Hello from a new element collector!

[Oddball]

Greetings Everyone,

I have been lurking around this site for a while and decided to say hello! After reading a lot of the posts around here and checking out Theodore Gray’s website I have rekindled my interest in Chemistry and recently started my own element collection.

 

So far I have nice samples of Cr, Ni, U, Th, P, Na, Li, Zr, Ti, Nb, Co, Ni, Ag, Au, Zn, Hg, C, Al, O, Cl, I, Ar, and Xe. A lot of my samples have come from eBay, the big dealers like Dave Hamric, and some private individuals (many from Theo’s website). It’s been a lot of fun, a great educational experience, and I have met a lot of great folks.

 

I am surprised at how much interest my hobby has had from friends and family. They are often amazed to see what the elements look like in their pure form (sodium is a metal!?).

 

On a sadder note, after all the great experiences I have had, I had my first bad deal. I had decided I would like to add a Cs sample to my collection. I have always thought Cs was a fascinating and beautiful (albeit hazardous) element.

 

I noticed a fellow from Denmark was selling a really excellent ampoule on eBay. Of course, eBay pulled the auction. The fellow had good feedback up till then, and had lots of videos on YouTube of his collection as well as many pictures on Wikipedia (as well as some crazy large Cs ampoules). So, I decided to do an off eBay transaction with him (first mistake). Well, to make a long story short; I sent him the money (a rather sizable sum) and got nothing back. He won’t respond to emails now, and it looks like he did the same thing on the last eBay auction he had.

 

I guess I figured someone who shared the same hobby would act honorably, but it seems outside the structured confines of eBay, some people just loose all sense of responsibility. But, I did learn a few valuable lessons:

 

-Off eBay transaction with private individuals are dangerous (duh).

-Off eBay transaction with private individuals from foreign countries are very dangerous (double duh). I think I am just going to stick with domestic sellers from now on; at least there is the possibility of legal recourse there.

-If you use PayPal and haven’t received the item in 45 days, file a dispute. Period. It doesn’t matter if they have the best excuse in the world, file a dispute. After 45 days are up, PayPal could care less.

-If you use PayPal, use a credit card. It gives you leverage in getting PayPal to investigate fraudulent sellers.

 

Regardless, I won’t let one person’s greed discourage me. I look forward to expanding my collection and hope to have some good discussions with all you fine folks.

 

Thanks!

[DrP]

Report it to e-bay.

[Oddball]

Unfortunately, it not being an actual eBay transaction, they were less than interested.

 

That's OK though, I'm busy practicing my ampuling skills. I think I'm going to get some heavy wall tube and make some ampules to store my iodine in. As expected, it seems to be doing a number on the teflon seal of my jar.

 

I think I might try casting the ampule in resin when I'm done to make it shatterproof. Anyone know of any good clear casting resins?

[DrP]

Melamine Formaldehyde? Acrylic? Not sure what would be the most suitable for encasing your elements - I think some people use MF.

[YT2095]

it would be a good idea to check that it doesn`t get hot when it`s curing, some resins do.

Ampuling skills are good to have in this hobby, in fact you can buy empty ampules that you can seal yourself, they come a variety of sizes too, although for the most part I use soda glass tubing that I cut to length and seal one end (you can use a bunsen for this), load it up and then seal the other end.

most of my elements are held in this way (incl Br2).

you`ll have to buy the Gases ready sealed though, unless you Really want to get fancy and have a load of cash to throw about

[Gilded]

-Off eBay transaction with private individuals from foreign countries are very dangerous (double duh). I think I am just going to stick with domestic sellers from now on; at least there is the possibility of legal recourse there.

 

I agree, but luckily you can meet a lot of nice, trustworthy people on forums and such... which is why I'm currently a proud owner of a 5g piece of depleted uranium.

[Oddball]

I agree, but luckily you can meet a lot of nice, trustworthy people on forums and such... which is why I'm currently a proud owner of a 5g piece of depleted uranium.

 

Well, that's certainly true. I think I just need to do my due diligence and establish some sort of relationship before I send a check to random people half way around the world.

 

It's not so bad though, if I ever want to see the Cs sample I bought, I can go see it's picture on Wikipedia!

[Gilded]

It's not so bad though, if I ever want to see the Cs sample I bought, I can go see it's picture on Wikipedia!

 

I'm pretty damn jealous if it's this one. This one looks awesome as well.

[Oddball]

I'm pretty damn jealous if it's this one. This one looks awesome as well.

 

I was pretty jealous too, which is why I "bought" it from him. The second pic is from the 50g sample i paid him for. It's very beautiful, although it is a little annoying seeing a picture of something online that someone essentially stole from you.