Australia's Science Forum

We have some old burnt out ones ... I was wondering how to make my own ...
I do have some glass to use but not capillary glass ??
Do you have to use nichrome wire ??

Appreciate any handy hints and tips ..

Cheers

I have used nichrome wire as that is what I had and it is also what they make the purchased ones from. I'm not sure what else you could use. I use the capillary tube as it is easy to slot the wire into the hollow section. Sometimes, you are able to just pull out the old wire and re-use the glass handle. The other option is to buy the handles and use your "home made" loops which are cheaper than buying.

To make the loop, I wrap the wire around a skewer, then twist it around. This helps to make a nice loop.

Hope this helps.

We purchased a new set of inoculating wire loops recently (they were pretty cheap), and rather than attach them onto glass handles the teachers requested that I give them corks to use as handles. Much easier for me to make up! Just stick the straight end of the wire into the cork securely and voila!