Surplus Lab Equipment?

theunforgiv3n asks: "We have recently been doing some cool science experiments, in school. Being the geeky type, I am looking to recreate some of these at home. To do this, I am looking for a good place to order some surplus laboratory equipment like flasks, non-gas Bunsen burners, and tubing (glass and plastic). Price isn't a big issue but I don't really want to spend a lot of money on this. So tell me Slashdot, where do you order your science equipment?"

From a Computer Scientist

[WyerByter]

All the science equipment I ever got was from CompUSA.

That depends...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you trying to synthesize methamphetamine, or C5 explosives?

CM Cook

[spacecowboy420]

This isn't an ask /., it's an "Ask your local chrystal meth cook" those guys always seem to have the stuff and you know they don't spend too much on it.

Re:CM Cook

[Marvelicious]

2 problems with asking a meth cook:

1 He probably traded dope for it and doestn't know where it came from.

2 If you spend too much time parked in his driveway asking him, your car will wind up half torn apart, and painted odd colors.

Beware Big Brother

[Spock the Baptist]

In my neck of the woods the drug task force is on the look out for folks ordering lab equipment. They tend to think that they're running a meth lab.

Re:Beware Big Brother

[El]

I assume this is part of the new Ashcroft "Use a chemistry set, go to jail!" initiative?

Re:Beware Big Brother

[Anonymous Coward]

Because, like it or not, he is the Cheif Law Enforcement Officer of the Federal Government. If ordering a Erlenmeyer gets a couple of Feds at your front door, it is ultimately Ashcroft behind it. If Janet Reno started it, who cares ? Ashcroft could have stopped it if he had an ounce of morality in his bible thumping ass. But we diselected Reno and her crew. There is no current problem that could not have been solved in the last three years (and that includes catching Osama and Jeff Skilling).

Scavengers

[Leffe]

You could always go scavenging, remember the MIT guy that built the fusion reactor, he found his plasma accelerator(or insert some other fancy tech stuff that is impossible to find while scavenging) while scavenging.

I found a DVD player by accident, yay! I haven't checked if it works yet though, it's quite dirty, smells strange and doesn't include any cables :/

Re:Scavengers

[AKnightCowboy]

You could always go scavenging, remember the MIT guy that built the fusion reactor, he found his plasma accelerator(or insert some other fancy tech stuff that is impossible to find while scavenging) while scavenging.

Of course, if you're going to be scavenging to build a fusion reactor, don't be suprised when your ass is hauled off to GITMO.

Re:Scavengers

[NanoGator]

"I found a DVD player by accident, yay! I haven't checked if it works yet though, it's quite dirty, smells strange and doesn't include any cables :/"

Better make sure that's not a DivX player...

Re:Scavengers

[nado]

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/1 6/1712236 [slashdot.org]

Re:Scavengers

[Phronesis]

It costs billions if you want to get more energy out than you put in. If you're content for your reactor to be an energy sink rather than a source, the price drops by about seven orders of magnitude.

Ask the good Doctor

[ewhenn]

I hear Dr. Jack Kevorkian has a lot of one use equip for sale.

Local University

[frink_exp]

Try a nearby university with a chemistry department. When I was an undergrad, the chemistry store on campus had everything you could want. You could browse the shelves and buy stuff cash-and-carry. Access to the store may have been restricted since Sep 11, 2001, though, as it has at my current grad school.

Check the chem department

[3waygeek]

at your local college or university. Back in the 80s, when I was at Iowa State, the chem dept. sold glassware and other goodies at decent prices.

Also, many colleges and universities have periodic sales/auctions of used/surplus equipment -- I used to pick up lots of computer goodies at ISU's monthly sales.

At the univeisity in my town..

[annisette]

They have a warehouse that sells what ever is considered old , obsoleat and there is quite a bit of stuff. Lots of computers,tables desks and even a dentist chair. there are boxes and boxes of stuff. Not dirt cheap but a good buy especially if you are looking for "parts". Did not see any chem-lab glassware butI did not look.

Cash and carry is the deal

don't know if this makes a difference but it is a state univerisity and this sale is open to all.

Check your area

the ultimate place

[jjshoe]

is american science and surplus [sciplus.com]

Re:the ultimate place

[Tyrdium]

Yeah, SciPlus is pretty much the place to go for this sort of thing. In addition to your normal scientific supplies, you can get all sorts of fun things to play with, like biochem suits and military surplus stuff. They're also quite well known, and seem to have a good following, as well as good reviews.

Re:the ultimate place

[kommakazi]

DAmn, you beat me to it...but yeah this place is awesome...they had a surplus store I used to go to...Haven't been there in a while though, I wonder if it's still around...

Local University/National Laboratory

[muon1183]

I know that universities and labs are often looking to get rid of old equipment in order to make room for new equipment, so they often sell older stuff for very low prices, sometimes even free. For example, a couple of months ago, one of the national laboratories associated with my university was looking to get rid of some older equipment, which included a cray supercomputer (LN2 cooled, so you needed a ready supply) and several NMR setups. While these items were rather large (ie room-sized), I'm sure they were giving away smaller stuff too. Just check out your local university, especially any departments which have buildings being renovated or are otherwise moving.

Plenty of Catalogs

[liquidice5]

here at college, i LOVE getting mail, so i signed myself up for some catalogs
besides your basic Crutchfield and random crap, i enjoy looking through

Edmund Scientific [edsci.com] who has a great supply of random stuff

Fischer Scientific [fishersci.com] they sent me several boxes of catalogs all for free, and then have EVERYTHING, you do need a "company" to buy, i have never bought anything but I dont think it should be a problem to make one up

Re:Plenty of Catalogs

[stuffduff]

I liked the Edmond Scientific Catalog even better than the Sears Christmas catalog when I was a kid. And I still have a few of their gadgets.

One stop shopping...

[MrIcee]

You will find everything you need in surplus... from flasks to surplus army gear, electrical, materials and much much much more.... at American Science and Surplus [sciplus.com].

This company used to be called Jerrico - and I've ordered from them for years. Additionally, their catalogs are FANTASTIC reading - very accurate descriptions on all items and most of the writeups are quite humorous as well.

Also, if you happen to visit the Chicago area, they are located just outside of north chicago - the store is chalk full of amazing things - a true surplus shoppers dream.

Aloha

Re:One stop shopping...

[AnotherBrian]

I'd like to mention that this company is being sued by these assholes [slashdot.org] and is fighting back [youmaybenext.com]. Plesae support them.

AssetRelay for Microscopes

[nado]

AssetRelay carries good second-hand microscopes. So you can get good stuff for cheaper. See their microscopes page: AssetRelay's Microscopes [assetrelay.com]

Local Colleges?

[Eosha]

In my experience, the best way to get equiptment is to make friends with a college professor. Call it a mentorship, faculty advisor, whatever, but get to be their friend. At least at my school (Iowa State) there're many basement rooms stuffed floor to ceiling with old, used, perfectly serviceable stuff. If you're lucky, your professor friend will be happy to be looking the other direction when you find something you want. If you feel like being slightly more legal, you might ask the department if they'd be willing to sell some of the stuff to you.

Make your own

[bluGill]

Lindsay books [lindsaybks.com] has lots of neat books, some of which (depending on what is in print now) tell you how to make glass. If you really want to do experiments you will find their collection valuable for that purpose too.

P.S. the good stuff is in the dead tree catalog, but not online, so get a copy of the catalog.

Oregon State Surplus Property

[Webmoth]

Head to OSU's Surplus Property [oregonstate.edu] site. Specifically, the Online Auctions [oregonstate.edu] page.

ACME

[jazman_777]

It always works for me. YMMV.

eBay is your friend.

[rossifer]

Build yourself whatever you like from eBay purchases. What you'll find is usually either generic (new, cheap, microscopes from China) or not under warranty or damaged (get two and piece them together) but it's usually dirt cheap and functional. I built a rather nice darkroom for 33% of the price of new gear with eBay sourced items.

Be public about it and don't worry too much about Big Brother. Meth labs have a conspicuous smell and you're only likely to attract police attention if there is other evidence to tie you to a local drug trade.

If you are planning to make illegal substances, then the eBay purchases will be one more public record that will be used against you in court. But my advice assumes that you are what you say you are, so eBay should be a great resource for you.

Regards,
Ross

Labmart

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.labmart.com/

Everything you never wanted for prices you can't resist. And no, I'm not marketing for them, I've just bought a lot of fun stuff from there, and the prices, like I said, are very reasonable.

Enjoy!

Your school

[charlie763]

Check at you local university. I go to Rutgers and they usually have a table near the equipment room full of equipment that they are getting rid of. I got a florence flask and a few beakers for my halloween costume (mad scientist). Enjoy your new equipment...

Pass the waterpipe

[acesuares]

My university had a *wrokshoppe* that was way down in the belly of the monster the faculty became to be after those rosy introduction weeks.

Entering without fear would get you what you want, because the workers did not dislike the extra tax-free money you'd give them to produce just about any glass contraption.

So, we made a WP out of an erlenmeyer. Maybe you should check *where* they make all the neat stuff that u use in chem class!

-- I am posting this as Anonymous Coward in case someone believes what I

AS&S

[jmlyle]

I've been getting crazazy stuff from here [sciplus.com] for years.

Stir plates

[djdead]

I've been looking for good deals on stir plates for a while now. eBay isn't bad but for about the same price i saw this [morebeer.com] which is about half the price of new ones i've seen from anywhere else.

Sources...

[cr0sh]

I don't know where you live, likely it isn't in Phoenix, Arizona. However, for those of us who do live there, two places for lab (and much, much, more) surplus are:

Apache Reclamation and Electronics (3rd Ave and Apache) - they carry a bunch of junk, right now they have a lot of microscopes, plus a small amount of glassware (ie, test tubes, beakers, etc - plus glass rod and tubing). They also have lots of other funky stuff which you might find useful, and so far no one has purchased the industrial CO2 laser

I get stuff from "surplus asset sales"

[Medievalist]

E. I. duPont Nemours Inc. has been dismantling itself for over a decade in a futile attempt to survive truly excrable management. The place is more Dilbert than Dilbert, basically, and so they are reduced to chopping off body parts and selling them on the street. They are not alone, either!

I got an 8-foot steel worktable wired for 120 VAC with 8 explosion-proof outlets and a 4-inch thick oil-impregnated maple butcherblock top for $20. (I got a propane-powered flamethrower and a softball-sized rheostat thrown in for free.) That was when they busted up the (awewsome) Wilmington Shops, which was where EDL used to have their custom robotics built.

Some guy got a vertical end mill that was less than five years old for $400 with all the bells and whistles. It cost him more to ship it and install it than he paid for it.

Google for "surplus asset sales" to find this sort of thing. For instance look at http://www.advancedlink.com/index.html
which is a similar outfit in Woburn, MA (just outside Boston, basically. Good scallops.) or http://www.michaelfox.com/us/ which is a big-time reseller.

Or just wander around until you find the warehouse area with the lowest rent in your immediate neighborhood, that's where you will find the real deals!

Back in the day....

[mengel]

Back when I used to get lab equipment :-); it was usually from Purdue University Surplus & Salvage [purdue.edu] which used to always have various and sundry interesting stuff.

They even take requests [purdue.edu]

Of course, if you're not near Northwest Indiana, it's probably not all that convenient.

If you're near Chicago you can always check out American Science & Surplus [sciplus.com], or you can order stuff delivered from their web site.

Have you tried local university salvage?

[munpfazy]

Not sure if all schools do this, but at least some universities and national labs have an excess equipment auction a couple of times a year. Basically, everything that gets put into the salvage bin is up for grabs.

You can't really plan on finding anything in particular there, but its a great place to look around for random bits of gear. Equipment which is either "obsolete" or customized tends to go for close to nothing - which means you can stock your basement on the cheap.

If that fails, there's alway

The wonders of the USA... surplus and europe?

[Lucifugue]

The wonders of the USA... surplus and europe?

This is all ver fine for americans.. Each time i see a post on american surplus. I drool in pure envy...

In Europe, you can't get this kind of offers... Especially in a backward forgotten place like Portugal (English still think we are a spanish region...)
Oh! Welll!!!

Doen anyone have useful and interesting links of surplus providers in Europe??
And trustworthy ones... You can get easily ripped around here...

Thx in advance...