Free Deluming service

Gamma & Neutron Radiation Sources for Geiger counter checks

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Free deluming service, removing radium based lume from watch hands and clock hands. All you pay is the post.

We can remove radioactive lume from your equipment free - no catches.

You want safe kit, We need old lume to make "check sources"

Our business involves making small, safe radioactive sources for amateur enthusiasts - typically for testing home made geiger counters or carrying out other experiments which involve small amounts of radioactive material, safely encapsulated.

The radium lume used on watches, clocks and bubble sextants (especially Bauch & Loame, Bendinx & Pioneer) and certain compasses (Astro) from the 1920's until the mid 1960's is typically an issue for private collectors as well as being ideal material for us.

We offer a remarkably simple solution which helps up both. If you send any parts that require deluming in a recorded delivery letter (or small packet / parcel in the case of sextant parts), along with a return SAE (again we would suggest recorded delivery), we will provide a free, typically two-day (excluding bank holidays and weekends) cleaning and de-luming service.

In the case of bubble sextants, please ONLY send the part which holds the radium paint - do NOT send the entire instrument. As some units are particularly "hot" we suggest wrapping the metal piece that holds the "ring of radium paint" in thick lead sheet - any local roofing company will usually sell you £5 worth of lead if you ask them nicely. Then get a decent sized cardboard box and use packing (bubble wrap etc), get the item in the middle of the parcel if possible.

The process we use involves a sealed ultrasonic tank on a "shake table", filled with a blend of solvents including acetone, xylene, toluene, isopropyl alcohol and dichloromethane which then uses cavitation to strip away the old lume. This process is repeated twice and then a final isopropyl alcohol rinse is given before the hands are dried and returned to their vial / container. There is NO abrasive cleaner used at all so your hands will not be damaged.

Alas as the solvents are extremely effective in dissolving almost everything, we cannot offer the service for clock / watch faces UNLESS you are planning on completely re-painting them - they will almost certainly come back as clean blank pieces of metal with no writing or paint on them at all. Of course, if this is something you would like (perhaps before completely re-painting a damaged face), then we will be delighted to help you.

We will also gladly accept any old faces / hands / lumed parts that you simply do not want any more - in this case we provide a free safe and environmentally responsible disposal choice and there is no need to use either registered post, or enclose an SAE - unless you want a written and signed confirmation that you have disposed of them responsibly.

We hope this offer is of value to yourself - please DO speak with us beforehand before sending any particularly valuable or fragile item. Although our cleaning method is physically gentle, we would not wish to try to process a very fine hand that is so delicate that simply holding it without damaging it, is difficult. This is not a service for irreplacable high value timepieces. It's great if you have assorted hands, crowns, and other lumed items that want returning without any lume (and possibly without any paint)

If you know of any other people in the profession who might find our free service useful, it would be a great kindness if you would please pass our details on.

Very many thanks.

Mark