nickvc said:
Mike I have used large plastic buckets throughout my refining life and find them very useful but they have limitations and can decay and split so stay aware of any likely breakages or brittleness.
For use in dissolutions I'd stick to glassware preferably proper lab ware as they take the heat and they allow you to see what's happening just keep them clean and scratch free for precipitations. If your using AP or cementing then buckets are fine and free up your lab ware for other purposes, metal handles are prone to fail, usually at the most inapropriate moment, so remove them or get buckets or containers with plastic handles and if they have lids make sure gases produced can escape.
I use canning jars for dissolving. I use the heavy wall canning jars like Kerr or Ball Bros. They are tough and can take high heat. They are designed for temps up to 250 degrees. When your canning and using a pressure cooker the temp can get that high. They will also stand considerable vacuum. I use them with my Buchner funnel and they take 15" vacuum with no problems at all. Plus, I got about 30 of them for free from my mother-in-law. With them you want to avoid sudden thermal shock though. Put them in the water before turning on the hotplate and let them warm up with the water.
I bought four 1500ml beakers on ebay for $15 with free shipping. I have 1 left. The brand I got (Kimax) is not near as tough as the Pyrex brand.
The 3 gallon white paint bucket at HD is great for the copper dropping if a large amount. For amounts under 10 oz I use their 1 gallon blue paint bucket.
I do like to decant the top part of the cement solution to a plastic bucket and the rest into a beaker. I filter what is in the plastic bucket then rinse the filters into the beaker. Then I start rinsing what's in the beaker.
Mike
