Whilst I always did enjoy the chemistry practicals (organic, inorganic, and physical) in Uni - spectroscopy always held an appeal especially - I also used to greatly enjoy making tiny sculptures out of melting point tubes and a bunsen. ^_^ They're a remarkably fun medium to play with - very slender glass tubes, maybe 1mm or so diameter, thin walls so as not to pose much thermal inertia.
@porsupah nearly bought an hp spectroscopy machine at weirdstuff for $50 but now you can buy sensors that can sense specific wavelengths from adafruit for $25
@Rabit Is there anything like those places left now? I think Weird Stuff and Halted were the last of their kind, shockingly, especially for where they were.
I never did get that PSU for the CO2 tube made up, though. ^_^; (Bit pointless now, of course, given cheap solid states can do multiple Watts)
@Rabit Ooh! I'll have to check those out when I next get the chance - don't think I've even heard of Excess Electronics.