AJ
Room Planner
Posts: 315
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Post by AJ on May 5, 2013 19:23:05 GMT -5
Gallium is a metal that melts at body temperature, and I thought it would be very handy for sculpting and casting purposes, as it could be used and re-used to make duplicate casts of miniatures, without silicon moulds.. its infinitely recyclable. Basically you set up a dish, pour the melted metal into it, suspend the mini just like you were doing a two part silicon mould, and then you could press Greenstuff (two part epoxy putty) or some other cold setting material into the two halves, hold the mould in your hands til it melts again, and hey presto... fix the two halves on the piece together and you have a perfect duplicate. I would also like to try using it as a filler for large sculpted pieces, such as the inside of a sphere or crystal structure, and I am wondering if it could be used to make a framework that resin could be applied to, then melted away to leave it hollow, or make transparent forms (such as the crystals). This is entirely aside from the fact that it is just a very cool substance to play with, being non-toxic, and makes for a fun party trick. Gallium does expand slightly as it solidifies, though I don't think this would be a problem for the purposes I was thinking of. www.amazon.com/Gallium-99-99-Grams-GalliumSource-LLC/dp/B005DRQRZM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&m=A27Q66GMKUVUJ4&qid=1367799680&s=generic&sr=1-4 100 grams for $68 on Amazon.
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slurpy
Room Planner
Posts: 283
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Post by slurpy on May 5, 2013 20:42:32 GMT -5
Gallium is fun to play with, but it will stain your hands - handle it with gloves. Also, 100 grams of gallium will be about half a fluid ounce, so it's not as much as "100 grams" sounds. While less fun and more toxic, Wood's Metal is similar in function and WAY cheaper - here's a pound for $16. The MP is 158 F, so it will melt in boiling water, or even in front of a space heater. A more expensive, but perfectly safe alternative, is Field's metal. It's similar in price to that gallium on Amazon, but with a melting point such that your mold won't melt if you focus a lamp on it.
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AJ
Room Planner
Posts: 315
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Post by AJ on May 5, 2013 23:30:26 GMT -5
Excellent, thanks Slurpy, those are much better alternatives.
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slurpy
Room Planner
Posts: 283
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Post by slurpy on May 6, 2013 1:10:54 GMT -5
If you go with the Wood's, make SURE you handle it with gloves, and work in a well-ventilated area. Wash off anything that touches it really well, and for God's sake don't let kids near it. It's like a blowtorch or a gun - perfectly safe IF it is handled correctly, but seriously bad news if not.
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Post by omegadm0357 on May 9, 2013 8:05:37 GMT -5
this is a very cool idea
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slurpy
Room Planner
Posts: 283
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Post by slurpy on May 9, 2013 23:07:26 GMT -5
Kind of off-topic but still related, and it made me laugh. Read a blog-post today about dimethyl cadmium, and came across this in the comments: Years ago I lent some D&D dice to a guy named Evan. He was a chemist; the scary kind who liked to make things he shouldn't. One game we often played at his house was to rub the kitchen table with a wire and then flame test it to find out what color it was that day. When he returned the dice, in a bucket, I put them on the gaming table for public use. We joked for years, YEARS, about them, telling new gamers never to put the dice in their mouth, or touch their face, and to wash their hands after they had touched them, simply because Evan had once borrowed them. It was a funny joke.
In all those years no one every really looked at the bucket he had returned the dice in. One day, another chemist, picked the bucket up, and looked at, and in a loud and startled voice said "WOODS METAL?!"
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AJ
Room Planner
Posts: 315
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Post by AJ on May 10, 2013 0:31:17 GMT -5
Just read that blog entry.. wow, Bunsen was a hard core dude! Anyway, this whole idea is (ironically) on the back burner, I have to do a lot of sculpture casting for an exhibit coming up soon, have to get my stock ready and it takes all day, every day.
Still... one day..
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slurpy
Room Planner
Posts: 283
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Post by slurpy on May 10, 2013 14:55:15 GMT -5
Yeah, those old-tyme chemists were NUTS.
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