I saw or heard somewhere that its possible to recharge an akaline battery, slowly im sure, but has anyone actually tried this? Im thinking instead of buying rechargeable batteries for a project, just use regular batteries, as it will have some time to charge
To some extent you can, but its not what they are designed for and there are dangers of bursting/explosion and leakage. You won't get good capacity or many recharges and you might get leakage that trashes the device the battery is in (not good in a digital camera for instance, perhaps acceptable for a torch/flashlight).
This site has some anecdotal experience - note the author had a cell burst (I presume there is a risk of explosion too - not a risk I'd take when NiMH batteries are usually cheaper than top-brand alkaline)
http://www.afrotechmods.com/reallycheap/batteries/batts.htm
I think my summary would be "if you are prepared to wear protective clothing then perhaps its viable but I don't recommend it"
Lol yeah I figured, more a curiousity thing then being practical, oh well nimh it is