The twelve 15 tech tips of Christmas
Happy Holidays, binder techs! The binder lab here at Asphalt Institute wishes you and yours joy and happiness now and in the coming year.
You’ve been extra accurate and precise this year! Because of that, you’ve generated lots and lots of quality data and reduced disputes, so we think you deserve lots of presents. So, we have compiled the BTN Tech Tips from years-gone-by for you to reopen and enjoy.
But why leave all the fun at work? We’ve even offered fun tips for bringing the binder lab home with you for the holidays! For maximum cheer, sing the italicized parts of this article to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
15 swabs a swabbing
Brought to you by the letter Q
In addition to all the amazing uses for swabs in the binder lab, these little wonders are perfect for painting on glue before applying the glitter to those holiday decorations.
14 tins containing
We can hardly “contain” our excitement
Did you know the 8-ounce tin you were going to scrape your PAV pans into can also be used as the perfect fruitcake baking pan?
13 Brookfields spinning
Product Review: Brookfield Rotational Viscometer DV 3T
Sure, go ahead and determine the estimated laboratory mixing and compaction temperatures for unmodified binders but where’s the fun in that? Haven’t you always wondered about the viscosity of figgy pudding?
12 beams not sticking
Product review: Lab Lease Paper
Nothing and I mean NOTHING will stick to this stuff. That means Bending Beam Rheometer Specimens AND sugar cookies.
11 clips a clipping
A collection of tech tips
Binder clips! We love them from marking the spot for your mass change bottles to clipping Christmas cards to a ribbon for all to see. There are two additional bonus tips in this box for you to enjoy.
10 cutters cutting
Making the cut
After you cut those separation tubes, unless you are in love with them, head out after the holidays and cut the darn lights off the landscaping. Your relaxation time will thank you.
9 pans a stacking
Building up
Counter space is at as much of a premium in the binder lab as it is in the holiday kitchen! Use squares of cardboard to build up, not out!
8 drills a drilling
Take the pressure out of aging
Show that PAV who is boss and build a nativity scene manger that will become a family heirloom.
7 crafters crafting
Getting krafty in your lab
Cover those lab counters with this miracle brown paper and never scrub again and then take some home, wad the heck out of it and just when you think you’ve wadded enough, wad some more. Now, flatten it out and wrap your gifts.
6 beams a parking
Decreasing BBBs by increasing BBS with a BBR BBP
This ingenious space saver can be used to increase the size of your BBR bath or pop a few fake poinsettias in the holes for a festive centerpiece.
5 ooooornery rings
Ornery o-rings
Save your manicure and apply the o-rings to your BBR molds with ease. These rings can also control the population of your holiday livestock: reindeer.
4 bottles turn
Rolling thin film awesome
Sure, an RTFO bottle is the perfect hack to hold a separation tube for its long dry sauna but have you thought about handing them out to your buddies and filling them with a micro-brew during that New Years day bowl game.
3 pipettes
Dirty BBR bath? Clean it up!
Selectively suck out binder bits without emptying your BBR bath or have fun with the kids decorating Christmas cookies with this 50mg pipet and bulb duo.
2 spongy tins
Spongeworthy
Quickly apply the perfect amount of release agent to those BBR end pieces, then present this to the cook in your family. Melt butter, pop in the sponge and butter those hot cross buns like a pro.
And a BactiZapper giving us heat
Zap to it
Flip it on and sterilize your surgical tools, heat your DSR trimming tool and last but not least, pop one kernel at a time to make the world’s most time consuming rustic popcorn garland.
TECH TIP
Magnetize
If your binder lab is equipped with an automatic ring and ball softening point apparatus, read on but you may not have endured the frustrating task of chasing balls around the bottom of a beaker with a pair of tongs like the rest of us.
Here’s how it usually goes: Fill your beaker with boiled, distilled water, drop in a couple of steel balls, place the softening point apparatus and filled, trimmed rings into the beaker and condition for a while. During the conditioning time, give yourself a pep talk about how you are going to snag those balls on the first attempt AND place them in the centering guides without mishap. But, when the time comes, like every time before that, those balls are harder to capture than the last pickle in the pickle jar.
Tech tip to the rescue! Grab an inexpensive, telescoping magnetic pick-up tool from any hardware store, pull those shifty little steel spheres right up the side of the beaker. Once at the top, easily grab them and place them in the centering guides with the tongs. Now, perform the rest of the test with a smug grin instead of elevated blood pressure.
- Mike Beavin, Asphalt Institute Technical Training Coordinator