Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Platinum Laboratory Services

B(a)P - 28-9-2020 at 18:11

I have just received a 34/35 to 24/40 adaptor that I ordered from Platinum Laboratory Services. Mark was super helpful, very responsive and turned my order around extremely quickly. The adaptor is really well made and was packaged to protect it from even the most determined Australia Post employee. I will definitely be going to Mark for my future glassware needs.

IMG_20200929_115012.jpg - 4.5MB

B(a)P - 2-10-2020 at 03:36

I am curious if others use their local or not so local glass blowing companies? I had no idea this was a thing and I was absolutely delighted to find out it was!

Panache - 7-10-2020 at 00:53

Where are they....and just a quick observation, that pictured adaptor is not made of platinum. And fucking oath using local is a thing...otherwise you have to wait rather than just turning up and pretending it s urgent....lol
In australua we have (well had they all retiring these days) many small players as a result of the outsourcing virus oof the late 90,s. Basically all the unis sacked their glassblowers who then left setup a small workshop in the same suburb and continued doing all the university work.
Good for them however we now have a shortage, as they retire, as they never took on apprenticies, something the universities used to do.

[Edited on 7-10-2020 by Panache]

[Edited on 7-10-2020 by Panache]

B(a)P - 7-10-2020 at 01:23

They are in Dandenong VIC.
https://ptlabservices.com.au/
I wish I could afford that much platinum!

draculic acid69 - 7-10-2020 at 03:18

Glassblowing is a dying artform. Not passing on knowledge via not having apprentices/Students is a recipe for extinction.the glassblower is a rare creature indeed.

B(a)P - 7-10-2020 at 11:18

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69  
Glassblowing is a dying artform. Not passing on knowledge via not having apprentices/Students is a recipe for extinction.the glassblower is a rare creature indeed.


Then best to use them at every opportunity to make sure they have the revenue to invest in the next generation.

Panache - 8-10-2020 at 20:32

Isnt that guy a member here (the platinum scientific dude. Its new branding but his wife definitely does the pharma simulation glass.

zed - 17-10-2020 at 00:35

Jointed glassware used to be fantastically expensive through normal retail channels. Your friendly neighborhood glassblower could give you just what you wanted, at a steep discount.

I have a contemporary acquaintance, who is a glassblower, or at least he was. No can do! He can't compete. Chinese glassware is too cheap! True, Chinese quality tends to be marginal, but they make it and ship it, for less than it costs him to make it.

In my area, in the U.S., $15.00/hour is just a subsistence wage. Back in the days, when we were patronizing our local glassblowers, the minimum wage was maybe $2.50 an hour.

The price of glassware, has fallen quite a bit. Rent prices have exploded. Salaries have risen. And, the Numbers just don't crunch anymore.

Perhaps, the current Aussie/Chinese disharmony, will improve the financial climate for Australian Craftsmen.

Here in the U.S., we like the economy offered by Chinese goods, but because of those goods, many of us are more or less unemployed.



[Edited on 17-10-2020 by zed]

Glassware and economics

Chemetix - 17-10-2020 at 16:48

Let me tell you a tale of two stuck joints. On the left is a chinese flanged lid which has a broken joint (from what I don't know) and a teflon adapter that was stuck in another joint. This should be easy, a quick warm in a bunsen flame and voila, I've done it countless times. But no! The slightest bit of soft heat and bang! The joint just fell apart. On the right is another stuck joint which has seen several strong heating a cooling cycles so far, with WD40 and wax to get it to penetrate and release the joint. Takes it like a champion, because of quality glass formulation.

The researcher has brought me three flanged lids to fix broken joints so far, and the cost of repairing them could have bought a good lid that would still be working without a problem.

Cheap glass is a false economy. I can dig up other images where a flask has shattered when I've gone to warm it up to repair it and it's always the cheap chinese crap.

IMG_20201018_112724.jpg - 699kB

Deathunter88 - 17-10-2020 at 20:31

Quote: Originally posted by Chemetix  
Let me tell you a tale of two stuck joints. On the left is a chinese flanged lid which has a broken joint (from what I don't know) and a teflon adapter that was stuck in another joint. This should be easy, a quick warm in a bunsen flame and voila, I've done it countless times. But no! The slightest bit of soft heat and bang! The joint just fell apart. On the right is another stuck joint which has seen several strong heating a cooling cycles so far, with WD40 and wax to get it to penetrate and release the joint. Takes it like a champion, because of quality glass formulation.

The researcher has brought me three flanged lids to fix broken joints so far, and the cost of repairing them could have bought a good lid that would still be working without a problem.

Cheap glass is a false economy. I can dig up other images where a flask has shattered when I've gone to warm it up to repair it and it's always the cheap chinese crap.



Your joint breaking has nothing to do with the quality of the glass. The coefficient of thermal expansion for teflon is 30 times that of glass, so its no wonder the joint cracked.

Chemetix - 17-10-2020 at 21:32

"Your joint breaking has nothing to do with the quality of the glass"

Actually, in this case I'm going to say no.

I know how to mitigate the expansion problem, I'm trying to convey (though not as elegantly as perhaps it should have been) that the chinese borosilicate is more brittle than the European made borosilicate. I did mention that I've done this countless times (with teflon as well ), so my experience with glassware has seen time and again that the chinese glass is not as durable. I posted this because it happened to be a recent case, the fact I happened to have the same flanged lids from the same brand with broken joints from the researcher in such a short amount of time suggests that the glass is not particularly resilient.

I went to include some images of some flasks used in a teaching lab, but I can't find them, that had only six months of use. Nearly half their new chinese 100ml flasks had star cracks and scratches everywhere and in the same consignment was one flask that had a few minor scratches and a small chip on the rim they wanted fixed, it had made in West Germany on it and has been in the teaching labs since that time.



zed - 18-10-2020 at 01:52

Oh, most of us know quite well that Chinese glass isn't as good as the best American glass. On the other hand, sometimes we could buy a whole kit of Chinese glassware, for the price of a single domestically labeled flask.

Shipping to the U.S. was fast and dirt cheap, and some of the Chinese companies supply decent value.
Beautiful stuff? No. Usually not. But, adequate for the task, and I've broken plenty of the "Good" stuff too. Moreover, they have wanted our business.

I can assure you, most large U.S. suppliers have no desire to service our smallish accounts. Even when I was associated with a university, and we spent huge amounts of money, our U.S. suppliers treated us poorly, shorted us, and supplied merchadise of questionable quality.

Until recently, using selected suppliers, we could obtain goods from China quickly and inexpensively via Ebay. Now, to my way of thinking, that supply chain has broken down. Too bad.

Not everyone in the world enjoyed that advantage. We apparently had an attractive postage deal, and there were zero customs fees.

That was then. This is now. The world has changed.

[Edited on 18-10-2020 by zed]

draculic acid69 - 22-10-2020 at 03:51

Quote: Originally posted by zed  
Jointed glassware used to be fantastically expensive through normal retail channels. Your friendly neighborhood glassblower could give you just what you wanted, at a steep discount.

I have a contemporary acquaintance, who is a glassblower, or at least he was. No can do! He can't compete. Chinese glassware is too cheap! True, Chinese quality tends to be marginal, but they make it and ship it, for less than it costs him to make it.

In my area, in the U.S., $15.00/hour is just a subsistence wage. Back in the days, when we were patronizing our local glassblowers, the minimum wage was maybe $2.50 an hour.

The price of glassware, has fallen quite a bit. Rent prices have exploded. Salaries have risen. And, the Numbers just don't crunch anymore.

Perhaps, the current Aussie/Chinese disharmony, will improve the financial climate for Australian Craftsmen.

Here in the U.S., we like the economy offered by Chinese goods, but because of those goods, many of us are more or less unemployed.



[Edited on 17-10-2020 by zed]


With what China is doing to there own country it makes me wonder
How long they can remain on top before there too polluted/depleted
Of resources to keep supplying the world.as for the employment
thing your right, western civilization can't compete.and with automation
In factories for the things we do make (which is less here in oz than U guys in the u.s.)
There really isn't a job for everyperson.my hometown has zero industry apart from tourism finding a job there is not easy. I had to move to find work.and it's only going to
get worse.

Morgan - 22-10-2020 at 04:57

Tidbit
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickwwatson/2018/09/27/machi...

zed - 22-10-2020 at 12:53

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUCVVU1qVdY

B(a)P - 22-10-2020 at 13:20

Grim, on the plus side there will be more time for home chemistry :D

B(a)P - 22-10-2020 at 15:20

Quote: Originally posted by zed  
Oh, most of us know quite well that Chinese glass isn't as good as the best American glass. On the other hand, sometimes we could buy a whole kit of Chinese glassware, for the price of a single domestically labeled flask.

Shipping to the U.S. was fast and dirt cheap, and some of the Chinese companies supply decent value.
Beautiful stuff? No. Usually not. But, adequate for the task, and I've broken plenty of the "Good" stuff too. Moreover, they have wanted our business.

I can assure you, most large U.S. suppliers have no desire to service our smallish accounts. Even when I was associated with a university, and we spent huge amounts of money, our U.S. suppliers treated us poorly, shorted us, and supplied merchadise of questionable quality.

Until recently, using selected suppliers, we could obtain goods from China quickly and inexpensively via Ebay. Now, to my way of thinking, that supply chain has broken down. Too bad.

Not everyone in the world enjoyed that advantage. We apparently had an attractive postage deal, and there were zero customs fees.

That was then. This is now. The world has changed.

[Edited on 18-10-2020 by zed]


I prefer to spend my money where I feel that it has the best chance of people and the environment not being exploited. I also like to be able to get in touch with the person that I am dealing with reliably. I like things that are well made and last and that if I damage them, they can be repaired, or have the best chance of being able to be repaired.

Morgan - 23-10-2020 at 05:43

Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P  
Quote: Originally posted by zed  
Oh, most of us know quite well that Chinese glass isn't as good as the best American glass. On the other hand, sometimes we could buy a whole kit of Chinese glassware, for the price of a single domestically labeled flask.

Shipping to the U.S. was fast and dirt cheap, and some of the Chinese companies supply decent value.
Beautiful stuff? No. Usually not. But, adequate for the task, and I've broken plenty of the "Good" stuff too. Moreover, they have wanted our business.

I can assure you, most large U.S. suppliers have no desire to service our smallish accounts. Even when I was associated with a university, and we spent huge amounts of money, our U.S. suppliers treated us poorly, shorted us, and supplied merchadise of questionable quality.

Until recently, using selected suppliers, we could obtain goods from China quickly and inexpensively via Ebay. Now, to my way of thinking, that supply chain has broken down. Too bad.

Not everyone in the world enjoyed that advantage. We apparently had an attractive postage deal, and there were zero customs fees.

That was then. This is now. The world has changed.

[Edited on 18-10-2020 by zed]


I prefer to spend my money where I feel that it has the best chance of people and the environment not being exploited. I also like to be able to get in touch with the person that I am dealing with reliably. I like things that are well made and last and that if I damage them, they can be repaired, or have the best chance of being able to be repaired.


I see that analogy with grocery stores. You can go for Walmart low prices but the environment is usually less enjoyable. The employees are paid an average wage and often the store is not as clean or in a less attractive neighborhood and the variety sometimes lacking.
Conversely, a store like Publix many of the same products are priced way higher but the employees seem more cheerful, paid more with better benefits, and you don't see the occasional unhappiness of poor people or the more often crude behaviour of some Walmart shoppers that is so often is played out on youtube.
I've stood in line behind Walmart shoppers that have to try three credit cards before one works or in the old days waiting for women fussing in their purses for eternity to fish out the correct change.
It's money that insulates, money that provides. And all the other aspects in an imperfect world of too many people, declining environment, and not enough resources.