I’m still reorganizing my crafting shed. Lots of table room opened up
the instant I placed my space heaters on shelves I created between
the studs for that purpose. Then I turned on the space heaters, and
I plugged in a clock-radio and was having fun all night listiening to
rock as I kept cleaning.
My wife offered me a left-over Mr. Coffee single-mug electric coffee
maker to take with me unto the shed to also keep me warm. She’s
wonderful that way
But if I am going to use the Sparex #2 pickle powder I have
available, I realize that is anhydrous sulfuric acid, and it will be
kept warm in a covered small crock pot.
I also realize from high school shop class that it is a very bad
idea to drink anything in the same room as volatile materials.
Should I nix the coffee maker in case vapors from the Sparex reach
the coffee? Or is there some reasonably safe distance to put the
coffee maker and the pickle pot, such as 8 to 10 feet apart (half
the length or the entire width of the shed)?
Should I nix the coffee maker in case vapors from the Sparex reach
the coffee? Or is there some reasonably safe distance to put the
coffee maker and the pickle pot, such as 8 to 10 feet apart (half
the length or the entire width of the shed)?
Don’t heat your pickle so hot that it has fumes.
Yes, food/drink should ideally not be in the studio/shop at all, but
nearly every shop I’ve ever been in did in fact have some level of
coffee/food in it.
Have good procedures, use separate utensils and have a defined food
prep area that’s as separate as possible.
I also realize from high school shop class that it is a bad idea
to drink anything in the same room as volatile materials.
Yikes! My studio is in my dining room - the soldering station on the
opposite end of the big pine table from the very computer on which I
read the Orchid posts. I am ALWAYS drinking something in this same
room as my pickle pot! Coffee in the morning and midday, wine in the
evenings. I thought it was the caffeine that intensified my petit
palsy, but perhaps it’s the Sparex #2?
Officially, safety demands that no food or drink shares space with
your lab or workshop. However, Sparex number 2 is sodium bisulfate,
not sulfuric acid. Here is a link to the MSDS for Sparex.
The coffee and pickle thing made me think of surviving an
apprenticeship. I seem to remember being told by one of the jewelers
to get him a bucket of steam and put it beside his bench. I was also
told by someone not to spill steam as I moved it from place to place
as it was very dangerous. What stories have you guys heard ? I was
once told to soak my hand piece in water over night to keep it
clean. This one is true: there was an older diamond setter in the
shop who used a candle for light and a fish bowl to focus the light.
The other guys convinced me that he would think it funny if I
slippeda goldfish into it. He didn’t. I learned a lot of french curse
words a 14 year old like me had never heard. He insisted his gravers
were made from broken fencing tips his brother sent him from paris,
some still had blood on them. Boy, was I gullible.Was anyone else as
dumb as I was? Also, if you rolled 18k out thin enough, you could see
thru it. Let me know if you were told similar things. Have fun. Tom
Arnold P.S. pickle gives coffee a salty flavor. Everybody knows that!
Regarding the pickle question - I have noticed my asthma acts up in
presence of pickle, and have learned here on Ganoksin it’s not
healthy for my tools either, so I keep it just outside the studio,
on a multi-strip with a lamp - turn on rocker switch on outlet strip
as I enter studio, step outside the door for warm pickle, flip off
rocker switch as I leave for the night; breathe easy and enjoy less
rust on my tools.
(As an aside, I once worked in an auto dealership where a service
employee was seeking damages for the ingestion of cleaning fluid - he
lost, even though he suffered serious injury, because HE had placed
the fluid in an unmarked Styrofoam cup, forgot, and drank it, against
shop policy. Hearing him croak about his damages was a good lesson
about food/drink in the workplace - if you’re gonna do it, don’t be a
dumba**!) Also, I’ve found coffee and pickles together give me
heartburn - others?
Blessings,
Sam Kaffine
in the CO Rockies, enjoying our first real snow of the year from inside
the cozy studio.
I normally keep my pickle pot and ultrasonic in my spare bathroom so
that the fumes and added moisture don’t rust my tools. Lately I’ve
been wanting to use the spare bathroom for it’s intended purpose
more, which brings me to my question:
Is there a good way to have the pickle pot accessible in the studio,
without the risk of ruste I’m currently using citric acid. Should I
even be worryinge
Also, if you rolled 18k out thin enough, you could see thru it.
Not true-- but it does have some relationship to truth.
24K gold leaf has been used for hundreds of years in illuminated
manuscripts by applying it to raised letters created in gesso. The
gesso is traditionally colored red, because gold leaf is so thin
that the color underneath it changes the appearance of the gold, and
the red gives it a richer look. Or so I was taught by the master
calligrapher I studied with, some 40 years ago. I believe gilded
picture frames are still given a coat of red paint under the gold
leaf.
I have my pickle pot in my studio which is large and airy,with good
air circulation. I use using PH down as my pickle. Not too far from
the pickle pot, I have a small glass container which has baking soda
and water which I used to neutralize things when they come from the
pickle pot. Lately I have been getting large white crystal like
formations all over the counter which holds the pickle and the
baking soda water mix… Also, from time to time there is a faint
smell which a friend tells me is something like the odor of freon.
Any idea what is going one Alma
Is there a good way to have the pickle pot accessible in the
studio, without the risk of ruste I'm currently using citric acid.
Should I even be worryinge
I use a Crock Pot as a pickle pot. It comes with a lid. I keep my
lidded pickle pot under my soldering hood. Problem double-solved.
I don’t think that you have to worry about much but you could always
buy a desktop fume extractors. The sell them on rio grande or on
stuller. I believe they have desktop ones that will sirt above the
pot. Of course you will have to check for clearance to make sure
that you can still work with it. I have one that has an articulated
hose it is flexble and works incredibly well. Let me know if there is
anything else you need.
I’m a great one for using items for one medium in life for another.
It all came to a head when due to a car accident I got a housekeeper
to help me. She thought I was a hoarder.
I could not bear to spend the $5 the local pet stores wanted for a
flimsey plastic kitty litter scoop. I got on oversized metal slotted
spoon for $1 at WalMart. The housekeeper would forever clean it and
stick it back in the drawer in the kitchen that held my utensils. It
didn’t matter how many times I told her not to do that, she would do
it any way. Husband and son if they needed a utensil would use it not
worrying about where it have been used until I reminded them of how
well she washed dishes (she didn’t). Now we have plastic spoons,
forks and other items.
Thanks everyone, for your feedback. I like the idea of having the
pickle pot just outside the door…
But since I really don’t want to lose the precious heat from my space
heaters to keep my shed warm in 25 degree below weather (or worse in
Northern Idaho) I’m not going to put it outside the FRONT door
I’m going to cut a small square aperture in my shed, in the wall just
under the window next to where I want to put my soldering station,
wide enough to admit a hand and copper tongs.
I’ll mount an outside shelf and put a warm pot on it. I’ll take the
square I cut, and remount it on hinges with a magnetic rubber gasket
all around.
That way, when I need to pickle, I can open the pickle door, bring my
tongs through, and look down through the window to aid in my
coordination.
I have been using citric acid pickle for years; it is in a covered
coffee mug. No rust on my tools - the only time rust rears its ugly
head is when water splashes on them. I’ll add that there is no
forced ventilation in the area and when the CA pickle is uncovered, I
do detect a sour odor. It would seem that whatever out-gasses from
the CA does not attack iron very strongly.
Judy in Kansas, where the house plants have been moved inside for
the winter. The jade plants are budding and will bloom soon!
That way, when I need to pickle, I can open the pickle door, bring
my tongs through, and look down through the window to aid in my
coordination.
Cool, huh?
Yes, cool. But in my single, individual opinion, way overkill. I’ve
had my pickle in the same space as my tools for years, with a
tight-fitting lid on it when it is not having things put in or taken
out, with no evident problem. It also sits pretty close to my
soldering vent (which, being noisy, is only on when I am soldering),
so that clears the air a bit as well.
Yes, cool. But in my single, individual opinion, way overkill !
Indead, I agree with you Noel.
We have to be careful with our products but this is a bridge to far.
If you work in a moist condition, tools will rust… period. Fungi
are far more dangereous then the gas you produce from evaporated
pickle. Keep your working area so you can live in it.
