platinum fuming?

[smolder holder]

I just aquired a couple of grams of platinum and was wondering if anyone has had any experience fuming with it? Pics of results? What flame atmosphere?

Thanks everyone

[vetropod]

Sell it and buy some gold or lots of silver. Platinum has a VERY high melting point, so its vapor point is obviously even higher.

[hwcglass]

Years and years ago when I was making pipes, been lampworking for like a year or so, my buddy comes running into the shop saying that platinum fuming is the next big thing.

Four of us, broke and gullible, pile up in the car, drive that minute to the coin shop and split up a 1/10th of platinum. A 1/10th. Of platinum. Based on rumor.

My experience tells me that the only thing fuming from platinum is the moral 'a fool and his money are soon parted'.

I felt real stupid. We all did. Like idiots. Like don't tell your other pipemaing friends cause they all laugh for a month kind of situation.

But, we were all really new to glass. We were not that smart. The techniques could be there and I just don't know them.

As far as I know: save your loot, it's not cool at all.

Here is a MP search on 'platinum fuming (http://www.talkglass.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1541456)'

[smolder holder]

Thanks bm and hwc. Thankfully I had it given to me so I'm not out any loot. Oh well I'll stick to the good old gold and silver.

[Icarus]

Sell it and put the money towards a new kiln.

[smolder holder]

I heard that^^ yes I'm really missing my kiln should have held on to it until the new one was on my bench. Live and learn. Murphy's law strikes again lol!

[Alfred]

It's selling for around $60 a gram right now. http://platinumprice.org/. Still amazed how this always pops up again.

Platinum: Boiling point 4098 K, 3825 °C, 6917 °F (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum)

Platinum Fuming Thread (http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22482&highlight=platinum+fuming)

[smolder holder]

^^Yeah I saw that after I posted. Should have used the search function before posting a new thread (true with a couple of the threads I've started) gotta start doing that.

[standard28]

The one thing cool about pt is that you can seal cobalt glass around it and it wont crack. I do this alot for my work when someone needs an electrode to run through the glass. What I do is pop a small hole then fill with cobalt then pop another small hole. Feed the pt wire through and focus the heat on the glass and seal the cobalt completely around. I was thinking it would be a cool way to do some kind of glass vaporizer with a heating element inside glass.

[Waffles]

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[Waffles]

holy shit standard28, Thank you for sharing. I got a neon sign transformer and have been wanting to make some plasma. so far all i've done with the transformer is make a jacobs ladder with 2 steel mandrals and a kiln brick that can melt 3mil glassrod. I'm going to make a bigger one. I got a milling machine and a bottle of neon and argon. I'm going to attempt to make an aluminum vacuum manifold to fill the tubes, and I like the idea of making my own electrodes. Can this method be done with Steel? (I want to make my own nixie tubes!) Does the cobalt have a closer COE rate then clear? why cobalt?
Other metals I've fumed with that I'd recommend not ever trying cuz it's toxic as all fuck but I've had some interesting results:
Old pennies -the ones that say onecent on them from back in the day, they have a higher copper ratio. I've gotten some weird pinks and purples. very faint but looks real cool when backed. also a layer of silver first makes the copper stick better. these pennies encase well
New pennies- I heard there are all sorts of horrible byproducts off these but I tried anyway. I could get faint pink that would burn off and seems to dissapear when I encased it with dots. a lot of toxic smoke came off and i realized i minus well try fumin with lead. I've heard a rumor that someone was fuming with pennies and then setting the finished piece on top of a warm kiln and as the piece cooled off the bottom was a purple and faded to a blue on the top half, I still got to see it to believe it
lead solder - so I know of lead glass and I have solder laying around so I fumed with it, held my breath for ever, turned on every fan I have. It was splattery and didn't collect worth shit. maybe a tiny tiny tiny flame or a cool flame like one on a torch with a air compressor. I ended up with little balls of solder all over my bench. SOOO i stuck them in a gather and made a marble. it didn't crack and looks like some space shit. cuz of health hazards I'd recommend experimenting alone in the studio so at least you don't freak out any shop mates and if you do die from inhaling to much fumes at least you don't take your buddies with you. Those fumes are horrible for you so be smartish when fucking with dangerous shit. ventilation ventilation
ventilation. also make sure your ventilation exaust isn't being sucked back in through the fresh air vents. When i was a kid i thought i could smoke cigarettes out the window of my parents house but i didn't realize the return vent was right above my window and it would blow cigarette smoke evenly through the whole house.

[Waffles]

How do you delete post, I keep double posting things by hitting the back button on my browser.

[smolder holder]

I don't think you can delete a post. Just use the root menu at the top of the page to navigate back. Should cure your problem. Thanks for the fuming info and heads up waffles.

[davidwillisglass]

i think i remember years ago snodgrass telling me he had tried to fume platinum and had some sort of itchy all over, bad feeling reaction to it and recommending me NOT to fume it, maybe some other reason why also... ? just a recollection i thought i'd pass along.