§ 34 Inserted Joints.
In many instances the performance of apparatus is much improved by joints of this kind, even when their use is not absolutely essential.
There are two ways in which inserted joints may be made. The first method is the easier, and works well with flint glass; but when one comes to apply it to soda glass there is a danger of the glass becoming too thick near the joint, and this often leads to a cracking of the joint as the glass cools.
Suppose it is desired to insert the tube B into the tube A (Fig. 31). Begin by reducing the size of the end of tube A till B will just slip in quite easily. With B about one-quarter inch in diameter, a clearance of about one-twentieth of an inch, or less, in all (i.e. one-fortieth of an inch on each side) will be proper.
Heat B by itself at the proposed zone of junction, and blow out a very narrow ring; then compress this slightly so that it forms an almost closed ring of glass. The figure refers to the close of this operation (Fig. 31, B). It does not matter much whether the ring remains a mere flattened bulb, or whether it is a solid ring, but it must be one or the other. Some judgment must be exercised in preparing the ring. In general, the beginner will collect too much glass in the ring, and consequently the joint, when made, will either be thick and liable to crack easily, or it will be blown out into an erratic shape in endeavours to reduce this thickness. Accordingly, the operator will, if necessary, thin the tube B by drawing slightly, if he considers it desirable, before the little enlargement is blown out. In general, two heats must be used for this operation.
Get the approximating parts of both A and B up to a temperature just below that at which they will adhere, and having closed the other end of A, place B carefully within it up to the ring, and if it can be arranged, have a mica wad in A, with a central hole through which the end of B can project. This will very much facilitate the operation, especially if B is long, but may be dispensed with by the exercise of care and skill.
The operation is now simple. Fuse the junction and press the tubes lightly together, being careful not to collect more glass than can be helped; finally, blow out the joint and reduce the thickness by mild drawing (Fig. 33). In order to make a really good joint, two points must be particularly attended to — the rim must be thin and its plane perfectly perpendicular to the axis of tube B; the end of tube A must be cut off quite clean and perpendicular to its axis before B is inserted. So important are these conditions — especially the latter that the writer has even occasionally used the grindstone to get the end of A into a proper condition, an admission which will probably earn the contempt of the expert glass-worker.
images/Image58.gifFig. 33.
Now for the second method, which is often practised in Germany, where soda glass is chiefly used. With this glass the chief point is to get a very even and not too thick ring at the junction, and consequently the extra thickening produced by making a rim on B is rather a drawback. The method consists in cutting off from B the length which it is desired to insert, slipping this into A (which may be an otherwise closed bulb, for instance), and then gradually melting up the open end of A till the piece of B inside will no longer fall out. By holding the joint downwards so that the inserted portion of B rests on the edges of the opening, a joint may be made with the minimum thickening.
The external part of B, previously heated, is then applied, and the joint subjected to a “general” heat and blown out. Very nice joints may be made by this method, and it is perhaps the better one where the external part of B is to be less in diameter than the inserted part. It was in this manner that the writer was taught to make glass velocity pumps, one of which, of a good design, is figured as an example.
In all cases good annealing should follow this operation. If the inserted part of the inner tube (B) is anything like an inch in diameter, and especially if it is of any length, as in some forms of ozone apparatus, or in a large Bunsen’s ice calorimeter, the arrangements for supporting the inner part must be very good. A convenient way of proceeding when the inner tube is well supported is to make the mouth of A only very little larger than the diameter of B, so that B will only just slip in. Then the mouth of A and the zone of B may be heated together, and B blown out upon A. This, of course, must be arranged for, if necessary, by temporarily stopping the inner end of B.
images/Image59.gifThe inner support of B should be removed as soon as practicable after the joint is made, or, at all events, should not be perfectly rigid; a tightly-fitting cork, for instance, is too rigid. The reason is, of course, that in cooling there may be a tendency to set B a little to one side or the other, and if it is not free to take such a set, the joint most probably will give way. Good annealing both with flame and asbestos is a sine qua non in all inserted work.