Low temperature alloys: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:51, 18 October 2026

Mounting natural crystals to form an 'ohmic' (normal) connection while holding them securely to allow a cat's whisker to be positioned is a tricky problem. In the 1920s they were either held by a metal ring with screws (which can be problematic as it can break the fragile crystals) or using a conductive low temperature alloy.

The reason it needs to be low temperature is because heating them too high - e.g. soldering them normally, can cause changes to the crystals. I tried dipping pyrite in molten solder to mount it in the past to see what happens (in a well ventilated place!), and seemed to work at first, but slowly crumbled away over time.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 [[File:Fields.jpg|500px|right]]
-Mounting natural crystals to form an 'ohmic' (normal) connection while holding them securely to allow a cat's whisker to be positioned is a tricky problem. In the past they were either held by a metal ring with screws (which can be problematic as it can break the fragile crystals) or using a conductive low temperature alloy.
+Mounting natural crystals to form an 'ohmic' (normal) connection while holding them securely to allow a cat's whisker to be positioned is a tricky problem. In the 1920s they were either held by a metal ring with screws (which can be problematic as it can break the fragile crystals) or using a conductive low temperature alloy.
 The reason it needs to be low temperature is because heating them too high - e.g. soldering them normally, can cause changes to the crystals. I tried dipping pyrite in molten solder to mount it in the past to see what happens (in a well ventilated place!), and seemed to work at first, but slowly crumbled away over time.