The Scientific Glassblowing Workshop is a well equipped glassblowing facility specialising in the construction and repair of glass laboratory apparatus.

Equipment 

We have three glassblowing lathes of various sizes, two diamond saws, two annealing ovens and a number of other pieces of equipment to help us work with glass.

Our stocks include a full range of ground glass joints, stopcocks, screw threads and possibly the largest collection of glass tubing in Australia – a collection that has been built up over many years.

Almost all of the laboratory apparatus we create starts life as a piece of tube; we then manipulate this into the shapes we want, often joining many different sizes together, and adding joints and stopcocks where required.

We also have a small range of quartz tube with an extremely high silica content; it is very useful when you need to heat something to about 1000°C.

The glassblowing workshop is located on the ground floor of the MCS Building, near the north entrance opposite the Wilsmore/Tattersall Lecture Theatres.

Our glass

We use a type of glass called borosilicate glass. It has a high chemical and thermal resistance, both of which are required in all glass apparatus used in the chemical industry, while its working temperature is 1260°C and it softens at 825°C.

When a piece of apparatus is being formed, a certain amount of stress forms around the areas that have been heated. This usually increases as the glass cools, usually at different rates in different parts of the object. This tension can be viewed in a strain viewer which shows the tension in the glass as a range of colours.

The strain is then removed by annealing in the oven at 560°C. It is heated until almost softening and then left to cool slowly.

We use a oxygen/natural gas flame to work the glass and also use a propane/oxygen mix with the larger hand torches. A hydrogen/oxygen mix is also used with a glass tube cutter; it gives a very fine hot flame so that when we score the glass with a diamond-scoring disc, the glass then cracks perfectly on this line.

The typical chemical composition of our glass is: 81% silicon dioxide, 13% boric acid, 4% sodium oxide/potassium oxide, 2% aluminium oxide

The recommended maximum operating temperature for borosilicate glass is 500°C. When the temperature starts to get above this, the glass begins to pass from a solid to a viscous state, and strain can then form, thus weakening the glass.

It can also be cooled for use with liquefied gases such as nitrogen, which can reach a temperature of -192°C.

Anyone is welcome to contact Glass Services for no obligation quotes or just some good advice. Should we be unable to meet your requirements, we can recommend good competitive suppliers that can. Please contact Sarah Davis for more information.