- Joined
- Feb 25, 2007
- Messages
- 8,361
Not meant to discourage you, Dick, just a heads up. It will serve you perfectly well assuming you can get it coated fully, and you don't incinerate. There are few, if any, chemically resistant coatings that are at your disposal that will tolerate the heat involved in incineration. Besides, how we learn what works, and what doesn't, is by experimentation. My hood evolved from previous mistakes, so hang in there.dick b said:Hello Harold:
Ouch!!!
I didn't see that arrow coming, direct kill to the heart.
Let me give you an idea what I'm talking about.
My first hood was made of fiber glass, which I eventually set on fire while incinerating polishing wastes. I was lucky. The flames didn't destroy my garage (and attached house).
That hood was replaced by one made entirely of asbestos, although not a great design. It was, however, instrumental in my final design, which functioned quite well.
Anyway, back to the first and second generation of hoods----my hot plate was mounted on a countertop of particle board, which, in turn, was covered with a sheet of 3/8" thick asbestos (Transite). After prolonged incineration, I would get the faint smell of burning wood in my lab. Only when I moved did I discover the source, although I had a strong suspicion of what was happening. Under the Transite, there was a round scorched area about the size of the pan I used to incinerate. It had nearly penetrated the particle board, at which time I have little doubt, I would have experienced a fire. Because the Transite covered the particle board totally,there was no source of oxygen.
My point is, even if you can coat your board, it won't be resistant to heat in a meaningful way. It won't burn, but incineration will destroy the coating. That, in turn, will allow HCl to rapidly destroy the board.
I have every confidence that, assuming you seal the surface well, and you don't overheat the board, it will serve you quite well. Be advised, however, that the slightest break in the coating will lead to rapid deterioration of the board. It might serve you well to put a few drops of HCl on a small piece to see the reaction.
For the record, even Transite had a finite life. Incineration kept it somewhat dried out, but anywhere I used Transite, the bonding cement was slowly dissolved, liberating asbestos fibers. The top of my fume hood had lost about 20% of it's thickness in the years it was in service (about ten years). There are other forms of asbestos that appeared to be more resistant. The front and back panels of my hood were made from a different formulation, and had totally resisted both heat and acid. I used material that was at my disposal, for when I built my hood, asbestos was already being rapidly removed from the market. I was lucky to get what I got.
Mean time, luck with the hood!
Harold