NYC Resistor

Oh god. That’s… that’s really what my voice sounds like, isn’t it.

I’m going to laser-etch my trachea next.

[...] The crew at NYCResistor conducted a series of “burnination” experiments to determine the chlorine content of materials before running them through a laser cutter. They confirm recent suspicions that moleskine notebook covers contain the PVC or other chlorinated plastics. Smart move – too often I’m left wondering, “how toxic is that?” after accidentally(or intentionally) melting/burning/exploding something. More info on their technique – How to Identify Polymers with Burnination [...]

[...] The crew at NYCResistor conducted a series of “burnination” experiments to determine the chlorine content of materials before running them through a laser cutter. They confirm recent suspicions that moleskine notebook covers contain the PVC or other chlorinated plastics. Smart move – too often I’m left wondering, “how toxic is that?” after accidentally(or intentionally) melting/burning/exploding something. More info on their technique – How to Identify Polymers with Burnination [...]

Oh yeah, I hear yah; it’s always disturbing to see/hear yourself (though I suppose you can get used to it with practice).

I see myself in pics or video and I’m always, omg, what dork!

Oh yeah, Chlorine; for extra credit in junior high science class, I made a quart jar of chlorine. My teacher, clearly, was an idiot.

When I aired it out after class, a huge mistake, I ended up with the most amazing headache.

If Chlorine is bad, Fluorine should also be bad. Thus, you probably shouldn’t burn/laser-etch Teflon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene

But, the question is, what will the flame test response be for Fluorine?

i love you, phooky. you are the awesome.

[...] been curious about what’s in your plastic?  The fellas at NYCResistor (a DIY group, not an underground insurgency) have a handy video to show us if you’ve got some [...]

PTFE appears to be reasonably safe. Fluorine is so electronegative I doubt our puny laser can pry it from whatever it’s currently bound to.

Phooky, you’re famous! And to think I knew you when you were a NOBODY.

here’s the chemistry basis… the copper ions from the solid copper wire combines with the freed up chloride (in the burnt plastic) to form copper chloride… which burns green:

http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/jcesoft/cca/cca2/MAIN/FLAME/CD2R1.HTM

also remember that a propane torch releases CO (ie: carbon monoxide) which is poisonous. If you get a headache while burning “safe non-PVC’s”, it could be because of the CO.

[...] we got the Lazor at NYCR, Adam discovered that Moleskin’s have PVC (not good) in the leather and lazering such a thing could be harmful [...]

thanks for putting this up, as a pipefitter/welder, I’m all the time put in positions where things around me get burned up, now I can at least test some of them to know what I should absolutely have removed before I get at what I’m working on directly. The air I breathe sometimes is bad enough, I certainly don’t need chlorine too.

GREAT info on keeping us from being dead! We’ll use this flame test here at TechShop to be sure no one kills us all in a cloud of Chlorine gas with one of our 2 laser cutters!

THANKS!
Lynne.

Hi.
How much would it cost to perform a burn test of some heavy cardboard? I need to determine the degree of scorching it will suffer if I use it to laser cut a design.

Thanks
Ernie

whoa whoa whoa wait i got these lighters from beijing that are shaped like olympic torches that light green fire….shit? or is something else causing green fire?

Never burn PTFE, it's fumes are cacinogenic, maybe fluorine?

No, don't worry – there are LOADS of different greens caused by various elements.

In those lighters they use a metal compound to give off certain colours. Vibrant green is nickel and it's compounds/salts, or bluey-green may be a copper compound. All the harmful stuff would be too expensive to put on a cheapo lighter. (E.g. Barium or Boron compounds.)

There's an admittedly incomplete list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_test

Hope this helps! Though you should have paid attention in chemistry at school…

Fluorine is correct. Which, with the available hydrogen in the atmosphere (moisture), will form hydrofluoric acid. It will likely fog up your glass optics. Don't burn PTFE.

Very nicely done. I have been looking up the data sheets, etc. This is a good quick test. Thanks! (I have a 35w Epilog laser) I wonder how SPECTAR plastic will react? It smells VERY sweet… and even a tiny amount will make you woozy… so it is likely VERY BAD to burn it. http://www.eastman.com/Products/Pages/ProductHome.aspx?Product=71002011&list=Polymers but you can heat form it very well.