Scary stuff you can buy on the net

Edited By mick H on 12/11/2016 08:59:21

Edited By mick H on 12/11/2016 09:01:20

Perhaps as this topic has been done to death anyway I'll add my 2 cents. Strictly speaking it is almost impossible to obtain 'Methylated Spirits' these days. Originally meths was ethanol plus methanol. The addition had 2 purposes, methanol has a disgusing taste making the mixture almost undrinkable and, because it was supposedly undrinkable fuilfilled the requirements of Custome & Excise (now HMRC) to not be classified as dutiable spirits

It is now normal to add 'Bitrex' rather than methanol.

Monoman

You might want to see >**LINK**

I can get "meths " easily enough , but it does it stink these days . Nothing like the stuff we bought for Mamods years ago . The smell lingers long after it's evaporated . I know why now .

Beg pardon sirs - it might look like that, but it aint.

It is indeed over 90%, but it consists of 90% of diluted sulphuric of unknown dilution. It is not conc sulphuric.
If you buy the real stuff (93% from Blackgates?) and dilute it to, say 15%, it will perform much better than drain cleaner with the same dilution. So if you do buy drain cleaner - just dilute it less - I found you need over 30% to achieve the same. I wonder what the other 10% is?

I use alcohol lamps almost every day in my work and use this stuff , I occasionally also use industrial meths which doesnt stink or have all the nasty additives.

**LINK**

So what's it taste like?

When I was a schoolboy doing home chemistry in the 1950s, I used to order chemicals from a local chemist in Leigh-on-Sea. The pharmacist was either very laid-back or ignorant of chemistry - on various occasions I ordered conc. nitric. acid, conc. sulphuric acid and toluene without any comment. And yes, I did try nitrating the toluene, but never dared to see whether the resulting TNT would explode. On another occasion I bought some picric acid (for microscopy). It came as dry crystals in a glass bottle. I later found that it was suppposed to be kept wet to avoid explosion - fortunately it didn't!

The possibilities, the possibilities. Why do we experiment. I used to get bird scare ropes and stick them down holes in posts just to see what they would do, still scared the birds. In Hong Kong, Chinese New Year we would buy bangers, but these were double bangers, one to get it off the ground and one to go , 'bang' in the air. You have guessed right, a steel tube, a slot to light it and battle commenced across the monsoon ditch. Always making sure you put the right end in the tube first, in haste it has been put down the wrong way.

I was given a half pound of plastic explosive and det. cord and a detonator and a gun cotton primer with instructions to go and blow something up! Off I went and thought., 'I will blow up that Fir tree'. Wrapped it round the trunk set it up and pulled the ring out and ran, It came down and the trunk looked like a massive tooth brush.

I was given instruction lessons to learn how to blow damaged tank tracks off, no time in battle to do it the normal way. You have a tray shaped to fit over the track link and it is called a 'W' tray filled level with PE and a det. Pull and hide as tiny metal shards fly every where. Only then do the Engineers and crew fit new track.

A Thunderflash will send a dustbin lid 20 mtrs into the sky, very dangerous things.

Going back to my youth I was into airplane models and of course had to buy Ether, he would only allow 2 oz at a time. Also bought Caster oil as lube. Tried to get Nitro Methane capsules to boost the power but no luck there so had to get older modellers to buy it from sympathetic Pharmacist.. It worries me hat this is all available to everyone but I think that even searching the internet is enough to gain a conviction if you are into naughty things.

Edited By Clive Hartland on 12/11/2016 17:14:53

249 reviews.... I havent laughed so hard!

"When Gerard, my husband of thirty eight years, questioned my excessive use of Barrettine's Methylated Spirit, I told him that It's the most effective way to rid one's calligraphy brush of stubborn Indian Ink. However, if truth be known, the consumption of Barrettine is the ONLY effective relief I have found from this utterly nightmarish sham of a marriage. If only I could leave my husband and marry a 6ft bottle of Barrettine."

**LINK**

**LINK**

Dangerous stuff for anyone not used to handling chemicals.

You can't legislate against stupidity (although apparently you can vote for him) or maliciousness. How far should one go with banning substances?..you can make a decent molotov unless you ban petrol. Agricultural nitrates and soil conditioning sulphur and some BBQ charcoal and you're well on the way again.. or even iodine and ammonia. Then there's the simple toxins from castor beans to lily of the valley. Or find a cherry laurel and make up some cyanide. Or just buy a bunch of lithium batteries. Or if a nutter then just drive off a railway bridge in front of a train preferably in a hijacked petrol tanker. An oxygen cylinder is pretty darned dangerous.

If you're not going to ban it then allow it to be purchased. How it's delivered is another matter and post office does always ask for the contents - the banned list is extensive- and you'ld think they'd run some spot checks.

Everything is allowed, unless it is forbidden. That leaves quite a large section to play with. Consider the USA where you can buy openly explosive to blow up tree roots. There is so much space that you cannot harm anyone.

Most legislation banning usage and purchase of items is to preserve the safety of the public. As we are a small country in comparison to other Nations, any incident is nearly always in the vicinity of locals. Individual use of chemicals and items is usually for specific purposes and it is only curiosity that is excessive! I will just add a bit more to see what happens.

Clive

A few years ago ICI used to issue a booklet on how to use explosives. For legitimate things like removing tree trunks or big rocks. If you could show the need then it was sold , I don't remember any problems.

Sulphuric Acid sold as drain cleaner usually contains an organic compound (forgotten it's name) as an inhibitor. Anyone knows what it inhibits (not oxidising my trousers / bench / etc that's for sure ) and how?

Steve

If you need to be instructed of the perils of what you are using, you shouldn't even think of obtaining it. Don't wonder todays youfs can't be trusted into Chemmy labs without face masks and rubber gloves to handle distilled water. Nobody died and the threat of a Bunsen burner rubber tube across the pants a**e was enough of a deterrent not to fool around. Heave forbid the consequences of a liquid crystal display leaking, bet they haven't considered that one.

Re Postal authorities checking, wonder what happened to the two bottles of steam oil I sent to Southampton three years ago?

Regards Ian.

Edited By Circlip on 13/11/2016 10:07:49

For those who wish to expand their knowledge of chemicals, who believe that all chamicals are dangerous and if you want a to see what chemistry is about may I suggest you look at a series on YouTube called 'Periodic Videos'

It is run by Nottingham University, UK and is presented as a guide for those with an interest in the subject. There is much to smile about. The main presenter is Prof. Martin Poliakoff (brother of Steven Poliakoff) aided and supported by many of the University's staff. A sense of humour is a pre-requisite.

The link is to a video about something some of us have an interest in, alcohol. But there are more than a hundred on the site. Most are about 10 minutes duration.

Monoman

**LINK**

Following on Steve's post above (and a bit more relevant to us than removing tree roots) does this 'modified' sulphuric acid work ok for anodising and plating operations?

As far as I know methanol has no particular taste, which is why the unknowing and uncaring mix industrial alcohol into party drinks, and people die as a result. I would be surprised if present day meths doesn't have methanol in it, as it's possible to get used to the taste of Bitrex. My cousin did when it was painted on her nails to stop her biting them...

The 1960s recipe for meths, says my memory, was to add methanol to make it dangerous, methyl violet to give it a distinctive colour, and pyridine to give it a foul taste. Pyridine was made by the 'destructive distillation of bones'. It's amazing what useless information the youthful memory lays down for future reference!

George

I work in the printing industry and we use all manner of chemicals all of which are freely available as ink dilutions such as Toluene and IMS (industrial meth spirits or ethanol)

Tolly was banned a long time ago as it was just too carcinogenic/explosive when we distill it, they replaced it with MEK - justas dangerous but eco friendly apparently

IMS does have a colourant added but it gets taken out when we distill it to clean and reuse it

and yes some printers have been known to get addicted to it - but not for very long as it causes permanent brain damage and loss of sight

Trevor