6 Can Tube Cooler

Fishing the North Coast: Razor clams - A North Coast tradition

Digging razor clams has been a deep-rooted tradition on the North Coast for generations. Not only are they delicious, it is a true family sport that can be enjoyed by the young and old alike. All that's required is a clam shovel or clam tube, a sack to hold your clams, and a fishing license. Living in Humboldt County, we are extremely fortunate to have two of the best beaches in all of California, Clam Beach and South Beach in Crescent City.

My first experience at clam digging was a couple years ago on South Beach in Crescent City. I didn't have a real good idea of what I was doing and only dug a couple clams. That day left a sour taste in my mouth and I wanted to give it another shot to see if I had what it takes. When John Corbett of Eureka's Pacific Outfitters invited me to go with him to Clam Beach last Thursday, I jumped at the chance. We arrived at the beach at 6 a.m., about a half hour before low tide, and changed into our boots and waders and made the hike to the water. After reading and writing about all the fantastic clamming we've had this year, I envisioned a beach that would be elbow to elbow. But that wasn't the case. On this day, there were maybe 100 other diggers spread from Strawberry Creek north to Little River. There was plenty of room for everyone to spread out, which was not the case on my first trip out of Crescent City. Once we waded out to one of John's favorite sandbars, he gave me a quick refresher course on what to look for, and then it was off to the races. Just about every fifth tap produced hole or dimple in the sand, which is an indicator that a clam has withdrawn its neck and started to dig. Within 30 minutes, we each had our limit of 20 clams. It's truly a great day when you can dig and clean 20 clams and still be on time to work.

Clam digging made simple

While tapping the handle end of your shovel, look for a "clam show" where a clam has withdrawn its neck or started to dig, leaving a hole or 3. Keyhole: this is usually in drier sand areas and is shaped like an "hour-glass" or is a hole with very distinct sides.

It's best to look for the larger sized holes, which are about the size of a quarter. This sometimes indicates the clam will be larger, but not always. Clams will also show at the edge of the surf line when you pound the beach with a shovel handle or your feet. You'll need to dig fast when digging in the surf as razor clams dig faster in the soft, wet sand.

The Melting Point Experiment Part 2 (Laboratory Manual)

OPERATION OF THE FISHER-JOHNS APPARATUS

1. Don’t assume that the unit is cold. That is a good way to get burned.

2. Keep your grubby fingers off the cover slides. Use tweezers or forceps.

3. Place a clean round glass cover slide in the well on the hot stage . Never melt any samples directly on the metal stage. Ever!

4. Put a few crystals on the glass. Not too many. As long as you can see them melt, you’re all right.

5. Put another cover slide on top of the crystals to make a sandwich.

6. Set the voltage control to zero if it’s not already there.

7. Turn on-off switch to ON. The light source should illuminate the sample. If not, call for help!

8. Now science turns into art. Set the voltage control to any convenient setting. The point is to get up to within 20° C of the supposed melting point. Yep, that’s right. If you have no idea what the melting point is, it may require several runs as you keep skipping past the point with a temperature rise of 5 -10° C per minute. A convenient setting is 40. This is just a suggestion, not an article of faith.

9. After you’ve melted a sample , let it cool, and remove the sandwich of sample and cover slides. Throw it away! Use an appropriate waste container.

10. Once you have an idea of the melting point (or looked it up in a handbook, or you were told), get a fresh sample, and bring the temperature up quickly at about 5-10°Cper minute to within 20 ° C of this approximate melting point. Then turn down the voltage control to get a 2°C per minute rise. Patience!

11. When the first crystals just start to melt , record the temperature. When the last crystal just disappears, record the temperature. If both points appear to be the same, either the sample is extremely pure, or the temperature rise was too fast.

12. Turn the on-off switch to OFF. Now set the voltage control to zero.

13. Let the stage cool, then remove the sandwich.

The Thomas-Hoover apparatus (Fig. 36) is the electromechanical equivalent of the Thiele tube or open beaker and hot oil methods (see "Using the Thiele Tube"). It has lots of features, and you should look for the following.

Proceedings of the Twentieth International Cyrogenic Engineering Conference, (ICEC 20), Beijing, China, 2004

Your Home Cooling Energy Guide

Cryocoolers 12

Proceedings of the 19th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference

Applications of superconductivity