melvinthedestroyer
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Glassware quality
Hello Sciencemadness!
I did a few searches of this forum on the topic of glassware quality. I was sure I would find something... much to my surprise, I found nothing
useful! I figured I would start this thread...
I am considering purchasing quite a bit of glassware from an eBay store, namely "echowzh123" which operates for the Beijing company "Laboy." Their
website is www.laboyglass.com.
I have heard many stories of people purchasing crappy glassware that ends up failing on them in one way or another. I have never actually experienced
this myself... I guess I have been lucky? I have made many orders from "United Glass Technologies" located in the US. All of the glassware I have
received from them appears to be of great quality; the walls appear thick and uniform, and the equipment is heavy. The only issue I have with this
company is the price tag on their merchandise.
I was planning on buying from this eBay store for two reasons: 1) The glassware is inexpensive and 2) My entire order would cost a mere $15 in
shipping.
Does anyone have either experience with this company / eBay store, or experience with Chinese manufactured glassware? I am planning on using the
glassware extensively, and many of the parts will be subjected to high temperatures and deep vacuum. I am worried that I may soon experience the
repercussions of owning cheap glassware and would like a few opinions!
Thanks for the information!
(PS I did not post this in the "Reagents and Apparatus Acquisition" section of the forum as this has less to do with the acquisition of the equipment
and deals more with assessment of the quality and personal opinions on glassware. Sorry if this is not appropriate!)
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hkparker
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Probably should be posted in Reagents and Apparatus Acquisition, but a mod can move it if they want, dont worry.
I generally order from expediglass and really like the quality. Glass is pretty thick and no bubbles in my experience. I have heard people ordering
from ebay with much success, but I have never ordered from there so I cant say from experience.
My YouTube Channel
"Nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature." -Michael Faraday
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White Yeti
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"I have heard many stories of people purchasing crappy glassware that ends up failing on them in one way or another. I have never actually experienced
this myself... I guess I have been lucky?"
When someone buys glassware that holds up to regular use, they boast to 10 of their friends. When someone buys glassware that fails, they warn 25 of
their friends. This gives you the impression that lots of people buy glassware that breaks, but in reality, this is not the case.
I say go for it. Glassware can last for a very long time, but it has to break sooner or later. I would rather buy cheap glassware than expensive
glassware because the expensive stuff is not much better than the cheap stuff; both are made from the same borosilicate glass and made with the same
machines. In some cases, buying second hand glassware can be a good idea, especially if you're trying to buy a 22L water jacketed reaction vessel, or
something bigger.
Good luck!
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Magpie
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Here's some more opinions:
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=5082#p...
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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HexJam
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I've purchased quite a bit of stuff from Laboy before and never had any problems with either their service or the quality of their glassware.
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redox
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About 4 months ago, I bought about 180$ worth from Laboy, and all the glass seems nice. The red words on the glass scratches off easily, but other
than that, Laboy glass seems fine for regular use.
Laboy's shipping will take a while, though. When I ordered from them, it took about three weeks to get to my house, which is in New Jersey.
My quite small but growing Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RealChemLabs
Newest video: Synthesis of Chloroform
The difference between chemists and chemical engineers: Chemists use test tubes, chemical engineers use buckets. |
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Panache
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have to quickly mention that you guys have it backwards, the thicker the glass the lower the quality, obviously there are exceptions. Chinese stuff
tends to be thicker to compensate for the fact they haven't been doing it for 100years like the germans and Americans.
Thinner beakers, flasks etc are far superior as they undergo far less thermal stress in ordinary use, its just if the chinese make them as thin as the
expensive stuff it doesn't even get out of the factory without breaking.
that said for home use i think theres some logic to buying poorer quality at far far reduced prices.
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Arthur Dent
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I have to agree with Panache, thicker doesn't mean sturdier. I have a 500ml RBF from bomex and it's barely useable because the neck is so deformed
that you have to shove a soft rubber stopper real hard in it and even at that it still has a bit of clearance between the glass and the stopper. It's
thick and the neck part looks like it's a practice batch made by a glassblowing student with ALS.
For the experiments involving anything hot, corrosive or under pressure, I rely on Pyrex, Kimax, Buschi, Ace and glassware of that genre. One
particular place that has me slobbering is Adams & Chittenden... can lab glassware be labeled as "sexy" ?
Anything that's non critical can be done in low-grade glassware, even plain old mason jars and recycled mayonnaise jars are good, and the bonus is
that when they're too cruddy to be worth washing, chuck 'em (but make sure to neutralize and remove any toxic compound before you do that).
On the other hand, that Laboy Glassware company seem to have a good reputation, and they do manufacture some out-of-the-ordinary stuff... I would
investigate them, even though I have yet to come across a piece of Laboy labware at my favorite lab supply shop.
Robert
--- Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. - Frank Zappa ---
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distorto
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The glassware choice is depend on what you're going to do with it.
For many reactions (most organic synthesis) Chinese glassware works well, if you wash it properly there would be no contaminant. For some reactions
(such as surface-related and inorganic) there might be some problem.
In my laboratory, we've found that Chinese glassware accelerate hydrogen peroxide decomposition. It's been that there are some metals in the glass.
The result is of course error.
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TomSwiftJr
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A Pyrex or Kimble thick walled beaker is more resistant to mechanical shock, the thin walled is more resistant to thermal shock.
I'm not sure it's so simple with round bottom flasks from name companies. The "heavy wall" round bottom flasks from Ace and Kontes are really nice,
ChemGlass only makes heavy wall in their round bottom flasks. I assume the Pyrex and Kimble heavy wall RBF's are equally quality. I think I might
prefer the heavy wall for distillation under high vacuum. Particularly with large flasks.
Ace also says their reinforced joints (with the rings around the outer joint) are more resistant to mechanical shock, the regular are more resistant
to thermal shock. I've never found either mechanical or thermal shock to be a problem with joints, so take your choice.
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Rogeryermaw
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the question of use under vacuum was what concerned me the most. i have a hodgepodge of mixed glassware from kontes, kimble kimax, pyrex, bomex,
chemglass, ect. and misc. i wouldn't trust it all under vacuum but some of it has held up nicely. i have no complaints with the cheap bomex stuff
except when cleaning it. i was scrubbing some particularly stubborn iodine stains from a 50ml and it came apart in my hand. same with a bomex 400ml
when concentrating H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. as i was working the crystallized water out to leave the peroxide behind, it
just gave out. in both cases they did not shatter but had one uniform break and a large piece containing the pour spout fell off.
does the thin walled name brand stuff hold up well under vacuum? deep vacuum?
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TomSwift
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I see someone else read the Tom Swift Jr. books lol.
I was taught in my organic class you never want to go above two liter size in a rbf, at 14.7 lbs per square inch of pressure under vacuum, the
pressure on the glass was too much.
I once discussed this with the master glassblower to a major university, asking if you could go bigger with heavy-wall flasks. He said you could use
regular wall flasks up to 50 liters under vacuum.
For what it's worth.
Any vacuum distillation should always be conducted behind a safety shield of some type just in case.
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