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Ask HN: Separating Two Glass Containers
Hi HN community! My friend has an interesting problem and I am hoping some engineering / hacking ingenuity can help. She has two glass containers stuck together, one inside the other, see here: https://ibb.co/5hwDR8P.
She has tried all kinds of things including: trying to separate them inside a water bath, greasing them, creating a temperature differential (ice on top, warm bath on the bottom), and even using WD-40. Nothing helped.
Any suggestions?
- r2_pilot 2y ago[flagged]
- armcat 2y agoNice! That was the first thing I did as well, ask ChatGPT. The only one not attempted from the list above is the compressed air method. Thanks!
- doormatt 2y agoCompressed air - shoot it down between the two containers.
- armcat 2y agoGreat suggestion, that's the one she hasn't tried, I'll let her know!
- mikewarot 2y agoSince you can get water between them, dump the water out of the top one, wrap the whole thing in a towel, and chuck it in the microwave, either they come apart, or not.
- ActorNightly 2y agoThose things are pretty strong, so using force shouldnt be an issue. You just 2 need reverse action pliers with rubber tips, stick one on either end under the lips and pry them apart.
- solardev 2y agoPut them both in the freezer overnight?
- rehto21 2y agoSurprised to see a reddit like question being asked here on hackernews. Water, soap, oil, compressed air etc will not work. Ask your friend to gently tap around the edges of the container that is stuck with either a wooden spatula or the back of a wooden ladle. Gentle taps in the direction of getting unstuck all around the edge of the stuck container. May require few minutes of tapping. Source: This has happened to me many times.
- nbernard 2y agoSeconded. In chem labs, it happens quite often that glass labware pieces get stuck together. The gentle application of a wooden mallet is the usual solution...