I do plan on building one of these so I can provide images and flesh this out in more than a pure theory way.
A Glove box or Dry box is a controlled environment you can manipulate materials in. Normal uses are for air/moisture sensitive chemicals or biological samples, computer assembly, electronics, etc. This design only considers temp resistance and gas permeability. Sterilization should still be easy, but this is an anaerobic setup, aerobic work would require the addition of either a closed filtration system or a filtered air port through the face.
Option the CHEAP! and not so long lived?
To Make an Aquarium tank glove box you will need;
An aquarium tank*
An Acrylic or polycarbonate sheet sized to fit your tanks top.(leave the paper or plastic on it until all cuts are made)
2X 8" diameter pvc pipe slices you need enough to allow for the hose clamp + acrylic thickness +~ 3/4" they will be 1 1/2 - 2" slices
2X 8 inch strap hose clamps
Gloves. The insanely long sleeved gloves you need can be found as chemical resistant or veterinary gloves
weather stripping
Silicon caulk
2 plastic check valves or 1 and a good particle filter (hepa) and fan (radial)
A power strip
A grommet that fits your power cord
A replacement power prong for the one were gonna cut off.
Clamps or a mounting system of some kind. I think I will try magnets as I'm geeky like that.
felt or other cushioning material for both support and impact between glovebox and stand.
* 50 and 65 gallon tanks seem to be about the right size, but you can find a size you need since tanks are a pretty common curbside/garage sale attraction. Shopping results tell me a new glass 65 gal tank is 140$+ and an acrylic is 440$+. A new acrylic tank isn't worth buying its cheaper to order and assemble everything from Tapplastics or another custom acrylic place. Also this will work to modify a Storage container. In that case the arm holes will be cut into the side of the box, with a clear lid attachment.
* 8" diameter is what the labs use. this allows for a little more freedom of motion as well as accommodating all sizes of people. You can use 6" rings and holes, this will make finding gloves easier/cheaper.
A note about the plastics.
You will need to decide how much air leakage is allowable. If the answer is 0ppm you will need to invest in expensive gloves ~250$, good weatherstripping, and high vacuum curable sealant. It's likely you will need to seal and test a couple times to get down to a low enough leakage.
On the other hand if you're ok with a little leakage (from clean to 5ppm o2 in an hour) we can still keep the overall cost down.
Cheap gloves will be gas permeable, but the leakage is low unless your doing actual chemistry with O2 sensitive chemicals, and can be mitigated with a little positive pressure. Due to partial vapor pressures and osmosis you won't be able to get rid of all leakage if you have a permeable membrane.
For a 65 gallon tank an acrylic sheet 37"x19" will cover the top You will want to measure for the sheet for your specific tank to be extra sure. Measure twice cut once!. The standard glove rings are 8" diameter.
Glass is delicate and will not survive; impact, thermal shock, or lateral strains combined with the previous.
The face-plate is where most of the work is going to happen. You will still need to attach the other half of the mounting hardware to the tank in some fashion.
Unless you have an 8" hole saw lying around I really suggest paying the 5$ a cut for all the work it will save.
Buy your sheet, measure and cut the arm holes, air and power air holes.
Notice 1 air hole is up higher, this is outbound. I will be using argon a heavier than air shield gas.
Power hole should be sized for your grommet and power cable. The air holes are sized for the check valves your using. These can be drilled in, no 2000 dollar laser cutter needed.
Weather strip the edge of the tank
Any hole you put in the plastic will need to be sealed with silicon caulk!
Attach your mounting hardware. If you need to drill through the plastic remember there's never too good a seal!
To drill acrylic place a piece of masking tape over the drill site and mark it. drilling through the tape will give a better result. Cover any mounting hardware in silicon caulk, both to protect the seal and your gloves.
Put some silicon caulking on the stems of the check valves and insert them into the holes. Seal the edges down with caulk.
Cut the plug off your power supply, thread the grommet on and work the grommet up the cable an inch. Thread the wires through then work the grommet in. Decide what your doing with your power strip. Since it is attached to the door you want enough play in the strip to open the face and not pull everything attached out. Attach the replacement prong according to directions. Seal the grommet with silicon on both sides.
Insert the arm collars and seal them in place with the silicon caulk. Allow to dry thoroughly.
Once dry put the gloves in the holes and turn the edges of the glove collars back down around the rings, clamp in place with the 8 inch straps, or zip ties if your in a hurry.
Your glove box is now ready!
Put your project in the glove box, seal it.
Hook up your shield gas, start the gas flow. After several minutes the glove-box will be free of moisture and oxygen*, you can turn the flow volume down, but not off while you work.
*there are many many factors regarding this, flow rate, volume, partial pressures, placement of the exhaust, most lab procedures call for flushing the work space for an hour. Gas displacement would clear the chamber in only a few minutes, if in weren't for the pesky mixing of gases that's taking place the whole time.
Option the CHEAP! and not so long lived?
To Make an Aquarium tank glove box you will need;
An aquarium tank*
An Acrylic or polycarbonate sheet sized to fit your tanks top.(leave the paper or plastic on it until all cuts are made)
2X 8" diameter pvc pipe slices you need enough to allow for the hose clamp + acrylic thickness +~ 3/4" they will be 1 1/2 - 2" slices
2X 8 inch strap hose clamps
Gloves. The insanely long sleeved gloves you need can be found as chemical resistant or veterinary gloves
weather stripping
Silicon caulk
2 plastic check valves or 1 and a good particle filter (hepa) and fan (radial)
A power strip
A grommet that fits your power cord
A replacement power prong for the one were gonna cut off.
Clamps or a mounting system of some kind. I think I will try magnets as I'm geeky like that.
felt or other cushioning material for both support and impact between glovebox and stand.
* 50 and 65 gallon tanks seem to be about the right size, but you can find a size you need since tanks are a pretty common curbside/garage sale attraction. Shopping results tell me a new glass 65 gal tank is 140$+ and an acrylic is 440$+. A new acrylic tank isn't worth buying its cheaper to order and assemble everything from Tapplastics or another custom acrylic place. Also this will work to modify a Storage container. In that case the arm holes will be cut into the side of the box, with a clear lid attachment.
* 8" diameter is what the labs use. this allows for a little more freedom of motion as well as accommodating all sizes of people. You can use 6" rings and holes, this will make finding gloves easier/cheaper.
A note about the plastics.
You will need to decide how much air leakage is allowable. If the answer is 0ppm you will need to invest in expensive gloves ~250$, good weatherstripping, and high vacuum curable sealant. It's likely you will need to seal and test a couple times to get down to a low enough leakage.
On the other hand if you're ok with a little leakage (from clean to 5ppm o2 in an hour) we can still keep the overall cost down.
Cheap gloves will be gas permeable, but the leakage is low unless your doing actual chemistry with O2 sensitive chemicals, and can be mitigated with a little positive pressure. Due to partial vapor pressures and osmosis you won't be able to get rid of all leakage if you have a permeable membrane.
For a 65 gallon tank an acrylic sheet 37"x19" will cover the top You will want to measure for the sheet for your specific tank to be extra sure. Measure twice cut once!. The standard glove rings are 8" diameter.
Glass is delicate and will not survive; impact, thermal shock, or lateral strains combined with the previous.
The face-plate is where most of the work is going to happen. You will still need to attach the other half of the mounting hardware to the tank in some fashion.
Unless you have an 8" hole saw lying around I really suggest paying the 5$ a cut for all the work it will save.
Buy your sheet, measure and cut the arm holes, air and power air holes.
Notice 1 air hole is up higher, this is outbound. I will be using argon a heavier than air shield gas.
Power hole should be sized for your grommet and power cable. The air holes are sized for the check valves your using. These can be drilled in, no 2000 dollar laser cutter needed.
Weather strip the edge of the tank
Any hole you put in the plastic will need to be sealed with silicon caulk!
Attach your mounting hardware. If you need to drill through the plastic remember there's never too good a seal!
To drill acrylic place a piece of masking tape over the drill site and mark it. drilling through the tape will give a better result. Cover any mounting hardware in silicon caulk, both to protect the seal and your gloves.
Put some silicon caulking on the stems of the check valves and insert them into the holes. Seal the edges down with caulk.
Cut the plug off your power supply, thread the grommet on and work the grommet up the cable an inch. Thread the wires through then work the grommet in. Decide what your doing with your power strip. Since it is attached to the door you want enough play in the strip to open the face and not pull everything attached out. Attach the replacement prong according to directions. Seal the grommet with silicon on both sides.
Insert the arm collars and seal them in place with the silicon caulk. Allow to dry thoroughly.
Once dry put the gloves in the holes and turn the edges of the glove collars back down around the rings, clamp in place with the 8 inch straps, or zip ties if your in a hurry.
Your glove box is now ready!
Hook up your shield gas, start the gas flow. After several minutes the glove-box will be free of moisture and oxygen*, you can turn the flow volume down, but not off while you work.
*there are many many factors regarding this, flow rate, volume, partial pressures, placement of the exhaust, most lab procedures call for flushing the work space for an hour. Gas displacement would clear the chamber in only a few minutes, if in weren't for the pesky mixing of gases that's taking place the whole time.
Man, I can hardly believe the internet.... someone's always thinking of doing the same project! Did you finish this? I would like to do the same thing but think the toughest part would be getting the glove holes in and fitting in the sleeves such that it's airtight. I'm all thumbs! Any chance you can sell me your rig?? :-)
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