Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Improvised DIY homemade glassware

Yttrium2 - 4-4-2018 at 07:30

It never ceases to amaze me the stuff people can come up with sometimes



What are some things you've seen?




Fir seperatory funnels, I was thinking a squeeze bottle, tubing and a pinch clamp would work well except for the vinyl degrading, and I think polypropylene wouldn't close under the pinch clamp.


Suggestions?

aga - 4-4-2018 at 08:22

Glass Beaker + Funnel from a wine bottle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrUd6VIjkuk

Edit:

Same-same with a DIY filter stand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOssnBmmh4

[Edited on 4-4-2018 by aga]

LearnedAmateur - 4-4-2018 at 08:48

When I don’t want to use my Büchner, I filter using this setup since paper is better for recovering solids. Yes, the funnel is welded back together and the other bits might be stuck... have to sort that out at some point.

9CFE4B24-A749-412A-9829-E60901606E13.jpeg - 2.6MB

aga - 4-4-2018 at 09:24

Nice improvisation !

happyfooddance - 4-4-2018 at 09:34

Ziplock bags can make very good sep funnels. They are cheap, and are usually hdpe. They are disposable: for large batches it can be more convenient than cleaning a 2l sep funnel.

In this thread is a picture of an addition funnel I made with ziplock bags, hose clamps, pvc tubing, a brass stopcock, and a glass capillary tube: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=80655&...

It still works great.

Yttrium2 - 4-4-2018 at 09:35

What so you mean paper is bet, which material did you use with your buchner?

Funnel is welded back together and stuck in some places!?



LearnedAmateur - 4-4-2018 at 09:51

The general rule of thumb I’ve always followed is: paper if you care about the solids, Büchner if you care about the filtrate. Paper disks are folded into quarters to form a hollow cone which is filtered through, and then unfolded after the filtration where any remaining solids stuck to the paper can be scraped off to increase yield. With Büchners, they obviously can’t be disassembled so you may get some solid stuck where the frit/disk meets the wall and this is difficult to remove without running a solvent through it, plus fine particles may work their way into the frit and clog it up which paper doesn’t really suffer from. Sorry about the ambiguity, I know you can get the ceramic Büchners with holes but I was on about the fritted design.

Yeah, I snapped it at the flange so took a blowtorch to it, and the thermometer socket is stuck to the vacuum take-off, can’t remember what is responsible but flaming the joint nor soaking in water solves the issue.

[Edited on 4-4-2018 by LearnedAmateur]

happyfooddance - 4-4-2018 at 10:03

Quote: Originally posted by LearnedAmateur  

Yeah, I snapped it at the flange so took a blowtorch to it, and the thermometer socket is stuck to the vacuum take-off, can’t remember what is responsible but flaming the joint nor soaking in water solves the issue.

[Edited on 4-4-2018 by LearnedAmateur]


It looks like the joint is a little dirty on the inside: it could just be junk fused. Try a soak in a base bath or ultrasonic.

LearnedAmateur - 4-4-2018 at 10:54

Yeah I think it’s carbonised crap, like I said I don’t know exactly what but I’ll give the base bath a go, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try sulphuric acid. Doesn’t really bother me though, it’s pretty much the only thing I use them for so it’s not like I need to have them separate considering I have another thermometer socket lying around somewhere. Even used it for a couple of DCM and isopropanol distillations, doesn’t seem to hurt the rubber tubing I use to lead the vapours into a condenser.

happyfooddance - 4-4-2018 at 11:00

Quote: Originally posted by LearnedAmateur  
Doesn’t really bother me though, it’s pretty much the only thing I use them for so it’s not like I need to have them separate considering I have another thermometer socket lying around somewhere. Even used it for a couple of DCM and isopropanol distillations, doesn’t seem to hurt the rubber tubing I use to lead the vapours into a condenser.


I completely understand that sentiment. At least, with it fused together you don't need to worry about a keck clip! ;)

LearnedAmateur - 4-4-2018 at 13:45

I literally only have one clip and it doesn’t even fit half my glassware TBH, I only use it to secure the condenser to the distillation head (the angled T-shaped bit of glassware, basically a take-off but with another male joint instead of a gas barb). Well, that was until my clamp broke hence why I’ve been using the mentioned ad-hoc improvisation, I usually just clamp around the mouth of the distillation flask and rest the receiving tube on a measuring cylinder which I use as a receiving vessel - quite handy when you want a fast idea on when a reaction/distillation is nearing completion; somewhat related to the topic at hand by the way.

Yttrium2 - 4-4-2018 at 22:05

Besides plastic ziplocks. It's nice to have a pinchcock to stop the flow of liquid.

happyfooddance - 5-4-2018 at 08:31

Quote: Originally posted by Yttrium2  
Besides plastic ziplocks. It's nice to have a pinchcock to stop the flow of liquid.


Did you even look at the thread I linked? There is clearly a "pinchcock"