Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Recommended Posts

A friend has just moved into a new workshop and has inherited from the previous owner (who repaired barometers) a couple of bottles of mercury, about 1/4 of a pint. Is it valuable and does anyone know who's likely to be interested in it? There's no provenance or documentation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi sam- i would like it if its not worth too much! seriously - i love the stuff... let me know when he finds out the value :) not sure how easy it would be to try to buy elsewhere so please let me know ! thanks :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sam
Mercury is a heavy metal, and it is some of the causes of cancer amonge other things.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE IT, PLEASE WEAR PROTECTION GEAR. IT CAN BE ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN.

It is one of the things that people was trying to get out of the gound and streams, but now the light buld industrey is using it in the new save energy bulbs. Rember they was trying to get rid of flouresent light bulbs because of the mercury that they containd. The new energy savers has 4 times as much mercury in them as flouresents.

Mercury is still used in prospecting. If you know of places that sell prospecting equipment, they might have some on hand. It is not very expencive.

LeeRoy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So did I many years ago Sam it was the highlight of otherwise boring chemistry lessons :D

My step son wasn’t so lucky though, he and a friend stole a flask of mercury from the school lab and played with it around the school during the lunch break. Once the teachers found out the school was evacuated and all soft furnishings carpets chairs etc had to be removed and replaced by a firm of hazardous materials specialists. They were lucky not to get expelled. Times change eh… ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a child we used to go to my grandparants place and play with mercury.
We would push it around pick it up with our hands ect the eat fried chiken with out washing our hands.

Several years ago in Minnesota some kids broke into a buisness stole some mercury then took it home to the trailer park. They brought in a hazmat clean up crew and had the trailer park closed for weeks until they finished the clean up. I think it was only a few OZ of mercury

Times have changed
Of course I remember 28 cent a gal gas and once bought a 25# little giant hammer for $5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25lb LG for 5... i only wish... wow


mercury is quite interesting.. and i thought it was gettin harder and harder to get..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease



i also remember a particular school teacher putting it on her desk and showing the class how it balled up and rolled around.....

Sam... i'd tell your friend to make sure his shop is very well ventilated

oh.. and never ship the stuff by air... mercury loves aluminum


take care
Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My googling is not real clear but seems to suggest that the type mercury that you have (pretty pure but no lab type certification)would be worth somewhere around $6 to $7 per pound or less. It's a problem to ship so best to find a local buyer. Some specialty scrap dealers will buy it. Craigslist or a similar venue might be a good solution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a friend who's dad makes daguerreotype photographic images. A polished and prepared silver plate is exposed then developed with mercury to show an image. Traditionally the mercury was heated to vaporize, the vapor would condense on the silver to develop the image. He was using a vacuum process to increase the relative concentration of the mercury vapor at much lower temperatures, IIRC: room temperatures.

Slick things have been done with mercury, but care in handling is very important.

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i must say we all used to play with it at school too...:) another thing i can say about it is that not that long ago my 4 yr old bit the end off a beer themometer , glass mercury and all..... so i phoned NHS direct straight away in a panic, ( which is uk version of instant phone doctor) and i was assured that contrary to popular belief it is only dangerous when breathed in vapour/fume ,and swallowed like she did would simply go straight through her.. and she came to no harm thank goodness. so all that rolling it around in your palm is apparently not so bad as we were told... probably not ideal to drink it non the less :) sam i would still like it if its easy enough to post!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still trying to get hold of him, I'll pm you when I've spoken to him. I don't think it's postable... It weighs a ton (when I first tried to pick up the bottle I thought it was stuck to the shelf!). Ludlow's not too far from Gloucestershire; if it's any help, I occasionally go to Ledbury.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mercury is very dangerous but its mainly the vapour that gets you. Its a heavy metal and really affects your central nervous system when inhaled or absorbed through the skin, to a lesser but still significant extent). Its use in laboratories is strictly controlled and any spill is treated with great respect.

Sure we used to roll it around in our hands when we were kids but here we are hittin hot steel instead of sending rockets to Jupiter.

Take all the warning seriously!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remeber reading a outdoor life adventure book when I was in 5th grade.
There was a mountain lion terrorizing the country and the hero of the story drilled out his bullets filled them with mecury and capped them with wax.

I always remember that when someone tells me mercury is dangerous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I worked in a lab we had a mercury spill kit that consisted of a vaccuum pump that sucked the spill into a water filled jar where it was kept until disposal. The water prevented the release of mercury vapours. We finally switched over to alcohol thermometers with the exception of our calibrated reference thermometers which were only used occasionally for standardization and verification of the alcohol thermometers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pulled this off the web.

Other physical properties:

Mercury freezing point: -38.72 degrees C

Mercury boiling point: 357 degrees C

Mercury density 13.6

So mercury vapor will not occur until it reaches 357C.?

Maybe some mechanical thrashing could produce vapors?

Mecury doesn't sound that vaporous to me. ?? is it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There will almost always be some vapours. The boiling point is where all the mercury would be vapourized.

You can relate it to humidity in the air. The water isn't 100 degrees celcius(or whatever the boiling point is for the elevation/pressure of your location) yet there is always some humidity in the air.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the Exploratorium in San Francisco they had one exhibit that used mercury. The display had a tub that was about 24" IIRC that was filled with mercury. The tub had a motor to spin it, and as you turned up the rheostat it slung the mercury out by centrifugal force. What that did was change the shape of the mirrored surface of the mercury, and the image of you as you looked into it. Must have been at least 100# in that display.

You can check the spot metal prices for value. It is usually listed for a 76# flask. I have a few pounds that I have salvaged out of switches, etc over the years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...