Jules wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:44:02 +0100, Lobster wrote:
Reading all the posts in this thread is it any wonder that Britons have won so many
Nobel Prizes?
Not sure - maybe it's more surprising that more of them haven't won
Darwins, actually...

Well, being careless and stupid can really further the learning
experience. It's only when you're careless, stupid and unlucky that the
problems really occur

And I suppose that by definition it's only the guys who haven't had such
'problems' are still around to post their war-stories here!

David

In message , Clive
George writes
Thing with hydrogen sulphide is that although it's toxic, it's far stinkier,
so you run away because of the smell before it's too bad.
Thing with hydrogen sulphide is that it kills nerves, so a high enough
concentration of it and you can't smell it (or anything else).

I knocked myself out once with home-made chloroform (carbon tetrachloride
solvent + bleach I think).

Carbon tet + bleach sounds unlikely. (googles). Acetone + bleach sounds
rather more likely.



--
Clint Sharp

In message , PeterC
writes
Even more so if there happens to be an ignition source nearby.

This was ~45 ya, so CFC.
Ahh, fair enough. Just mustard gas then.
--
Clint Sharp

In message , Tim S
writes
Mr Benn coughed up some electrons that declared:


I made my own firework that ended up burning half the skin off my hand.
Not recommended!

I used to take fireworks to bits and ignite small piles of powder.
Ohh, forgot about that, back in the day when fireworks were actually
close to being worth the money they used to 'leak' in the boxes.
Collecting all the leaked contents from whatever bonfire party I was
taken to became a bit of an obsession.

Until I nearly took my eyebrows off!
Not done that myself, I'd say I'd lead a sheltered life but I know
otherwise..
--
Clint Sharp

"PeterC" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:27:10 -0500, Jules wrote:

Never did much with explosives, although I seem to remember half-baked
experiments at turning cans of deodorant into rocket engines.

A .22 pellet through the side near 1 end gives an interesting display.
--
Peter.


Yep. An aerosol full of black paint and a .22 pellet. It took a week to wash
the paint off my face.

Adam

"John" wrote in message
...
Not a childhood DIY experiment but I found this an a forum and Adams
reference to a Taser reminded me

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2244349/posts

Cheers

John

John

Have you seen this news report about Tasers?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/8161026.stm

Not funny but interesting.

Adam

Mr Benn wibbled:


"Tim S" wrote in message
.. .
John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:


Yup it was NI3 - I thought that is what we were talking about - did not
see the ref to NCl3....

Iodine crystals soaked in a beaker of ammonia for a bit, and then dumped
into a funnel with a filter paper to reclaim the ammonia.

I've always wanted to do that - but AFAIK you need fairly strong ammonia
which I don't have easy access to...

You can still buy concentrated ammonia in some hardware stores. I have a
feeling Robert Dyas still sell it. For the iodine crystals, you'd have to
obtain them from tincture of iodine and allow the alcohol to evaporate.

Ooh...

no further comment

ARWadsworth wrote:
"PeterC" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:27:10 -0500, Jules wrote:

Never did much with explosives, although I seem to remember half-baked
experiments at turning cans of deodorant into rocket engines.
A .22 pellet through the side near 1 end gives an interesting display.

Yep. An aerosol full of black paint and a .22 pellet. It took a week to wash
the paint off my face.

Could have been worse - expanding foam?

David

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
ARWadsworth wrote:
"PeterC" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:27:10 -0500, Jules wrote:

Never did much with explosives, although I seem to remember half-baked
experiments at turning cans of deodorant into rocket engines.
A .22 pellet through the side near 1 end gives an interesting display.

Yep. An aerosol full of black paint and a .22 pellet. It took a week to
wash the paint off my face.

Could have been worse - expanding foam?

David

Nah. Yellow paint can (for my Mums old N reg Mini) and I gave my Dad the air
rifle and told him that even an old git could not miss from that range. He
took the bait.

Ouch. One work suit ruined.

Adam

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:16:16 GMT, ARWadsworth wrote:

"PeterC" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:27:10 -0500, Jules wrote:

Never did much with explosives, although I seem to remember half-baked
experiments at turning cans of deodorant into rocket engines.

A .22 pellet through the side near 1 end gives an interesting display.
--
Peter.

Yep. An aerosol full of black paint and a .22 pellet. It took a week to wash
the paint off my face.

Adam

Our Airsporter was effective on such a can at 25 yards - the contents of
the can weren't.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher
saying something like:

Then there was the 'ball bearing cannon' featuring 1/4" pipe, two
bangers (dismantled) and a 1/4" ball bearing. Sited carefully on a cast
(steel? iron? Mezac?) plate on a tennis court in a field..it made a
satisfying bang. We walked over and found a quarter inch hole punched
through the 1/4" cast plate..

Ditto, with 1/2" bore steel gas pipe, a handgrip and suitable pair of
BBs. I had tested it before holding it, but it was effing daft. Still
knocked an impressive couple of holes through re-inforced and laminated
glass.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.

Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.

Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.

Why did you open 'many'?

Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.

Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.

I thought it was a spent bullet. I had never seen a cartridge. Nor had I
any reason to suppose that my father would leave live ammunition in a
drawer..

brass monkey wrote:

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.

Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.

Why did you open 'many'?

To make a bigger bang.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.

Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.

I thought it was a spent bullet. I had never seen a cartridge. Nor had I
any reason to suppose that my father would leave live ammunition in a
drawer..

Runs in the family, eh?

Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I sawed the top off a live 22 cartrdidge to see what was inside.
Ah, dim even as a child, eh? I opened many .22 cartridges as a child by
using a pair of pliers. I had reasoned that the bullet was supposed to
come off and I was right.
I thought it was a spent bullet. I had never seen a cartridge. Nor had I
any reason to suppose that my father would leave live ammunition in a
drawer..

Runs in the family, eh?

What, the military instinct. Possibly. In which case watch what you say.,.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Runs in the family, eh?

What, the military instinct.

No, absence of common.

"Clint Sharp" wrote in message
...

Bin bags full of acetylene and a few feet of lit bog roll hanging down
from them is apparently fun as well although I'd know nothing about that
officer.

Did that once with hydrogen made from caustic soda solution and aluminium
foil. It was last seen as a tiny spec in the sky.

"Jules" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:13:15 +0100, Graham. wrote:
Electrolytic capacitor on long wires out of the window. Plug into mains,
metallic confetti everywhere.

Yes, I remember that sort of thing well from electronics classes, although
we aimed them at the plasterboard walls in the lab.

I also cooked up a little oscillating device running from a 9V battery and
through a step-up transformer, then invited folk to prod the contacts - I
think the voltage it delivered was somewhere around 4KV.

Never did much with explosives, although I seem to remember half-baked
experiments at turning cans of deodorant into rocket engines.

Sam Barros, the guy who runs the following website really knows how to have
fun with anything dangerous.

www.powerlabs.org

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:03:12 +0100, Mr Benn wrote:
Sam Barros, the guy who runs the following website really knows how to have
fun with anything dangerous.

www.powerlabs.org

aha, yes - not seen that site for a while. It's on the to-do list to try
building a Tesla coil (and not ending up dead in the process) now that I
finally have room for one. Years ago the Glubco website used to make for
interesting reading too, but I think it's been AWOL for some time now.

There's a company a few miles away that makes / services neon signs, and I
really must get around to dropping in and seeing if they have any NSTs
that they don't want (being in the US means there's a *lot* of neon
around, and there must be times where the sign gets broken but the NST's
still good)

cheers

Jules