A HANDBOOK OF LABORATORY GLASS-BLOWING
To my Friends
Eric Reid
and
Sidney Wilkinson
A Handbook of Laboratory Glass-Blowing
BY
BERNARD D. BOLAS
WITH NUMEROUS DIAGRAMS IN THE TEXT
BY NAOMI BOLAS
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD
New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1921
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. Introduction and Preliminary Remarks—General Principles to be observed in Glass Working—Choice of Apparatus—Tools and Appliances—Glass 1
II. Easy Examples of Laboratory Glass-Blowing—Cutting and Sealing Tubes, Tubes for High Temperature Experiments—Thermometer-Bulbs, Bulbs of Special Glass, Pipettes, Absorption-Bulbs or Washing Bulbs—Joining Tubes, Branches, Exhaustion-Branches, Branches of Dissimilar Glass, Blowing Bulbs, A Thistle Funnel, Cracking and Breaking Glass, Leading and Direction of Cracks—Use of Glass Rod or Strips of Window-Glass, Joining Rod, Feet and Supports—Gripping Devices for use in Corrosive Solutions—The Building up of Special Forms from Solid Glass 10
III. Internal Seals, Air-Traps, Spray Arresters, Filter-Pumps—Sprays, Condensers; plain, double surface, and spherical—Soxhlet Tubes and Fat Extraction Apparatus—Vacuum Tubes, Electrode Work, Enclosed Thermometers, Alarm Thermometers ... Recording Thermometers, "Spinning" Glass 32
IV. Glass, its Composition and Characteristics—Annealing—Drilling, Grinding, and Shaping [Pg vi]Glass by methods other than Fusion—Stopcocks—Marking Glass—Calibration and Graduation of Apparatus—Thermometers—Exhaustion of Apparatus—Joining Glass and Metal—Silvering Glass 55
V. Extemporised Glass-Blowing Apparatus—The use of Oil or other Fuels—Making Small Rods and Tubes from Glass Scraps—The Examination of Manufactured Apparatus with a view to Discovering the Methods used in Manufacture—Summary of Conditions necessary for Successful Glass-Blowing 80
Index 105
PREFACE
To cover the whole field of glass-blowing in a small handbook would beimpossible. To attempt even a complete outline of the methods used inmaking commercial apparatus would involve more than could be undertakenwithout omitting the essential details of manipulation that a noviceneeds. I have, therefore, confined myself as far as possible to suchwork as will find practical application in the laboratory and will, Ihope, prove of value to those whose interests lie therein.
The method of treatment and somewhat disjointed style of writing havebeen chosen solely with the view to economy of space without the unduesacrifice of clearness.
BERNARD D. BOLAS.
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