Metallurgy Supplies

[Antoninus]

Im looking for some small pieces of metallurgy equipment. I need basically two crucibles, two heat sources, a place to get small ammounts of base metals, and a mold for a bar type shape. Would anyone know where these would happen to be found? The only things Ive found online are huge industrial sized things.

[equinox2]

I'm a metallurgist.

I've found a lot of stuff on all the used scientific equipment sites online, like this one:
http://www.labx.com/ (use the search function)

For melting small samples, I often just use a blowtorch. Contacting castings companies is a good place to start for molds - if they don't have junk ones they'll just give you, they can usually point you to their supplier. I've even made my own molds using plaster.

For cheap metals, check junk/scrap yards. I've purchased metals very cheap there, including ones that can be a bit more hard to find, like Bismuth.

On another board a friend mentioned the idea of molybdemancy - the practice of pouring molten metal into water, and using the funny shapes made to "tell the future" or some such. She does it for Yule, to predict the coming year. We are both naturalistic, so we don't think it really predicts anything, but it is fun nonethless. Of course, be very careful to avoid explosions of boiling water.

Here is a copy of a paragraph there:


I love the idea of molybdemancy! Sounds fun, and it is a great way to add a fun activity to the solstice bonfires. Tin could also be used (would that make it stannomancy?). Hmm, I wonder if several component metals could be used, and hand selected by people based on what they experienced last year, or what they hope for, etc. (like add some Cu to represent flexibility, etc.) I have a Ph.D. in Materials Science (Metallurgy), so I’m gettin’ all into this idea. I checked a bunch of phase diagrams to see which would dissolve in a Pb melt, a Sn melt, a Zn melt, a Bi melt, an Al melt and an Mg melt, and basically most metals have very low solubility, except with Sn, which will dissolve several percent of many different metals. So maybe have a tin melt, and add very small amounts of things like Fe, Cu, Ni (get from nickels), Zn, Pb, Bi and Ag. Those metals can each represent something. Don’t add any Mg, it forms compounds with your bases. Or instead, just stick with your pure Pb melt. Some cool and convenient phase diagrams are at http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/miclib/phase_diagrams.php, though I have a book that contains hundreds of them.


There is also a thread somewhere on it.

Have a fun day!

[Antoninus]

Thank you muchly :)

I got curious what would happen if I just took random samples of metal, melted them, mixed them together, and let them cool to see what I would get. A wierd hobby but it sounds cool :)

[Antoninus]

What kind of blow-torch would you reccomend? Im not very good with names and such. Do you mean plasma cutter, welding torch.....?

[equinox2]

Antonius wrote:

I got curious what would happen if I just took random samples of metal, melted them, mixed them together, and let them cool to see what I would get. A wierd hobby but it sounds cool


That's fun! I've done that before. For me it went : chem kits as a child, wax as a young teen, metals as an older teen, and a Ph. D. in metallurgy as an adult. You can get an idea based on the phase diagrams – they say which will be soluble or insoluble. Interestingly, most alloys melt at a temperature below that of either pure metal. Check out the Au/Si diagram – Si melts at 1410, Au at 1064, yet both together melt at freaking 372 C!!

In addition to the free online phase diagrams in my other post, since you are more serious you may want to buy volume 3 of the handbook, which also has a few chapters on how to use phase diagrams.

http://www.asminternational.org/Template.cfm?Section=Bookstore&NavMenuID=18
Then you will have hundred of phase diagrams at you fingertips, and will know how to use them.

For the torch – depends on the temp and amount of metal you are using. Ask at a hardware store like lowes or the home depot.

Have fun, and take proper precautions to prevent burns.

Blessed be-

[Antoninus]

Well what I was planning on doing was melting down two separate metal samples in two separate crucibles, pouring them both into one crucible and mixing it a little, then pouring that into a bar mold and then stamping a number onto the resulting bar. Record that number and the original metals in a notebook.

Would I have to get two torches to keep two metal samples liquid at the same time? Or would just a pair of regular lab bunsen burners work?

And Im not talking about a huge ammount of metal. The problem is I cant find anywhere that has supplies that I need, that lab-x place is cool but they have like SERIOUS lab equipment and Im just looking for simpler stuff

And I have a pair of tough welding gloves and Im planning on getting a leather apron and a welding mask for protection