[TheForge] plastic forge? OT:

James Binnion jbin at well.com
Wed Jun 15 12:50:15 EDT 2011


that is 2700 C not F
On Jun 15, 2011, at 4:45 AM, Bruce Freeman wrote:

> Wikipedeia is a good source:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zirconia
> MP ~2700F.  Doesn't sound impressive, but
> 
> On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 1:22 AM, peter fels <artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
>> I'd forgotten about that stuff Jerry...wonder how high it will go?
>> I recall some of the chrome oxides are pretty high temp too.
>> 
>> So,,Graphene, zirconium oxide and cornstarch?
>> 
>> Graphene
>> On Jun 14, 2011, at 6:09 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:
>> 
>>> Zirconium oxide Pete. Though it's a ceramic not a salt but it has a REALLY
>>> high melting temp and a high IR albedo. I coat my forges with it by the
>>> brand name ITC-100. It's darned flux resistant and I've had molten steel
>>> laying on it to no ill effect.
>>> 
>>> Zirconium is the first thing I thought of upon reading the article.
>>> 
>>> Jer
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "peter fels" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
>>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 2:11 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] plastic forge? OT:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Jun 13, 2011, at 12:41 PM, Bruce Freeman wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Of course!
>>>>> 
>>>>> Oxygen is a gas at room temperature and pressure.  Silicone is a solid
>>>>> melting at about 2500*F.  Silicon dioxide (aka quartz or silica) is a
>>>>> solid melting at about 3000*F - a covalent compound of the three
>>>>> atoms.  And there are much more dramatic examples than this.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sodium is a low-melting metal (~208*F).  Chlorine is a gas at room
>>>>> temperature.  Sodium chloride is a solid salt melting around 1500*F.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The difference is that metals like tin and lead, typically don't
>>>>> combine chemically -- forming new molecules or salts -- whereas oxides
>>>>> like quartz are distinctly new entities, molecules.  In some respects,
>>>>> a molecule is like an extended atom -- the electrons are shared
>>>>> between the nuclei.  Salts are rather the opposite -- the electrons
>>>>> are not shared, but rather passed completely from one to the other,
>>>>> resulting in an electric charge that keeps the ions together (unless
>>>>> stabilized by a polar solvent, like water).  Hence, property changes
>>>>> can be pretty dramatic.
>>>> 
>>>> Then is there a handy, refractory  salt of high melting temperature metals
>>>> or elements?
>>>>> 
>>>>> A couple more thoughts:
>>>>> 
>>>>> A material can "resist" energy (i.e., photons) by reflecting it or
>>>>> transmitting it (i.e., being transparent to it).  In addition to
>>>>> reflecting energy, a material can fluoresce -- absorb photons of one
>>>>> energy level and emit those of a lower energy level.  All these
>>>>> mechanisms could account for a substance surviving in the presence of
>>>>> intense energy.  Not all of them are useful for all purposes.
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 1:43 PM, peter fels <artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
>>>>>> In the interesting model you propose, the functional limit is the
>>>>>> temperature at which the "glass" breaks down...even if the carbon core
>>>>>> were to remain stable up to then.
>>>>>> The magical plastic alleges to exceed the limits of it's constituent
>>>>>> elements incredibly ( literally).
>>>>>> In metal alloys, a combination of elements tends to lower the melting
>>>>>> temperature.
>>>>>> Are there high temperature compounds where the opposite is dramatically
>>>>>> true?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jun 13, 2011, at 4:40 AM, Bruce Freeman wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Rather than wonder about this magical substance that notably has never
>>>>>>> been commercialized, why not brainstorm to find something or some
>>>>>>> things that fill some of those functions.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> There are, for example, a number of ways to resist heat.  Most
>>>>>>> refractories (graphite being a notable exception) that resist heat by
>>>>>>> virtue of high melting point and being oxides (impossible to further
>>>>>>> oxidize).  Others are ablative -- sacrificial.  Graphite almost falls
>>>>>>> into the last category, or maybe does.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Suppose you try to use bituminous coal as a refractory.  Get it hot
>>>>>>> enough and it expands into breeze (coke).  It fails at that point
>>>>>>> because it starts to burn, but what if it were somehow protected from
>>>>>>> burning by a refractory "glass" layer.  Hence, composite something
>>>>>>> like bituminous coal with some sort of high-temperature
>>>>>>> oxidation-resistant substance.  What's neat about this is that the
>>>>>>> breeze would then act as an insulator, protecting what's beneath.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> What you want to do is to form your "clinker" right on the surface of
>>>>>>> the breeze.   So, this all gives rise to the question of why
>>>>>>> bituminous coal does not already act as a refractory.  I suspect that
>>>>>>> probably relates to properties of the breeze vs. the "glass".  Maybe
>>>>>>> the glass won't "wet" the carbon?  Maybe the continual degassing of
>>>>>>> the coal breaks the glass layer, making it ineffective as a "flux"?
>>>>>>> Maybe the glass sits on the outside of the breeze only, leaving the
>>>>>>> open "gas bubbles" exposed to the air blast?  Solve this problem and
>>>>>>> you might develop.  Even light microscopy could help determine the
>>>>>>> facts, and scanning electron microscopy would probably solve it in no
>>>>>>> time.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Of course, graphite is mainly of interest because of it's high melting
>>>>>>> point.  Perhaps the equivalent behavior could be obtained using more
>>>>>>> standard ceramics.  But the "plastic" nature of our hypothetical
>>>>>>> material is now conceivably a problem.  How does one form a ceramic in
>>>>>>> a plastic manner?  Well, cement comes to mind -- castable or rammable
>>>>>>> refractories.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> All just brainstorming.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 3:11 AM, peter fels <artgawk at thegrid.net>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> It's hard to refrain from thinking of different applications for
>>>>>>>> it....
>>>>>>>> sorta like relations with  a harbor Fright catalogue when i was
>>>>>>>> poorer.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Jun 12, 2011, at 3:27 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I posted a note to uk.rec.sheds (chiefly because someone had used the
>>>>>>>>> word "gubbins" and the Starlite guy recounted calling his product
>>>>>>>>> "gubbins" when first encountered) and had this reply:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>   From: bobharvey <robertharvey at my-deja.com>
>>>>>>>>>   Subject: Re: Sheddi Taxidermy
>>>>>>>>>   Newsgroups: uk.rec.sheds
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>   Ah yes.  Starlite.  I recall reading almost exactly that article
>>>>>>>>>   some 20 years ago in some engineering journal.  It included a
>>>>>>>>>   photo sequence of someone stirring molten steel with a stick, then
>>>>>>>>>   putting the stick in a bucket of water without the normal
>>>>>>>>>   dangerous consequences.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>   I always assumed it was all true, unlike the "combustion engine
>>>>>>>>>   that runs on water" man, who used to pop up occasionally.  'cos It
>>>>>>>>>   was clear that that was bollocks.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> If it's bogus, at least it has staying power.  If it's not, why can't
>>>>>>>>> I have some?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>>>>>>>>>                                                          /V\
>>>>>>>>> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
>>>>>>>>> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Bruce
>>>>>>> NJ
>>>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> Bruce
>>>>> NJ
>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Bruce
> NJ
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James Binnion
jbin at well.com





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