SIMPLE SODIUM PRESS M. W. PARKER
AND
C. E. WHITE
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
S
OME of the sodium presses listed in the apparatus catalogs for twenty-five or thirty dollars are of fragile construction and easily broken. The one described here can be obtained a t any machine shop for about two dollars and a half and is extremely durable. The accompanying diagram is self-explanatory. The piston and cylinder are of the usual type with the exception that the extrusion hole is bored in the side of the cap instead of the bottom. This permits its use in an ordinary vise, the jaws of which open wide
enough to accept the extended piston. The authors use one purchased for about five h i dollars. Cylinders of greater diameter may be used and caps provided with holes of different size and shape. A small hydraulic press may be employed instead of the vise. It might be noted that a loose-fitting piston is preferable to a tight one; the sodium 6Us in the space and prevents binding on the cylinder wall. This allows the piston to be removed much more readily than when it is too tight. I-- 1-.
