What a pitty and a pain when a retort break (even if I feel absolutely detached about)... and thinking af all these broken retorts during centuries by alchemists and chemists, but at that time retorts where really easy to find.
For the little story, it was a big retort, 1.5 liter almost, nicely blown, not a "lab one" (you know, these pitty quality retort, in boroglass, where you have to push and push again your fire in order to make it spit a low quality distillate ... pff "modern" times ... a retrogradation !!), so I put my almost pure Spiritus Vini in it, on liter was in, a "crack", the bottom suddenly open, all the S.V go on the floor. I hear your alchemical scream from here haha ! Only a quart of the S.V could be rescued, and will have to be distillated again. Well I offer generously the evaporated S.V to Hermès. It was just two month of work. Yes two, because I distill with teapot candles at low T° (well, the way it should be in fact, the longer the better :) ).
I gave 3 phone calls to 3 different "glass blowers", and "no, I don't do that", ... Oh, I think "Oh man, you say you are a glass blower and your are not even capable of blowing a bubble of glass an making bow in the middle ? What kind of glass blower are you huh ?", deceptive, yes, very. They are just able to make these kind of little animals in glass ... bouark ! I'm sure I will find a capable Glassblower, but for which price ?
If I had enough money I would blow my own retorts, with bore into the glass, long necks, large mouth, and big belly, ... and a thick body !
Since it is absolutely not possible to fix it, and that the hole on the belly is not so big and not too much in sight, this broken retort will last it's life on a furniture in my bedroom, decorating my Museum of 'Alchemical Curiosities'.
