Aluminum Copper Alloy Experiment

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vtsteam:
Thinking about it, Ironman, I bet the copper pellets were oxidized by 20+ minutes of furnace heating in an empty crucible, so my statement about clean copper probably doesn't hold water, so to speak. :)

I'm going to have to try a few experiments to see what gives re. dissolving copper in Al.

vtsteam:
Thank you Matt. I will probably try some ZA-12 from purchased zinc ingot. I liked what I saw from the published specs, of ZA-12 but wasn't able to buy it, or I'd have probably used that on the lathe parts. What did you sand cast with the ZA-12?

mattinker:

--- Quote from: vtsteam on May 26, 2015, 11:42:38 AM --- What did you sand cast with the ZA-12?

--- End quote ---

I cast blocks for a "Tinker" T&G, that I didn't finish because I bought a Clarkson Mk I T&G, on which I used one of the castings for tooling.

It's very nice to work!

Regards, Matthew

vtsteam:
Looking forward to trying it. :dremel:

vtsteam:
re. my own copper in aluminum melt. I didn't stir it while gradualy melting the aluminum around it -- probably 10 minutes.

Are we sure that stirring actually helps?

Here's an alternate theory:

Stirring removes the highly alloyed al-cu mix adjacent to the copper -- which may have a greater affinity and actually be more active in dissolving the remainder than the unalloyed aluminum is. Stirring would remove this surrounding layer.

Just a theory.

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