EBay madness

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Rampant inflation!? 

Thats what blew the door off.

[Hroth]

5 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Rampant inflation!? 

 

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Thats what blew the door off.

 

An important illustration of the importance of not smoking whilst perched on the privy.

Or at least a reminder not to toss the butt into the bowl when you have ceased communing...

[John M Upton]

Some textbook examples of Triang Banana warping coaches here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393332927021?hash=item5b94782a2d:g:Xg8AAOSwliJgpCRJ

[Hroth]

12 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Some textbook examples of Triang Banana warping coaches here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393332927021?hash=item5b94782a2d:g:Xg8AAOSwliJgpCRJ

Spray 'em yellow and label 'em Fyffes!  Sad to see the early 3MT minus valvegear, etc and the rather risque topless Pannier, showing all its got...

 

At least the starting price was sensible, what it ends up as depends on how much tail-chasing goes on.

 

[Paul H Vigor]

23 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

 

An important illustration of the importance of not smoking whilst perched on the privy.

Or at least a reminder not to toss the butt into the bowl when you have ceased communing...

Many years ago a smoking friend of mine did this very thing! There was a flash fire down below. He NEVER did it again! 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Many years ago a smoking friend of mine did this very thing! There was a flash fire down below. He NEVER did it again! 

My dad told me that when he was young about 1930 a trick was to put a carbide* tablet into the pan just before someone was to use it. *When dropped in water carbide gives off acetylene gas which is very explosive.

[MrWolf]

Calcium carbide was used on vehicle and even bicycle lights before the universal adoption of electric. You can still buy it for vintage motorcycles etc and it is very entertaining stuff. I could tell you how you can propel a 2 gallon metal bucket about thirty feet into the air with it, but I'm a responsible adult....

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 but I'm a responsible adult....

 

You've no place here then!

 

Mike.

[Bucoops]

6 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Calcium carbide was used on vehicle and even bicycle lights before the universal adoption of electric. You can still buy it for vintage motorcycles etc and it is very entertaining stuff. I could tell you how you can propel a 2 gallon metal bucket about thirty feet into the air with it, but I'm a responsible adult....

 

Sodium is a good one too - can't see this being permitted these days

 

[Hroth]

7 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

When dropped in water carbide gives off acetylene gas which is very explosive.

 

We had an oxy-acetylene cutter for slicing through 3/16"-1/2" sheet steel when building a narrowboat.  I recall the "pop" and smokey yellow flame when lighting the acetylene. Squeeze the lever to let the oxygen in, wow!!!!

 

Isn't it about time to find a "Thomas meets the gas-axe"* diorama on ebay? 

 

* Given the silly prices we've seen, it would be tempting to paint a Dapol 9F kit mustard yellow and call it "Murdoch meets the gas-axe"...

Edited May 20, 2021 by Hroth

[PhilJ W]

17 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

 

 

Isn't it about time to find a "Thomas meets the gas-axe"* diorama on ebay? 

 

 

There is just such a diorama on Farcebook.

[rab]

17 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

For an outdoor privy, it looks relatively clean!

 

Needs a bit of 'weathering' !

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Bucoops said:

 

Sodium is a good one too - can't see this being permitted these days

 

 

They used to demonstrate a tiny piece of sodium whizzing around a dish of water when I was at school. Pinching one of the little 'bricks' of it out of the paraffin filled jar and throwing it into a disused mill pond does not have a similar result. It makes a rather impressive / terrifying explosion instead.

 

So I'm told....

[Compound2632]

11 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

They used to demonstrate a tiny piece of sodium whizzing around a dish of water when I was at school.

 

Still do, along with lithium and potassium. But we're only allowed to show film of rubidium and caesium, more's the pity.

 

 

 

[MrWolf]

Excellent. 

[John M Upton]

I remember seeing that at school, thirty five years ago...

[tomparryharry]

On 18/05/2021 at 09:41, Paul H Vigor said:

"Waiter! Waiter! There's a gas fire in my soup!" 

 

It's the same with oil lamps.

 

Gets on my wick....

[tomparryharry]

54 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

They used to demonstrate a tiny piece of sodium whizzing around a dish of water when I was at school. Pinching one of the little 'bricks' of it out of the paraffin filled jar and throwing it into a disused mill pond does not have a similar result. It makes a rather impressive / terrifying explosion instead.

 

So I'm told....

 We used to degas  molten aluminium using Sodium. I don't know if the practice still gets used. Sorry, Sodium Chloride, if I remember correctly.

Edited May 20, 2021 by tomparryharry

[Paul H Vigor]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

 

They used to demonstrate a tiny piece of sodium whizzing around a dish of water when I was at school. Pinching one of the little 'bricks' of it out of the paraffin filled jar and throwing it into a disused mill pond does not have a similar result. It makes a rather impressive / terrifying explosion instead.

 

So I'm told....

We had the same demonstration, c.1978. Someone pinched a bit - then we gathered round to watch it whizz around a puddle on the playground! 

[Hroth]

Then there was the demonstration of the electrolysis of water, producing oxygen and hydrogen, one we were allowed to do ourselves. Once sufficient amounts were obtained, a glowing splint thrust into the test tube containing oxygen would rekindle the flame. A burning splint held to the hydrogen would make a "squeaky pop".

 

Sometimes, school chemistry was so much fun!

 

[APOLLO]

14 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Then there was the demonstration of the electrolysis of water, producing oxygen and hydrogen, one we were allowed to do ourselves. Once sufficient amounts were obtained, a glowing splint thrust into the test tube containing oxygen would rekindle the flame. A burning splint held to the hydrogen would make a "squeaky pop".

 

Sometimes, school chemistry was so much fun!

 

 

Especially opening the bulb gas taps and lighting them. Playing with liquid mercury on the bench, elf n safety - wot's that !!!!

 

Brit15

[Bucoops]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

They used to demonstrate a tiny piece of sodium whizzing around a dish of water when I was at school. Pinching one of the little 'bricks' of it out of the paraffin filled jar and throwing it into a disused mill pond does not have a similar result. It makes a rather impressive / terrifying explosion instead.

 

So I'm told....

 

When my Mum was a lab tech at a school, they had seperate cleaning areas for "dry" and "wet" cleaning.

 

One day someone managed to leave some sodium on a piece of equipment and left it in the "wet" area.

 

My Mum didn't spot this, and rinsed it off in the sink, the piece of sodium went down the drain and then blew a hole in the water trap much to her surprise (and everyone else in earshot)  

[Paul H Vigor]

47 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

 

Especially opening the bulb gas taps and lighting them. Playing with liquid mercury on the bench, elf n safety - wot's that !!!!

 

Brit15

Biology: dissecting bull's eyes, then throwing bits at classmates (I didn't!). Physics: electrical transformers, linking differing voltage outputs with wires, turning them on until the wires glowed red - and burnt out said transformer (again, I didn't do this - I was a good boy!).

[Northmoor]

4 hours ago, John M Upton said:

I remember seeing that at school, thirty five years ago...

Yep me too and doesn't it say everything about teenage boys that my first thought on seeing the video of Caesium was how I could weapon-ise it.

[Paul H Vigor]

3 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

When my Mum was a lab tech at a school, they had seperate cleaning areas for "dry" and "wet" cleaning.

 

One day someone managed to leave some sodium on a piece of equipment and left it in the "wet" area.

 

My Mum didn't spot this, and rinsed it off in the sink, the piece of sodium went down the drain and then blew a hole in the water trap much to her surprise (and everyone else in earshot)  

We had a new chemistry mistress. I recall her demonstrating a process behind a safety screen. Eventually there was a huge bang and the screen disintegrated before our eyes! Needless to say we were mightily impressed! The teacher, although a bit shocked and ruffled, was unscathed by the 'blast'.