A gravity aided drop machine to allow repeatable high quality 'home made' manufacture of glass instrumental insemination tips.

Whilst a laboratory clamp stand can be utilised as a vertical support in a drop machine, I am in the process of making a dedicated version.

This has a square vertical rod, that I recovered from a scrap computer printer, and it is intended that the sliding carriage will have six, instrument sized, ball races to allow backlash free, frictionless movement during the drop.

The lower sliding clamp can have various weights hung on it and the drop height adjusted using wooden blocks. The melting is provided by a small coil of Nichrome wire (NiCr) heated by current from a low voltage source.

The weight, drop height, temperature and form of the coil all affect the final shape of our tip and a few experiments will thus need to be undertaken.

The precise form of this heating coil can have a marked effect on the shape of the finished insemination tip. A page has been generated dealing with coil construction. (link at top left)

In my case I am winding a transformer specially for providing the low voltage and this is adjustable in one sixth of a volt increments.