Plumb bob

[steamer]

My friend, a Gun Smith, had a mason jar full of it, for deleading barrels.....always made me nervous to see that much of it....it was half full!


Dave

 

[cidrontmg]

Any dental supply house will sell you mercury, it´s still used in dentistry. It´s not even very expensive (??? - that´s relative, of course). Keep it in a tight bottle... ;D

 

[Maryak]

My friend, a Gun Smith, had a mason jar full of it, for deleading barrels.....always made me nervous to see that much of it....it was half full!


Dave

If ya wanna see mercury, have a gander at an old lighthouse. The lamps rotated in mercury baths. At the maritime museum where I used to work there is 2 tons of it under the lamp of the display lighthouse.

http://www.history.sa.gov.au/maritime/lighthouse/lighthouse_history.htm

Best Regards
Bob

 

[terrywerm]

Very true about the mercury bearings in the old lighthouses. The lens and lamp assembly actually floated on a mercury bearing. The reason for this was quite simple: Every lighthouse was set up to flash it's light at a specific speed. In this manner an observer could identify the light by determining the number of seconds between flashes referring to a chart that listed all of the lighthouses and their assigned flash rates. This was useful in determining one's position in relation to the coast. Anyway, clockworks were used to rotate the lights, and maintaining accurate flash rates relied on the light rotating with as little friction as possible, thus the mercury bearings.

 

[PerryRT]

Mercury is also not too hard to find in the clock restoration field (for pendulums).

The hard part is SHIPPING it. The only time I bought some, I had to drive half way and pay for the gas for both of us.

However, where there's an Internet, there's a way.

 

[Omnimill]

I've got a couple of small bits of Tungsten Copper rod which is pretty heavy, reckon that would make a nice plumb bob if you can get it!

 

[tattoomike68]

I have a bottle of mercury stashed away that I got from my step dads stuff when he died. He used it when he was into panning gold.

I dont want to get rid of it till I find out if it has gold in it. ;D

 

[Troutsqueezer]

A show of hands - anyone ever make their version of the plumb bob?

 

[shred]

I have a bottle of mercury stashed away that I got from my step dads stuff when he died. He used it when he was into panning gold.

I dont want to get rid of it till I find out if it has gold in it. ;D

It'll be lumpy if there's a significant quantity of gold in it.

But fun to play with in any case.

 

[tel]

I have a big lump of that 'Black Hole' stuff, but the bandsaw won't cut it for some reason

 

[bearcar1]

I have a big lump of that 'Black Hole' stuff, but the bandsaw won't cut it for some reason

Well that's the problem Tel ol' buddy, to cut a 'black hole' you need a .............

(wait for it now)........................ HOLE SAW. *oh groan* :big: