----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 10:54
AM
Subject: paleonet deep mortar and
pestle
Hi Everyone,
Back when I worked for an isotope lab, we had a nice metal mortar and
pestle that was 2-3" in diameter and 8" long. It was heavy and really
crushed samples well and short period of time. Conveniently though, I
can't seem to find this crusher anywhere in the ward's catalog, and I was
wondering if anyone on here had used this type of mortar/pestle before for
their sampling? Could anyone tell me where I might be able to purchase
one?
Thanks! :)
Kathleen McFadden
Kathleen:
If you don't find what you want commercially at a
comparatively attractive cost, you may want to get something fabricated.
In a similar situation, I went to a larger welding shop, bought a short
section of thick-wall stainless alloy
pipe and had it welded onto a thick (3/4") square
of the same
stainless they had in a scrap bin. Fortuitously,
this shop also
had a 2" thick, 8" long piece of the same scrap
rod which closely fit the internal diameter of the pipe. The rod was heavy
enough that it could be used manually as a pestle or driven with a hammer
to crush samples. The cost for this was $75, though I expect it would have
been higher were it necessary to buy the pieces from a metals' dealer. You may
want to inquire about this with your university mechanical department as they
would either have contacts or the ability to accomplish all or parts of
the project themselves.
The only forseeable drawback here is that it is
difficult to make a seamless penetrating weld at the rod-plate interface so
you must be prepared to clean out any residue in the interstices and sieve
your material if you need uniform size results.
Regards,
Edward
Hennessey