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Filling with low melting alloys?

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Do a google search on "lab metal". Might fit the bill for you.

If you don't like that, then you could always consider using "cold casting" techniques. Check artist supply stores for atomized metal powders that you mix with a resin binder. It's used by sculptors and when it cures it is almost impossible to tell it from a real metal casting.

Then there is always pewter. Sure it's hot, but it can be inlayed without burning the wood. Or so I'm told. I've never done it, but I've seen pieces with pewter inlayed and no evidence of burning.

Ed
 
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Cerro Alloy

McMaster-Carr stocks low temperature melting alloys under the name Cerro Alloy. A search of their website, www.mcmaster.com, shows a dozen or more types that melt at different temperatures. Down to 117 degrees. I use one of them to fill thin wall metal tubing when I need to bend it. The chunk that I have melts in boiling water.

Jan
 
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Casting metal

Woodsmetal is a lab metal.
And I understand it melts in boiling water (or that temp).
One web source has it at $35 for half a pound.
And it does contain some lead. Other than that I don't know anything about it.

Cerrosafe is metal used in the gunsmith field for casting (checking size of) gun chambers.
It melts at 158° - 190°. I've melted it by heating it with a Harbour Freight heat gun (hair dryer type). So it is easy to use and as safe as melted metal can be. At least it can be cooler than boiling water...
And I don't think it contains lead, but I'm not sure. Can't find my tech sheet on it at the moment.

Its available from www.brownells.com at $40 for a pound.
Also www.midwayusa.com at same relative price for half a pound.
And www.buffaloarms.com for $30 per lb.
I''ve dealt with the first two, and can recommend them.
Another unknown I just saw by quick search = www.trackofthewolf.com. They show it at $11.95 for half a pound. Be aware that this price used to be somewhat common. So this last source might not have current pricing.

Some have used lead, but the danger of lead poisoning from the fumes is real.
And lead melts at 327°.
Tin would be a better choice at 232°.
But Cerrosafe at less than 200° is a much better choice, imo.

Another alternative:
Permatex brand Plastic Aluminum.
It comes in a tube and can be purchased in some automotive suppliers and/or jewelry supply companies.
Southwestern Jewelry makers use it as an adhesive to simulate silver.
It dries to a nice silvery color and works well on wood.
And its only a few bucks per tube.
And safer still than molten metal even if it (like Cerrosafe) melts about as quick as M&M candies.

Also available in the jewery supplies is Devcon Bronze putty.
But its an epoxy based product with actual bronze flakes.
But much more expensive at about $50 per pound. And I haven't seen it in small quantities.

Devcon, Permatex and Duco have other products you might try. Take a trip to the hardware, Automotive and Jewelry stores and you might find other ideas.

And Jwitnburg just posted a better priced supplier...

57_T-Bird
 
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I was going to suggest Cerrosafe but someone beat me to it. Very easy to use and safe. I've never used it for filling wood voids. It's designed to shrink by a few ten-thousandths during the cooling process but then re-expand to original size. You might want to try it on a scrap first.

You might want to look at Plumber's Putty. It's a metallic epoxy sold at hardware stores for fixing pipe leaks and such. It cures very hard and never exceeds room temperature.
 
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Pewter

Attached pic was filled with lead-free pewter. Sides of the "crack" were excavated with a burr, an interior dam was made from plaster, and then the pewter was applied with a soldering iron to work into all voids. When cool, the piece was re-turned to remove the excess metal.

Not the best when doing open grain, ring porous woods like oak (pic) walnut and others because the metal 'dust' tends to lodge in the adjacent pores.
 

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Holds up over time?

Attached pic was filled with lead-free pewter. Sides of the "crack" were excavated with a burr, an interior dam was made from plaster, and then the pewter was applied with a soldering iron to work into all voids.

How long ago was this done? A concern raised by a much more knowledgeable turner than me is the fact that many of the fillers talked about here (not just the metal) don't move with humidity. So won't they pull away over time? Or, worse yet, cause fractures somewhere else by holding the adjacent wood immobile?
 
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Larry
Have you considered using Poly? I use the Poly used with Fiberglassing (not epoxy, the stuff that cures with MEK). I even dye it colors for more interest.
The red is showing so well here, as I have backlite it. The other is black in a dark colored area

TTFN
Ralph
 

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Joined
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How long ago was this done? A concern raised by a much more knowledgeable turner than me is the fact that many of the fillers talked about here (not just the metal) don't move with humidity. So won't they pull away over time? Or, worse yet, cause fractures somewhere else by holding the adjacent wood immobile?

That piece was done 7 years ago (explains the big clunky foot ;) ). The crack hasn't moved much at all. Remember that I excavated a bit into the edges so that the metal interlocks with the walls of the bowl. This is also a high quality lead-free pewter, actually "Britannia Metal" which does not expand or contract under normal conditions. The low-temp bismuth alloys are, by their nature, much more prone to dimensional changes.

If you get the wood moving one way and the metal fill the other, I can see where you'd have some problems.

PS: Forgot to mention that all of the "Cerro" alloys (there are 4 or 5 down to 117°) have heavy lead in the alloy, up to 25%, so they are not usable for food containers or items which kids may contact, and should only be used with good ventilation.
 
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I have not tried this but what about lead free solder - like what the plumbers use when soldering copper water pipe? I am not sure what the melting temp is but it should not be too high. Might not hurt to have a damp cloth around to cool it faster. It would melt with a soldering iron. I think Mark's undercutting would be a good thing. Not that expensive. Like I said - I have not tried this.
Hugh
 
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