RE: New (old) bottle cap idea

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>

Mike, all:
As a science project back in Geek High School, AKA Bronx High School of
Science, NYC, I followed those instructions to the letter from the Handbook
of Chem and Phys.

It worked very well. Silver Nitrate, 28% Ammonium Hydroxide as I recall.
Distilled water of course. 

However,one super important caution!!! (Actually WARNING)
A by-product of this particular process is Silver Fulminate. Make sure all
precipitates, after the silver deposits out onto the glass, are thoroughly
dispersed with plenty of water and down your nearest main  sewer (EPA was
not a factor back then).

Because if the Silver Fulminate dries, it goes BOOM when struck. It's a
brownish, fine material. More powerful than Mercuric Fulminate which is used
in cartridge primers.

SAFETY First...really.

Ted



-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 2:33 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: New bottle cap idea


Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com>

Hi all, 
  Well, there is one way I know of to achieve a 'perfect' metal coating on
the
surface of glass.  I have done this to the inside of a polyethylene bottle
even
with acceptable results.   It is the age old mirroring process that has been
used for more  years than I could tell you.  It goes back at least to the
13th
edition of the Hanbook of Chemistry and Physics(CRC) and probably many years
before that.   
  It is probably beyond the ability for most to obtain all the necessary
chemicals, but for anyone interested, who has access to such, it would
certainly be an option.  One could mirror both the inside and outside of the
bottle and would have a decent cap.  It would no longer be a SW cap, but
rather
a Leydon jar cap.   
   The big pain would be the preparation of the glass.  It must be
scrupulously
cleand and then etched to insure good adhesion of the silver to the glass. 
    If anyone is really interested in making such a cap, you can contact me
offline and I will scan and send the instructions for it.  Of course, there
would be more to making a good reliable cap in this manner than just the
mirroring process, such and coming up with a way to insure a reliable
connection to the inside of the bottle, but I have an idea that would work
for
that as well. 
Mike