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New lab in a box

Yttrium2 - 2-12-2019 at 10:14

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Glass-Organic-Chemistry-Kit-24-40-L...

It's going for $120, hmm, seems a lot cheaper than the proglass kit, though I'm unsure how there "box" looks.

Which reminds me, -- how are you all housing your glassware? Is there anything thatd make it hard to access your glassware such as a large toolbox / safe? that you use?

Id love a molded box for my setup
Not sure how to make one with that great stuff foam, don't think it'd look good. Not sure how they make the boxes.

j_sum1 - 2-12-2019 at 14:14

Moulded box is easy to make. I have used several methods. I need to make a couple more.
I will post photos and descriptions later.

Ubya - 2-12-2019 at 14:40

i just recycled panels of PE foam and cut in on of them the shape of my condensers, then a plain panel on the bottom and one on the top, and tadaaaa.
don't use styrofoam, i mean you could, but you would find those little fucking balls everywhere and forever

[Edited on 2-12-2019 by Ubya]

Deathunter88 - 2-12-2019 at 17:00

Allows for custom molding:
https://www.amazon.com/Feldherr-FS100R-Bundle-Customizable-S...

SWIM - 3-12-2019 at 14:35

No-name glass is a risky purchase.

Quality control is often the weak point and there's more chance of a star crack or a leaky joint.

Of course it's ebay, so you can always return bad items for a refund.

I think you could do better price-wise with Nanshin.
They sell a lot of kits there and they have a decent reputation.

I see kits similar to yours for under $100, and a 24/40 kit with just 3 rbfs, but they're 2 two-neck ones and a three-neck one, for $90.

I'd probably go for one of their kits for $70 to $90 and use the saved money to get a pressure compensating addition funnel.
You can use the kit's sep funnel as an addition funnel, but one that works when sealed from the atmosphere is important when you're adding something nasty, or hygroscopic.

EDIT: I see your kit does have the advantage of a Hempel column.
With some good packing material that'll be a LOT more effective than the Vigreaux columns that come with most kits.
That is a point in its favor I hadn't considered.

[Edited on 3-12-2019 by SWIM]

Yttrium2 - 3-12-2019 at 17:04

Quote: Originally posted by SWIM

No-name glass is a risky purchase.

Quality control is often the weak point and there's more chance of a star crack or a leaky joint.

Of course it's ebay, so you can always return bad items for a refund.

I think you could do better price-wise with Nanshin.
They sell a lot of kits there and they have a decent reputation.

I see kits similar to yours for under $100, and a 24/40 kit with just 3 rbfs, but they're 2 two-neck ones and a three-neck one, for $90.

I'd probably go for one of their kits for $70 to $90 and use the saved money to get a pressure compensating addition funnel.
You can use the kit's sep funnel as an addition funnel, but one that works when sealed from the atmosphere is important when you're adding something nasty, or hygroscopic.

EDIT: I see your kit does have the advantage of a Hempel column.
With some good packing material that'll be a LOT more effective than the Vigreaux columns that come with most kits.
That is a point in its favor I hadn't considered.

[Edited on 3-12-2019 by SWIM]

I'll probably go with the Nanshin kit, despite mentioning the deschem distillation kit looking to be better quality glass. I've had the nanshin kit before. It'll be cheaper than getting the deschem kit and adding on the sep funnel/claisen ect so I'll go with it, oncemore

Awaiting the response from J_sum

G-Coupled - 3-12-2019 at 17:22

I recall another poster mentioning that there was another Chinese seller which was a little more expensive than Nanshin/Deschem etc., but whose glass was of a similar quality to most Euro-made glass.

The name was ProGlass or ProChem IIRC - I'll update the thread when I find the bookmark I hope I made.

Loptr - 3-12-2019 at 19:48

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1

Moulded box is easy to make. I have used several methods. I need to make a couple more.
I will post photos and descriptions later.

I would like to see that.

j_sum1 - 3-12-2019 at 22:49

I don't have photos to hand. I can add them later or you can watch the welcome to my lab video on my YT channel (sum_lab)

I have used plastic boxes with lids that are designed for under-bed storage. I have used these to make custom cases for my jointed glassware. THese slide into space under my lab bench similar to regular drawers. Nothing sophisticated: I merely attached strips of wood to act as rails and when I need something I slide the whole box out and then remove the lid. In my lab it is vital to protect everything from dust as much as possible and so the lids are vital.

Several methods for making custom inserts:

Cut up pieces of styrofoam and glue them into place so that the glassware sits neatly. Then cover the whole inside with fabric that is glued into place.

Use pieces of closed cell foam (boxes that Deschem packs items into) and carve them into appropriate shapes. Then glue them into position. I have usually not covered these since they do not fragment.

Use a combination of scrunched up pieces of aluminium foil and expanding foam. Use the foil to roughly make the shape required. Then cover the whole thing with expanding foam (the kind used in construction for filling large gaps). Lay fabric over this and then place the glassware into position. When it sets you are left with a perfect shape to support the glass. It is better to wrap the glassware in plastic wrap before doing this because if there is a leak of the foam then it can stick badly.
I generally just lay a folded sheet of bubble-wrap under the lid. Then the glass is protected if I stack (or drop) the boxes.

j_sum1 - 1-1-2020 at 22:37

Apologies for taking a while to get back to this. I have just completed a new box: a pile of glass has been sitting around loose for a while and I decided yesterday to construct a new moulded box for it.
I used a few techniques: polystyrene packing, cloith-wrapped polystyrene, expanding foam gap-filler and individual wrapping of some pieces. Sorry if the photos are not brilliantly clear: it is never easy to take phoyos of glassware and with white packing it is even more difficult. But it should give an indication.

The adapters and drying tube slide into holes drilled into the polystyrene. Extra packing is wrapped around where the pieces are too close. The drechsel bottles are stacked two deep. Around the liebig is a couple of bits of polystyrene glued in that have been cut to size. Expanding foam is around the three neck, bushner and the weird thinh whose name I forget (but that I will probably use for drying gases. I think it is designed for SO2.)