ESpy
20-01-2004, 11:51
Right... Rehashing this from the hobo stoves thread:
Simply take...
About 250ml of strong vinegar (pickling is good, distilled white is usually a bit weaker).
Some eggshells (about half a dozen), washed & lightly crushed. Alternatives include marble, chalk or any other source of calcium carbonate.
Add the shells to the vinegar. Watch them fizz (if you're lucky, they'll bob up & down too - better than television). When the reaction seems to stop (may take up to a week, depends on temperature), add some more shells.
Repeat until there is definitely no more reaction.
Strain the - possibly slightly pongy - mixture through a coffee filter to get rid of the eggshell fragments.
Put the solution in as wide a dish or bowl as you can scavenge. Leave this somewhere warm until all of the liquid evaporates. You will be left with more-or-less calcium acetate crystals.
Collect the crystals and crush them to a fine powder.
Mix 1/2 a film can of calcium acetate with warm water, shake until it all dissolves. Yes, all of it.
Pour the solution into a suitable tin - ideally something you can put a metal lid on.
Slowly pour in 40ml (around 2 film cans, IIRC) of meths or isopropanol. Preferably meths. The mixture should gel quite quickly.
Burn as you see fit.
Marvel at the fact that this has taken you flipping ages, and resolve to find a cheaper source of calcium acetate next time :D
References:
Safety data: http://www.intox.org/databank/documents/chemical/calcacet/cie671.htm
Method: http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html
Simply take...
About 250ml of strong vinegar (pickling is good, distilled white is usually a bit weaker).
Some eggshells (about half a dozen), washed & lightly crushed. Alternatives include marble, chalk or any other source of calcium carbonate.
Add the shells to the vinegar. Watch them fizz (if you're lucky, they'll bob up & down too - better than television). When the reaction seems to stop (may take up to a week, depends on temperature), add some more shells.
Repeat until there is definitely no more reaction.
Strain the - possibly slightly pongy - mixture through a coffee filter to get rid of the eggshell fragments.
Put the solution in as wide a dish or bowl as you can scavenge. Leave this somewhere warm until all of the liquid evaporates. You will be left with more-or-less calcium acetate crystals.
Collect the crystals and crush them to a fine powder.
Mix 1/2 a film can of calcium acetate with warm water, shake until it all dissolves. Yes, all of it.
Pour the solution into a suitable tin - ideally something you can put a metal lid on.
Slowly pour in 40ml (around 2 film cans, IIRC) of meths or isopropanol. Preferably meths. The mixture should gel quite quickly.
Burn as you see fit.
Marvel at the fact that this has taken you flipping ages, and resolve to find a cheaper source of calcium acetate next time :D
References:
Safety data: http://www.intox.org/databank/documents/chemical/calcacet/cie671.htm
Method: http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html