I was just cleaning up some of my equipment and I thought I should make a PSA post about where to get cheap stuff.
DIYers need a lot of stuff for mixing and storing juices and flavors. A lot of this can be had for very cheap at your local surplus store.
Just as an example... A local surplus store - KW Surplus in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada - carries the following items:
10ml glass bottles with plastic screw-cap... $.29
10ml syringes in sterile wrappers... $.25
25ml glass bottles with rubber cap... $.29
50ml glass bottles with rubber cap... $.99
60ml syringes in sterile wrappers... $1.29
Large bottle brush... $1.99
Tiny bottle brush... $.99
10 x 3ml glass craft bottle with plastic stopper... $.99
10 x 10ml glass craft bottle with cork stopper... $.99
2 x mini plastic funnel... $.99
Glass eyedropper... $.29
They also carry a large variety of graduated cylinders, beakers, flasks, test tubes, forceps & other metal tools, and other glass bottles of varying sizes.
Electronic equipment too, including multimeters, wire, battery holder, rechargeable NiMH batteries, LEDs, resistors, battery chargers, wall plug adaptors, electrical tape, shrink-wrap tubing.
Plumbing supplies including copper, brass, and plastic parts.
About the only thing I couldn't get there is bottles with a dropper cap, and plastic bottles.
In the US, surplus store often means military surplus, but I'm thinking you mean the type of discount store that buys surplus inventory from other stores. In my area this would be Ollie's, and in my experience you can never go to these sort of places expecting to find something. Cool that you have a local shop with cheap lab equipment though!
I know I am lucky with my local surplus place.
But... keep looking. The same stuff that is surplus here... expired hospital supplies, for example... is surplus everywhere. Somebody is turning it over.
Maybe I should start re-selling it to you guys. But I'm actually a lousy businessman, I always want to give my efforts away for free.
We have Ax-Man and Global surplus here in the cities. They've got all kinds of cool stuff including DIY gear.
What kinds of DIY stuff can you find at those places? I live in the cities but only bike so I'd like to know if it's worth the trek. I need 10ml and 30ml bottles and 5ml syringes
Virtually everything used in all of vaping is borrowed from some other more mainstream endeavor. It pays to look around, though I can appreciate the desire to get all your stuff "preapproved" from a vaping vendor. I buy my SS rope from a local hardware chain for 69 cents a foot. Hell, the guy at Home Depot just gave me a foot, unfortunately it was galvanized so it was no use. I have a lot of Kanthal but when it runs out I'll be hitting the local electronics shops.