Mimicking Expensive Lab Equipment

[PeterB2]

Post your ideas on how to build/make equipment that accomplishes essentially the same tasks that expensive lab equipment does. Sure, everyone would like to have a nice distillation setup, but hardly anyone has $200 lying around.

Here's my simple idea for a heating mantle (taking the place of a lab-grade, $150 like this: http://www.lab-stuff.com/p_l_heat_mantle.asp). Take some aluminum foil and conform it to the shape of a Florence flask or boiling flask. Separate the two and suspend the flask from a ring stand just above (half an inch or so) the now-curved sheet of aluminum. Would an alcohol burner under the sheet of aluminum be enough to distribute enough heat throughout the aluminum? Aluminum has a high specific heat capacity so wouldn't it nicely distribute the heat in order to effectively heat the contents of the flask?

Along those lines, here are some nice, cheap plans for a distillation setup...without all the specialized equipment:
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/misc/CE-DISTIL1.pdf

Hopefully, I'll be able to save up enough to buy some more professional lab equipment soon but until then, I'll have to improvise.

[c.Tech]

Things that won’t need to contact chemicals can be made quite easily eg. magnetic stirrer.

Other things can be substituted with improvised equipment eg. hot plate.

Here are some links you may want to look at which I recently found.
'http://www.frogfot.com/misc/destiller.html'
'http://www.frogfot.com/misc/gasabsorber.html'
'http://www.frogfot.com/misc/pressurefiltr.html'
'http://www.frogfot.com/misc/vacfunnel.html'
'http://www.frogfot.com/misc/waterjetvac.html'
'http://www.tecnotacho.com'

[Match]

As I take great pride in my experiments, and have been around long enough on this earth to know, that doing things the right way-from the get go-is always worth it. Maybe it's just my lack of patience, but for something that I'm going to be using over and over again, I want it to work right, always, with out any problems/adjustments/worries. I'd rather wait then try and 'nigga-rig' lab equipment. (That and I don't find the the price of regular glassware to be that expensive considering the value that can be extracted with them.)

But I understand the point of this thread and I'm going to go home and upload my plans for some pretty slick home made refluxers.

[PeterB2]

That's true, but I suppose it all depends on what you plan to do and for what purpose. I only have one year of high school chemistry under my belt thus far (I plan on majoring in chemistry though considering my love for it), so right now I'm trying to get a general idea of how some of the basic processes work...not end up with ultra pure distillates to sell commercially or anything. I also don't want to spend thousands of dollars on lab equipment since I'll be able to take some chemistry lab courses at the community college next year. I suppose I just want to satisfy my insatiable desire to learn more about chemistry until next year.

[megalomania]

Yes indeed, PeterB2, why go all out for "perfect" when "good enough" will do 99% of the time. The high prices of professional lab equipment is another tactic of exclusivity to prevent independent experimentation. Those 1950's science books seem chock full of improvised lab equipment for home experimenters. I believe I have an article from the 1970's about some grad students building an improvised NMR from scratch. Now that would be a good project today :)

While I am on the topic of cheap stuff, I snagged a few surplus air powered magnetic stirrers several years ago. These struck me as a very inexpensive way to stir things as there was very little to them. Either air pressure or vacuum would work with them, and they had standard hose barb attachments like for bunson burners. I tried to find some of these for sale, but I have never seen the like. I didn't see any manufacturer stamped on the units. Anybody know who makes these?

[Evolutionist]

I Dont know who makes these but heres a link to The Science Lab inc.
http://www.sciencelab.com/page/S/PVAR/21761/60-370020000

[waauu]

A magnetic stirrer isn't hard to make. All you need is a small electric motor, two magnets (or one long magnet) and a casing. Of course you will need a gluegun too :).

The stirrer magnet is made of a regular weak magnet and put it in a disposable pipette, heat it up and suck out the air with your mouth, seal it by melting.

[tylerni7]

http://brewiki.org/StirPlate

They used it for mixing yeast, but it should work just as well for anything else as long as there's a good protective plate in between.

[DONMAN]

I have made a pressure filter out of PVC.

Materials:

2.5 inch end cap
2.5 to 2 inch reducer
2 inch female thread
1 ft section of 2 inch pvc
2X(2 inch male threaded)
2 inch threaded end cap
tube tire stems (They are also sold at most auto shops, I know kragen auto shops carries themhttp://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?categorycode=3186A&mfrcode=VCT&mfrpartnumber=MG4150 )
drill with a 1/8th bit and then later one that matches you tube stem.


Directions:
1)Drill about 30-40 small holes in the 2.5 inch end cap.
2)Glue the 2.5 to 2 inch reducer to the 2.5 inch end cap.
3)Cut a 4 inch section off your 1 ft of 2 inch pvc pipe.
4)Glue that into the 2.5 to 2 inch reducer.
5)Glue the 2 inch female thread to the exposed pipe coming out of the 2.5 to 2 inch reducer.
6)Set all of the newly glued pieces aside.
7)Glue both of the 2 inch male threaded to the your remaining section of 8 inch long pipe.
8)Set all of the newly glued pieces aside.
9)Now take your female threaded end cap and drill a hole appropriate for. your Tire stem to stick through and make a good seal.
10)Take your tire stem and pull it though your hole till it makes a good seal.
11) Screw it together once all of the pipe glue has set up.

Operation:
1) Screw off the first part with the end cap with holes in it.
2) Cut some filter paper in a circle that fits over the holes you drilled in the end cap.
3)Place the paper inside the pipe over the holes.
4)Now screw the 2nd section of pipe on to the first and pour in the solution to be filtered
5)Screw on the end cap with the tire stem in it.
6)Hook up a bike pump to the tire stem and turn on the bike pump.
7)Wait and collect the solid left in the filter!



Specifics:
- It can filter up to a liter of liquid
- It's damn fast!
- Has to be held upright (maybe I will make a stand for it...)


Here are some pics of it assembled:
::note:: I have not installed the tire stem in the end cap yet.
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3022/kif1009pd2.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kif1009pd2.jpg)

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4200/kif1011hx2.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kif1011hx2.jpg)



Total cost is around 12$!!!!



If you don't have something similar you really should look into my new contraption!!

[Frunk]

Great!
I'm currently making a totally ghetto-rigged lab set from hardware shop parts. I've bought a set of 30 different sized tupperware plastic containers for 10$ CAN that I use as base material for almost everything, from black match machines to vaccuum filtration devices. When needed, I also use some scrap wood, scrap PVC pipes and my endless supply of wine and beer bottles. A set of taps and dies is very useful. All my creations are custom threaded. With a drill press and some large bits and taps, it's possible to make a full glass distillation kit from beer bottles. I suggest Corona bottles since they're transparent :D. If you need anything bigger, use clear vodka bottles.

My main advice when rigging stuff like pressure filtrators and distillation setups is to use lots of silicone sealant. I use General Electric Silicone II. it's flexible, impervious to water and sufficiently inert for anything but boiling anhydrous acids. For those cases, try to use only glass. Anywyas, as a bonus, you can use the empty caulking tube as the outer sleeve of a condenser or you can clean it and use it as a syringe to extrude mixtures like silicone fuse. I just love that stuff, it's just so useful. :D

To make some custom fitting silicone rubber stoppers, put some plastic food wrap on the inside of a bottle's neck, form a pool shape, fill that with silicone sealant. You can stick a saran-wrapped straw through it to make an hole. When it's totally cured, meaning two or three days later, remove the saran wrap. Bam, perfect homemade stopper that cost pennies since a tube of silicone is 4$ CAN. You can use the same technique to make ring seals. Without saran wrap, it will glue the surfaces together, with it, it will form a perfect removable seal.

The only few ''real'' lab equipment pieces that are worth it for me are thermometers (and even then you can get away with candy thermometers) and graduated cylinders. You can then use the latter to calibrate jam jars, mason jars, pyrex cups and alcohol bottles to use as glassware and measuring apparatus. A pyrex ''measuring'' cup is pretty much just an angled beaker with thicker walls and a beer bottle is an unorthodox flask.

[DONMAN]

lol, I have a ghetto lab too. Other than my digital scale most of it is improvised. You can get some nice beakers at cooking stores I am telling you.....

[thepyrolooz]

Here's a link, you might be interested in; http://designer-drug.com/pte/12.162.180.114/dcd/chemistry/equipment/simple2fancy.html

[Frunk]

Here's a link, you might be interested in; http://designer-drug.com/pte/12.162.180.114/dcd/chemistry/equipment/simple2fancy.html

I don't like the drug part of that url :/

The feds would just have to create a www.homemademethlab.com site and log all the IP adresses.

[nbk2000]

You might want to register that domain name, Frunk.

Imagine all the traffic you'd get, just based on the name! :D

[209]

I also have built a getto distiller that works remarkably well, it's a copy of a Lieberg distiller. I made it out of copper piping, so I wouldn't recomend it for distilling corrosive/volitile liquids, otherwise, it works great!

Parts:

approx one foot of 1" copper pipe
two end caps (to fit over pipe)
flexable copper piping, don't know it's trade name, but is very popular in plumbing, it can be easily bent by hand, approx 1.5 feet, 1/4 inch.
(easily avalible at local hardware)

soldering iron
emery paper
drill
1/4 inch drill bit

Assembly:

Cap the one inch pipe, solder connections, drill holes in center of each copper cap. Thread 15 inches of the flex copper through the two holes you just drilled and solder. Next drill two 1/4 inch holes in the side of the foot long copper pipe at each end (on the side of the tube, you are now drilling the inlets for the water). Next, cut two inch long pieces off the remaining bit of flex copper, thread them through the holes drilled in the side of the destiller and solder.

Now you have the inlets for water and the tube running inside the copper pipe serving as the carrier of the distilled liquid.

Sorry if it is a bit confusing,when I get my camera working I will take some pics! :)

[nbk2000]

A Raman Laser Spectrograph (http://www.maryspectra.org/raman/RAMANFRAMES.html) for $500.

http://www.maryspectra.org/raman/raman_files/image024.jpg

[hydra]

A Raman Laser Spectrograph (http://www.maryspectra.org/raman/RAMANFRAMES.html) for $500.

huh... now that's interesting....nicely done design...pretty informative website too.

Some pretty high power IR laser diodes are showing up on the surplus market lately too....which could improve the operation as he discusses.

[plutobound]

I realize it's not mimicking, but magnetic stirrers are really nice and e-bay has one right now for $10NR. They will only ship within the US

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fisher-fiexa-Mix-magnetic-mixer_W0QQitemZ250109998518QQihZ015QQcategoryZ2623 5QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Gammaray1981]

This is a beautiful idea. I've been toying with the idea of buying a hotplate/stirrer for a while now, but it never occured to me to build one...

I'll get right on it. Plans here as and when I finish them, pictures of finished item once it's done. The making might take a while. I've run out of miscellanous junk - my girlfriend convinced me to throw the "crap" away.

[beirut]

I believe I have an article from the 1970's about some grad students building an improvised NMR from scratch. Now that would be a good project today :)
This story reminded me of R.B. Woodwards doctoral work at MIT (or rather, his basement). I've always wondered if he made that spectrometer himself.

A short length of copper pipe and a section of spent garden hose will make a great condenser. Also, I've found wide mouthed mason jars to be a suitable reaction vessel for a small scale electrolysis cell.

[Kaydon]

While I am on the topic of cheap stuff, I snagged a few surplus air powered magnetic stirrers several years ago. These struck me as a very inexpensive way to stir things as there was very little to them. Either air pressure or vacuum would work with them, and they had standard hose barb attachments like for bunson burners. I tried to find some of these for sale, but I have never seen the like. I didn't see any manufacturer stamped on the units. Anybody know who makes these?

If I'm reading you right...

http://www.laboratorytalk.com/news/bel/bel120.html

http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/SigmaAldrich/Airdriven_turbine_magnetic_stirrer/49649/0

http://www.labsafety.com/store/item/141404/

http://www.sciencelab.com/page/S/CTGY/21761

[Herro]

I'm not sure how everyone feels about instructables.com, but I found this one to be pertinant to the discussion:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Magnetic-Stirrer/

An air-powered one may be cheaper than an electric, but you can't beat ~$5 and left-over stuff vs. $120.

[Charles Owlen Picket]

Indeed! The utilization of a aquarium air pump ($5) for stirring NG when nitrating works quite well. Furthering this concept, if the material is simply needed to be moved about in order to avoid hot spots, then it would suffice as well as any stir-bar. Only when the material is a heavy solid and in amounts that would bog down such a device, would a true stir-bar be really needed. However the concept illustrated would work well IMO.