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Alcohol Burner: the Glass Spirit Lamp with a Copper Wick Shield (Morfit, 1849)
A small glass lamp that burns alcohol for heating test tubes and small vessels on the bench. Campbell Morfit (1849): the glass body holds the alcohol; a round copper shield with a tube in its centre carries a cotton wick and rests on the neck; a minute hole in the shield lets vapour escape; a glass cap ground to fit the neck keeps the alcohol from evaporating.
Alcohol gives no smoke and does not blacken the glass. Sizes, and how the wick tube is fixed, are not given.
Source: C. Morfit, Chemical and Pharmaceutic Manipulations (1849), pp. 160-162. Picture: Fig. 115.
Beginner
Unknown
Instructions
1
1
Read Morfit
Read Morfit
"To the neck b is adjusted a copper circular shield c, with a tube in its centre for the passage of the wick, which should be of cotton, and similar to that used for tallow candles. The shield should rest upon, rather than within the neck, otherwise its expansion by the heat may cause the breakage of the glass. A minute opening drilled in the shield is also requisite for the escape of vapor in case the alcohol should become heated."
2
2
Make the copper shield
Make the copper shield
Cut a round copper shield a little wider than the neck of the glass body, so it rests on the neck and not inside it. Fix a short copper tube through its centre for the wick (ours: soldered; the joint is not given). Drill a minute hole in the shield for vapour to escape. Sizes are not given (unknown).
Materials for this step:
Copper Sheet1 shield
Copper Tube1 wick tube
Tin-Lead Solder1 joint
Flux1 jointTools needed:
Tin Snips
Soldering Iron
Hand Drill
Unknown Dimensions3
3
Fit the wick and the body
Fit the wick and the body
Draw a cotton wick of the tallow-candle kind through the tube so it reaches down into the glass body, which is the alcohol reservoir. Set the shield on the neck. Ours: a clear glass bottle as the body.
Materials for this step:
Glass Bottle (Clear)1 body
Cotton Candle Wick1 pieceTools needed:
Tin Snips4
4
Fit the glass cap
Fit the glass cap
Cover the wick, when the lamp is not in use, with a glass cap ground inside to fit the neck closely. It stops the alcohol evaporating and the wick taking up water, which makes relighting difficult. Put it on only after the lamp is out. How the cap is made and ground is not given (unknown).
Materials for this step:
Unknown Glass1 capTools needed:
Unknown Dimensions5
5
Fill and use
Fill and use
Morfit burns alcohol of about specific gravity 0.85. Always put the lamp out before refilling, then pour the spirit in gently until the reservoir is nearly full. The flame is hottest just below its tip; bring the vessel to it gradually, and spread the heat with copper gauze between flame and vessel for larger surfaces.
Materials
7- 1 shieldPlaceholder
- 1 wick tubePlaceholder
- 1 jointPlaceholder
- 1 jointPlaceholder
- 1 bodyPlaceholder
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- 1 capPlaceholder
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