With the lab almost complete, with much time and money from myself and ray.
I’m asking for donations of any pyrex glassware / lab glass.
Thanks
Look forward to starting classes soon
Did it get approved by the board in the end? Not seen any comms about this publically
What sort of glassware are you looking for, “pyrex glassware/lab glass” is very vague?
I have some I could potentially “loan”, but it would be on a “it has to be seriously looked after” basis.
The assortment of round bottomed flasks, beakers, etc, I have, runs into several £1000’s worth of glassware, I think I have closer to £10k worth, with the very “small” collection I have.
What’s needed more than others is volumetric measuring cylinder, beakers , bottles ,Perri dish and flasks.
Not things like redux condensers
Ok, that narrows it down a bit.
Could you manage with HDPE as opposed to glass, won’t break, and can still be autoclaved, plus would be a fraction of the cost of borosilicate laboratory glassware?
Sure stills prefer glass when possible for measuring and items that get hot / vacuumed
I just think you’re going to find it a little difficult to get folk to “donate” glassware, it isn’t cheap for a reason, and stock borosilicate glassware new is exceptionally expensive. One of the 2 litre round bottomed flasks I have costs about £50 from Rapid Electronics, for a cheap one, for the research rated glass that mine is, costs £500, and is made to order.
It might be better to approach this on a loan basis, and to provide assurances that equipment will be looked after, people are more likely to approach this for this reason, get involved, and see the space/zone grow organically. Following which, as the volume of people involved with the lab grows, you may be able to drive pledges like we have with some of the more expensive metalworking equipment like the mill.
Other option is finding suitable equipment on sites like bidspotter. Thought the quality of the glass wouldn’t be fully known
I don’t know very much about this stuff but I have seen that some reactions? can weaken the glass so buying second hand not knowing their previous usage could be risky?
1 Like
This is a reputable seller on eBay that I’ve known of for the past 10 to 15 years, these are an example of cheaper items available, and relatively well priced:
There is no mention of the plastic used when where or not use autoclavable and or come sterile.
Not too sound ungrateful ,this more have you got anything to offer donation whise
I’ll ask them for a manufacturing specification, and I’ll ask some of the lab glass suppliers I know of regarding donations.
Unfortunately I can’t “donate” any of my kit at the moment I’m sorry, if I’m in a position to be disposing of anything, I will let you know though.
You may start to approach organisations like Astra Zeneca, specifically the Macclesfield site, in Cheshire, and/or BASF, and asking them if they have anything they could donate. They’re usually very keen to support community projects, and they usually have mountains of glassware that ordinarily would just get chucked in a skip.