The Use of a Shotgun Shell Reloader to Dispense Chemicals During the past two semesters we found that we were using nearly six times the calculated amount of solid reagents that were required for our experiments. In view of the rapid increase in the cost of chemicals with no corresponding increase in our Department's budget we asked for ideas an how to combat this without being complete dictators. The following is the result of one suggestion that has been tested and found to work well and a t a small cost. The idea is to use a shotgun shell reloader to dispense granular and powdered solids. The chemical is placed in the "powder" chamber, the samples arm moved into position and when brought hack t o its original position a measured amount of the chemical is dispensed. We use an OHAUS 7250, single chamber reservoir with a variable adjustment screw to dispense the primary standards and other reagents up to about 8 grams. A small card is taped to the reservoir to indicate the vernier setting for each chemical which we have predetermined t o provide about a 50%excess. Doug Hoppas C. E. Melaan Kansas State University Manhattan, 66506
Volume 53,Number 3, March 1976 / 193
