UK based science suppliers??

Hi all,

I'm here to ask for your collective wisdom.

I have the urge to do some experiments, as I've been reading up on
electricity and magnetism and optics lately, and fancy playing around a bit
with some equipment. I've done things like chopping up CD's to make
reflection gratings and so on, but now I'd like to actually try some
experiments using decent (not kludged together with whatever I can find)
equipment.

Basically, I'm looking for things like high field magnets, diffraction
gratings, ferrofluid, a reasonable power supply.... The usual things you
find yourself wanting / needing when you get into messing around with
science at home. I've asked at Maplins, to be met with blank stares and not
particularly suitable suggestions, but I'm just not sure where to get this
stuff from? There are plenty of little kits out there to do various trite
things with (make your own little flashing Christmas tree), but that's not
what I'm after

I know that some of you will have had to hunt down diffraction gratings for
spectroscopy, and I'm hoping that you might know of some good general
suppliers too

Edmund Scientific seem pretty good (they've even got a Wimhurst machine!)
but if there's a UK supplier I'd be happier.

Any tips would be gratefully received, and I do check the newsgroup, so
posting here is fine.

Phil

--
remove the Garibaldi to reply by email.

"Phil" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm here to ask for your collective wisdom.

I have the urge to do some experiments, as I've been reading up on
electricity and magnetism and optics lately, and fancy playing around a
bit
with some equipment. I've done things like chopping up CD's to make
reflection gratings and so on, but now I'd like to actually try some
experiments using decent (not kludged together with whatever I can find)
equipment.
Edmund Scientific seem pretty good (they've even got a Wimhurst machine!)
but if there's a UK supplier I'd be happier.

Any tips would be gratefully received, and I do check the newsgroup, so
posting here is fine.

Fischer Scientific comes to mind, but you may need to be a registered
company.
To quote from the website below: "Fisher Scientific UK Ltd
Fisher Scientific are the only major manufacturer of laboratory chemicals
within the UK. Together with extensive catalogued ranges of equipment and
consumables, product lines exceed 50,000 items.
Functions: Manufacturer, Distributor, Exporter"
see http://www.martex.co.uk/laboratory-supplies/index.htm
also see Sanyo Gallenkamp PLC

I've dealt with both companies with no complaints.

Trying to buy explosives or explosive precursor chemicals may these days
lead you into unexplored places...

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk\oddimage.htm

How about
http://www.mutr.co.uk/

Steve

"Steve Taylor" promulgated thus:

How about
http://www.mutr.co.uk/

Nearly perfect That's the sort of thing I'm after - OK, so there's still
a few things they don't have, but there's a lot I was looking for that they
do have, and it's reasonably priced

Thanks Steve!

Phil

(still open to other suggestions though, can never have too many good
sources for these things).

Phil wrote:
"Steve Taylor" promulgated thus:


How about
http://www.mutr.co.uk/


Nearly perfect
Good, innit ?

That's the sort of thing I'm after - OK, so there's still
a few things they don't have, but there's a lot I was looking for that they
do have, and it's reasonably priced

Then you need http://www.surplusshed.com They are THE VERY BEST optical
surplus people. I visited them back in May. Their shipping charges are
very fair, and their lucky dip bags are fantastic.

Steve

"Malcolm Stewart" emitted these words:

Fischer Scientific comes to mind, but you may need to be a registered
company.

This is the biggest problem I've had so far - Philip Harris is another good
supplier for the basics - we used to use them at work for all our lab
supplies, but you need to be a company/school to deal with them, and I'm not
:/ All I wanted was some glass rods in that instance!

I think you may have misunderstood somewhat, I'm not after chemicals - just
some of the sort of stuff you might find kicking around the average
secondary school physics lab....

To quote from the website below: "Fisher Scientific UK Ltd
Fisher Scientific are the only major manufacturer of laboratory chemicals
within the UK. Together with extensive catalogued ranges of equipment and
consumables, product lines exceed 50,000 items.
Functions: Manufacturer, Distributor, Exporter"
see http://www.martex.co.uk/laboratory-supplies/index.htm
also see Sanyo Gallenkamp PLC

I've dealt with both companies with no complaints.

Trying to buy explosives or explosive precursor chemicals may these days
lead you into unexplored places...

I wasn't planning on it. I'm seeking magnets, diffraction gratings and so
on, not chemicals. If I was going to blow stuff up my natural tendencies
would be to do it with physics anyway Mmmm.... railguns :P

Quite tempted by the "Benchtop Ultrasonic Disintegrator" from Sanyo
Gallenkamp though, simply because of the cool name....

Phil

"Phil" wrote in message
...
"Malcolm Stewart" emitted these words:


I think you may have misunderstood somewhat, I'm not after chemicals -
just
some of the sort of stuff you might find kicking around the average
secondary school physics lab....

I wasn't planning on it. I'm seeking magnets, diffraction gratings and so
on, not chemicals. If I was going to blow stuff up my natural tendencies
would be to do it with physics anyway Mmmm.... railguns :P

When I was in my teens I used to get all my stuff from Flatters & Garnett in
Oxford Road (Street ?) opposite Manchester University.
Nearly poisoned myself a few times (chromyl chloride production!) and had
numerous acid burns on hands and holes in trousers. Great fun, and of
course it eventually led to a position as H&S Advisor.
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk\oddimage.htm

Malcolm Stewart wrote:

When I was in my teens I used to get all my stuff from Flatters & Garnett in
Oxford Road (Street ?)

Road. When arewe talking about here?

Steve

http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk\oddimage.htm

"Steve Taylor" wrote in message
...
Malcolm Stewart wrote:

When I was in my teens I used to get all my stuff from Flatters &
Garnett in
Oxford Road (Street ?)

Road. When are we talking about here?

1953-1956 period. From memory, the only chemicals which were on restricted
supply were those on the poisons register, S1, and these were available
against a signature. Dead animals for dissection purposes; concentrated
acids, alkalis were easily available.
How times have changed - I now view the skies through an ETX105, and a 200mm
f5 Dobsonian, and am very careful with the very small quantities of
sulphuric acid and benzene that are in the cupboard.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote:

When I was in my teens I used to get all my stuff from Flatters & Garnett
in
Oxford Road (Street ?) opposite Manchester University.
Nearly poisoned myself a few times (chromyl chloride production!) and had
numerous acid burns on hands and holes in trousers. Great fun, and of
course it eventually led to a position as H&S Advisor.

At the school I went to, I was fortunate enough to find books of the
"Experiments for Young Chemists" type ilk, written in the 1950's/60's, all
of which contained many interesting experiments that I would have liked to
perform (and sometimes did).

Typical instructions for obtaining supplies were "go to the chemists and ask
for 30% w/v ammonia solution". Of course, I did, and the chemists looked
at me very suspiciously, until I showed them the book, and they realised I
was just a naive optimist Then they said no anyway.

As a kid I was extremely annoyed that it was impossible to get hold of any
decent chemicals - you get a chemistry set for christmas, get into it,
become good at chemistry, run through all the experiments in the book and
then run into a brick wall because the only chemicals you get are the ones
that are practically inert and you can't do much with them

What I would have given for a big chemical supply store like that! But, I
didn't have one and got into astronomy instead, nobody to tell you what you
can and can't do....

I still have a few holes in my labcoat though, from where my experiments
proved more successful than anticipated

Phil