When I first started equipping my lab, I came across a gold mine on ebay (I knew I got lucky but only later down the line did I really just how lucky
I got) because I was the only bidder on most of the items. The seller told me it was all unused, he got it years ago before moving to the US, then he
came back home with 2 kids and no longer had the time for chemistry so he just wanted to get rid of it all. I got a 29/32 distillation kit for
something like €50 but I got this strange looking contraption for €80:
In the first picture, my hand is holding what appears to be an unpackable column. The column has a 29/32 joint so I assume this thing is for
distilling large quantities of solvent. The joint at the top of the column is for a thermometer adaptor but what is the purpose of the joint to its
right? On the left side of the apparatus theres a Graham condenser on top, then below it there are 2 vacuum inlet tubes connected to a series of tubes
with stopcock holes. Thats what has me confused. Why are there 2 vacuum inlet tubes? Maybe one is for nitrogen. I don't know what all these stopcocks
are for either, maybe to control the vacuum pressure and/or nitrogen. There is a 3-way stopcock that connects the upper vacuum inlet to the lower one.
What could that be for?
Also, because I was so appreciative of the seller, he threw in a few freebies, he threw in this thing:
but I have no idea what it is for.
[Edited on 12-5-2012 by mycotheologist]Lambda-Eyde - 12-5-2012 at 04:50
The first item looks like a combined Perkin triangle/fractional stillhead used for fractional vacuum distillation. It's hard to tell with the grainy
pictures. The second item is a... stopcock?mycotheologist - 12-5-2012 at 05:04
Yeah the second item is a stopcock but it has no quickfit joints so I have no idea what it would be used for. I'll take a better picture of the first
item.watson.fawkes - 12-5-2012 at 06:22
Yeah the second item is a stopcock but it has no quickfit joints so I have no idea what it would be used for.
It's for a permanent vacuum manifold. It would be sealed in place to the rest of the glass. There are techniques in the various
glass blowing manuals for making T joints in place, without being able to move the glass itself around, but only the torch. Such work has to be
annealed in place, and there are handheld polariscopes available for checking residual stress in such joints.
