Does anyone know of a place you can buy soda lime glass tubing locally? I don't want to wait for shipping if I can avoid it.
Yeah, I can setup my jointed distillation kit, but for tiny experiments it's nice to just bend a glass tube and fit it into a test tube. I found some
sources online, but the price seems high or the shipping delays seem significant so I'm hoping to find it locally.
Thanks!esquizete_electrolysis - 25-8-2024 at 10:52
It may be possible to find some glass tubing sold as reusable straws, but these are often borosilicate. If there are any glassblowing studios near
you, it would probably be worth while speaking to them.Sir_Gawain - 25-8-2024 at 10:54
I’ve made ampoules with glass straws before, and they worked great.
[Edited on 8-25-2024 by Sir_Gawain]bnull - 25-8-2024 at 11:26
Some art stores have glass tubing for, well, art.inanium - 26-8-2024 at 09:15
Thanks for the replies.
I contacted my local sci/chem supplier and they used to carry lime glass tubing but stopped because every shipment arrived broken.
I ended up ordering some borosilicate glass drinking straws off Amazon for about $6. There's a video from Cody's Lab where he melts borosilicate with
a MAPP torch, which I have, so I think it will work. I'm only trying to make a single bend in the tube for a simple distillation setup using a test
tube.Sir_Gawain - 26-8-2024 at 09:34
I’m pretty sure the straws I used to make ampoules were borosilicate, and they softened easily with a propane torch. Sulaiman - 26-8-2024 at 21:24
... I'm only trying to make a single bend in the tube for a simple distillation setup using a test tube.
I
can, with patience, bend a borosilicate tube
or melt the end just enough to soften the edges of a cut end,
using a domestic butane gas cooker.
A MAPP gas torch should be more than hot enough.
-
Making a bend is easy, getting it 'nice-looking' needs luck or practice.
-
Keep in mind, non-glowing glass can still be hot enough to BBQ skin Morgan - 27-8-2024 at 05:10
[Edited on 27-8-2024 by Morgan]Dr.Bob - 27-8-2024 at 10:08
inanium,
Where are you located? You asked about local sources, but that depends on where local is. As a note, I can get short pieces of glass tubing from
some scraps I have if anyone in the US wants some. Various pipettes also can be used as glass tubing, from Pasteur pipettes to volumetric ones.
Bobinanium - 15-9-2024 at 22:47
Located in Southern California for now.
I guess I should look into a proper glassblowing setup. It would be nice to make test tubes and other things from basic glass tubing. It's hard to
find time though. Every time I find something else to DIY, it just cannibalizes the time I have to do the thing I'm actually trying to accomplish. fx-991ex - 16-9-2024 at 06:19
Yes you can work small borosilicate tubes with a simple propane torch or MAPP torch for bigger thicker tubes(12mm/2mm thick).
