As regards not being to get the Sodium Hydroxide, you can get it from Unitednuclear.com, and Homesciencetools.com sells both Hydrochloric acid and Sodium hydroxide. Both sites sell other chemicals too, so you won't have a problem getting the necessary chemicals. Also, many hardware stores sell Hydrochloric acid (they call it Muriatic acid), as well as Sulfuric acid (battery acid). So, getting the necessary chemicals is not as hard as it may seem.
Like the guy before me, I have a nostalgia bug too, and the Chem3000 fills that niche very nicely. I consider this chemistry set to be the finest ever made. The only way I think it could be improved (for the price) would be to add more chemical reaction information in their already really good manual.
If you want to learn chemistry but never got around to it, this is the set to buy.
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I have not bought or seen the Thames & Kosmos C3000, but I have recently set up a customized home chemistry lab like the one I had when I was a kid, and I base my rating (5 stars) for the C3000 on the list of equipment and the price. You should refer to other reviews for actual experience with this chemistry set; I am writing to share some of what I have learned in setting up my own home lab.There is a lot of moaning on the internet about the way that fears of lawsuits and liability have led to the demise of the old-fashioned chemistry set, and about the poor quality and educational value of what typically passes nowadays for a "chemistry set". Many of these seem to be so "safe" that all excitement and learning has been drained out of them. See also the book "Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sacks. Some of the lesser Thames & Kosmos sets may fall into this category, and by the reviews I judge that they do. But the C3000 looks to me like it is a good start on recovering the experience offered by the classic Gilbert and Chemcraft chemistry sets of the 50's and 60's, especially in view of the price. While $212 might seem like a lot for a chemistry set, it is considerably less than you would pay if you ordered the same chemicals and pieces of equipment individually. Also, for those of you considering using this for home schooling, I would offer the opinion that it would be worth it to invest even more, and consider something like the $500 chemistry set offered by HMS Beagle, or by expanding on what is offered in the C3000 by purchasing extra supplies. The top-line Gilbert chemistry sets of the 1930's cost something like $40 (I think), which in inflated dollars must be more than $225 now. Besides, for home schooling you probably want something more than what any chemistry set offers.
There are some complaints that the C3000 doesn't have all the chemicals you will need to do all the experiments in their manual. I think that's inevitable, given the price. In any case, if you or your young chemists have any interest in the subject it is likely that you will want to expand beyond the limits of the C3000. I suggest that you get a copy of "The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments" (out of print, but available as a pdf file for free download, just google on it). I also have the manual for the Gilbert Chemistry Set from the 1930's which has hundreds of experiments and lots of general information. These can give you ideas for experiments. Robert Bruce Thompson's book "Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments" has a lot of up-to-date and useful information on setting up a lab, as well as a series of advanced high school or college level experiments. It covers topics such as safety and disposal of chemical waste that you will want to know about. I also recommend the videos by Nurdrage on youtube, which are very educational and interesting, although there are two instances where I wish he had restrained his language. Apart from that they are the best chemistry videos on Youtube.
As for ordering extra chemicals and equipment, I have used a combination of United Nuclear, HMS Beagle, Sargent-Welch, and Elemental Scientific. None of these covered all my needs, and I have shopped around. I started by concentrating on some particular experiments I wanted to do, and then ordering the equipment needed for those, and then moving on to new experiments.
Mineral acids (hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric) and strong bases (sodium, potassium and concentrated ammonium hydroxide) are the main chemicals needed for serious chemistry that are omitted from chemistry sets (although the HMS Beagle advanced kit does include some of them). Companies such as Sargent-Welch will not ship these to individuals, only to schools or businesses. Robert Bruce Thompson explains how sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are currently available at the hardware store as drain cleaners, and also how to get hydrochloric acid. Nitric acid is the most difficult to obtain, but it may be available locally (for a price, that's how I got mine), or else try HMS Beagle. See also RBT's videos on Youtube on lab safety.
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Very good kit. However,it does not contain all the materials needed and the required additional solutions are almost impossible to get hold of these days (like sodium hydroxide lye, because it is used by crack labs). Since these solutions are needed for many experiments and are illegal to mail, a large part of the experiments are not possible to do. This is a significant drawback.The experiments need close adult supervision and involve open flames, boiling solutions, hydrochloric acid, etc. and are not for younger children or the fainthearted parent. There is limited explanation in the manual about chemistry, so a supplemental text or course would be best to get an understanding of why the reactions happen.
That said, our daughter loves the kit and it is complete, well organized and of excellent quality.
Honest reviews on Thames & Kosmos CHEM C3000
* Experiment Manual* Eight Test Tubes
* Two Pipettes
* Sodium Bisulfate
* Sodium Carbonate
* Potassium Hexacyanoferrate(II)
* Ammonium Iron(III) Sulfate
* Ammonium Chloride
* Copper(II) Sulfate
* Litmus Power
* Hexamethyl-eneteramine
* Calcium Hydroxide
* Sodium Bicarbonate
* Tartaric Acid
* Luminol Preparation
* Potassium Hexacyanoferrate(III)
* Calcium Sulfate
* Iron Filings (Iron Powder)
* Potassium Permanganate Preparation
* Activated charcoal
* Ammonium carbonate
* Potassium iodide
* Potassium bromide
* Potassium permanganate
* Sodium thiosulfate
* Sulfur
* Zinc powder
* Screw-top Jar
* Test Tube Rack
* Two Measuring Cups
* Two Cup Lids
* Measuring Spoon
* Test Tube Brush
* Carbon Rod
* Plastic Basin
* Safety Lid Opener
* Four Wires
* Copper Wire
* 2 Bags of Magnesium Strips
* Protective Safety Glasses
* Battery Connector
* Light Bulb (3.8 V)
* Rubber Stopper
* Two Cork Stoppers
* 2 Pointed Glass Tubes
* 2 Angled Glass Tubes
* Filter Paper
* Two Plastic Bottles with Caps
* Plastic Funnel
* Alcohol Burner Base
* Wick
* Burner Cap
* Insulator
* Wick Holder
* Aluminum Disk
* Wooden Test Tube Holder
* Litmus Paper, Blue
* Filter Paper
* Straight Glass Tube
* Heating Rod
* Labels
* Graduated cylinder
* Plastic syringe
* Lab stand clamp
* Three lab stand legs
* Erlenmeyer flask
* Iron wire
* Two pieces of rubber tubing
* Tripod stand platform
* Lab stand base
* Plastic straw for syringe
* Bag of small parts
* Rubber stopper with one hole
* Rubber stopper with two holes
* Lab stand rod
* Acute angled glass pipe
* Two screw-top lids
* Plastic bottle, red (for hydrochloric acid)
* Plastic bottle, blue (for sodium hydroxide)
* Filter paper
* Wire mesh
* Evaporation dish
* Small bottle for silver nitrate solution
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I never actually had a chemistry set as a kid, with my Dad being more into mechanical and electrical scientific toys, but I have fond memories of both HS and college chemistry lab, and was wanting at least to have some chemicals and actual procedures to use with the set of classic Pyrex labware I was building from the Sargent-Welch site (where they don't sell chemicals to individuals). It appears they've thought out the equipment, much of which is "real"-lab quality (I loved the VWR 100 mL Erlenmeyer flask, the ceramic evaporating dish and the test tubes), so that effective work can be done, and it's quite ambitious, the extent of general chemistry that they attempt to cover with a single lab manual. I noted as did the previous reviewer that some of those non-shippable or limited shelf-life chemicals look rather difficult to find, but many of the substances are just as I remember them being in school, so my retro bug is well supplied. I would think the serious experimenter would need to put a bit of dedication into doing things right or much of the value would go unused. I noted with appreciation that this kit was made in Germany, where I've always been amazed at the emphasis on educational content they put into toys, like my little Wilesco steam engine that I bought a few years back and still run on occasion.I guess I come from the side of life where I've been there and done all that, and simply want to re-live those days when I was as the intended audience is, having the subject opening before them for the first time. Before I'd lay out this kind of money on a set, I'd make sure the student was up for it.
I'm impressed that such kits are marketed with the young student in mind, and since I'm just a big kid, well, you can count me in as entertained at the same time.
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