DIY chemical glassware

Preface: “In the beginning there was a glass. Disposable."

My first experiments were carried out in plastic cups due to their easy availability and low cost. But over time, the experiments became more complicated, and it became necessary to heat the solutions. Also, the cups, like any utensils, got dirty, it was inconvenient to wash them, and it was not rational to use new ones all the time. First of all, from the point of view of environmental pollution, nature must be protected. What can we say about their instability (“How many solutions ended up on the table because of the plastic…”).
Glass jars for cucumbers and mayonnaise of various sizes have replaced plastic dishes. But again, heating is a risky business for them. This cookware does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature.
The stage of chemical activity I was at required frequent evaporation of solutions, and damage to the vessel would be very undesirable. An introduction to glassmaking was inevitable. It turned out that thin glass can withstand temperature changes very well. That’s when the light came on, the light came on. Up to 90% of the energy consumed by an incandescent lamp turns into heat.This means that in the first seconds after switching on, the glass bulb of the light bulb experiences a sharp change in temperature, and it does not burst! I realized that this is what I need.
Of course, in addition to flasks, test tubes are also needed - for conducting experiments that are not so serious. The solutions should be mixed with a glass rod and heated on a special rack.
All this will be discussed in this article.

Will need

So, we will need:

• M3 stud;
  
• 20 M3 nuts;
  
• M8 hairpin;
  
• 8 M8 nuts;
  
• Cooler grille from under a computer power supply;
  
• Plumbing corner with a diameter of 50mm;
  
• Plastic case for cassette.

And, of course, lamps:

• 40 Watt (future volume - about 75 ml);
  
• 150 Watt (about 150ml);
  
• 500 Watt (500ml).

Flasks

Before breaking glass, let's build stands for future flasks. First for the big one.
To do this, remove the elastic from the corner and saw off the part in which it lay. We level the cutting area if necessary.

I also sawed off a piece on the other side, it is convenient to place a 150 ml flask on it.
Trying on a sawed-off ring:

It fits a little loosely - great.
Now we cut off four 13cm long sections from the stud. A hacksaw or jigsaw with an appropriate blade is suitable for this. At a distance of 2cm from the edge, bend it 90 degrees.

I glued the nuts on the ends tightly, for greater reliability.
Using a hot screwdriver, we make four mutually opposite holes in the ring. We thread the studs through them and secure each with two nuts.

Let's try:


Everything fits. If one leg does not touch the surface, you need to slightly bend the two nearby ones.
For the middle flask from the M3 hairpin we bend the following design:

Its dimensions are shown in the following figures


By analogy, we make a stand for the smallest flask, if necessary.
Also, all bases can be weighted with lead weights.
Now let's move on to the flasks themselves. There are two ways to break a lamp to suit our needs: using a glass cutter, and without it.

1 way

We draw a line along the base with a glass cutter, pressing moderately on the glass.
Now we need to find a transformer that can heat up a small piece of nichrome thread. I secured the thread itself between two bolts using nuts.

You also need to prepare some ice.
Turn on the power and apply the lamp with the intended line to the thread for 20 seconds

Immediately after this, cool the heating area with ice. A crack should form. We carry out this procedure for the entire line. Then the base along with the filament can be separated from the bulb with a simple movement. We do the same machinations for all lamps.
The flasks are ready.

I recommend starting with small light bulbs, they are less valuable. The first cut will not be as smooth as we would like, but each subsequent cut will be more and more pleasing with its quality. Practice is key here. And you can always try sanding the edges of the flasks, but that’s not what this article is about.
Do not throw away the socket with the insides of a 500 Watt lamp! It will come in handy later.

Method 2

Using pliers and a hammer, remove the middle contact of the lamp, along with the black ceramic insulation. Through the resulting hole, carefully knock out the insides of the lamp by tapping it with a straight screwdriver. We pour the fragments onto a napkin and dispose of them. Then you need to get rid of the remnants of the base and the glue that held it in place, and the flask is ready.
Accordingly, the integrity of the glass tube with contacts will not be maintained.There is also a risk of accidentally piercing the flask with the same contacts. Be extremely careful, be sure to wear gloves!

Stirring stick

After making a large flask, we were left with a base with a glass rod.

It is long enough and suits us quite well. By pressing with pliers on the edges of the base (at the junction of the glue), we can easily separate the glass part from the glue and the base itself.

We bite off the antennae, bend the contacts, the glass along the edges of the connection will crack a little, but this is not critical. It is better to leave the slightly thick glass rim (on the base side), because an attempt to break it off turned out to be a disaster: the inner glass also cracked. The operation was successful only the second time:

Antennae residues can react with concentrated sulfuric acid. This way you can completely get rid of them.

Test tubes

Glass test tubes can be found in some pharmacies. After walking around the city, some place will definitely sell them. I found these:

For ease of use, let's make a stand for them. On one of the parts of the cassette case we draw a line:

We go through it with a stationery knife.

And we break the part into two parts. Thus, we have formed a rectangle on which we outline the neck of the test tube six times at a short distance from each other.

Now you need to make slits along the outlined circles. We do this with the same knife, constantly heating it on the stove. You must work carefully so that the plastic does not crack.

We cut off the cassette holders from the second part of the case.

This will be the base of the stand.
We saw off two 10cm sections from the M3 stud and make corresponding holes along the edges of both plastic parts. We assemble the structure together (we fasten the parts with nuts both at the top and at the bottom of each).
When heated, the plastic softens, let’s use this property and make indentations for the test tubes in the base with their help. The stand is ready.

The piston from a twenty-cc syringe was ideal as a cap. They can hermetically seal the test tube.

By the way, if necessary, the test tubes can be clamped in a clothespin (when heated, for example).

Heating stand

In order to evaporate solutions, you need a special stand for heating them. We will make it from the cooler grille, M8 studs and nuts. So, we saw off four pieces 15 cm long.

We expand the fastening holes of the grille, and, using nuts, secure the stud sections in their places. Ready.

All utensils assembled:

Conclusion

In this article, we have made basic chemical glassware for conducting a wide variety of experiments. One of the flasks successfully passed the “strength test” in the article about the production of hydrochloric acid. As for heating flasks under an open flame, I recommend experimenting on your own and finding the best option for yourself (share your experience in the comments).
If you are heating a particularly active solution and are concerned about the integrity of the flask, you can heat it through sand.
PS: I know about the existence of chemical stores and Chinese kits. But what is important here is the originality of the idea, and not every city has specialized stores.
Not much time was spent on making the dishes, but there was so much joy in using the flasks... These are the dishes of real evil geniuses or noble chemists.
Happy experiments everyone!