Sunday Photo Fun 6-2-07

[Dave Farquhar]

The solder is certainly cheaper than white metal and I can’t really think of any disadvantages it has compared to white metal.

It all depends on what you're after. Some white metal alloys are lead-free, so they will offer lower toxicity (I've heard both sides of the debate on the safety of lead, but suffice it to say even the people who swear lead is perfectly safe aren't exactly putting it on their pancakes). Some offer a lower melting point, which can be an advantage. The melting point of Wood's Metal is about 160 degrees, so you can melt it over a candle flame, and you can use molds that would never withstand metals that require higher temperatures. There's another alloy whose name I can't recall with a melting point that's slightly higher, but still under 250 degrees. Both of them contain a lot of lead though.

There's one metal, bismuth I believe, that actually expands slightly as it cools, so alloys that contain it are very good for casting. Most metals shrink ever so slightly, so they won't pick up as much detail as a metal that expands.

I've read up a lot about casting, but as accident-prone as I am, I've been very hesitant to try anything involving molten metal. I'm following what you're doing with interest.

[FJ and G]

thanks, Dave, a friend who lives nearby just told me that he uses cerobend which melts at 158 F. No shortage of stuff out there apparently.

 

Opens up a whole nother world of alchemy and the black arts. 

[Dave Farquhar]

thanks, Dave, a friend who lives nearby just told me that he uses cerobend which melts at 158 F. No shortage of stuff out there apparently.

I knew I'd heard that name before. I looked it up, and Cerrobend is a trade name for Wood's Metal. Some interesting stuff at the Wikipedia article for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerrobend

There are some similar alloys that melt at as little as 117 degrees F. Due to the likelihood of children coming into contact with anything I make, lead content makes me nervous. But those super-low melting points sure do have some appeal. It makes 3rd-degree burns a lot less likely.

I have a stack of old Model Railroaders from the '50s (yard sale find!) and one of them contained an article on low-temperature casting, probably using Cerrobend. Interesting reading. I just found an article online that talks about it too: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/models/casting/SpinCasting.htm

 

[phillyreading]

Jefelectric,

Nice photos, looks like you were at the Pennsylvania Railroad museum for the photos of the GG1, like the BB1 electric a.k.a. tunnel rat, the BB1 used to run into the Pennsy Station in NYC before the station was demolished in the 1960's.

As for running a GP-9 the correct way for the Pennsy I put an unpowered unit up front of the powered diesel facing the correct way for the Pennsy.

Not sure but did Pennsy also run their SD-45's the same way as their GP-9's?

Sort of off topic but can I use a Flash Drive to down load some of the stuff on my computor so that I will have more room to down load my digital camera?  My problem is that my camera won't down load to my computor after one time, something about files full.

Lee F.