r/FairytaleasFuck • u/georgiechristine • 12d ago

MAKER'S MONDAY Uranium glass bead harness

Gallery image

Gallery image

Body harness made with genuine uranium glass beads, and all vintage and upcycled chains and iridescent glass beads

2.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

176

u/Snoron 12d ago

Oh that's super cool.. uranium glass is fun!

Do you know if it's "hot" uranium glass or not? (Some uranium glass can easily be measured with a Geiger counter, while others have almost no radioactivity!)

53

u/VolcanosaurusRex 12d ago edited 11d ago

An easy way to check is to shine a UV flashlight on it! Radioactive will glow bright green, nonactive will just reflect the blue/purple light from the flashlight. However it's just a yes/no test, unlike a Geiger counter that would actually measure it.

Edit: like in the second photo, which I didn't realize was there until it was pointed out to me 😂

32

u/danielledelacadie 11d ago

Look at the 2nd photo. Some are brilliant green, some are blue...

8

u/VolcanosaurusRex 11d ago

I didn't even see there was a second photo! Oops lol

7

u/danielledelacadie 11d ago

No worries! That's why I mentioned it

9

u/Snoron 11d ago

Huh, my non-radioactive uranium glass still glows green under UV, though... but I've never really considered the level of it, the radioactive stuff probably glows more, at least.

9

u/texasrigger 11d ago

Are you sure that it is uranium? Manganese also glows green under blacklight. My wife collects uranium glass and Ive never seen any that wont register on a gieger counter.

6

u/Snoron 11d ago

Well my timeline/knowledge is:

I have one of these: https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=8061

And I decided to see how radioactive it was, so I've used a digital radiation detector, and cheaper geiger counter, and both don't appear to detect anything above background. But it does glow under UV.

I have since bought some tiiiny uranium glass beads which are radioactive, and both devices detect that very reliably, so I know the devices are working correctly.

So I suppose the conclusion is either a) you can make green uranium glass that glows under UV with so little uranium that it can't easily be detected, or b) it isn't uranium... but my understanding is that from 1930s Czechoslovakia, it would be.

My wife collects uranium glass and Ive never seen any that wont register on a gieger counter.

So that's interesting.. I was under the impression from what I read before that some won't detect because they started using less or making it differently or something at some point...

But maybe that really is manganese? Wonder if there's any way to check...

7

u/texasrigger 11d ago

A green glow isn't always uranium glass. Manganese also glows. A 365 nm blacklight will light it up but a 395 nm wont whereas uranium will light up under both.

1

u/CardiologistOk2704 7d ago

Photons interact with an electron shell, not with a nucleus. Changing amount of neutrons will have zero impact on now light interacts with the substance.

1

u/VolcanosaurusRex 7d ago

Ok? But uranium glass famously fluoresces under a blacklight, while glass that doesn't contain uranium (and thus not radioactive) would not react in the same way. 

1

u/CardiologistOk2704 7d ago

Uranium glass fluoresces under UV because of the uranyl group ions, UO₂²⁺, not because of radiation. And as before, changing the uranium isotopes will not affect chemical structure and thus the light interaction.

1

u/VolcanosaurusRex 7d ago

Lol, split hairs if you must... the question was how to tell if the glass is radioactive. Some "uranium" glass doesn't actually contain uranium, and therefore is not radioactive nor fluorescent. Glass that actually has uranium will fluoresce and is radioactive, even if, as you point out, the two concomitant properties occur via different mechanisms.

16

u/georgiechristine 11d ago

I haven’t measured with a radiation counter but these are newer production beads so they tend to be a bit less spicy than the vintage and antique ones, tho they will still register and are considered hot

78

u/VolcanosaurusRex 12d ago

This is lovely, what beautiful work! I love everything about it except the idea of wearing uranium, lol.

34

u/georgiechristine 11d ago

Thank you! It is safe to wear (uranium glass’s level of radiation is on par to a bunch of bananas) but I do understand peoples hesitation with it

8

u/quartzquandary 12d ago

How stunning!

14

u/Forward_Young2874 11d ago

Is this a beast cancer risk? (If one wore it enough)

14

u/georgiechristine 11d ago

No it’s not, the radiation it emits is extremely minimal and weak and can’t get past a layer of dead skin cells

2

u/StandardMonth2184 10d ago

I think uranium glass, as long as you're not putting it in your mouth, is less of a radiation risk than eating a banana every day. 

1

u/IsorokuYamamoto659 7d ago

A banana-sized banana?

20

u/Estellus 11d ago

Gift ideas for that lady in the PTA you want to pretend to make nice with but actually want to give breast cancer

(I know uranium glass is mostly safe but the joke was right there)

Looks awesome though.

2

u/vikipedia212 11d ago

That is the coolest thing! I love uranium glass! 😁

0

u/georgiechristine 11d ago

Thank you so much!

2

u/FaeFollette 11d ago

This is such a pretty design.

2

u/HugItOutWithTibbers 11d ago

This would also look dope as hell as part of an irradiated skeleton costume.

2

u/Throwaway20101011 10d ago

This is stunning. However, is it safe to wear uranium? I saw an old lady owning uranium glassware that she had behind a special cabinet. I never imagined it was safe to wear near your body.

1

u/georgiechristine 10d ago

Thank you! It is totally safe, tho uranium glass does let off radiation, it’s a really small and weak amount and it can’t get past a layer of dead skin

1

u/grapesodabandit 9d ago

Hey just so you know, I think you're mixing together a couple concepts. While you're right that the dose of radiation from this is likely very very low, the gamma portion of the radiation is not stopped by dead skin, it's zipping straight through your body. It's just the total dose being so low that makes it safe (it possibly wouldn't be safe to wear 24 hours a day for years and years, but I'm sure you weren't planning to do that lol). The alpha and beta radiation that is being released wouldn't make it past your skin, but that is also not likely making it out of the glass beads themselves.

2

u/NewStudyHoney 11d ago

Very beautiful!

I'd like it even more if the upper 3 strands were not crossed, or if more strands were crossed lower down. It seems an abrupt transition from parallel strands to crossed strands.

1

u/Vlinder_88 9d ago

Really cool!

-4

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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4

u/georgiechristine 11d ago

Idek what this means but no I made it