How To Identifying Aluminium, Zinc, and Other Metals For Casting

[@noe616]

Dam dude, you know your stuff. Everything you say is accurate. I learned all this over the years and you sound pretty young.

[@billwalck1324]

As long as you have a torch, don't forget that you can file off a few granules and sprinkle them into the torch flame. Zinc gives a bluish reaction, copper a greenish, aluminum a white, magnesium is also white, but much more vigorous. These granules can also be fused into a bead of borax on a wire loop, and will exhibit characteristic colors. BTW, if your weed whacker is a Stihl brand, be aware that they make considerable use of magnesium in their castings, as one of my friends found out when he tossed some into the wood stove in the shop. Thought it was going to burn the place down. I won't repeat the language he used to describe the experience!

[@348loadedlever3]

I liked the little presentation, great job. Most metal is alloyed anyway and seldom pure. Coming from a family of scrappers I grew up expecting to know these things and as I got older I realized most people have no clue on these differences. This looks like the start of some great presentation people should watch

[@thefox8883]

This is one of the most useful and helpful videos for home casting! Thank you so much!

[@NevinWilliams71]

Zinc and tin will make noise while being bent, due to twinning in their crystalline structure. Aluminum won't. I'm not sure about AlZn alloys, though.

[@makerj101]

Nevin Williams That's interesting! I'll have to try that and see!

[@jondoes8222]

I have alloyed it together. I works pretty good.

[@rogercarrico4975]

Excellent video! I learned a lot! This video should be mandatory viewing in every metal working shop class. Thanks so much for posting this!

[@ralphkleyer9324]

Zink will turn dark if filed and sprayed with a solution of 1 teaspoon copper sulfate to 8 oz of water and aluminum will remain shinny when sprayed with the same solution

[@doctordrone5692]

Very knowledgeable and well presented - so impressive in such a young presenter. Well done!

[@DaveWard-xc7vd]

That wiper motor is vacuum powered. It ran off the engine vacuum. Funny thing about it. When you are accellorating the engine vacuum drops and those wipers also stop. My dad had a 1937 Ford business coupe. It had this style of wiper motor. Step on the gas and the wipers would stop mid stroke.

[@garyhardin4194]

I just happened to stumble on this video and learned something in doing so. I have been saving aluminum to maybe cast some things in the future and knowing the danger of getting magnesium mixed in by accident was an eye opener. Thank you so much for this video. Very informative!

[@hjboots]

Thanks for the lesson, well done. You are a intelligent young man, keep up the great work.

[@fungusenthusiast8249]

Thank you for this! I was taking apart doorknobs for brass and came across some heavy parts that looked like aluminum but were too dense, and I though it might be zinc, and this confirmed it. I also accidentally melted a magnesium computer frame thinking it was aluminum.

[@RobinDC071991]

is it possible to melt alu extrusion parts and add an amount of silicium to the molten aluminium to help the aluminium flow during the casting?

[@andrewcd1957]

If you want to melt zinc that has a chrome coating, what happens to the chrome, or should the chrome be removed before melting?

[@electro1622]

hi Maker J When you mix metals you change the characteristics ( castability, hardness,strength,CTE, malleability etc.)of the alloy you produce. If you blindly mix metals, you are likely to end up with an alloy which is crap. Factories use certain alloys for certain physical properties required for that product...this keeps recycling easy and cheap...once you start making alloys which are not in common use, the refining process becomes very expensive and not so green. Also consistent alloy formulation will give you consistent results.In other words...try to use the same types of alloy.

[@makerj101]

electro1622 You are totally right. But I think for most home castings it's not going to matter all that much unless I plan on machining etc. So if I just want to cast a basic fly wheel it's probably not going to matter that much if I use a bad alloy. I think a lot of the people that would machine home castings would already know how to tell zinc and aluminium apart and know what is a good machining alloy. I geared this video towards people who just want to cast something simple. It's possible however that mixing them in the wrong combination could result in a totally terrible alloy even for that. I will be keeping my aluminium and zinc separate unless I want to make an alloy. Thank you!

[@electro1622]

No worries..just keep in mind that very small amounts can lead to big changes. For eg. one of the gold/Palladium alloys I use has less than 1 % Ruthenium and Gallium added.These greatly enhance the castability and hardness at that concentration, any higher and hardness suffers by at least 30%or more.

[@makerj101]

electro1622 You are right. A small about could make a huge difference on the properties of the castings. Maybe I'll try some alloys sometime and see how it works just mixing randomly.

[@MrMcGoo-rm3yu]

Very good.

[@stclairstclair]

You sound young, im 50 and your spot on everything you said and tough me a few things, great job!

[@Oakleaf700]

Really useful...I have a Victorian rocking horse bit [I bought four from a restorer] and one was bent..I tried to straighten it, but it snapped..it is magnetic, so I assume steel [they are cast]..I might have to glue it together, as it obviously won't solder. [only a few mm across, so not really a big surface area]

[@mandrac2]

You might want to make the distinction between zinc and zamak. Zamak is a cheap zinc, aluminum, magnesium, copper alloy. It's also called pot metal.

[@6oJ6e]

the solder is usually mixed with tin as well as antimony sometimes silver or lead, various alloys exist for various purposes. Good videos man.

[@jlosworld4086]

Thanks man you just helped me BIG TIME!

[@MithradatesMegas]

I've a question for you; you say that zinc-aluminum allows are generally acceptable. What do you know about anodizing zinc-aluminum alloys? Will it work the same as anodizing aluminum alone?

[@makerj101]

+Mithradates Megas Hmm I have no idea. I have no experience with anodizing.

[@marijanabrezic8854]

+Makerj101 in my opinion, zinc has a weird smell to it, and i can recognise it by its light blue jeans colour.

[@arcturusbbqsausagemaking2435]

Great video ,A lot of the older bathroom fixtures are brass with crome coating, if you hit it with a hacksaw or grinder you will see the brass color if its not brass it could be zinc or pot metal

[@luxorbill269]

Wow, this kid is BRIGHT, good job. Going out right now to file on my anodes to figure is out. Thank you.

[@sgibbons77]

Great job - I'm just dipping my toe into the world of casting, and was asking exactly this question when i came across your video. Thank you!

[@makerj101]

InvolvedObserver Awesome! Best wishes!

[@1973Saved]

Any tips on how to recognize Antimony?

[@detectiveelectro2372]

To recognize antimony...antimony is metal but explosive...look at thoisoi video...you will get more information about metal and chemical. See you later...

[@ninjabothandyman6063]

Hey really do appreciate your taking the time necessary to gather wonderful examples of numerous multiple types of different metals we're likely encountering ourselves, and I ADMIT A TOTAL BRAVO !!!! bud on the precise + concise = fucking awesome explanations given my friend !! Hugely helpful my man !!!

[@zaga002]

Very informative, thank you! I'm using separation equipment to sort out aluminum and zinc and I've been having a hard time checking if we did well. This helps a lot! :)

[@stemer1149]

Very informative, thank you very much. Particularly liked the info on telling magnesium and aluminium apart. I stumbled upon a broken scrapped Audi A4 transmission the other day and wasn't sure if there were parts with magnesium alley in it.

[@TruthWizardTemplar7]

How do I find and identify tin for bronze making? Thanks god bless

[@fungalchamber7463]

Does a sodium chloride acetic acid solution disolve zinc? I found a piece of duct but I'm unsure if it's galvanized

[@jondoes8222]

I make bells from aluminum and I am going to try alloy some zinc with it for more sustain in the ring. I noticed zinc products zinc die cast has a ring to it.

[@walter2990]

How did your casting for the bells go?? Did you get the mixture of alum & zinc you we're trying for??

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Great video. How do you tell zinc from pot metal? As you say the best aluminium for casting is aluminium that has already been cast into something as it contains the correct additives for good results. Cars are fantastic source as often you can pickup old aluminium parts for next to nothing. I tried aluminium horse shoes but the results were quite poor but automotive parts gave excellent results. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺

[@gojorakuenstudio-8320]

I have the same issue with pot metal being used intensively before WW2, then gradually replaced by aluminum. Powder coating aluminum is great, pot metal is disastrous as it makes bubbles when cured. Still looking for a non destructive way to identify (close to ) pure aluminium.

[@justafanmarvel9669]

Do you know what the proper ratio of aluminum to Zinc would be to make a good alloy? Is it 50% by weight?

[@heartfang21]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_aluminium

[@skidmod4]

Thanks for putting this together, very helpful

[@CB-68-westcreations]

Ceramic (SER AM IK) not ( Cream ik) Just thought id share that detail. 😀 And watch out for fumes from Zinc. It can kill if you over heat it and get it to gas state.

[@EssexSilvering]

Good video, thanks for sharing, .... Just a quick tip on the ZINC, I've had Zinc that is really light in weight and I was convinced it was Aluminum so I made up some Copper Sulphate solution, put one drip on the alloy, nothing, ... But when you put one drip on the Zinc it will start to bubble immediately and turn it black and actually start to bite into it and melt it, so another good way of telling Zinc from aluminum if your not sure, .... Copper sulphate is easy to obtain, ... In America you have Root Kill that will work, ... We don't have that in the UK so copper Sulphate is the only way for us ;-)

[@KillerKolt44]

Thank you. This video has loads of information I will have to watch it several times. I scrap metal

[@JustinLodes]

Where did you find that particular piece of magnesium?

[@ucrash2]

I learned things here, thanks!

[@danielkuehn3801]

How do you tell the difference between stainless steel and aluminum?

[@stclairstclair]

Aluminum is soft, easy to drill, clogs files and grinding wheels, stainless is steel with chrome mixed in, it is so hard drilling is tough to say the least, both are non magnetic.

[@superdau]

There is really no way to confuse those two. The density is completely different (almost 3x), look (color, shine) is very different, hardness and thoughness as well. If you have problems telling the difference between the two, you might as well have a problem telling the difference between aluminium and wood ;) Stainless steel is not generally non-magnetic. So if a magnet sticks to it you know it's not aluminium, but it doesn't mean it's not stainless.

[@danielkuehn3801]

well I have a hollow cane that is designed to be light. but its strong like steel,yet non magnetic like aluminum. so was just a bit uncertain.

[@welshreaperscrapandcasting4029]

Awesome and informative video. As for mixing zinc and aluminium I wouldnt reccomend it unless you are watching it closely as if you over cook the zinc while melting it will produce a cotton candy like substance called zinc oxide which is toxic if inhaled.

[@phillipkramer1897]

When will the video of the metal fire reacting with water be on? Sounds to interesting to miss.

[@makerj101]

+Phillip Kramer LOL hopefully never! :P Unless it's intentional!

[@phillipkramer1897]

I was interested in this type of topic only cause I am looking in to fixing a few broken throttle cables on small single cylinder motors since why spend money needlessly and I have more than one cable that is missing a end an some are from tools that parts are either very expensive or hasn't been being made for long enough that all the old replacements are gone so making my own would be much quicker, cheaper, without sacrificing quality even or take much time too. Everyone else I have heard about doing this seems to be using lead which I would rather not be doing and lead seems somewhat so soft it wouldn't be a very good choice anyways. .

[@makerj101]

+Phillip Kramer Cool! I think you are right that they often use lead for that kind of thing. You could use lead free pipe solder as that is soft which you might need and fairly strong. Stronger and harder than lead at least.

[@Orgakoyd]

What ''good quality'' casting material denote?

[@prestonbecker8784]

Good video overall, but you should be careful about mixing zinc and aluminum. The melting point of pure aluminum is ~650C, while the boiling point of zinc is ~900C. If you mix the two into the same crucible and don't do a good job controlling the temperature, the zinc could boil off as you try to melt the aluminum. And if you breath in that boiled zinc (which turns into zinc oxide dust in the air) without a respirator, you could easily end up with metal fume fever (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever). People get into the same problem melting brass, where that melting temperature is also not much lower than the boiling point of zinc. Subscribers are hard enough to come by as it is, you don't need to be killing any of yours off ;). If people want to separate zinc from aluminum, Cody's lab has already shown how to measure the density of irregularly shaped objects (kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3nTmGVnabCelbc). Zinc has a density of ~7 g/cm^3, while aluminum has a density of 2.7 g/cm^3. Buy yourself a cheap scale, and make sure you're not mixing the two metals. It's certainly cheaper than a trip to the hospital. If you're doing small work, amazon has a ton of very accurate scales for under $20. If you see this Makerj101, it might be worth a follow up, if you haven't already addressed this.

[@909mineman]

Where do you find the aluminum stuff

[@makerj101]

Owen Partaik Just from lots of things I've taken apart over the years. You can get lots of aluminum on garbage day. Things like old lawn chairs and stuff like that are good sources.

[@909mineman]

Ok thanks

[@jondoes8222]

How do they melt magnesium when they cast it into parts? What do they do to stop it from burning and making it molten and pour products?

[@BackYardScience2000]

With a layer of melted material over top of the molten magnessium to protect it from the atmosphere. Boric acid is used occasionally.

[@vivimannequin]

Try pouring argon into the crucible

[@captain_coleton]

Very good tip on identifying Magnesium

[@marijanabrezic8854]

i need more info on silver, since i found alot of old rings and ear rings and i dont know how to separate it from other metals. can it be attracted with magnets? is it easy to score or scratch it? is it lighter or heavier than aluminum or zinc?

[@spzer2557]

you should check them very closely, most silver stuff have tiny markings on it with 3 numbers for example: 925 means it's 92.5% silver

[@pmdoit]

Loved the video, this old-timer learned a lot. My only suggestion is that you learn to use a file correctly... They only cut in the forward direction, dragging or raking the teeth backwards will ruin the file over time.

[@JoshuaRando]

So if I see seams and circles from ejecting pins. Then it is zinc? It looks like it.

[@stclairstclair]

both zinc and aluminum are molded, i think you'd have to go by weight if guessing on a molded item.

[@GF_Burke]

Thanks dude. Scrapped 15lbs of AL here at work. mostly hard drives, heatsinks, laptops. one laptop full casing I thought was AL. Grabbed my tabasco... bubbles. :D dang.

[@bendean6287]

thank you sooo much! i thought i had all aluminum in my scrap cast aluminum pile but i found some zink and one pice of MAGNESIUM, i had no idea. we were about to start making ingots and this could have ended badly. it's weird, im fairly shure that it was part of a chainsaw i took apart.

[@makerj101]

+Ben Dean yeah, some chainsaw parts and other things that need to be super light are often magnesium. Fancy car rims are sometimes magnesium. And laptop frames are.

[@ARCHERY61]

I have a sheet of ?,....is it ss .. or ...alum ...I tested .. scratch... Drilling,,... Bending... With no resolve. Is there a conclusive test,... Ty .. I have photos

[@RWGresearch]

Nice well put together video :) thanks for sharing ! ~Russ

[@makerj101]

***** You're welcome Russ! Thank you!

[@pdr938]

Very concise. Thank you.

[@TunaCat929]

Great informative video!

[@ryannu1578]

Making bronze and brass is great I’ve got a foundry myself if you want to do this stuff it’s worth the investment

[@sabercruiser.7053]

Great work 👍👍👌👌

[@mikhailkalashnikov4599]

Very helpful info. Thanks.

[@soonersciencenerd383]

how about tin? identifying it? it's melting temp?

[@makerj101]

+Sooner Science Nerd Tin is actually kind of rare. I don't have much. The only places you are really going to find tin are in lead free and lead solder and in pewter. Tin has a lower melting point than lead and is very soft and silvery. I'm not really sure any other ways to identify it as it's fairly uncommon due to it's softens and price. It's also used to plate sometimes due to it's high polish capability. Some steel can I believe are still plated with tin.

[@makerj101]

+Sooner Science Nerd Melting point is: 449.5°F 231.9°C

[@soonersciencenerd383]

good to know. have you cut open (old) power cords, like from old appliances? the fabric insulation cords- stay away from, except for the brass in the prongs. I cut into the fabric insulation, and white powder was inside. I suspect asbestos, or something else. I just tossed it into my other wire container. where would I find tin in a computer,components, ect.? thanks.

[@marijanabrezic8854]

+Makerj101 can you tell me where can i find bismuth? since its like more than 200 degrees melting point and i want to make some ingots from it

[@vivimannequin]

@@marijanabrezic8854 online

[@barryellis5279]

thanks for the video the magnetism test was great did not know laptops was made out of that material.

[@Wooley689]

Thanks for the video, very informative.

[@makerj101]

Wooley689 Welcome!

[@aaronpriestley1500]

I heard zinc is poison and you shouldn't melt or weld it, is this true?

[@makerj101]

Zinc metal isn't that bad. Infact you need some zinc in your diet (I don't know what forms specifically). Welding or melting zinc causes it to burn/oxidize which make zinc oxide and it's not great for you. Not the worst either. Heavy metals like cadmium and lead are much worse.

[@BipolarRaven]

Top or bottom?

[@Benny-dv7xm]

Mike, can you please learn to recognize the different items you scrap as parts of hidden in plain sight pre-reset old world technology?

[@robinson-foundry]

Thanks! This helped me out!

[@juliangrasnick3224]

I think there are steel alloys ( some kinds of stainless steele) that are not magentic.

[@SwiftCreationStudio]

Just put the drop some muriatic acid on the zinc and it will bubble, aluminum won't a lot easier and cuts the crap.

[@whyiohwhy]

Isn't casting zinc deadly? Zinc oxide?

[@whyiohwhy]

+whyiohwhy I mean, at leqst very dangerous for the home caster? My welding mentor always warned us against welding or melting anything with a zinc coating, that it's a rare fume that can kill in minutes.

[@makerj101]

+whyiohwhy I believe it's not a problem as long as you don't get it too hot and I wouldn't stick my face down wind of it. But something I will look into before I do any zinc casting.

[@hscrfc11]

+whyiohwhy A welder is much hotter and actually boils the zinc. It isn't as much of an issue when casting, because temps are usually much too low to boil zinc.

[@js267]

+Makerj101 watch out for what types of foam you use for your mold as well. Some foams are extremely toxic when burned.

[@whyiohwhy]

+Brian Dolinar Thanks for the info! Would you happen to know anything about the connection between aluminum smelting and alzheimer's? Or if there is a strong case for one? I've smelted a few cans in the backyard before the thought put me off of it. Studies have been done about aluminum and alzheimer's ingeneral, but I'm having trouble digging up a simply stated study that corrolates Alz to Aluminum smelting/casting in particular.

[@faraz40468]

Maam , very nice video and it is helpful

[@dmkh05]

The vintage to gun is worth about 10 to 15 dollers on ebay

[@ionymous6733]

or $2 after fees and shipping?

[@majorhavoc9693]

Screw eBay. They now require a social security number and date of birth to sell anything.

[@sallamkhan2051]

very informative. make a video of nickel and cobalt.

[@ryannu1578]

Interesting I didn’t know you could mix aluminum and zinc

[@NevinWilliams71]

There seems to be an alloy of 78% Zinc, 22% aluminum that exhibits strange properties. It goes by the brand name Prestal. Nearly every source I've found on the alloy, however, is taken from the same source, which is not readily verifiable without buying the referenced book. The repeated phrase is "Another alloy, marketed under the brand name Prestal, contains 78% zinc and 22% aluminium and is reported to be nearly as strong as steel but as malleable as plastic" Sounds cool, anyway. Another reference I got to ZA22 was this metallurgy experiment from the University of Washington: depts.washington.edu/mti/1999/labs/metals/al_zn_alloy.html

[@makerj101]

Nevin Williams That alloy that does the phase change is really interesting. I kinda want to give that a try. I'm not sure whether scrap aluminium and zinc would be pure enough? Thank you!

[@NevinWilliams71]

Well, offhand, a quick check to determine how pure the scrap is, would be to measure the densities of each sample batch, and compare to published values. That would at least give a suggestion on how close to pure your samples are. I think it'd be an interesting exercise in qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques.

[@makerj101]

Nevin Williams What if it was an aluminum alloy that had some copper and magnesium in it? Then wouldn't they cancel each other out? But that would probably be unlikely!

[@NevinWilliams71]

Yeah, a density test such as Archimedes' method, is just a quick and fast ball park test. It ought to confirm that object A is made of the same stuff as object B. If it can be done accurately enough, then depending on the source of published densities of pure metals and alloys (and whether the metals are in similar crystalline states to the published figures. If the situation were to exist with some heavier and lighter metals having a density close to a desired one, then the alloy's other properties should help distinguish it from the target metal: a copper alloy is usually yellow or pink, for instance.

[@overthemountain90]

The best way too tell zinc from cast aluminium is too hit it with a heavy hammer. Cast will break at thin points where as zinc won't

[@LostinMND]

Thanks, very informative for me.

[@makerj101]

Peter C. Kopp Awesome!

[@justrandomthings4985]

How old are you?

[@makerj101]

JustRandomThings 19

[@Sentient_Goose]

It's like a post apacolyptic pixar movie, but without the fuzzy robots

[@corried5576]

Thanks ,that did help. I was curious at what the temp was for melting brass. I knew it was high.

[@marijanabrezic8854]

quick advice: not all metals are instantly brass cause they have golden colour, always scratch the piece to see if it had silver colour under it.

[@redrum2612]

Superb video

[@sabercruiser.7053]

Much greatful very very informational

[@GeorgeBonez]

Pretty helpful vid. Thanks dude.

[@bktthemdg9038]

zinc has toxic fumes though and you get whats called metal fume fever and is the reason why blacksmithing with galvanized steel is bad

[@robertschumann9059]

BKT the MDG i wanted to comment that too. Zinc fog can cause loss of teeth and serious problems with lungs and kidneys

[@choiboi1462]

BKT the MDG - Haha, I put the end of a strip of zinc on my gas stove and it ignited and started filling my house with smoke. Rip me.

[@Davidzapper]

The zink sounded hard and the ally sounded soft when you hit them with the file

[@snowflakezzonPC]

Great video!

[@Александр-р3э3м]

Thanks for help!

[@detectiveelectro2372]

Have you watched thoisoi video...you will get many information and help to recognize metal very easily...also thoisoi is russian scientists also he speak English. Hope you have good day...

[@Александр-р3э3м]

@@detectiveelectro2372 OK, Thanks :)

[@vaheedoddinmd9900]

Well done good information

[@andrewtavendale4529]

The magnesium vinegar was helpful

[@spacemansabs]

Kerimik?

[@Erlandsson1964]

Silver that i found in a ???? cellpobleoblob??

[@jessenoneofyobussines7560]

Old cell phone. What he said

[@Ra000leo]

Entertaining. good job.

[@DaveWard-xc7vd]

Thankyou. Most appreciated.

[@earniewelch3932]

I'm sure I just got educated by a kid.lol thank very good info

[@spacealienrissley]

Not really i just made my own aluminum bronze in a crude home foundry just a stamped steel cover from i forgot what ita off lots of scrap n some.bricks i found n mahp gas on a regular torch or propane on a camp stove burner.

[@SeriesFightClass]

dude your really clear on your speaking for a what sounds like a, kid?

[@medievalterrence9691]

Lead free plumbers solder is NOT silver, it is mostly tin.

[@makerj101]

+Medieval Terrence yep! I thought it was mostly silver back when I made this video

[@ambersmith6517]

good info video

[@joshuakochendarfer3663]

Thanks for the info.

[@aplinewalker]

very informative many thanks ,,,