It absorbs carbon dioxide among other things. Soda Lime ( w'pedia ) is calcium carbonate (lime) reacted with aqueous sodium hydroxide (lye). A mask made with such large grains might have very easy air flow. I've read that that resistance to breathing while doing strenuous work is the major problem with gas masks. In other words the charcoal grains they use are between. The 20 mesh sieve would fill up with the good stuff, you'd dump that into your gas mask cartridge. You'd pour your crushed charcoal in the top and shake the stack. To make 10/20 you'd put a sieve with a 10 mesh (ten wires per inch) screen on top of a 20 mesh sieve. To do it you put a stack of sieves on a sieve shaker with the coarse one on top. Sorting grains by size is called "screen classifying". "10/20 mesh" and "4/10 mesh" specifies the grain size of the crushed charcoal. The following information may help you understand the instructions better. "Rather than go without any protection at all, the alert citizen can make gas masks for himself and his family." So says a December 1942 Popular Science article on how to make that same type of improvised gas mask. It is approved by no one except its inventor, Chemist Vernon Bowers of Baltimore, Ohio. The simplest device of all consists only of a beer can filled with absorbent material and a clothespin to clamp on the nose. Dampened and held firmly over the face, this napkin will give temporary protection against any gas, according to Dr. Kearney Sauer of the Los Angeles Citizens' Defense Corps: two twelve-inch squares of bed sheeting with a quarter-inch layer of baking soda between, held in even distribution by crisscross stitching. recommends that all such masks be made under its supervision. The least carelessness in fitting the parts of the gas mask together would permit gas to enter. and the War Department are leary of inexperienced workmanship. When carefully made, this improvised gas mask is effective against all known war gases. An alternative model makes use of rubber baby pants (see cut) instead of the bathing cap. An elastic-ribbon harness holds the mask on tight. All openings in the cap are hermetically sealed with adhesive tape. Inside the can go the chemicals (two parts activated charcoal, one part soda lime) wrapped in the handkerchiefs. The ends of the can are removed, replaced with the wire net. The rubber cap is fitted snugly over the face and two holes are cut in it one for the powder-puff cover (to look through), one for the tin-can respirator. The principle behind the homemade mask is simple the assembly is more difficult. The necessary materials can be found in almost any house: a bathing cap, a small tin can, the transparent cover from a powder-puff box, a bit of wire net (from fly swatters), two handkerchiefs, elastic ribbon, adhesive tape, and (from the drugstore) a few ounces of activated coconut charcoal and soda lime. 07, 1942 An emergency gas mask that can be made at home was demonstrated in Manhattan last week by the American Women's Voluntary Services. In 1942 Time Magazine published the following piece: " Homemade Gas Masks Monday, Sep. The French collector's site has an amazing pictorial database covering gas mask evolution in all the worlds armies. Images and information about gas masks is very abundant online. There are many avid gasmask collectors and enthusiasts. If you need to filter out military poisons or chemicals similar to them, add the soda lime and other ingredients. My canister only uses carbon as the absorbing agent since I'm not concerned about "acid gases". Inside the familiar cloth hood with goggles it had a nose clip, a mouthpiece and a hose to a can full of charcoal and soda lime. This gas mask is very similar to the successful British Small Box Respirator used in WW1. I varnished my boat and didn't get a headache! I'm not wearing it now, I can smell the fumes from outside, and I AM getting a headache. Inspired by some plans from 1942, I made my own gas mask from a snorkel, a tin can, and some charcoal I made from coconut husks.
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