Notes on Fusible Alloys

Low-Melting-Point Alloys

"Fusible" just means "meltable", but the term has come to be used as "low melting
point". Some of these alloys can be melted in hot water; all can be melted in a normal
oven. Those listed here are made up of Bismuth, Lead, Tin, Cadmium, and/or Indium.

Bismuth is a heavy, white to pink, crystalline, brittle, highly diamagnetic, non-toxic

lead-like metal. It is often used as a lead replacement in bullets and shot, and for
casting. Interestingly, it has the second lowest thermal conductivity of any metal
(mercury has the least). It goes for around $10 a pound.

Lead is a soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-white, dense, and toxic metal. The stuff in
pencils is NOT lead. Lead goes for about $5 a pound.

Tin is a malleable, silvery metal, usually used for coating other metals to prevent
corrosion. You probably knew that, but I betcha didn't know this: tin is the most tonally
resonant of all metals, and is a superconducter under 3.72 Kelvin. About $5 a pound.

Cadmium is a soft, bluish-white metallic element, easily cut with a knife, and toxic. It is
used in low-friction, fatigue-resistant alloys, solders, dental amalgams, nickel-cadmium
storage batteries, nuclear reactor shields, and in rustproof electroplating. Costs around
$2 a pound.

Indium is a very soft, malleable, silvery-white metal. Used in making electronic devices
and mirrors. VERY expensive, up to $2000 a pound.

Bad Juju!

Lead and Cadmium are cumulative poisons, meaning they build up in your system and
kill you nice and slow. Read the Manufacturer Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and check
out the Toxicity Profiles for Lead and Cadmium.

Both are fairly safe to the touch - the real danger comes from contaiminating your food
(or cigarettes) with unwashed hands, or breathing fumes or airborne dust. Good
ventilation or a respirator, and lots of soap and water, will protect you. Clean up after
yourself so any dust doesn't get spread around. If you have kids (who absorb heavy
metals better, and are more suseptible to their effects), do something else instead.

Good Juju!

There is a safe alternative: Field's metal, invented by (and available from) Simon
Quellen Field at scitoys.com. It is 32.5% Bismuth, 16.5% Tin, and 51.0% Indium, and
melts at a mere 149°F. And costs $1000 a pound, since it's half Indium.

Another safe alternative is 62.5% Bismuth, 37.5% Tin (5 parts Bi, 3 parts Sn). Much
cheaper than Field's Metal, but it melts at 202°F. Still under the boiling point of water,
though.
Alloys

You will find that some alloys have multiple entries in the following table, and some
entries have multiple names. There seems to be little agreement on exactly what some
alloys are, or what they are called. I'm not going to try to straighten it out. "What's in a
name? That which we call a rose by any other name would melt at the same
temperature." Apologies to Juliet.

(For the purposes of comparison: 140°F is Rare, 160°F is Medium, and 176°F is Well
Done.)

Bismut
Lead Tin Cadmium Indium Temp
h S.G. Notes
% % % % °F
%
44.7 22.6 8.3 5.3 19.1 117 9.26 Cerralow 117
50.0 25.0 12.5 12.5 149 9.73 (4:2:1:1)
32.5 16.5 51.0 149 9.23 Field's Metal
Lipowitz's Metal,
50.0 26.9 12.7 10.4 149 9.29
Cerrobend
Wood's Metal,
50.1 26.6 13.3 10.0 158 9.76 Lipowitz's Metal,
Cerrobend
50.0 26.7 13.3 10.0 158 9.29 see above
38.4 30.8 15.4 15.4 160 9.71
47.4 19.4 20.0 13.3 160 9.30 Guthrie's Metal
Wood's Metal,
50.0 25.0 12.5 12.5 165 9.29
(4:2:1:1)
27.5 27.5 10.5 34.5 167 9.55
10.0
50.0 34.5 9.3 6.2 171
3
50.0 31.3 18.8 176 9.31 D'Arcet's Alloy
50.0 25.0 25.0 187 9.57
Rose's Metal,
50.0 25.0 25.0 200 9.31 D'Arcet's Metal,
(6:1:1)
50.0 31.2 18.8 201 9.82
66.7 16.7 16.7 201 9.31 (4:1:1)
50.0 31.3 18.8 202 9.31 (8:5:3)
62.5 37.5 202 9.34 (5:3)
 Newton's Metal,
50.0 18.8 31.3 202 9.32
(8:5:3)
55.6 33.3 11.1 203 8.83 (5:3:1)
50.0 25.0 25.0 203 8.87
47.0 35.5 17.5 208 9.92
50.0 18.8 31.3 208 9.32 (8:5:3)
Newton's Metal
50.0 30.0 20.0 212 9.31
(5:3:2)
55.6 11.1 33.3 212 9.33 (5:1:3)
10.0
42.1 42.1 15.8 226
6
40.0 40.0 20.0 235 9.93
50.0 10.0 40.0 240 9.33
36.5 36.5 27.0 243 9.70
33.3 33.4 33.3 253 9.49
50.0 50.0 257 9.28
30.8 38.4 30.8 266 9.63
28.5 43.0 28.5 270 9.76
50.0 50.0 286 9.35
22.2 44.4 33.4 289 9.66
21.0 42.0 37.0 289 9.53
20.0 40.0 40.0 293 9.42
19.0 38.0 43.0 298 9.32
25.0 50.0 25.0 300 9.96
23.5 47.0 29.5 304 9.80
18.1 36.2 45.7 304 9.22
14.8 40.2 45.0 307 9.30
15.3 38.8 45.9 309 9.26
14.0 43.0 43.0 309 9.40
17.3 34.6 48.1 311 9.14
16.0 36.0 48.0 311 9.16
100.0 314 7.31 Pure Indium
16.6 33.2 50.2 316 9.06
 10.8 43.2 46.0 318 9.32
13.7 44.8 41.5 320 z
11.2 44.4 44.4 320 9.38
10.5 42.0 47.5 320 9.27
10.2 41.0 48.8 322 9.22
10.0 40.0 50.0 324 9.17
13.3 46.6 40.1 329 9.53
11.4 45.6 43.0 329 9.44
11.7 46.8 41.5 333 9.49
40.0 60.0 334 9.34
25.0 75.0 334 9.36
33.3 66.7 336 9.36
12.8 49.0 38.2 342 9.61
12.5 50.0 37.5 352 9.64
33.3 66.7 360 9.35
37.0 63.0 361 9.34 Solder
11.1 88.9 392 9.38
25.0 75.0 392 9.36
100.0 449 8.60 Pure Cadmium
50.0 50.0 466 9.33
66.7 33.3 475 9.30
100.0 520 9.80 Pure Bismuth
11.3
100.0 610 Pure Lead
7
100.
621 7.29 Pure Tin
0

References

 E-mail me at bill@gizmology.net if you find a mistake!

 Henly's 20th Century Formulas, Recipies, and Processes

 askl;fd

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05/25/2020 11:43:43

© 2003 W. E. Johns