What Did You Buy Today?

[WobblyHand]

Remember some chemistry set that I had, might still have one of the little containers of something like sulfur.

I gravitated towards pyrotechnics and made my own rockets with some kind of display. Was fun pouring through old books for formulas. As soon as I got reasonably good at a particular size rocket my father would restrict the size by 25% or so. That would keep me busy for some weeks. The cycle would repeat... It was a challenge to do as well when the parameters changed.

 

[wachuko]

I remember the Gilbert Chemistry sets; I had a vertical one: metal cabinet, the two “doors” were shelved that held square bottles of chemicals (lots of no-longer-allowed compounds and some unique items (like dried Cochineal Beetles). Something like this, but blue:
View attachment 512376

My Mother had a BA in Chemistry (90+ years ago few women could get BS degrees), and one of my friends’ Father was a Pharmacist so she would sign for additional reagents like HCl, H2SO4 & HNO3. Also Phenol & Formaldehyde from which I made Bakelite.

I had the Sears chemistry set!! Blue bottles. Wow, what a great walk through memory lane...

 

[ChazzC]

I had the Sears chemistry set!! Blue bottles. Wow, what a great walk through memory lane...

The local Hobby Shop sold new bottles so you could keep a full stock and also add items that the kit did not include.

 

[Larry$]

and made my own rockets

Yes so did I. I salvaged junk aluminum tubes. Added fins & nose cones. Filled them with my "special brew and went out into the pasture for tests. Most failed but a few made great flights, sometimes horizontally. It all came to an end when a batch of rocket fuel caught fire in my basement "lab."
Didn't catch much on fire but filled the house with smoke.

 

[WobblyHand]

Yes so did I. I salvaged junk aluminum tubes. Added fins & nose cones. Filled them with my "special brew and went out into the pasture for tests. Most failed but a few made great flights, sometimes horizontally. It all came to an end when a batch of rocket fuel caught fire in my basement "lab."
Didn't catch much on fire but filled the house with smoke.

I was drilled to use cardboard only. My father kept an eye on my activities and kept me from loosing fingers and toes. We did some wacky things, but I was supervised to avoid issues. I had no fires, nor close calls. After a couple horizontal flights, all rockets flew true.

Interspersed were lessons in physics, chemistry and electronics. Still have two books on exploding wires, and the contraption I made to do the deed. Not many teenagers learn about designing and making transmission lines to match the impedance of an exploding wire, nor how to make a push pull capacitor charger with a flyback transformer to charge a laser storage cap. It was a pretty neat circuit in that it included a winding for the filament of the vacuum tube rectifier.

 

[wachuko]

Bought a cheap 6"x16" magnetic chuck while I figure out what to get for my recently acquired surface grinder.

 

[woodchucker]

Bought a cheap 6"x16" magnetic chuck while I figure out what to get for my recently acquired surface grinder.

View attachment 512392

your grinder had a chuck in the picture I thought.

 

[wachuko]

your grinder had a chuck in the picture I thought.

Not too confident it is working fine... too much effort to move it and it still holds the pieces (with less strenght) when it is supposed to be off...

 

[woodchucker]

Not too confident it is working fine... too much effort to move it and it still holds the pieces (with less strenght) when it is supposed to be off...

They all hold when they are supposed to be off.
And the strength depends on the size of your material, the magnetic properties of said material.

Some Cast Iron is not very magnetic.
Some steels are less magnetic than others.

The mass of the object is important.
Oh well.. I opened mine and replaced the grease. Some are oil.

 

[coolidge]

Went mill restoration shopping...

1. Another gallon of mineral spirits
2. Two cans of brake cleaner
3. Two cans of spray primer
4. Two cans of spray paint, yeah going to rattle can it again ACK!
5. Can of of Lucas OIl chain/sprocket lube
6. Two bottles of cold bluing fluid
7. Tub for soaking stuff in Evaporust
8. Yet another oil drain pan for cleaning parts
9. 0000 steel wool
10. 2000, 3000, 5000 grit sandpaper
11. 3 bundles of Costco cotton shop towels
12. 3 pack of work gloves