-to-oxidize metal (e.g. aluminum), these are fairly reactive metals
(Strontium is even more reactive), which need to be treated with special care when processing just not to finally offer you a piece of metal highly
oxidized with a fluffy white oxide/hydroxide layer. Strontium besides of being more reactive, is even harder to cut not because of its hardness, on
the contrary, it's softer than Ca, but it ends up being more brittle (breaks apart easily) which makes cutting labor a bit more difficult.
I could send you a price list at your request, either by mail or private messages, if you wish.
Thanks for the attention and please feel free to ask me anything you want!
Jorge.
[Edited on 6-8-2004 by Alkali]
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Alkali
Harmless
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Lowered some prices!
Hello!
As requested by some of the Forum people, I lowered down a bit the prices of both Calcium metal & Strontium metal.
Check it out in the link below:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&...
For the ones who may want to check my complete product list just send me a U2U message requesting it and I will kindly send it through U2U or to your
e-mail address.
Thanks!
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Alkali
Harmless
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Now selling Ca Lumps
Hi to everyone!
Now I'm also starting to offer two Calcium metal lumps weighing a total 85 grams for a starting price of U$D39,00.
You may check this one out in the link below:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&...
Regards.
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vulture
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Well, let's make 15% final, I agree with that, it seems fair and I think it will be fair for the people who post on this Forum.
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You've gotten yourself a deal as far as I'm concerned. Now let's hope forum members will take advantage of this opportunity.
I for one will not be able to order, as I'm from belgium. Well, I would be able but the hassles with customs and import tax, etc.
If you have a relay agent in germany however...
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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JohnWW
International Hazard
Posts: 2849
Registered: 27-7-2004
Location: New Zealand
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How are the Ca and Sr metals you have for sale packed? They would have to be in airtight and watertight containers. Immersion in oil would be a
further safety measure, but it could lead to the introduction of organic impurities if they are used in chemical syntheses.
What possible uses of the metals do you have in mind? I would think in organic syntheses, where a more powerful metallic reducing agent than Mg is
required, but one which would not react so explosively with water as Na or Li. Another possible use of the Ca metal would be to make calcium carbide,
CaC2, by heating together with graphite powder in the absence of air, as an intermediate to produce acetylene (which could then be used in a eide
range of organic syntheses, or (see the benzene thread) polymerized to benzene. As regards Sr, I have heard of strontium hydroxide (not the metal)
being used in preference to Ca(OH)2 in the refining of cane sugar. However, Sr is a much rarer element than Ca; its main source is strontian
limestone, or strontianite, SrCO3, first discovered at Strontian in Scotland.
John W.
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Alkali
Harmless
Posts: 18
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Location: Argentina
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Hello Vulture & John!
Vulture, I do not really think there should be a problem for you to receive this kind of merchandise in Belgium, as I could easily label it as
"piece of metal" or "magnesium metal sample", although I do not know in detail your local customs policy.
We may also try sending you a little sample to see what happens but it's your decision.
Whenever you need anything, just be my guest.
Concerning the packaging of Sr and Ca, calcium is the only one that could be packed safely wetted in clean light mineral oil and wrapped sealed in
polyethilene films with absolutely no deterioration as described in my auctions. Once you receive this item you can wash it in naphta, toluene or any
dry hydrocarbon solvent you have at hand to get rid of the oil and get it ready for its use (alcohol of any kind must not be used for this task)
Calcium even keeps well contained in air-tight flasks without mineral oil or argon gas, as long as the flask is well closed.
The same is not valid for Strontium as this metal being fairly more reactive than calcium and so more sensitive to lesser amounts of humidity in the
environment, for what I cannot guarantee its proper preservation by the storage method used with calcium lumps. That's why I only sell strontium
submerged in mineral oil inside sealed plastic vials.
I've been very attracted to Sr metal since a long time, in part because of its rare nature, it is difficult to get, in fact it is one of the
rarest alkaline-earth metals, although its compounds are widely distributed and produced in huge amounts mainly in Spain, Mexico and China.
Another fact that makes me a "Sr lover" is its beautiful shiny red carmin light it emits as it burns. This typical red fire is so known to
all of us in all kinds of flares, etc.
[Edited on 24-8-2004 by Alkali]
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Alkali
Harmless
Posts: 18
Registered: 10-7-2003
Location: Argentina
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More Ca Lumps Relisted
Hi!
In a previous message I let you know I was offering two 85g Lumps of Ca metal.
As these were were recently sold, and so not to generate any confussion, I'd like to let you know now that I relisted the auction with two Ca
Lumps weighing a total 66g and a starting price of U$D32,00
You may want to check it below:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&...
[Edited on 26-8-2004 by Alkali]
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Alkali
Harmless
Posts: 18
Registered: 10-7-2003
Location: Argentina
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Now selling Lithium metal
Hi people.
Now also selling Lithium Metal ingots in 5g quantities or as requested. The 5g Li metal sample is offered for U$D37,00
The larger the quantities the better the price gets, so if you're interested just send me an U2U message or e-mail.
Being the lightest solid element having a density of about 0.53g/cm3 (half the density of water) 5 grams of lithium makes a quite good quantity of
this fascinating element, so if you want I can send a picture of it alongside a metric/inch tape so you could have an idea of its dimensions
Thanks for the interest!
Jorge.
[Edited on 25-11-2004 by Alkali]
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JohnWW
International Hazard
Posts: 2849
Registered: 27-7-2004
Location: New Zealand
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The large amounts of strontium compounds that are produced are used mainly in sugar refining as the hydroxide, and, as nitrate, to produce color
effects in fireworks. These seem rather wasteful applications, as more plentiful substitutes, particularly calcium compounds, are available.
It occurs naturally in high concentrations only in the mineral strontianite, SrCO3, originally found at Strontian in Scotland. This mineral must also
occur in Spain, Mexico and China. It is also found in small amounts in calcium minerals like calcite, dolomite, aragonite, and gypsum.
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