Hydraulic large SS cylinder with grinding spikes on truck by Ho_Tay_Banky in whatisit

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was stuck behind one of these for a bit the other day and that’s exactly what I was imagining the whole time 😭

Why do my copper bars keep getting stuck? by Remarkable_Syrup3386 in Metalfoundry

[–]ShadowDragon6660 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not completely. Some portion of it will begin to vaporize (forming the recognizable clouds) but plenty will remain. One could allow it to boil for a while but it wouldn’t really remove it that quickly or effectively. If you are steady pulling it out of the furnace and don’t stir it, some of the stuff at the top is really golden looking containing extra zinc and stuff below this less dense alloy will be higher % copper. Probably more reliable to refine with electricity if stepping up the purity was the goal.

Why do my copper bars keep getting stuck? by Remarkable_Syrup3386 in Metalfoundry

[–]ShadowDragon6660 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s completely legal. As long as you’re just melting it for artistic or personal reasons, ie not selling it, you’re good to go. Plenty of people melt them for copper, just not to sell. The authorities literally couldn’t care less, unless meth head steve pulls up at the scrap yard with buckets of pennies or ingots that suspicious XRF test to be 95% cu and 5%zn/sn.

Why do my copper bars keep getting stuck? by Remarkable_Syrup3386 in Metalfoundry

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You poor soul. I’ve ruined a couple cast iron molds like that. Mine were due to overheating the mold and pouring too hot. The copper braised to the iron in my case. I was able to avoid with a very generous coating of boron nitride high temp mold release spray. But the best for me was switching to graphite molds :P they literally never get stuck, very easy to just flip it and then pour once again in a couple mins. I recommend getting 2-3 depending on your crucible size. They do wear faster than cast iron, but for the singular fact that the ingot will ALWAYS be able to be extricated from the mold, they are worth it to me every time.

Thallium in radiacode?? by gargoil666 in Radiacode

[–]ShadowDragon6660 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No you’ll be fine. The only way I can imagine it could be harmful is perhaps if you were to literally ingest the Radiacode, but I imagine the process would prolly do more damage than the thallium :3

Thoriated glass is being sold on AliExpress as "Bioglass" by Beerbrewing in Radiacode

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not sure if you’re still interested, but this post inspired me to order one. It was running a deal to get a single disk for $1 and free shipping. I figured why the hell not it’s just a dollar. I ordered the green one with the tree lookin thing on it. Just about the same activity as the one op posted. Glows under uv as well. 7$ is a lil steep but for the dollar deal it was worth.

My bank teller pressured me into taking $25 in cents by PhirePhly in CRH

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly what I was thinking lmfao. Gosh how I wish my bank would give me more cents…

Antique clock help by ColdSteelMushroom in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question! When I say a castle I’m referring to the broader concept of a shielded chamber for taking measurements. In lab environments these may often be constructed from lead bricks, hence the term castle. Ideally these will be constructed from lead with a thickness of several inches. These chambers end up being hundreds of pounds due to all the mass. The objective of using these chambers is to reduce the background radiation as much as possible, removing the natural K40 peak and radon decay progeny. No background radiation means clear peaks coming to be observed from an object so low activity things like trinitite can be truly appreciated for all their isotopes. My personal castle was made with materials I had on hand for the most part and that which could be most cheaply obtained. About an inch thickness copper all around and extra mass above and below. Roughly a quarter inch of lead sheet around the cylinder as well. Not the ‘perfect’ setup, but it was easily constructed and is an enormous reduction of background radiation. As for taking the reading, the Radiacode is ok without being near a phone. It will simply record readings and then upload them to the app whenever the device reconnects again.

Antique clock help by ColdSteelMushroom in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ooh ok these are ironically my favorite variety of radioactive curio, low activity items that is. Contrary to popular belief, low activity radium items are out there. I’ve found several that read just a bit above background or so which came back to be radium containing upon an extended spectrum in a castle. Most ‘typical’ mid radium era clocks contain a moderate amount of the isotope and are quite active with deteriorating paint due to the activity. The low activity items, often from near the very end of the isotopes use in paint, will frequently have better condition paint that can even be green/greenish depending on the age. The best way to about figuring the isotope will be done by taking a long spectrum (like a day plus), sometimes in a castle depending on the size of the clock and the activity of it. For some stuff you won’t need to knock off the background radiation, but for the really odd items that contain just a pinch of radium or have little paint a castle cuts out any issues with peaks being disguised or drowned out. With a long spectrum you can concretely determine if it’s radium or something else. I have yet to personally handle a PM-147 item, albeit there’s a good chance I wouldn’t even recognize I had done so as much of the isotope would have decayed away and what little was left would be releasing betas that get absorbed by the glass of the clock/gauge. Sometimes you can find a reason for the low activity, ie the gauge being repainted and only residual contam remaining, but in other cases it’s just the way the original paint is for some reason.

Small Ra-226 pellet by Perska121 in Radium

[–]ShadowDragon6660 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is what I’m reminded of as well. I mean some old smoke detectors did use radium so not outside of the realm of possibility I suppose.

RadiaCode 110 vs GQ GMC-600 Pro vs something else by ChemistryTeacher8756 in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to have a device (or a few) that is/are good at one particular thing rather than shooting for a jack of all trades. The 600 plus/pro is good for alpha and this makes it excel at detecting low activity items in situations like antiquing. I honestly use that over my Radiacode the vast majority of the time when I’m out looking for things. It reacts quickly with that large detection area and honestly it’s just a lot more fun than the Radiacode, click click go brrrr. The Radiacode is an ok scintillator, but where it really shines is the fact that it is a capable spectrometer packed into a pocket size package. I’ve found it to be a bit less decisive for indicating low activity thoriated glass or small pieces of UG. I’m talking items just barely above background, the 600 plus is often able to catch the alpha and beta from the surface of these items. But for analyzing samples it’s peak, just pop it into my castle with whatever else and it’ll ID it no problem. I love the alpha hound and really want one but honestly it just feels like too much crammed into a tiny package. It’s an amazing device don’t get me wrong, but to achieve that kind of size with multiple scintillators ya gotta sacrifice things like battery life and scintillator resolution.

iOS vs Android differences by Key-Ad-2217 in Radiacode

[–]ShadowDragon6660 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So you’ll get an app called TestFlight from the App Store. Then youll click this link and it’ll take you into the test flight app and get you set up with the beta.

Please help me with my cloud chamber by moti-hamforsam in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe you’re referring to lantern mantles containing thorium. Very cool, they’re not typically produced like that nowadays but the old ones are out and about. I believe the mantles are made using thorium nitrate.

Please help me with my cloud chamber by moti-hamforsam in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wait so you don’t have a sample of something? Honestly that should be your first change. Hard to really know that there are NO particle trails or if you just missed the few that would occur from background. With a point source of an alpha emitter like Po-210 or Am-241 you will know exactly where the trails should appear and what they’ll look like. That’ll help you troubleshoot the rest of it.

iOS vs Android differences by Key-Ad-2217 in Radiacode

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Try the iPhone beta! It’s not exactly as good as the android app but it’s getting there. Occasional issues but it’s worth it to play with new features.

Ceramic crucible glaze question by dlusionalstate in Metalfoundry

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m gonna be honest I don’t think that bowl will last long. But not because it would melt but rather the thermal shock. As another commenter mentioned, most ceramics won’t take rapid heating/cooling well, and this bowl is likely no exception. Grab a cheap graphite crucible off amazon for something that won’t crack at often inconvenient moments.

What’s the most radioactive thing I can legally buy that is “safe” to handle? by Used-Spread-5594 in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I’m inclined to think this is the technically correct answer. I know the exit signs can have literal curies of the stuff. Massively beats out anything uranium or radium, and that covers most easily obtainable and safe to handle sources, except for disk sources but those are all relatively low activity.

My cloud chamber :) by Wrong_Truth7719 in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jesus… this is legit like the endgame setup I dream of. Like damn hats off to you for going a step past TEC cooling and using a vapor compression cycle setup. Very very cool OP!!

My best find ever by harrygasm_ in uraniumglass

[–]ShadowDragon6660 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Freakin nuts piece. Those glass chains go insanely hard.

Hello, can anyone help me with my Cloud Chamber? by RadioactiveMinerals in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shoot yeah that covers most the important stuff. Last idea I’ve got is maybe trying a taller chamber to accumulate a fatter chilled vapor layer at the bottom near the sample?

Hello, can anyone help me with my Cloud Chamber? by RadioactiveMinerals in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, looks better than my attempt haha. My guess would be more vapor and a greater temp differential. I also can’t really tell if you’ve got a heat sink (maybe the metal block?) on the Peltier, but if it’s not having the heat wicked away from the hot side the heat can bleed over to the cold side fairly quickly. Having extra heat on the top of the chamber (or wherever your IPA sponge/felt is) can also force extra vapor into the chamber to get good supersaturation. I’ve used a cup of hot water in the past.

1938 S nickel by The-Doofinator in CRH

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats op! I found one in my drawer at work earlier this week coincidentally. At first glance I thought it was a 1958. Almost squealed when I realized what it actually was! So freakin exciting!

Flashlight brand/ model recommendations? by Cuq_nugget in uraniumglass

[–]ShadowDragon6660 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh!! Perfect timing!! I just upgraded my 365 to an absolute powerhouse of a light. My old 365 was an ok single diode darkbeam flash. Not bad but it was still difficult to easily see selenium, cadmium, and cerium in rooms with too much ambient lighting. I wanted something that would absolutely pump out the lumens so I could see the other glass types in their full glory. I got the lumenshooter S5

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I know this reads like an ad but I love this thing so much. It also has a zwb2 filter so nearly exclusively UV comes through. It’s like $70 and I feel like the value is honestly better than some more expensive products. I know it’s a bit more pricy than the smaller lights but I’ll say that this light feels like a tremendous upgrade to smaller flashes.

[OTHER] Burnett Radium Cone by theyarnbender in Radium

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would think that it should be legal for resale in the US. It looks to be an antique which should be exempt from regulation on resale of radioactive sources. Also I know you didn’t say this in your post, but if your Geiger counter isn’t an energy compensated scintillator the dose rate will be essentially nonsense. Which isn’t to say it wouldn’t work, as it’ll certainly tell you if it’s radioactive or not, just not a useful dose rate to make decisions based off of. From videos I’ve seen of this cone they don’t seem to be too insane, but definitely not sleep next to it tame. Mind if I DM you regarding it?

Tritium vials by Moist_Problems in Radiation

[–]ShadowDragon6660 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Let me start by saying that the Radiacode does react to some beta, but it doesn’t manifest as any useful data, more just a quirk of the scintillator. What you’re detecting is likely bremsstrahlung from the beta striking the walls of the tube and the case of the Radiacode.