Has anyone worked with mercury in glass?

[RamblezMarblez]

I had a few ideas......Tomarro I'm going to encase some iron fillings I got in a science kit YEARS ago. It's for magnets to get those crazy patterns when there is a wall inbetween the force. 30 mins until GA big sale.....staying up until midnight to see what's poppen....:twitch:....Slick

[RamblezMarblez]

Oh crap....just check the site and the sale doesn't start until the 15th! I'm going to bed....

[richsantaclaus]

Watch out that you do not breathe in any fumes.... I'd wear a GOOD mask if I were you.

[Icarus]

Doesn't seem a like a good idea. (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10991)

[faded]

you're gonna go crazy, ... http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/mad-as-a-hatter.html

[Greymatter Glass]

I've sealed mercury in vials... I agree ventilation is important.

What are you trying to do?

[Primathon]

However you're working it, DO NOT breathe it in. A mask will not protect you; it's all up to your ventilation. Inhalation of mercury fumes is pretty much a one-way ticket to nerve poisoning, which is near the top of the list of "horrible ways to fuck yourself up."

[Kevin Bumble]

sweet!!!! tell us,what or how..... if ya can when your finished, :turtle:

[jusbag]

I think it's brilliant! Do it man!!!

[lucidvisions]

I wouldn't go near Mercury.

Josh

[weberglass]

you or your kids will probably pay the price for it. Doesn't seem like the kinda thing that can be justified playing around with in my book. make sure you let us know how it come out if you do it. But please do do it.

[ALIEN!]

what good could possibly come out of it that would outweigh the bad? Unless adding mercury to borosilicate glass creates life I'd say none.

[NUBBLET]

I think they quit using it for thermostats and shit for a reason , but hey could be wrong , Twitch420 .

[jiminyrootkit]

if you're gonna do it, you better have STELLAR ventilation. prep everything, add your mercury with a syringe or something equally controlled, and hold your breath till it's sealed.
mercury evaporates/vaporizes under normal circumstances, the more you heat it, the faster it goes to vapor......and you DO NOT want to breathe the vapor...you know, little reasons.......it kinda stays in your body for keeps.
-f

[dorkeedude]

I think you'll be fine if you have good ventilation. Gold fume can kill you too, and people still use it. Gold fume also stays in your body, unlike silver fume. Just be safe!

[Greymatter Glass]

gold salts aren't a fraction of the toxicity of mercury salts.

Metallic mercury is fairly harmless, i.e. you can get it on your skin and as long as you wash it off you're ok. It's the fumes and salts that are toxic. They form slowly on exposure to air, much faster with heat or acids.

There are plenty reasons to seal mercury into glass, lighting being the most common...but you have to know how it's done. You don't put mercury in hot or even warm glass, you have a very small tube to seal when it's time, and you don't mess around while doing it.

[Flaming Balls]

http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/mercury_glass.htm

Here's some cool antique stuff made with mercury. Actually I guess most is silvered but they did do mercury glass too

[Icarus]

Still, forever afterwards, you know that you're shop is contaminated with mercury.

[lucidvisions]

I can't believe it's even being discussed further. Maybe we could get some nuclear waste to encase, that would be cool and maybe it'd glow. But make sure you have proper ventilation, lol.

Josh

[Greymatter Glass]

Actually vitrification is one of the most viable options for long term storage of high level nuclear waste. The idea is you grind it up with a bunch of lead bearing glass and melt it, instant containment. This is being done on a massive scale, millions of tons at a time, in-situ, where giant silicon carbide electrodes are driven into the ground containing the waste and electrified with thousands of volts at MILLIONS of amps, and it turns the ground into a chunk of glass. It can then be broken up and re-processed with a high lead glass much more safely, remelted into blocks, and buried in the desert in a salt cave.

Glass is cool.

As for mercury...the use of small amounts when handled properly poses very little risk of any acute poisoning. It is considered an occupational hazard, if you work with the stuff on a regular basis, but otherwise it should be treated about the same as lead: a heavy metal you don't want to ingest or inhale the vapors of.

[lucidvisions]

Thanks for the info Doug, you always seem to have it. But will it glow?

Josh

[Greymatter Glass]

probably not, depends on the florescent minerals in the ground I guess.