Search for nickel in Topics

Chemistry question here.  I wanted to play around with some nickel plating, and I started to follow a popular recipe that I saw on YouTube.  It started with Nickel II Oxide, placed in a malt vinegar for a week to create a solution of Nickel Acetate that you could then use as a bath to plate things with Nickel.  I purchased 100 grams of 99% grade Nickel II Oxide, and let it sit in 2L of vinegar for a long time.  After 2 weeks there's no hint of the emerald green Nickel Acetate.  So I purchased some glacial Acetic Acid, and added it to a liter of distilled water to make a 50% weight solution of Acetic Acid to make a stronger solution, and still a week later nothing green.  Solution is in a clean glass vessel.  A local chemist at work said it would be slow, but man, this is taking forever.  What am I doing wrong, or what could I do different? I know Ni Acetate can be achieved with pure nickel and electricity in vinegar, but I really want to try to convert the nickel oxide. 

Hi. There is instruction on this address https://www.instructables.com/id/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/ how to make high quality and safe nickel plating,and i have some question about that. When he showed to add salt to the vinegar in order to make the vinegar  more conductive,isnt the salt become Na and Cl ions? Will the Na positive ion stick to the negative nickel plate?(while making the nickel solution-step 3)? Will the Na positive ions stick to the item that we are plating besides the nickel( in the plating process-step 5)? will it spoil the object that we are plating with nickel? I see in the supermarket vinegar which said"synthetic vinegar" 5% acetic acid,water.(for food).Is it ok? when he said(step 4)"You can further clean your object by reverse electroplating (ie "electrocleaning") it for a few seconds.  Hook your object up to a negative voltage, a WIRE to the positive voltage, and drop them both in a vinegar salt solution for 10-30 seconds.  This will remove any left over oxidation" What wire did he mean? and the last one:how pure is the nickel should be?because i notice that most of the nickel sheet are about 99%-99.7% purity.is it ok? can i use pure nickel strip(97% pure nickel)that is used for battery welding? Thanks in advance.  

Hello, I am a computer engineer and interested on making instructables ! Since i bought my soldering iron like 2 weeks ago i am on the making of one soldering station (with helping hands and such),I bought a sponge but i didn't noticed that wasn't copper (it writes nickel on it). Should be oki for my soldering iron (I mean to keep my tip clean)? Greetings from the sunny and bankrupted Greece ! Xristos.

Hi guys, I try to plate with nickel solution and all i get is a nasty black-green (corosive) colour and all that bubbles in nickel solution and that foam. And the wand i use is stainless steel. The solution is brought from a uk plating company and i don't think have something bad. please see attacked images and please give me an answer. thank you.

Hi! I (still) need some help with building a solar charger... I want to charge a Nickel-Cadmium battery (1.2V) with solar cells from a garden light. Unfortunately these cells give me 5V in full sun... Will the battery take the 5 Volts without damage? The amperage is fine, so no questions about that...

Hi. There is instruction on this address https://www.instructables.com/id/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/ how to make high quality and safe nickel plating,and i have some question about that. When he showed to add salt to the vinegar in order to make the vinegar  more conductive,isnt the salt become Na and Cl ions? Will the Na positive ion stick to the negative nickel plate?(while making the nickel solution-step 3)? Will the Na positive ions stick to the item that we are plating besides the nickel( in the plating process-step 5)? will it spoil the object that we are plating with nickel? I see in the supermarket vinegar which said"synthetic vinegar" 5% acetic acid,water.(for food).Is it ok? when he said(step 4)"You can further clean your object by reverse electroplating (ie "electrocleaning") it for a few seconds.  Hook your object up to a negative voltage, a WIRE to the positive voltage, and drop them both in a vinegar salt solution for 10-30 seconds.  This will remove any left over oxidation" What wire did he mean? and the last one:how pure is the nickel should be?because i notice that most of the nickel sheet are about 99%-99.7% purity.is it ok? can i use pure nickel strip(97% pure nickel)that is used for battery welding? Thanks in advance.

I was fiddling with a penny when I noticed this. How come pennies and nickels have smooth edges unlike all the other U.S. coins?

I have a NiCad charger (circa 1994) in good condition and would like to use it, even if it would take 10 or 15 hours to charge my Nickel Metal Hydride batteries as I use a lot of them.

I've been playing ukulele since i was six, but i just can't figure out this song. please help!!!! :)

Hello everybody...........Seem's i am in need of help from the brilliant mind's of this site again. My dad has been electroplating nut's & bolt's for the past 35 years & i decided to join for the time being(i have summer vacations going on) Recently some guy came to us for getting washer's electroplated,Issue being that the washer's won't get coated with nickel (with the Electroplating barrel).Some of them stick to each other(leading to one side of the Warsher's without nickel coating). These are so thin compared to the nut's and bolt's we are used to electroplate,That some of the washer's get bent. Need any suggestion,any alternative way to do them without much issues. Below are some pictures attached for referance Thanks in advance Regards ~HD~

I have an allergy to nickel. It causes severe blisters so I must avoid it at all costs. Unfortunately, nickel is present in soil and water at varying levels and is absorbed by all plant based foods. There is some literature out there that lists which foods are worse, but are vague at best, and simply avoiding all plant based foods is not a realistic option. I would like to know if there is a way to test soil and water for nickel and determine how much is present? Or is there a way to test plant based foods for the nickel levels they have absorbed? I have researched this extensively and can only find information about getting tested for metals within the body. Confirming this would not change my dilemma. I have to work diligently at avoiding any further exposure to nickel as I understand there is no way of removing this metal once it is ingested. I have seen many specialists and their help is not only expensive, but limited (due to a lack of research in this area).  Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If anyone needs reference material regarding nickel in soil, water and plant based food should Read This from Ohio State University.

Will 2.5 volts be enough to heat a small segment of NiChrome wire up to/over 100 C? If it helps, the power is coming from a 8.1 kJ 2.5v 2600 F super capacitor which can unload very quickly.

I need to make a homemade bird launcher (since i cant afford 200 dollar profesh ones.) all it has to do is make anything from a coin to a bird decoy at least 5 feet in the air.... anyone know of a good ible or web site that shows how to make one?

I would like to get a Grohe Freehander (http://www.groheamerica.com/t/_3874.html ) shower system for my bathroom, but all the fixtures I have are aged copper or aged bronze.. The fixture comes in chrome, nickel or polished brass, the cheapest being the chrome or the nickel. Is is possible to alter the finish after I purchase it?

I want to make a really cheap gumball machine that takes, say a nickel for small pieces of chewing gum, like the ones in a packet at walmart.  Either that, or does anyone know where to buy one?

Whether you are just a hobby builder or do your own electronics projects, you know how to solder...Then one day you find yourself in the position that your solder just does not want to stick...My first moment of total defeat happened when I was a teenager.Was building some simple motor with instructions from a book but substituted what I could...Ended up with some stainless steel contacts and being unable to solder my wires to them...If you ever had problems like this then read on ;)What are easy to solder metals?Basically everything that does not form an oxide layer on the surface and is able to bind with tin, lead or silver.Copper is one of the easiest metals to solder on but every plumber certainly knows how important a clean and corrosion free surface is.Any coating or alloy that prevents oxidisation or provides a harder surface usually means with normal, electornics solder we might be lost.Nickel for example can be a true pain and same for chrome.So lets start with the hard metals first.Steel, nickel, stainless...If the part size does not already mean trouble to get it hot enough, then we face the problem of how to "wet" it with our solder.Normal steel is usually fine if you give it a fine sanding right before the soldering, however getting the heat onto the part is crucial.Even something simple like a 5mm thick steel rod can be a pain with a normal soldering iron.I good way to cheat is to preheat the part or area with a blow torach on a soft flame - not a hot, blue flame.Try to do this away from the area you need to solder as the temperature difference usually causes some initial condensation on the surface.Most steels that play a vital role don't like to be overheated as it can affect the hardness an other things, so be careful here.Rosin core solder works fine on steel and it also indicates when the temperature gets too hot by boiling and smoking badly.If you still struggle to wet the surface try to scratch it with your solder - if it does not melt the surface is not hot enough.Nickel coatings are usually very thin and a slight sanding quickly reveals the layer underneath.If the metal used is not copper already then a copper layer will be electroplated on before the nickel coating.Either way the key is to get through the nickel without going through the copper, for example if steel contacts were used for durability reasons.After that soldering is as easy as directly onto copper.Steinless steel however can be a true pain, same by the way if you need to preserve the nickel coating as best as possible and can sand it off.Without using chemistry the only way I found is to use a stainless steel tip in the soldering iron.But as the preperation of one requires chemicals anyway we might start with them first.The passivating layer of layer or stainless steel can of course be pre-treated by sanding.Especially very shiny surface benefit from it.After this I prefer to wet the surface with Phosphoric Acid - you can find it in the harware store as "Rust remover".It is a food grade acid used in many of your favourite fizzy drinks, so skin contact is not a big deal - just wash it off.The phosphoric acid is not strong enough to break the oxide layer but it keeps air away.And once you start scratching the hot metal with your stainless steel soldering tip it will prevent a new oxide layer from forming.This method however requires a low temperature solder and quick work as the acid boils off quickly.In the plumbing section of your hardware store your find various fluxes for soldering.Look for something containing both Ammonium Chloride and Tink Chloride.Around here a common brand name is Bakers Fluid.Usually if it has a red danger label on it you will find the above ingredients on the lable somewhere.Be careful with it as it is very corrosive and harmful to your health!Good thing is that all remains can be washed off with just running water.What does it do though?Unlike the phosphoric acid, the chlrodies directly attack the metal.Especially once getting hot, so if in doubt wear proper protection as advised on the label!The oxide layer is not only being eaten away, there is also an ion exchange happening, so a product with more than 30% of zink chloride is prefered here.The zink binds with the stainless steel or nickel and provides an easier way to bond for the solder.Key is to work quickly and with precision!Flux paste is good for brazing but not so good for soldering.The flux liquid, unlike the paste will start to boil right when the metal get to soldering temperatures.That is if you use standard lead based solder, most lead free types should be ready a bit sooner.Start to scratch the metal with the solder and use a soft flame from the other side or close to the soldering area - do not apply the flame directly onto the flux covered area.Why? Well, the flux isolates the metal from the heat of the flame and it will boil off way before the metal gets hot enough ;)On smaller parts and when using the soldering iron create a small bubble of solder and keep scratching the surface while it heats up.In case the flux dries off apply a bit more before this happens!Once the solder starts to wet the metal a tiny bit it is usually very easy to spread it out to the desired size and shape.With the heat applied from the underside the solder will always flow to the area of most heat!Once done it is best to let the part cool down then to give it a good wash under running water to remove all remains of the flux.Failing to to do so will result in quick and ongoing corrosion, so do it properly...Aluminium, the bad metal...I encountered it first when I could not welding or brazing on a quite small part.Plus, of course, the problem of having to add a copper wire as well.Then again when I had to solder some aluminium wire.Acid won't work, chlorides only make it worse, so don't bother with either for aluminium.Standard rosin core solder also fails.But there is a suprisingly simple solution to the oxide problem on aluminium.Mechanical work...There are quite few videos out there showing how someone solders onto some aluminium foil.It is so simple because the foil is thin - use it to test your new skills.A thing though that is often done wrong is the surface preperation.It usually starts with a fine sanding - to remove the oxide layer.....The some oil is applied and soldering starts under the oil cover.And if pay attention then it is often a painful process of scratching with the soldering iron while trying to make the solder bubble wet the aluminium.That's why foil is so simple here....What happened in those videos?Quite simple: Aluminium oxidises right away while you sand it.Even if you are quick with the oil it already happened.So why not do the sanding after the oil was applied?A fibreglass pen or a stainless steel wire brush (usused on other things!) work quite well here.The oil prevents the air from attacking the aluminum.If in doubt use some clay and form a little dam around the soldering area to prevent the oil from running off.Petroleum jelly, vaseline and all other identical things work fine here same for clean engine oil.But you have to use rosin free solder, no flux core, just plain solder.If you don't have it simply melt some normal rosin core solder to a nice drop and clean the rosin off ;)Since there is no real oxide layer with this way of pre-treating the soldering and wetting happens right once the aluminium get hot enough to melt the solder.You might find it sticking nice right away but don't be fooled!You need to heat the aluminium until you actually see the solder forming a nice puddle.With careful sanding you create very clean boundaries.Other soldering tricks...Getting cholired based flux for a single job might be overkill.If you happen to have one of these tip cleaning stones for your soldering iron then you have what you need ;)Simply scrape some of it off and dissolve it is a tiny amount of water.Will only be ammonium chloride and requires more scratching on stainless steel but works...Preparing a stainless steel soldering tip sunds as easy as finding a suitable piece of wire and grindinga tip onto it.If you every changed the tip on a soldering iron them you know there is two types.The simple one for the cheaper irons uses a set screw or similar to hold the tip.The better ones are hold in place by a collar or other type of screw fitting.And well, those have a thicker part in their body.If you need to solder stainless steel more than once or twice it makes sense to buy a cheap but powerful soldering iron and to make sure it uses a straight piece of metal with no thicker parts to hold it in place.If you can't find some stainless steel wire or round bar of suitable thickness you can go slightly below or much thinner if you require a thin tip.Just make a copper or aluminium collar for the tip to hold it in place, like a sleeve to go around.Grind the tip to your desired shape before fitting it in....You won't need a mirror finnish and it can be helpful if the the surface is quite rough.After all, you want to scratch around on stainless steel with it and you can't harm it this way.To get a nice and clean cover of solder onto the tip you need the mentioned flux from above.Use a small cup and fill some of the flux in it so you can dip the tip of the soldering iron into it.If there is no temperature control start with a cold iron and the tip sanded off a last time right before dipping it into the flux.Use some clamps or whatever you feel like to help keeping the tip in place.If you get flux onto bits you don't want to cover with solder then wash off and try again.Turn the iron on observe the tip.As soon as you see tiny bubble forming take it out and quickly start rubbing your solder onto the tip.It helps to have a thick enough solder so you can apply some pressure here.And of course the solder should be nice and shiny and not covered by oxides...Special cases like titanium or othe metals that usually fail to bond with solder....Let's face it: whenever soldering is not feasable we are happy to revert back to crimping or screwing.Nothing wrong with it either and often the better option when it comes to being able to do a quick repair at a later stage.Most of thes special metals, including your favourite heating wire can still be solder using the right surface prep and flux but it really should be avoided if you can.And real bond like you get when soldering copper would only be on a surface level and mechanical strenght questionable.On a professional level ultrasonic soldering is used to make the impossible possible.The cavitation effect breaks through the surface oxides or passivating layers and the solder just wets the surface like it would be copper.On a hobby level things look different though.Unless you decide to build your own solar panels from scratch the investment into some low end ultrasonic soldering machine already set you back a few grand....There is a way to cheat on the cheap though if you are into experimenting and building things....More on that in my other topic about making an ultrasonic soldering tank. ;)

I want to know what is in your money collection. Here is what in mine. I had just started getting serious about it though. Tell me what you think.Paper Money=- 5 Yuan from China- 5 Dollars from Cayman Islands- 5 Dollars from Canada- 2 Dollars from Canada- 1000 Dollar bill from 1922 from Germany. I got it for a dollar at a local coin store.- 1 1935 blue seal dollar billCoins=Pennies- A bunch of pennies from 1979 and earlier just because they're old. A 1979, a 1978, a 1977, a 1976, a 1975, a 1974, a 1973 with a 7 stamped into it, a 1972, a 1970, a 1969, a 1967, a 1975, 1964, a 1961, a 1960.- 10 Wheat pennies, 3 1943 steel pennies all in very good condition, a 1952, a 1941, a 1950, a 1919, a 1925, a 1910, and a 1929.- a few souviner pennies. A Hulk, a Trump Plaza, a Hershey Park, and a Jungle Cruise.- A 1952 wheat penny PROOF.- 3 indian head pennies. They are all in a suprisingly (wowful) condition. A 1903, an 1888, and a 1899.Nickels- 4 old nickels, a 1946 (So close to being a war nickel) a 1969, and a 1985 (I know, you find alot of those), and an uncirculated 1964.- A bunch of different nickels from a series: 5 of the nickels with the boat on the back (2004), 2 of the nickels with the Shaking hands and crossing axes on the back (2004), 5 Indian Head/Bison nickels (2005), 2 Indian Head/Ocean view nickels (2005), and 3 jefferson head nickels with the original back (2006). Dimes2 mercury dimes. 1 from 1923, in poor condition, and a 1941 in a fine or very fine condition.Quarters- 1 Bicentennial- 2 silver quarters, one from 1953, and one from 1941.Dollars- 11 Sacajewaea dollars.- 5 Susan B. Anthony- 1 Morgan Dollar- 2 Eisenhower dollars. One is 1972, and the other is a 1976 - 1 1961 Franklin dollar, in UNCIRCULATED condition!Bicentenial.Half Dollars- 3 original half dollars, a 1971, a 1972, and a 1973 Commemoratives- 1 2006 5th anniversery of 911 with gold, and parts of ground zero.Foreign- 25 cents from Bermuda- 3 25 cents from Cayman Islands- 1 5 cents from Cayman Islands- 2 1 dollars from Jamaica- 1 20 dollars from Jamaica- 1 1 Franc from France- 1 Unknown amount from an Unknown Country.- 1 50 Pfennigs from Germany.- 17 1 cents from Canada.- 1 1 cent from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.- 1 1 cent from BermudaPlease note I have not been to all of these countries.Other=- 1 Roooofus the Roller Roo token. (I don't know where I got it).- 1 1972 proof set with a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, and a half dollar. - 1 Showboat Token. Worth 1 dollar- 1 carwash token9/6/06 Edit: As some of you might see, I had updated a few. There are lots more that either my dad gave me, or I bought from the coin store.

I need to build a small circuit board, with a timer and a led light, small as a nickel, I will provide more details. any idea?

Can i make a ''coin/penny battery'' with ''Bronze and Aluminium'' alloyed coin????. well my country's currency coins have following Composition: 1: Bronze and Aluminium       1 rs 2: Brass and Aluminium         2 rs 3: Cupro-nickel                      3 rs can i use any of them to make coin/penny battery?????please tell me if any of them will work.....

Its about 4" long, solid brass, appears to have been nickel or chrome plated at one time and has four screw holes in it. any help with identifying it is greatly appreciated.

I have new shower door with chrome edges and all other fixtures are brushed chrome.  help!!?

          I am recharging my Ni-MH batteries today (Wii-motes eat them up fast!) and I was wondering if it is normal to hear a quiet popping noise coming from the batteries? it sounds like tiny bubbles popping--very similar to the sound carbonated drinks make after being poured out of the original container.         I believe this noise is a result of the reversing chemical reaction being created inside the battery. the batteries shown below are my exact brand and model.         Is anyone else experiencing this phenomenon? If so, do you think it is normal? Leave your thoughts, comments, and otherwise below!      =D

I know i need high carbon steel and a nickel alloy steel but what kind is the best to get??

Hi. I made the instructable of A_Steingrube"high quality and safe nickel plating" address:https://www.instructables.com/id/High-Quality-and-safe-Nickel-Plating/ and i want to be sure that i did the elctro-cleanning that is mention on step 4 correctly. I try to ask A_Steingrube through the comment place and the private message but i have not get any answer yet.so i try to ask here. I made the elctro cleaning while my object was connected to the positive voltage and the wire connected to the negative voltage.I did that ,because i understand that the object sould be dissolved abit and this should be happens on the anode(connected to the positive voltage) but in step 4 he mention to connect the object to the negative voltage in order to make the electrocleanning.SO,is there something that i miss here? Thanks in advance.

I just bought a 1954 mosin nagant rifle (7.62x54R) and was wondering how to recover a clean shot bullet ( not smashed still in its original shape) to make it into a nickels. is there a material that would good to shoot into that wont ruin the bullet?

I was watching deconstructed and watched the episode on transformers and toasters and i was thinking...can i use a toaster to heat a peice of metal to red hot? The episode says voltage is passed through a high resistance nickel/chome alloy that produes high heat (over 1000 degrees farenheit). Is there a way to hack a toaster to heat a peice of steel or such to a high heat using a toaster?

I have a very good coin collections my father left me.  I'm not really into coins, and would like to unload them to someone who has a good knowledge about coins.  He collected these coins while how was in WWIi.  Here is a description of what I have:   I have around 20 silver dimes that are so old, the dates have rubbed off. There is one dime dated 1907.  I have one Morgan dollar-date 1917.  I have several buffalo nickels.  I have the following silver quarters: 1952' 1954, 1947, 1942, (2) 1943, 1956, 1941, 1946, 1944, 1942, 1954, 1963, 1961, 1957, 1950, 1944, 1960, 1924, 1907, 1951, 1964, 1936, 1955.  I have several silver dimes, nickels, and quarters where the date has been rubbed off.  I have not "clean" the coins or "polished."  I would just like a "ballpark" amount of the coins I have....

Hi i was wondering if there was any electrically reversible battery chemistries that can be made from around the house materials like copper wire, iron nails, galvanized nails, graphite rods, aluminum foil, and other items like those.

Hi  I have these Straightwire Rhapsody S RCA interconnects . They have a threaded sleeve over the RCA plugs. Mine are totally jammed !!! and any attempt to turn them is loosening the RCA plug on the AMP itself !!! the RCA plug is supposedly Gold - meaning gold plated copper mostly the sleeve is nickel looking  I tried pliers ! no avail ! Help!!! thanks  NEO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer This is the wikipedia page to a cold fusion (low temperature fusion) device that uses powdered nickel as fuel to produce free energy... It's supposed to be totally eco-friendly and it's planned to be sold out as commercial cold fusion device. Just thought to share this with others on Instructables. I like it and am looking forward to seeing this in my hands when it's made commercial. How about you?

Hello again. A little background on the NIF (Nominating Instructables to be Featured) Group, it is a group where people can nominate their favorite instructables to be featured in the group profile page. Click here to visit the group. New members are always welcome. This time there is a lot of exciting news to report: Newly joined members!! Thank you for participating. I can't wait to see your nominations! Locket Rocket The Ideanator Goodhart Hiyadudez Also there are newly nominated instructables. Drumroll please! Living Tealight holder made from hard drive parts by ChrysN Personalized Cards by gergi11 Technology Making a brass pocket flask by Vidar_76 (nominated by The_Ideanator) How to Make Your Own Screen Protector (for less than a nickel!) by jen7714 Put images inside QR codes by killerjackalope Workshop Sugru Soft-Jaw Pliers by mattthegamer463 (nominated by The_Ideanator) Some more news: Instructables such as Cinnamon and Sugar Apples by miso_soup, DIY Calligraphy by mhudnall, and How to Make Your Own Screen Protector (for less than a nickel!) by jen7714 got featured by a feature team member. That means that they were actually featured on the homepage. Congratulations! (A note: I forgot to add this to the groups forum topic post. Is there any way I can add it now?)

I've been attempting to make a battery using the various instructables (https://www.instructables.com/id/Penny-and-Nickel-Battery/), but I can't get anything to register on the multimeter. I purchased sheet aluminum from the hardware store, and that doesn't work. I even purchased CuSO4, to see if that would help, but it still doesn't work! I follow the directions exactly, is there something else that I've been missing?

Greetings fellow makers and crafters. First off I want to thank all who take the time reading this question. So, lets get started. A while ago I decided to test my crafting skills and made a beautiful brass ring out of some very old 20mm brass ammo casing. A nice repurpose in my opinion. The brass however oxidizes very quickly and stains my finger green. And it seems like the skin underneath is developing an allergic reaction. Either to the oxide stains, the zinc, or maybe some nickel contamination in the metal? It appears dry and reddish sometimes. Because I put a lot of effort into making the ring and don't want to discard it I finally decided to electroplate it. Plating it with copper would be quite easy as it seems that copper nitrate can be made with citric acid. It would however still oxidize and leave stains. My second thought was Nickel, but I discarded the idea because I seem to be allergic to other Nickel plated Jewelry. Now comes the hard part. I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A country where I can hardly come across any chemical supplies. Even simple things like activated charcoal or hydrogen peroxide are nowhere to find. I could silver plate the ring if I had access to nitric acid. But as you see that would require me to buy it from some online store which I really try to avoid. I could start making my own nitric acid with the use of the Birkeland Eyde process. But I'd rather have something more safe, health friendly and without the chance of getting roasted by a 10-20kV transformer. Anyway, back to the topic. I am currently out of ideas on how to approach this project. So I am asking you guys if you know of any of the shelf products which have the required chemical ingredients that I could utilize to make this project a success? Thanks again. ------ And Happy New Year! :)

Has anyone noticed some forum topics look like by Grampa Simpson rambling?  They are usually by new members, and I often flag them as spam,  they often look like this....... But less funny We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones. Three wars back we called Sauerkraut "liberty cabbage" and we called liberty cabbage "super slaw" and back then a suitcase was known as a "Swedish lunchbox." Of course, nobody knew that but me. Anyway, long story short... is a phrase whose origins are complicated and rambling.

I just got an ipod touch, and I noticed the battery gets drained very quickly when I am using wifi, so i figured maybe if I put 4 nickel-metal hydride (rechargable 1.2 volts each) batteries in series in a container, and added a female usb plug, it would be enough to power the ipod touch. Anyone think that would be enough to work?

I am looking for someone to build a prototype mp3 player that would have the following specifications.  - circular housing and no larger than a U.S. nickel in diameter. - top of the housing would have an insertion for a 1/8 headphone jack. - the height could about 1/4 inch to a 1/2 if need be.  (the smaller the better) - the housing must be waterproof. - the player will autoplay one song when headphone is inserted. Please feel free to contact me here: jacobaa7@gmail.com Thanks, Jimmy

I apologize if this isn't the place to post these sort of requests, but I haven't been able to find a community like this to help me with a project.   I am looking for someone to build a prototype mp3 player that would have the following specifications.   - circular housing and no larger than a nickel in diameter. - top of the housing would have an insertion for a 1/8 headphone jack. - the height could about 1/4 inch to a 1/2 if need be.  (the smaller the better) - the housing must be waterproof. - the player will autoplay one song when headphone is inserted. Jimmy

I'm posting this after having googled, of course...I work with DIY fuel cells using off the wall fuels. By far, the most expensive component of my FCs is the Air Electrode which I purchase from Electric Fuel Ltd. in Israel. The material was invented in 2008 (as far as I know) and EF were the ones who bought the patent (according to the inventor himself...sorry but his name eludes me). Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone knows how to make good air electrodes. Something that would give me at least a vold in reference to the SHE (V=0) and a current density of up to a few hundred mA/aq cm...The stuff is basically this, from the electrolyte side to the air side: Separator paper, Carbon powder with Manganese or Cobalt catalyst mixed in (and a binder of some sort, I suppose), a Nickel mesh (current collector) and a bit more Carbon+catalyst then a microporous Teflon(r) sheet (permeable to gases but not to liquids). I cant find nickel mesh where I live but the other stuff I could get--the Teflon(r) being replaceable with oil paper??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. N.B: I am Not trying to infringe on a patent, just trying to make some "homebrew" air electrodes for R&D; since I am still (steam comes out of ears) self-funded and low on funding...lol. Thanks a lot!!! =)

Here's the setup: one LED with its leads tied by conductive threads to magnets which stick to a watch battery, in contact with skin for multiple hours.  I had somebody say that this somehow was zapping them (enough to leave a rash).  Is this possible?  I've handled lit LEDs with watch batteries a lot (even underwater) and never felt a thing!  No spark, no zap, no shock, nothing.  So have I just been lucky?  Can this setup actually zap you enough to feel it, or even irritate your skin?  Or was the zapping perhaps an allergic reaction to the nickel magnets which was mistaken for being sparked?

Hi all, I want to turn an old computer PSU into a lab bench PSU.  After cutting all the connectors at the end of the cables, I've noticed that some of the common (black) wires were made of copper, while some of them were made of nickel \ aluminum (Silverish). The same is true for the +5V (red) cables. It's not the first PSU I noticed that had the different materials, and I was wondering: 1) Why are there two different kinds of wire? 2) Is it OK to ignore the wire material and just splice all the blacks together, and all the reds together? Thanks!

I'm planning on making a ring out of a coin. I'll use Euro coins. 1, 2 e 5 Eurocent coins are made of copper covered steel and are too small, so I think they won't be a good choice. 1 and 2 Euro coins are the right size, but it seems that they are made of alloys containing nickel, that may cause allergy. So I think I'll use a 50 Eurocent coin, that is made of Nordic Gold, an alloy (89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin). Has anyone ever made a ring out of Nordic Gold? Did it cause allergy or stain your finger?   Did it tarnish? Is it malleable? Thanks

I am trying to attach some led lights under a shelf and also need to make them removeable, i need to find something that is conductive as well as magnetic. My original idea was to just get some small nickel or ? plated screws and just wrap wire around them and screw them in but not completely sure of that idea working. I already made the lights and have small neodymium magnets that im going to attach to them but just need some ideas of what to use for under the shelf....thanks Ive thought of clay, or glue and other stuff but idk. im putting 4 lights up. and there will be a switch to shut off power to the material when not in use so there's no safety issues.

It is well known that coating the absorbers with a selective surface helps in increasing the efficiency. I am building a air heater using parabolic trough and an evacuated tube. I've chosen Aluminium as the tube material...but I'm not able to figure out how to selectively coat the surface and which coat (paint or process) to be used for Aluminium. i mean all I could get through the web is some kind of electroplating under controlled environment. Isnt there any kind of pain available which can give good performance at 200 degree celsius? I read somewhere that heating the stainless steel to a temperature at which nickel oxidises, results in a surface which has absorptivity of 0.93 and emissivity as low as 0.08? Can anyone help with this?

Today i got the 12 batteries required to rebuild the battery in my powerbook 190. i dont know the condidtion of the parts inside the laptop, but it must still be in a somewhat working order because when i hooked it up to an ac adapter (12v, 15a) before, its power light turned on and it made some noises. it didn't fully turn on though, because it needed 24v, not 12. hoping that rebuilding the battery pack would help, i bought 4 cordless phone batteries, each consisting of 3 smaller batteries and equaling 3.6v. all together that created the 14.4v that is needed to replace the original, acid leaked batteries. i wired them in series to get the 14.4v. I think that it may have not worked because the original batteries were nimh (nickel metal-hydride), and these new ones were nicd (nickel cadmium). Upon observing the internals of the laptop earlier, before i bought the batteries, i noticed some peculiar things: -there were a few spots where some components were added, (eg- resistors, capacitors, jumper wires, all were smt) -a unbranded piece in the battery power area, labeled on the board as XFER1. it is black and has five connections on each side of the component, which seem  to have copper wires attached to them leading inside the component. -no marked fuses on the board. the (apple released) manual for disassembling the machine states "you can blow a (soldered) fuse on the board", but there are no spots where a fx (x representing a number, eg: f1) is present, and most of the smt components in the suspected area are not marked and lok much like the same piece. can anyone help me figure out what may be wrong? the ac adapter port works but the battery doesn't, would uploading pictures help people help me?

I will trade for your random parts i mostly very big LED's or LED displays or any electronics you dont need that are in OK or acceptable condition for upcoming school science fair (don't live near radio shack) i will trade my electronics kit to you it includes.2-POSITION ROTARY SWITCH condition=mint about the size=of the tip of your thumb to the middle joint.3 pin stereo jack 2 peices condition=mintsize= of a nickel.mono and disk capacitor condition=OK (sightly scratched leads)1 film capacitor condition=mint1 resistor 260 Ohms condition=good1 toroid with copper wire 1 without condition=mintsize= 2cm in circumferencesize=a dimeIR RECEIVER FOR REMOTE CONTROL condition=okand 5 other unknown peices (sensors and capacitors)

I have a DC Power Supply, Model 20R, 120 input, 13.5 DC output, 20 amp.  Is there a way to change the output Amps?  I want to use this power supply for nickel plating. I need the amps to be variable or fixed at more than the onr setting of 20 amps.  (example 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 amps ) This is a nice heavy duty PS made in USA.  A new DC PS is over $400 and they are cheaply made imports. I used to repair electronics for NASA years ago.  I most likely would have known how to do this back then, but the older I get the more I can't recall. (Old age is not fun!!) My point is, I have the experience to do what you tell me to do. Thanks

I want to create a two layer coffee table. I've got the idea in my head, but haven't found the right materials. The fiberglass layers both have 4 holes (approximately 3/8" diameter - I can be more exact if necessary) drilled in each corners. The two layers would be separated by 4 metal tubes/pipes (~ 18"?) made of stainless steel or brushed nickel or the like. The top layer is held onto the 4 tubes by some sort of screw with a flat head that's bigger than the hole diameter. The bottom layer is held on by some sort of furniture "feet" that screw into the tube from the opposite side. Any ideas on what I can use for the top screw, the tube, and the foot? One such assembly for each corner, of course. The more exact the answer the better. Thank you, Chris

I was looking in the back of my Jameco catalog the other day and they listed a product called "Muscle wire". It's apparently a nickel-titanium alloy that shrinks as it heats up. It occurred to me that I could flap ornithopter wings with it (a really small ornithopter). I was trying to figure out how I could switch voltage from one pair of wires (the flap UP wires) to the other pair of wires (the flap DOWN wires) without a microchip. I came up with something I'm sure wouldn't work involving a couple transistors, a diode and a cap. Today on wikipedia I figured out that what I was doing was something close to an inverter.So here's the question: Anyone know of a simple switching circuit that runs on a/c power and does not have square-wave switching characteristics?I'll keep researching this myself, but sometimes 'tis quicker to ask the big-brained and kind hearted (you know who you are).

While the color green has been the hue of choice for environmentalists and companies wishing to show that they care about nature, making a product green is actually toxic. Due to the difficulty of making a green dye and all the chemicals that are used, it contaminates anything it touches. So when a product is simply putting some green to make it look a little more nature-friendly, it's actually making things worse. Yay! From the NY Times: Take Pigment Green 7, the commonest shade of green used in plastics and paper. It is an organic pigment but contains chlorine, some forms of which can cause cancer and birth defects. Another popular shade, Pigment Green 36, includes potentially hazardous bromide atoms as well as chlorine; while inorganic Pigment Green 50 is a noxious cocktail of cobalt, titanium, nickel and zinc oxide. The Toxic Side of Being, Literally, Green

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone here collected coins. My brother, and my dad, and I all collect coins as a side hobby. What coins do you collect? What types do you have, and the oldest ones? I have many books for nickels, dimes, and pennies. I just love the feeling when I can open up the book and find it full! My brother and I just bought some old Indian Head pennies, as well as some Steel Pennies from 1943. (During WWII) I have many foregin coins, as well as about 20 Susan B. Anthony's. I have about 10 Sacajawea coins, and a few Kennedy Half-Dollars. I just love the feeling of the profit that will be made in the future. Today I collected about 6 brand new 2007 Pennies, and took them out of circulation. Share your tips, tricks, and cool places to find your coins! As well as your coin collections!