>Can't say I've got a story about teaching someone a
>lesson... But speaking of molten solder...
>
>It's a lot of fun to get a high amperage medium voltage
>power supply, like my 25A 20V adjustable, a bucket of
>water and some solder.
...
>The water causes the solder vapours to condense so you're
>not breathing it in. Instead you end up with some metalic
>film on the surface. That said, I still did this under a
>lab vent hood with a face shield.
>
>If you're gonna be stupid, at least take some safety precautions!

Ah, the things you could get away with back in the 60's when there was
hardly any such thing as health and safety.

In my final year at secondary school I got to be a lab boy in the senior
physics lab. One day I was asked to set up and show an experiment to the
junior form science class to show magnetism in wires when current flows.

A couple of lengths of 16 gauge wire with the enamel scraped off the ends, a
6" diameter dish with about a pound weight of mercury in it, a couple of
test tube stands, and a 6V car battery was the equipment required.

Hang the wires from the TT stands, start with both wires on one stand,
connected to one battery terminal, and the bottom ends of the wire in the
mercury bath, and the wires about a couple of inches apart. Touch wire from
other battery terminal into mercury bath (with inevitable spark and
resultant mercury fumes) and see how the wires are attracted with the
current flowing the same direction in them. Now move one wire to second TT
stand and touch wire from second battery terminal there and see wires move
apart as current flows are now in opposite directions.

I shudder to think now how much mercury fumes I ingested, to say nothing of
what any of the juniors got. Still it was all "supervised" by a teacher who
probably new less about electricity than I did.

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