Another thing,

I forget who it was, but someone mentioned using annealed iron.  How do you make your own annealed iron?  Do you put it in a bon-fire and cook the heck out of it, and let it cool off?  Will that do the trick?  How does annealing make it soft iron?  And what are the properties of soft iron that make it important in the coils?  does annealing make the iron more magnetic?

Lots of questions.   Anyone have the answers?  Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure annealing iron would make it into soft iron or not pmom, but annealing requires heating metal red hot and an immediate immersion in cold water.

Regards...

Quote from: Cap-Z-ro on February 24, 2010, 10:55:45 AM
I'm not sure annealing iron would make it into soft iron or not pmom, but annealing requires heating metal red hot and an immediate immersion in cold water.

Regards...

actually, with annealing you heat the metal to just above or just below its austenizing temperature (depending on what kind of annealing you are doing), then you let it furnace cool or air cool (again depending on what kind of annealing you are doing), but you do not immerse it in cold water (quenching is a hardening process and if you quench too fast you end up with amorphous metal... that's how they make metglas), you always cool slowly. imho you would want to use a short cycle anneal for the iron... heat, cool and heat again.

Wilby:

That's exactly correct about making Metglas.  We used be be the only manufacturer of the zirconium oxide nozzles for Allied's Metglass production.  I have seen their original machine many times.  Basically it was a very large water cooled wheel, about 10 feet in diameter, and the molten metal was poured through our precision machined ceramic nozzles of various slots sizes (depending on what they were running that day) and the molten metal instantly crystallized upon contact with the spinning wheel and made a ribbon of Metglas with very unique properties.  it was this manufacturing breakthrough that allowed our car starters and alternators to be reduced in size and weight by about half.

We machined the slots using ultrasonic impact grinding and the slots were about .010 + or - .0002" X 4" long.  We also made all of their other sizes as well.

Brings back memories.

Bill

Quote from: Pirate88179 on February 24, 2010, 12:57:56 PM
Wilby:

That's exactly correct about making Metglas.  We used be be the only manufacturer of the zirconium oxide nozzles for Allied's Metglass production.  I have seen their original machine many times.  Basically it was a very large water cooled wheel, about 10 feet in diameter, and the molten metal was poured through our precision machined ceramic nozzles of various slots sizes (depending on what they were running that day) and the molten metal instantly crystallized upon contact with the spinning wheel and made a ribbon of Metglas with very unique properties.  it was this manufacturing breakthrough that allowed our car starters and alternators to be reduced in size and weight by about half.

We machined the slots using ultrasonic impact grinding and the slots were about .010 + or - .0002" X 4" long.  We also made all of their other sizes as well.

Brings back memories.

Bill

for fun! how malleable was the metglas when it came off the wheel?