7 ms·

Back before the internet, in 1964, I read a brief Scientific American column on laboratory glass blowing (for making condensers and so forth). This set me on a

by todd8 4y ago

Back before the internet, in 1964, I read a brief Scientific American column on laboratory glass blowing (for making condensers and so forth). This set me on a quest; and I acquired supplies and primitive homemade equipment. I was years away from being able to drive so I took the bus downtown to the Detroit public library where I found several books devoted to the subject. I studied these for hours. I worked on this project for many days. I ended up being able to make a few primitive items from my tubes of glass, but of course, it was a silly pursuit that led nowhere. So I moved on to my next project, making a solid fuel rocket from scratch, then an arc furnace, then gunpowder, then a homemade gas-mask, etc. So it was for a curious kid in the 60's. I'm lucky I didn't burn down the house. This of course was made possible by the lack of an internet (and of course periodicals like Scientific American back when it was great and really about science). I admire the 17-year old in the article for coming up with something in this age when it is so much easier to entertain oneself by surfing the net.

RHSeeger 4y ago
> So I moved on to my next project, making a solid fuel rocket from scratch Remember when you could get the ingredients to do things like that easily; sometimes even in a "Science Kit for Kids!" one would buy at Caldor or the like? Man, how times have changed.
- radicalbyte 4y ago
  I'm 42, when I sent my mom out with a shopping list for this stuff as a kid it ended up in her (almost) being arrested.
  - todd8 4y ago
    Yes, back in the 60's my buddy and I asked our parents to buy us some powdered aluminum and iron-oxide. We got in trouble because the chemical supply company warned them about our requested ingredients. That was the end of our homemade thermite project. So it was on to another project, homemade lock-picks.
    - helge9210 4y ago
      > That was the end of our homemade thermite project I call it luck. I decided not to proceed, when understood, that I have no way to put it off.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        > I decided not to proceed, when understood, that I have no way to put it off. I didn't :) It's all about the quantities.
- dsr_ 4y ago
  In the late 1980s, the toy store at the mall carried a section of model rockets and rocket engines, igniters... supermarkets carried cap guns and refills in racks just before checkout.
  - OJFord 4y ago
    Can't you get actual guns at some US supermarkets, in the 2020s? Meanwhile I'm pretty sure you can get those combination cap/spud guns in the seasonal aisle at larger UK supermarkets, and almost all French^. Funny. (^when I was younger I remember being amazed by all the stuff you could get in French supermarkets, aisles and aisles of school supplies, summer toys/beach items, clothes, etc. - seems they were much earlier in that trend, and still seem to lean further into it, though it's been a few years since I've been.)
    - adventured 4y ago
      Most of the mainstream chain supermarkets in the US don't sell guns (Kroger, Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Albertsons, Ahold, Publix, Sams, HEB, Meijer, Aldi, et al.). Walmart is the primary exception there. Overwhelmingly that's now handled by independent gun stores, or a select few sporting good chains (eg Dick's Sporting Goods - the largest sporting goods chain in the US - which sells a restricted set of rifles and a few shotguns; they came under pressure not long ago to get rid their guns and they capitulated and reduced what and how they sell [1]). Big corporations in the US are drastically more sensitive today to gun issues and the related bad PR that goes with selling guns (even Walmart has rolled back their selling of guns). [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-dicks-sporting-goods-decided-to-stop-selling-guns-ceo-231006766.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-dicks-sporting-goods-deci...
      - krater23 4y ago
        WTF?! You really have Aldi in the US? As a german I never supposed that.
        the_only_law 4y ago
- philipkglass 4y ago
  You can still do that easily today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_candy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_candy I have seen potassium nitrate stump remover on the shelves at my local Fred Meyer (Kroger). If you can't find find it on shelves it's easy to order: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-99-8-Pure-5-Lbs/919446004 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-99-8-Pur... The vast majority of fireworks and rockets I made as a kid used potassium nitrate as an oxidizer. 5 pounds will provide many hours of entertainment and education.

by todd8 4y ago

RHSeeger 4y ago

> So I moved on to my next project, making a solid fuel rocket from scratch Remember when you could get the ingredients to do things like that easily; sometimes even in a "Science Kit for Kids!" one would buy at Caldor or the like? Man, how times have changed.

radicalbyte 4y ago
I'm 42, when I sent my mom out with a shopping list for this stuff as a kid it ended up in her (almost) being arrested.
- todd8 4y ago
  Yes, back in the 60's my buddy and I asked our parents to buy us some powdered aluminum and iron-oxide. We got in trouble because the chemical supply company warned them about our requested ingredients. That was the end of our homemade thermite project. So it was on to another project, homemade lock-picks.
  - helge9210 4y ago
    > That was the end of our homemade thermite project I call it luck. I decided not to proceed, when understood, that I have no way to put it off.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      > I decided not to proceed, when understood, that I have no way to put it off. I didn't :) It's all about the quantities.
dsr_ 4y ago
In the late 1980s, the toy store at the mall carried a section of model rockets and rocket engines, igniters... supermarkets carried cap guns and refills in racks just before checkout.
- OJFord 4y ago
  Can't you get actual guns at some US supermarkets, in the 2020s? Meanwhile I'm pretty sure you can get those combination cap/spud guns in the seasonal aisle at larger UK supermarkets, and almost all French^. Funny. (^when I was younger I remember being amazed by all the stuff you could get in French supermarkets, aisles and aisles of school supplies, summer toys/beach items, clothes, etc. - seems they were much earlier in that trend, and still seem to lean further into it, though it's been a few years since I've been.)
  - adventured 4y ago
    Most of the mainstream chain supermarkets in the US don't sell guns (Kroger, Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Albertsons, Ahold, Publix, Sams, HEB, Meijer, Aldi, et al.). Walmart is the primary exception there. Overwhelmingly that's now handled by independent gun stores, or a select few sporting good chains (eg Dick's Sporting Goods - the largest sporting goods chain in the US - which sells a restricted set of rifles and a few shotguns; they came under pressure not long ago to get rid their guns and they capitulated and reduced what and how they sell [1]). Big corporations in the US are drastically more sensitive today to gun issues and the related bad PR that goes with selling guns (even Walmart has rolled back their selling of guns). [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-dicks-sporting-goods-decided-to-stop-selling-guns-ceo-231006766.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-dicks-sporting-goods-deci...
    - krater23 4y ago
      WTF?! You really have Aldi in the US? As a german I never supposed that.
      - the_only_law 4y ago
philipkglass 4y ago
You can still do that easily today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_candy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_candy I have seen potassium nitrate stump remover on the shelves at my local Fred Meyer (Kroger). If you can't find find it on shelves it's easy to order: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-99-8-Pure-5-Lbs/919446004 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Potassium-Nitrate-Powder-99-8-Pur... The vast majority of fireworks and rockets I made as a kid used potassium nitrate as an oxidizer. 5 pounds will provide many hours of entertainment and education.