Uranium Glass Marbles?

[FrancoRob]

Yea, but my geiger counter can't read alpha radiation - only beta and gamma

Oh, so we still do not know exactly the quantity of real ionising radiations emitted, as the beta radiations are a consequence of uranium decay, and are less than the alpha... :-/

Well, I can't say anything more, after a general suggestion to give a look at these websites:

http://www.arpansa.gov.au/RadiationProtection/factsheets/is_rad.cfm
http://www.sea-us.org.au/sickening.html
http://www.npl.co.uk/server.php?show=nav.391

everybody is obviously free to act as he will. What is clear (to me) that these marbles are not really harmful by themselves, the health risk is a consequence of the total radiation that a person has absorbed due to different factors/sources; and this risky level is not a standard, but may vary from person to person.

And, as Dave says: peace :

Franco

 

[MarioMaster]

alpha isn't a big deal though, even something like a piece of paper will stop alpha particles

 

[rob n.]

There seems to be plenty of uranium "vaseline" glass marbles out there but I'm having trouble finding uranium crackle glass 1" marbles. Wonder if someone knows where I can get one. Using a UV laser to make it glow. Thanks.

 

[Alaskan]

Someone here made his own crackle urainium glass marbles, I am too lazy to go look through this thread how, but I believe either this thread, or another one has how to do so.

Edit: I found this for you:

 

[paul1598419]

Yes, dipping hot glass in cold water will cause it to crack. Might even shatter.

 

[Alaskan]

I was fairly sure that is what he did, either frozen into hot, or hot into cold ought to do the same thing, but perhaps one method may reduce the chance of shattering, or not?

 

[paul1598419]

Since water is limited to 100* C you really need to heat the glass and plunge it into cold water. I seriously doubt it would work the other way around as frozen glass would be ~0* C and the difference would not be great enough.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Someone here made his own crackle urainium glass marbles, I am too lazy to go look through this thread how, but I believe either this thread, or another one has how to do so.

I'm not sure which member crackled his own uranium marbles, but we used to do this with regular marbles when I was a kid.

We used the same procedure as in your link. Mostly worked fine, but every once in awhile one would shatter in the bowl.
You definitely shouldn't use them as regular marbles after being cracked, they're pretty fragile.

 

[paul1598419]

I still have a uranium glass marble that fluoresces readily when hit with a 405nm laser. I would never try to crack it as they are fairly difficult to find these days. Ten years ago these were much easier to find.

 

[nzoomed]

Ive been collecting a bunch of uranium glass items over the last 12 months.
I didnt know that a violet laser would make it fluoresce though!
I thought only a UV light made the stuff glow?

Also from a safety perspective, im assuming you would have to use a low 5mw laser for this, since there will be alot of reflection from the glass?

 

[paul1598419]

I typically use my 100 mW 405nm laser to cause my U glass to fluoresce. It hasn't been an issue for me. In fact, I posted a Ocean Optics spectrum of both the 405nm laser with the broad fluorescent band of light in a thread somewhere.

 

[nzoomed]

I typically use my 100 mW 405nm laser to cause my U glass to fluoresce. It hasn't been an issue for me. In fact, I posted a Ocean Optics spectrum of both the 405nm laser with the broad fluorescent band of light in a thread somewhere.

Ok that's good to know. I've always thought these lasers were much more dangerous. I've got a 50mw green laser where I've had the light reflect back in my face from shining on glass in the past and always been worried how dangerous that is.

 

[paul1598419]

If the thought bothers you, just un-focus your laser before using it to fluoresce U glass. That way you needn't worry even if it reflected back on you.

 

[nzoomed]

If the thought bothers you, just un-focus your laser before using it to fluoresce U glass. That way you needn't worry even if it reflected back on you.

I dont have a focusable laser corrently, but that will change with my first build.
I didnt realise they could be focused much like a flashlight.
I take it you need a violet laser, not a blue laser to make this work?

 

[paul1598419]

Really? I don't have any non-focusable 405nm lasers EXCEPT the ones that take AAA batteries. But, those are only ~$3.00 each on eBay. For $10.00 to $20.00 you can buy a 100 mW 405nm laser that does focus the beam. That's not a bad deal all things considered.

 

[RedCowboy]

I dont have a focusable laser corrently, but that will change with my first build.
I didnt realise they could be focused much like a flashlight.
I take it you need a violet laser, not a blue laser to make this work?

Be careful with those non focusing pen type 405's that they advertise as blues because they often do about 75mw and can hurt your eyes even though they look weak.

I wouldn't buy a 20.00 100mw 405nm when you can pull the end cap off your pen type and adjust the lens, 100mw of 405nm won't look any brighter than your pen type so save your 20.00 towards a BDR-209