Can anyone provide dimensions for Goulet and FPR sample vials?

[Horseflesh]

I have orders arriving next week which include tons of Goulet samples, and a few from FPR, too. 

 

I want to use my laser cutter to make a little rack to hold all my incoming samples, kind of like what I did for my aquarium test below. But, I need to know the dimensions of both kinds of vials first, and I don't have any yet. Hopefully, the vials are similar. 

 

Can anyone share with me the vial diameters, cap diameters, and the heights up to but not including the cap? Many thanks in advance!

 

 

[LizEF]

As of February of this year, Goulet were still using fairly standard 5mL vials.  They are 16mm in diameter, and the height up to the bottom of the cap, with the cap screwed on tight is 46mm.  The cap is 20mm in diameter and 11.5mm high.  (All measurements done with calipers.)

 

I have no idea on the FPR vials except that the images on their website are of very different (and smaller) vials - not like any of those I already have, including two different styles of ~2mL vial.

[Horseflesh]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

As of February of this year, Goulet were still using fairly standard 5mL vials.  They are 16mm in diameter, and the height up to the bottom of the cap, with the cap screwed on tight is 46mm.  The cap is 20mm in diameter and 11.5mm high.  (All measurements done with calipers.)

 

I have no idea on the FPR vials except that the images on their website are of very different (and smaller) vials - not like any of those I already have, including two different styles of ~2mL vial.

 

That is perfect, thanks so much! 

 

I will only have a couple of FPR vials so if they are dramatically smaller, well, it's only a couple that will look weird. A Goulet-sized rack will still keep them from rolling around... I'll figure something out! 

 

 

[LizEF]

40 minutes ago, Horseflesh said:

That is perfect, thanks so much!

You're very welcome!

 

40 minutes ago, Horseflesh said:

I will only have a couple of FPR vials so if they are dramatically smaller, well, it's only a couple that will look weird. A Goulet-sized rack will still keep them from rolling around... I'll figure something out! 

If their picture is accurate, I'm sure they're much smaller.  The volume they offer (of FPR inks) is 1.7mL.  The picture of the vial they show is completely full, which means the vial holds 2mL at most.  The vial Goulet uses is marked for 5mL but would hold 6mL if full to the brim.  Given all that, I'd say the FPR vials are very small.  The FPR ones look like these - dimensions listed on that page (some of them, at least).

[Horseflesh]

That does look tiny, thanks for the link. The listed dimensions are 13.1 x 46.8 mm ... Though that diameter may be the cap, not the vial. I'll find out. Either way it will be loose in the 5 mL slot, but remain upright... More or less. If it bugs me and I want perfect symmetry, I can make a removable adapter easily enough.  

 

A 48-vial rack will look something like this, with a depth of maybe 35-40 mm. I'll do it in clear acrylic if I have enough on hand, otherwise maybe black or white... I'll post a pic next week when I finish making it and fill it with vials!

[LizEF]

48 minutes ago, Horseflesh said:

That does look tiny, thanks for the link. The listed dimensions are 13.1 x 46.8 mm ... Though that diameter may be the cap, not the vial. I'll find out.

The 2mL vials I have are 11 and 12mm diameter of the vial, not cap.  Caps are slightly larger diameters.  In both cases, the caps and vials fit *inside* the 5mL vial. Height may be a bigger problem, depending on your design - if I try to put my 2mL vials into a rack for the 5mL vials, they just fall right through such that I can't easily get them out - nothing above the top level of the rack to grab onto.  The 11mm diameter one (cap and all) is shorter than that 46mm, and the 12mm diameter one is a tiny bit taller - each by a 1-2mm - I didn't bother measuring, just held them side by side (and inside ).

 

54 minutes ago, Horseflesh said:

A 48-vial rack will look something like this, with a depth of maybe 35-40 mm. I'll do it in clear acrylic if I have enough on hand, otherwise maybe black or white... I'll post a pic next week when I finish making it and fill it with vials!

Nice.  I look forward to seeing it.

[Runnin_Ute]

The rack Goulet sells (I have one or two) are pretty standard sized test tube racks and hold 50 vials. Your solution sounds so much more elegant and cooler too. Look forward to seeing the finished product.

[Horseflesh]

Here's a test with hideous pink acrylic... Just verifying key dimensions. My Goulet order will be here soon I think, so I can test the larger slot. The slots need to be loose enough that it is easy to get the vial in, but tight enough that the vial can't easily sit cockeyed.

 

 

My plan is to do a grid of 48 slots for 5 mL vials flanked by 10 slots for 2 mL vials. 

 

Buying a rack would certainly be easier ... but I haven't been hoarding all this acrylic for nothing!

 

[JungleJim]

Very nice! I've been using the MTM 12-gauge shotgun shell holders that hold 50 shells with space in the middle to hold the stick-on labels. They look like this https://www.amazon.com/MTM-Round-Shotshell-Handled-Gauge/dp/B0813YJGJ1   but since it is now Fall hunting season they are sold out at Amazon. You can still find them on ebay though. Just the right size to hold the Goulet ink sample vials and the lid closes firmly. ( BTW, the Anderson Pens, Goulet Pens, and Vanness ink sample vials are all the same width and height. They do sometimes use different color caps.)

 

During the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday sales I'll buy Lots of ink samples from the different stores and they go into these holders until I finally get around to trying them out.

 

[Horseflesh]

That case looks like a great fit, and it's inexpensive... Good thinking! 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Horseflesh said:

My plan is to do a grid of 48 slots for 5 mL vials flanked by 10 slots for 2 mL vials. 

 

I like it!  Having lots of racks with more space than you need just encourages you to horde samples!  (Trust me, I know...  )

 

1 hour ago, Horseflesh said:

Buying a rack would certainly be easier ... but I haven't been hoarding all this acrylic for nothing!

  Yes, use that acrylic!

[Horseflesh]

@LizEF As promised... Thanks again for the dimensions, that let me get a lot of work done before my packages with the samples arrived.

 

 

[LizEF]

10 hours ago, Horseflesh said:

@LizEF As promised... Thanks again for the dimensions, that let me get a lot of work done before my packages with the samples arrived.

Very nice!  And you're more diligent than I am - I don't bother to swatch the little sticker on top of the vial until the first time I use the ink. Too lazy!  Thanks for sharing your results - really like that it has room for both sizes - very convenient.