The Shop > Metal Stuff
Aluminum Copper Alloy Experiment
Joules:
What he said above.... :thumbup:
High heat and long cool down times, in hours not minutes.
If i didn't have the furnace, it would be wrapped in stainless shim and put in the the stove with coals burning bright for 30mins+ then run the stove down slow and move the metal out of the hot zone. Might as well do some jacket potatoes as the heat comes down. :drool:
NormanV:
I put it in the furnace, heated it up to a nice red heat and then blocked the orifices. I'll leave it till the morning to cool and then see how it is tomorrow.
David Jupp:
I noticed that some of the stuff quoted mentioned a high temp solution heat treat and quench to soften, followed by a lower temp age hardening, whilst other stuff seemed to suggest a very slow cool from high temperature for softest condition. Seems like some possible confusion here, or that things are very dependent on actual alloy composition.
If composition is not very close to a published spec, expect that you may have to experiment to find exactly what gives the behaviour you desire (perhaps limited by heat treatment facilities available).
sparky961:
--- Quote from: NormanV on October 31, 2017, 12:39:36 PM ---This is the problem when you experiment to try to save money, it can turn out cheaper to buy the thing that seemed so expensive in the first place.
--- End quote ---
It's taken half my life for this one to finally sink in! I still have days where I temporarily forget.
--- Quote from: NormanV on October 31, 2017, 12:39:36 PM ---No worries, I have learned something new and I will remember it because I did it and did not just read it.
--- End quote ---
But alas, this is why I don't regret the learning process.
NormanV:
This metal melting mallarky is mystifying! My first attempt at making aluminium bronze took nearly 5 hours to melt 3kg of copper plus 300g of aluminium. This produced an alloy that was almost unmachinable. Even after annealing. I decided to dilute it 50%.
I placed 2kg of aluminium in the crucible and when that was melted I added 2.3kg of my bronze. The total time to when it was ready to pour was 1hr50min. I was ready for another 4-5 hour stint!
I am waiting for it to cool down to see whether I have an alloy that will do the job.
This is such fun!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version