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Notes on low-melting point metals

A table of some possible metals that we might want to consider using with CandyFab. Points to consider: how hot do you have to get it? How much weight are we going to have to support? What's the thermal conductivity like? (Lower is better!) Is it a lead-antimony-cadmium supertoxic alloy, or can you use it on the CandyFab without a gas mask? If it's magnetic, perhaps we need to worry about it sticking to the nozzle, too. Let us know if you have any suggestions to add to this list, which is just getting started.


Name Composition Melting Point (F/C) Density (g/cm^3) Thermal Cond. (W/mK) Non-toxic? Non-Magnetic? Price $/lb Sources
Bismuth Bi 100% 520.7 F, 271.5 C 9.78 very low yes yes 3.50 "lead free" shotgun shot
Tin (not stable below 13 C!) Sn 100% 449.47 F, 231.93 C 7.3 66.8 yes yes ? "lead free" fishing weights
Solders Various Varies Varies Varies Varies Yes Varies Electronics supply houses
Notes on low-melting point metals | 19 comments | Create New Account
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Notes on low-melting point metals
From: MensaDropout on Tuesday, August 07 2007 @ 01:58 AM PDT
Lead, Cadmium, etc. were considered safe materials not that long ago. Now we avoid them like the plague. The materials haven't changed our opinion/understanding of them has. I only say this, to caution against using safe materials. They may not always be considered safe. That said, with a filtered fume extractor around the hot air nozzle, i'd bet you could safely fab in any of the low melt alloys.
Notes on low-melting point metals
From: ike on Tuesday, September 04 2007 @ 03:41 PM PDT
this might be wrong, but how about solder ? it must be pretty low, and could it be taken from a coil, melted and dropped off by a heat assisted syringe/ vat and valve type system?
Notes on low-melting point metals
From: lawsonuw on Thursday, September 06 2007 @ 11:07 PM PDT
https://www.scitoyscatalog.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SC&Category_Code=H
this place sells various metal alloys that have a melting temp above and below room temperature. Not cheap stuff though. Other places should have better prices.

I think the key requirement for a medium is to have a very high viscosity when melted. Otherwise capillary action is going to quickly suck the melt into the surrounding powder.
Notes on low-melting point metals
From: Anonymous on Tuesday, January 01 2008 @ 03:10 AM PDT
i heard somewhere that indium has a melting temp of approx. 100 degrees celsius. would this work?
Notes on low-melting point metals
From: Anonymous on Tuesday, July 15 2008 @ 02:35 PM PDT
Have you considered alloys like Woods Metal or Fields Metal (Both listed on Wikipedia)

They both have low melting points (70degC for Woods, 62degC for fields) and should be worth consideration provided that availability and cost criteria are acceptable