Antique Sulfuric Acid Milk Fat Tester [Restoration]
This restoration is on a 1903-patented Babcock tester made by the Creamery Package MFG. Co. of Chicago, USA. You can view the original patent here: patents.google.com/patent/US7...
This tool arrived completely seized, but with no known broken or missing parts, other than the original glass vials known as babcock bottles. Surprisingly, during the de-rusting process, the original blue paint showed up. Blue painted tools of this era are relatively rare and I was way too excited about it. I even had chunks of the original blue finish sent off for analysis with preliminary results suggesting the blue colour comes from natural cobalt.
As per usual, I decided to sensually brassify most fasteners.
Near the end of the video I explain how milk, sulfuric acid, and this machine work together to allow almost anyone to test the milk fat percentage from their cows. Spinning almost pure sulfuric acid at a high speed in fragile glass bottles very close to your face really makes you think about your life choices.
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you did things correctly. i used to do this for 5 years at gossner foods in Utah in the whey and cream prepossessing. we took these samples every 20 minutes of production. while this is a very old cast item we used a less fancy more modern from the 90's one but the process is identical. we are supposed to do 2 of them at a time and thus why yours has 3 areas with 2x in them. 2 for redundancy to get a more accurate average (hence your discrepancy form the store milk) and if you do the math. every 20 minutes, takes 20 minutes to do the job, you are doing 3 every hour. this tool would have been in constant use while the cream fat separator is in production from the milk / cheese was in production. some person was probably turning that thing for 12 hours at a time. most plants never shut down. if this was a single vial or dual then i would say that it was for a small farm but a 2x3 unit like this would be in use for at least 12 hours every day non stop.
Did you really use 1:1 H2SO4 and milk? And did you really use 98% H2SO4? That seems like a severe excess of acid.
Good to know! Thanks for telling us!
@@littlejackalo5326 You want to react all the protein away, leaving just the fat, and then centrifuge it to coalesce the fat into the single blob.
@@littlejackalo5326 Does it? It seems to me like you want to destroy everything that isn't fat, which means nearly 98% of the milk. I would expect a 1:1 ratio would be the best way to do that.
@@robertlandrum An excess of acid ensures there's no discrepancy in measurement, anything unreacted will make your measurements wrong.
On their farm, my grandparents had a milk fat tester (pretty sure the same model), a hand-cranked skimmer, a motorized butter churn, and a staggering collection of glass bottles and oddments, but when I saw them, they were all covered in ages of dust and barn grime, so no idea if any of them were cobalt blue. I never knew how the milk fat tester worked and my grandfather only ever said it used sulphuric acid in a kind of tone to warn me off it. That was 50+ years ago. Now I want one so I can fulfill the evil genius dreams of my 8-year-old self. An evil dairy... with evil cows... it needs doing.
Neat! These bottles were $40 CDN each!
Heh, username checks out.
Having worked on dairy farms, I can tell you that cows are inherently evil... So stage 1 complete.
I need an egg tester. I have evil ducks. I’ve seen their plans for world domination. It doesn’t end well for us.
I had an ex g/f who told me I produce "evil milk" but what she was really talking about was...well never mind...maybe in a different forum.
I for one appreciate the character arc for Garbage on the Floor. Hopefully one day the garbage can feel confident in themselves again and get back into a roughly compact pile.
The cobalt blue was surprising. Never would have seen that under the grime. Excellent work.
I always enjoy HTR vids bc the demonstration is just as exciting as the restoration
And he never breaks the cardinal sin of restoration
@@TravisFloyd I have to ask, what's the cardinal sin of restoration?
I'm guessing failure. 😉
Agreed, and he's a funny guy. The beginning intro always cracks me up, when he takes off the glasses and smiles. Lolol
@@teeroy766 he doesn't changes much, keeps it as original as possible
A Two-Fer! A tool restoration and a science lesson from a different era. This was Old School Cool! Thanks for the great video!
My grandfather ran a "cream station" on Saturdays in Paragould, Arkansas in the 1950's. Farmers would bring their cream to us and we'd use this test to determine butterfat content and then pay the farmer according to total volume times a factor based on the test result. They'd usually bring in about a 10 gallon can. My grandfather was an agent for a dairy in St. Louis. I was about 10 years old and developed an interest in chemistry from those Saturday adventures.
My dad's first job, back in the 40's, was helping to test milk from local farms for fat content. They found some farmers were boosting the fat content by adding used motor oil.
Yikes! Were these same farmers selling moonshine on the side with methanol and isopropyl alcohol?
Yikes.
Man people never change.
Sounds like something out of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. He talked about how poor people had to drink "blue milk" which had been adulterated with unknown substances.
I guess only in the samples that were tested? Because you would definitly taste the amount of used motor oil you would need to make a difference in these tests
Who else was surprised by the blue?
I'm not now....
🙋🏻♂️
WOW, great restoration, and demonstration. I don’t think that process meets OSHA standards.😊
Craftsman made blue tools
Yep, totally was not expecting that color
"I'm not a scientist, but I play one on KZhead." Another fun restoration. Think I'll have a glass of milk.
I was born and raised on a dairy farm and operate the same dairy farm today, I'm 64 years old and can remember the DHIA, (dairy herd improvement association)tester arriving on our farm and after milking set up a similar centrifuge in our milkhouse and doing the same test for each cow. Her centrifuge held at least 50+ bottles. The testers were usually retired dairy farmers or their wives and they handled everything without gloves using open ended pipettes and they sure weren't shaking like that. Shortly after that DHIA started sending the samples off to remote labs where the samples were run by newer single step machines and much faster. Now it just consists of a probe, don't ask how it works I haven't got the foggiest.
This definitely needs one of those "This device predates safety" stickers.
Its laboratory equipment, so safety is achieved through operator knowledge and behavior. This is still true in many labs today - no way to make a bottle of concentrated acid completely safe.
Almost! There was a guard over the sets of gears! ... or maybe it was intended as decoration!
This is one the nicest looking machines you've kicked back into life "whats it do?" "man made horrors beyond comprehension!"
"Yeah? Well I CAN comprehend the manmade horrors!"
That restoration job looks good. By the way, I have never heard of a sulfuric acid milk fat tester until now. Great work.
It's really just a centrifuge. It's the special bottles that make it specifically for using acid to separate the milkfat
That 80’s sitcom style intro gets me every time.
Cobalt blue looks fabulous with brass fittings. Interesting about the paint colour being rare for that era! The turning action was so smooth when you'd reassembled and oiled it. Loved seeing it in use. The exothermic reaction and huge concentration of acid would have made me very nervous too. Not done anything like that since secondary school chemistry.
This might be the most beautiful restoration I've seen you do. I thought the blue 'n brass was striking even before you added the go-fast stripes.
This guy is the Bob Ross of tool restorations.
"Very gently... the poison" lol, I'm glad there are people like you that restore old "tech".
You always find the most interesting things to restore! Your video and demonstration are top notch as usual. Keep being awesome!
I really enjoy the demonstrations you do of the equipment. It’s always interesting to see the old way of doing things
In 200 years someone will rescue hand tool rescue tools and marvel at the simplicity and elegance of the craftsmanship!
I like how the automatically generated subtitles say "[music]" every time HTR hammers anything.
It is music to the ears though.
Your intro always reminds me how much I love this channel. Thank you for doing what you do!
what is the intro from? it's a theme song from a show i believe but i cannot think of it and i'm going mad haha
Always excellent content! Thanks for highlighting these long forgotten tools! Workingman's art at the highest level.
what is the intro music from? It's like an 80's-90's sitcom or something.... it's driving me crazy haha
My husband, a B.Sc in chemistry and former lab worker, did his share of cringing through your demonstration. He's glad you didn't injure yourself.
As usual I love all your videos. I'm sure you made the original makers of this tester proud making sure to keep it the same color as you lovingly restored it. You always respect each item you restore and make it shine.
Nice refurbishing project and equally nice the information you provide about it. Learned something new today...thanks!
You can use that for sooooo much more than milk fat. #1 maintenance tool for acid-split testing of emulsions.
To quote the Jack Nicholson version of the Joker "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" You keep finding things to restore that I never knew existed. And at my age, that's quite a feat. Keep up the good work.
Excellent job once again. It always gives me a sense of serenity, watching someone else work. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful, beautiful machine. This helped me out on a stressful day.
Another interesting restoration AND science lesson from the master!
Awesome work, once again, HTR. Your video upload made my weekend special, as always. Can’t wait for the next one!
i appreciate this guys intro so much. Truly brightens my day.
I had always wondered what was the purpose of the flasks used in the tester. They make much more sense in the presentation. Great job of restoration and demonstration!
I am genuinely shocked that "Brass Fasteners" is not charting on itunes. Straight bop right there.
Brass Fasteners have a groove
Hand Tool Rescue is getting Screwed by Apple.
Also, I expect this will be an epic thread.
The puns have been Slotted in.
It's a banger. Got pulled over playing it by the police cause my stereo was too loud. I said, "Hey copper, whatya zinc?"
Not only a great restoration Eric, but a fascinating test method to demonstrate. Thank you!
Fascinating! Glad you showed us how it worked at the end.
Really interesting! Extra science lesson free with your regularly scheduled restoration! I think I like the non-motorized tool restorations the best because I can really follow and understand what's going on. I learned simple machines in school, but never learned motors :P
spent the entire end of that vid staring at that drop of acid wondering why you never wiped it up!! that blue color was a shock.
I love the smoothness of that rotation. Nice work 👍👍
I wish I had the money to get more of that sensual voice of yours. I loved that coat of blue.
Beautiful restoration (as usual). I did not know how they measured fat content in milk. Thanks for the short lecture and demonstration. Kudo's
As someone who currently works at a dairy factory and who has done hundreds of Gerber butter fat tests, I thank god I didn't have to do them that way. The modern equipment used today makes it much easier to perform.
Another great restoration, your skills are beyond criticism Eric. Excellent presentation!
Thanks for the explanation of the machine. So cool to see it in action
I love every intro in this channel
I paint and I'm a bit of a history nerd - There where basically 5 common blue pigments available at that time. In order of age they would be Indigo Prussian blue Cobalt blue (cobalt(II) oxide sintered with aluminum oxide) Synthetic ultramarine Cerulean blue (cobalt(II) stannate) While I doubt that looking at this video, I'm getting a perfectly accurate recreation of the actual color, that *really* looks like synthetic ultramarine to me. Because of risk of the colors not being reproduced on my screen 100% perfectly, I would hedge my bets and say it *could* be a variant of cerulean though but unlikely. Natural indigo has a much greener hue and was not common for this sort of application. Smalt was still around but had largely fallen out of use. It has a very pale desaturated look to it. Prussian blue is *very* dark on it's own. Since you found no lead, it's very unlikely to have been cut with white to brighten it. Cobalt blue was very expensive. Not as expensive as *natural* ultramarine but still pretty costly. It was largely reserved for fine art and luxury goods. Cerulean blue would have been pretty new at the time. Basically, once synthetic ultramarine became available, it was *the* blue of choice for paint for quite a long time. That boils down to a mix of cultural and economic factors. It was cheap but it was still viewed as the color of royalty.
Interesting! Would you say synthetic ultramarine would be used in the 1920s?
@@HandToolRescue Yep. The first factories producing synthetic ultramarine opened in 1830 in france and germany. While the realities of logistics surely meant that it wasn't instantly available everywhere, 90 years was definitely plenty of time for it to fully propagate throughout the west in the era of steam.
This was amazing I loved it! ❤️ I like that you blend commentary with ASMR ambience and you're hilarious! You are a restoration rockstar!
Fascinating apparatus and extraordinary test!!
This was a cool one. Wild how this was the standard practice for field testing. The blue was a fun surprise. I assume we'll be seeing more unnecessary pinstriping since you perfected the technique on the coffee grinder? That's what I'm here for, the "extra" je ne sais quois. Thanks for sharing!
Love this resto channel as there's always something I've never seen/heard of b4 and getting restored 😅
Forget the test and machine where can I get the* bottles? They'd look good in my Halloween Science lab 😅
Fascinating as always. Thanks for letting us tag along.
Ugh….your videos make me tingle in ways I’ve never tingled.
The black part is carbon. When you add sulphuric acid to such organic materials everything that contains water molecules like the sugars in the milk gets dehydrated and the carbon is left behind. For example is you add sulphuric acid to pure sugar (sucrose C12H22O11) you'll get an exothermic reaction that will leave behind a sort of carbon sponge
Maravilha, eu estudei anos em colégio agrícola aqui no Brasil e pude fazer testes de gordura no leite, mas era muito primitivo os testes, mas esta máquina que data de inícios do século XX é uma maravilha, e você testando foi uma viagem no meu tempo de adolescente. Parabéns e muito grato.
This is the first thing you've restored that I think I might have been able to do myself (minus the machine work and lathing). Always a good time, HTR, and always an education. Thanks!
Thanks for explaining what that thing was and how to use it! Your work is really top quality. Love the channel.
I have never seen this done before, that tester came out looking like it had been made last night. Be safe and hope everyone is doing well....
Nice restoration! Really inspiring! However, I'm curious if that spring handle on the triangle cover is original. It looks like original handle has been missed and that was "quick and dirty"replacement.
Probably original. Most likely bent up do to opening and then dropping the door on the table.
Oh it's original!
@@HandToolRescue oh wow , company did a terrific job on design but flubbed the handle , or so I thought . It wasn't until you pointed out the impacts it would have to endure day in and day out , that it makes complete sense.
I love this channel, you show so much personality through the video, the audio levels are always perfect and then I get to see a tool I've never seen before 😂
Another glorious restoration!!! Love the antics and jokes dude, cheers and on to the next one!
What is it lately with trying to electrocute or melt yourself into oblivion lately. I always love your content and I'm loving the explanation at the end of the latest videos. Also a side note. When is it time to change the horizontal wire wheel. I remember a video from maybe 2 years ago when it was changed. Keep doing what you do.
My god that color scheme was SO BEAUTIFUL! Also I laughed a lot at the brass screws segment hahaha they are gorgeous!
Great job & detail, great presentation & demonstration, thank you!
Well done. I am glad you are safe still after this test.
Holy cow, I can't imagine wanting to know the fat content of milk badly enough to use this thing. 😵💫
Likely factory usage than home usage
One reason would be that farmers get paid by how high the fat content is.
@@justplain8793 guessing higher is better because the buyer can make more product variety with higher fat milk?
That was a lot of excitement! Btw, was that still the same gold marker of yore? (and a tip for getting clean lines when taping off: spray some clear lacquer, or the same paint as the background, over the tape first before painting in the contrast color, that way all the creepage gets done in a color that won't show, and your contrasting lines will be crisp as fresh lettuce)
Super cool. Thanks for another super entertaining video. What you do is really appreciated. I always look forward to your projects. Thanks again.
Thank you, I've never heard of or seen this kind of milk testing. Lovely work and explanation.
this is EXACTLY why I love your channel.... you do a usable refurbish ( not a 'showroom' type of refurbish, where you fill all the metal pits with bono, file down ALL the casting marks, and squaring the nuts n bolts to laser precision lol - that is a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL and not something you would actually USE the product after refurbishing... you bring it back to a USABLE STATE ) and THEN you show us how it works, what it was used for, and ACTUALLY PUT IT TO USE (well for most of your videos) You teach us something that would would probably never learn otherwise - and you make it FUN!!!!! I haven't found a channel like yours ANYWHERE else... And this isn't the type of stuff I normally watch on KZhead... I'm a computer geek that also loves ghost video and learning about the hidden history of mankind and our planet... so NOTHING like restoration LOL I came across your channel maybe a year ago when learning about Japanese woodworking techniques (which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE learn about - they DON'T USE NAILS!!! And the make the GREATEST, HIGHEST END FURNITURE that you will find on the planet! - just the joinery alone is enough to fascinate you for weeks! lol) and it was in the recommended list. and from there I came across a few other resto chans and subbed to a couple others but YOURS is BY FAR my FAVORITE OVERALL! :D
Wow, thank you!
Combining a 20th century family's two favorite things: Milk and Sulfuric Acid. The Milk Fat Tester is hours of fun! (Disclaimer: It is not actually hours of fun and is pretty hazardous)
I’m enjoying the new explanation on the tools after the restoration
I can't help but smile and chuckle every time I see the intro, I LOVE this channel.
“Sulfuric Acid Milk Fat Tester” five times fast.... deemed impossible. 😂 thanks for the vid!
For a minute I was like, how can there only be one comment on here. Then I remembered that I'm a Patreon member!
Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD!!!
@@jjrossitee one day Justin, one day we will know how it feels to be like Chip here and to have the first comment. I for one won’t give a fuck.
@@rumham2514 some guys have all the luck!
And 7 days later you still haven’t got the channel’s heart… 😂
@@undpqbnu I'm not here for hearts, I'm here for content!
Молодец! Вернул к жизни полезный инструмент! Нужно в оставшиеся пустыми отверстия возле шестерёнок затолкать войлочные пробки и пропитать их смазкой.
инструмент нужен для определения жирности молока,в предстваленном виде это раритет...но восстановлено все мастерски...проморгал,опускаются разобранные части в раствор ортофосфорной кислоты или какой то состав...? знать бы этот рецепт...
Every time i watch one of these episodes i have to watch the beginning 2 or 3 times. It just cracks me up. EVERY TIME!!!
Very interresting and the blue color is outstanding.
I love seeing your videos. You do a great job making it not just informative but fun to watch. Keep it up and keep them comming.
For science!!!! Way cool man. Love the slow jam at the almost end!! Thanks for always sharing your restores!!!!!!
What a beautiful machine. Form and function as it should be.
Nice restoration. And very educational. I do so enjoy the history lesson and demonstration you provide.
Loved the explanation at the end 👍
I have been educated today, did not know what this was an used for bet you didn't know you were going to be an educator. thank you sir for an enlightening program.
Would NOT have guessed such a beautiful blue!
This is a really awesome video! Thank you for the explanation of how the device is used.
I really love seeing this tech that was used in every household at the time!
even if this analysis is old, it is still used to this day. the glassware has evolve but the principle stay the same. Nice work
You find the most amazing devices to work on. I never even thought this was a thing!
Superb Restoration, very interesting ! Thanks for sharing all of your videos 😊🇨🇦
Those are some spectacular brass fasteners
Cool!!!! Thanks for demonstrating how the thing is properly used! I had no idea how it was used!
"Emotionally distant garbage on the floor.". HILARIOUS!!! :D Your faux anxiety while mixing the acid with the milk?! HYSTERICAL!!!
So glad you did the blue. So cool to see that blue under that grime. You're right not many blue tools in the old days. Dang you Kobalt!
Amazing! Both restoration and demonstration!
Awesome video! Great restoration, PLUS a science lesson all wrapped into one video!
Pretty amazing rebuild and demo
I just did my 1st hand tool rescue. My brother gave me a dozen or so “bit brace” bits and the brace along with a few files. They were 100% covered in rust and I was able to get 95% of the rust off with just a steel brush an Evapo-Rust. Thank you for your videos.
Nice!