Re: Stereomatic cord and stopping dust!

[P3D Dave Huddle <jhuddle@xxxxxxx>]

Bob Wier said:

> On anti-static brushes, some of us olsters will remember the "Static
> Master" brush. You may still occasionally see these especially in estate
> sales, etc of darkroom equipment. The downside is that they incorporated
> a radioactive coating (behind a grill) of "Polonium (sp?". The life span
> on this was rated as something like 5 years, which I'm not sure was
> the half life of the isotope or of the bristles :-)
> 
> Mine still seems to work reasonably well (at 20+ years of age). Depending
> on how nervous you are about radiation, this could also be something
> to look for. (Right offhand, I'd think if you don't cut or abrade the
> strip so you don't breath it, you'd be close enough to it so rarely 
> to cause any problems that the danger would be small - I seem to recall
> they suggested not to let it sit on top of an unexposed film pack, but
> I never saw any suggestion that it would fog film - I'm assuming that
> it emitted alpha particles which don't penetrate well). Any nuclear
> types on the list?
 
Be careful of those "Static Master" brushes!!   I bought one about 20
years ago, and since then most of my hair has fallen out, my red beard
has faded to white, and I have to wear trifocal contact lenses to see
my computer screen.  Those radioactive brushes are obviously very
dangerous! ;)

Dave huDDle		


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