Thursday, October 15, 2009

Stir Plate




Using a candy dish, a fan from an old computer, 2 fridge magnets, a variable resister (old radio volume control), a toggle switch, a 9 volt battery and connector (old radio), some wire (old telephone wire), 4 screws and 8 nuts I was able to build a stir plate. Every part was found from thrown away items and electronics.

The only tools used are drill with bits to cut the holes for mounting the fan, mounting the switch and mounting the resistor. 2 small files, 1 flat for the surface and 1 round for the edges of the holes. Soldering iron for the electronic connections and contact cement for the magnets.

It works well. You can find other directions for building a stir plate on the internet. What I did was very simple, about an hour to put together and totally free.

2 comments:

CameronRuggles said...

Very nice! Nice blog by the way, possibly the best I've seen on such topics. Would you be one who visits sciencemadness very often?

If you feel like it, I could hlep promote this blog, or any thing you might want on this site: http://www.indiescience.org/

It also has a lot to do with home science, and I need help getting it started - hopefully it can help get more people interested in the sciences, and be a useful resource eventually...
anyways just an offer! You could edit the wiki or post in the forums and I'd be happy to link to this site, etc...

Lawrence said...

Thank you. I do visit sciencemadness but I post very little. I am also a part of DIYBIO google groups. I would appreciate your promoting my blog at www.indiescience.org and I will post your link on my blog. I would be willing to help you in getting your website going. I believe that home science needs a push to get going again.

Sites by and the magazine Make prove that there is alot of interest in doing things at home. It does seem to be growing. Now if we could get schools to bring back a hands-on philosophy we might be able interest young people in the lost art of creating and doing.

I will contact you on your website.

Lawrence