The Bronze Alloy as Tough as Steel! (almost)

[@PaulsGarage]

Want to learn sand casting using your 3D printer? I can teach you!: paulsmakeracademy.mykajabi.com/joinus

[@hideandtallow]

refreshing to not be drowned down by heavy metal music with such videos. I really appreciate it.

[@daltonelledge2252]

You have exactly 91.3% copper to 8.7% aluminum that is a rather strong alloy. You could have added nickel and made C95500 aluminum bronze which is exceptionally strong. Currently I am making a 7075 aluminum alloy for a nonspark wrench.

[@Freddy-bx6sf]

It might be too late to ask, how much nickel lol

[@thegreatders344]

​@@Freddy-bx6sf Aluminum 10.0 - 11.5% Cu, Copper 78.0% Fe, Iron 3.0 - 5.0% Mn, Manganese 3.50% Ni, Nickel 3.0 - 5.50% Other 0.50% This is manufacturing grade composition for C95500

[@Freddy-bx6sf]

@@thegreatders344 thank you. When it says 0.05% other is that for rounding errors? Is that like byproducts or something?

[@opmacace523]

​@Freddy-bx6sf other mixtures like phosphor or beryllium can be added on that 0.5% but ignoring it is fine

[@PrimeMenethril]

@@Freddy-bx6sf 0.50 accounts for the impurities you can basically never entirely resolve. There's a patent for Nickle/Aluminum/Copper that gives values 10-12% aluminum, 2 - 10% Nickle, and the remainder copper from whatever percentages you're using. Manganese can be anywhere from .01 to 5%. Iron can be substituted in at values of 1 to 6% in place of copper. This is specifically advantageous because it allows the stress relieving heat treatment, or tempering, of the resulting bronze without causing it to become eutectoid. So its retains a martensite structure while being stress relieved, thus resulting in a greater body ductility. Such tempering should be done in the 800F to 1050F range of temperature.

[@MrPipvampire]

WOW!!! Every time I watch one of your vids I'm amazed. A ratio of 10 percent aluminium to 90 percent copper is very tough stuff. I never knew that!! Thanks for sharing.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks! It's a great alloy. Very tough, corrosion resistant.

[@TheSokarin]

Lol, "all cratered up like the surface of the moon, or a teenager's face." XD That line had me rollin.

[@durfkludge]

I just got my first propane furnace set up and I am VERY EXCITED to try this. I have heaps of copper and aluminum in search of a project.

[@brassmagnet4795]

Thanks for your vids, I'm looking forward to getting involved in the video community and sharing knowledge and results. Your channel is like my second favorite when it comes to these casting projects.

[@meteoman7958]

I guess you know by now that your mix was 9.09% aluminum bronze. To get 10%, you need 1 part Al and 9 parts Cu. But your mix seems to have amazing properties, sort of more like steel.

[@derekarnst4498]

I work in a CNC shop and just got done making aluminum bronze bearings. It is a very hard bronze.

[@NemecJesse]

I just finished my first copper melt and pour, and I didn't realize how much you were flinching from the heat the first time I watched this, but now that I can relate, I was chuckling to myself as I watched you dance around the heat. It's crazy how much more radiant heat comes off of molten copper than aluminum.

[@atomiclizzard288]

I am a machinist, and I machine aluminum bronze fairly often for guides and things. I use an SFM of 120, similar to stainless or A2 which works pretty good.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks for the info!

[@atomiclizzard288]

No problem, also if your not using carbide tooling the work hardening aspect of it can become an issue when machining. to get around it instead of using multiple passes, go full depth using a slow feed rate.

[@nickhollister9483]

this was awesome, thanks for the lesson on the aluminium bronze, I found that very interesting.

[@PaulsGarage]

Your welcome! Glad you enjoyed

[@frankvillani9491]

Dude, your channel is great! I love your great sense of humor!

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@TommyCoyBoy]

Thanks for the video, really helped a brother out on an engineering assessment. Funny too!

[@randyrodich]

When there’s a new Paul’s garage video 😍😍

[@PaulsGarage]

;)

[@Royotr]

Randy Rodich m

[@davidwillard7334]

Aluminium Cans ! Are Great ! Thank you ! Pauls Garage ;

[@rodneyjohnson7958]

Nice to learn this kind of stuff I'm thinking of going to the metal business myself maybe make some castings for people who knows it's good learn these things from people like you

[@Max-ye9xg]

Looks like some super tough material I like it didn't fracture didn't bend not too soft not too brittle

[@simpleman806]

Just a safety thought. Might want to invest in some torch goggles

[@PaulsGarage]

Good idea, it was never this bright before.

[@johnmccanntruth]

The brightness, UV and IR radiation will kill your eyes, good post...

[@guyh.4553]

I was going to say the same thing 😊😊😊

[@hyperhektor7733]

3-5$ from ebay china, have a look

[@ezekielbreedlove7698]

Because they have different volume to weight values true percent would by by volume and not weight!

[@jaredjones6570]

I just melted a whole bunch of old pennies (95% copper, 5% zinc) from 1959 to 1982 and added 10% aluminum by weight. The result was ridiculously strong and impact resistant. I actually can't believe it. Some of my bars had a little bit of material overhanging on the side from where I finished pouring. They look so thin and flimsy that I expected to be able to casually snap them off- I'd be able to if they were aluminum or copper. But I almost cut my finger trying. I am a pretty strong guy but I could not bend the overhang that was 1 mm thick and 10 mm long and 7 mm wide with both of my hands applying full strength - not even a little bit. You could definitely make knives with this.

[@TheCollabCurator]

You're very likable, keep making videos.

[@NathanielOutdoorAdventures]

So very cool my friend.

[@Jagdtyger2A]

I don't know if aluminum bronze reacts like other copper alloys, but if you want to shatter the puck try hitting it while red hot as copper alloys tend to be "hot short". Meaning that it breaks into gravel if hit while hot

[@thermophile2106]

Forced air furnaces are the best. I use a shop vac for my furnace. It is kind of out of commission, because I kind of melted the steel burner.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thats unfortunate! Good sign that it was hot enough thoigh

[@joshschneider9766]

Fit the lid on perfectly, use a marker to make one line going through the top and side, then two on the next side then three etc. These will act as registration marks to perfectly align your lid every time. Or weld brackets with holes on the bottom and pieces of rod to slot into them to the lid.

[@codelicious6590]

This one is more informative than Swede dweeb's but you both have good vids and I'm enjoying learning with you guys. I had NO IDEA aluminum bronze was harder than copper!! Amazing! I need to make some for sure!

[@netherdominater9960]

I'm planning to make some of this stuff and casting a set of custom knuckles dusters with it

[@dicelabiblia7461]

Great video, thank you.

[@comfortablynumb9342]

You might be able to make some cool bullets out of that alloy. Copper and brass bullets are available but the alloy should penetrate better.

[@steveaubinofangers7391]

I'm making Aluminum Bronze now!!!!! 92.5/7.5 ratio and a light wire wheel job.

[@PaulsGarage]

It's an awesome alloy. One of my favorites

[@ModernBladesmith]

"that you don't want blowing up at random because that's really inconvenient"

[@DobleWhiteAndStabley]

This will be good to know when I start making my machine shop machine tools next month.

[@PaulsGarage]

Good luck!

[@lawrencepryor1309]

I run a 5lb bronze furnace. I get 2200F with a passive Bernoulli draft induced by propane injection into a simple pipe. I melt 5lbs in about a half hour. No electricity involved.

[@SHAD0WZOMBIE]

"They look amazing, google it sometime" is what the quick caption says

[@cptrikester2671]

Catching up on some old ones. Nice. 👍

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@joshschneider9766]

Also I think the hair dryer worked so efficiently because it not only forces the air in but preheats the hell out of it. So the base temp into the combustion front was way higher than it otherwise would have been.

[@NipkowDisk]

I've seen aluminum bronze obelisks for international border monuments- only place I have seen the metal. It is pretty cool stuff.

[@johngalt4657]

Sounds like a great alloy!😃👍💛

[@PaulsGarage]

It is!

[@AdeSwash]

Was not expecting hard material from two soft materials, very interesting video Paul

[@PaulsGarage]

Glad you found it interesting! Aluminum bronze is awesome.

[@swdweeb]

Ok, clearly I'm going to have to go get a hair dryer. It takes me something just short of a lifetime to get hot enough to melt copper. Pretty impressive young man, pretty impressive.

[@PaulsGarage]

Forced induction makes everything better, even mustangs ;)

[@The52brandon]

Forced air is seriously a MASSIVE difference. I use a shop vac in reverse with an inline speed control knob turned all the way down and the hose intentionally misaligned to prevent too much air and I've sheared off my pipe that serves as torch end in the furnace at least 5 times now. I'm thinking about running an O2 concentrator instead, as it's lower velocity and highly flammable

[@TKnightcrawler]

Damn. I want a sink made out of this stuff.

[@davmatt74]

Another great video. I am looking forward to seeing the hammer. Merry Christmas.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks! merry christmas to you too!

[@unknownhours]

I've used non-sparking tools before, and they were pretty soft (at least compared to normal steel tools). The features on the tools also weren't quite on center, so maybe we just got crappy tools despite the expense.

[@PaulsGarage]

Could be? It's easy to screw up the alloy. It's a balance between strength and brittleness and sometimes they go a little too soft to prevent it shattering

[@metalmeltingmark4655]

Thanks for sharing

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@salemsmith2878]

This would make for one cool Khopesh Sword.

[@althesmith]

I remember forging down a large-diameter round bar of aluminum bronze. Didn't know it WAS aluminum bronze. Heated and quenched it to anneal. Swung my hammer down. Every single tooth in my skull rattled. Found out later that it hardened when quenched. Mystery metal lottery....

[@PaulsGarage]

Sounds like a tooth shaking good time

[@althesmith]

@@PaulsGarage I think you can quench harden and temper it to around 50 Rc, which is good enough for steel swords and plenty for smithing hammers.

[@856Dropout]

Use the face shield next time you do a metal pour. Keeps the heat off your face. You can’t get tinted ones too to protect your vision.

[@ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

That’s tough stuff!

[@parky6031]

Good video. I love seeing someone so passionate about the content they are creating!

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks! Playing with fire is a lot of fun

[@elmilanomohamed1219]

Hereafter u will be burnt into ashes i promised u🤣🤣

[@tonkadriver1833]

Another awesome video Happy holidays to you and your family

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks! same to you!

[@RustyGlovebox]

swdweeb send me over. Very cool collaboration project!. Cool channel Paul , new sub

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks for coming over!

[@Juanandsomegymcontent]

It's been So long and I'm So glad to be able to watch one of your videos calmly, again. Hey, my Salandit named after you . . . There's these fire, toxic and melting based content. Salandit is a Poison Fire Type. This is awesome.

[@PaulsGarage]

I definitely like types of fire, that's for sure :D

[@johannapoder2843]

Teenager face killed me😂😂😂😂

[@johnmccanntruth]

Can’t wait to see your hammer head design and see it cast. And just a second on the protection for your eyes. Torch glasses. Ave just did a video on it as was mentioned...

[@PaulsGarage]

I’ll have to get some kind of eye protection. I’ve never had the thing this hot before.

[@Joe-dw8sh]

Wait carbon is made of carbon?

[@PaulsGarage]

I’m 95% sure, can’t be absolutely certain though

[@Joe-dw8sh]

Paul's Garage I think it's made out of hydrogen

[@timberwolf0122]

So is carbonara sauce, it's just arranged differently

[@stephensu4371]

i cant say it is wrong

[@romainetomatoes2416]

JAG827 casting Carbon, being an element, is what it is. Whether you’re referring to soot, nanotubes, buckminsterfullerene, graphite, graphene, glassy carbon, or diamond, it is still carbon. Just like why phosphorus can be a brick red powder that is often found on the sides of matchboxes, but the same element can also be a yellow wax-like material that spontaneously ignites if you let it sit out too long. Either way, they are allotropes of the same element.

[@alexbrock3930]

Another great video 👍

[@MatthewHiltner]

Wow... you are ultra-close to Chicago!

[@branni6538]

This is great. Thanks

[@DakotaFart911]

To get a torch that hot and have it heat up the foundry that quickly, you probably had a near max effeciency burner. Propane with pure oxygen can reach near 3600 degrees farenheit. Good job

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks! It definitely got crazy hot really quickly. I didn’t expect a burner made of 10% duck tape to work so well

[@Cali_Suaze]

Weld a line to match to for the top

[@jesseschumacher4080]

To protect your eyes from the brightness and heat you could drop ~$5 on some shade 5 goggles. I know I’m a couple years late but it’s a lifesaver if you don’t have any by now!

[@lordofnumidia3880]

I always wanted to do this, but couldn't find much info on it. Those turned out great man, cheers!

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@lohostege]

Wonder if you could make a sword out of this? Mabye like a shorter one, but still, it would be kinda cool, especially ingraved with a mirror polish.

[@drewfausett5388]

your face is an arrangement of atoms. - comedy gold

[@PaulsGarage]

It’s also technically true! Every face is made of atoms. :D

[@AlumiTube]

OMG hair blower, that workd great... Cool paul remember glasses you can dameged or eyes... 😁 what bar, psi was your gas at???

[@PaulsGarage]

the hair dryer is awesome!! forced air is the best. I don't have a gauge so i'm not sure exactly what PSI i'm at, but at max the thing is around 30psi (2 bar).

[@ColonelRPG]

I would like to have Paul as a neighbor so he'd help me move some giant things around.

[@PaulsGarage]

I need my spine to heal a bit first! :D

[@mindofmadness5593]

Always look forward to your vids as you remind me of my best bud-he was there after my transpplant, he kindly told the nurse I was awake so she could come over and turn the Morphine back on while I am screaming mentally at him "I'M FINE! CAN'T YOU READ MINDS?!?!? Oh, you Diiii....." but you're not him. I wonder how flexible this stuff is-been wanting to cast a bracelet, I can use Silver [[will eventually]] but wanted to get the first done cheaply and Aluminum is too tough to bend. [[Stupid Aluminum]]

[@PaulsGarage]

Haha that’s awesome. Cast aluminum won’t bent but pure aluminum might, it’s a bit softer. It work hardens though, so you would have to keep annealing it

[@josephpadula2283]

Put in nickel also ! Nickel Aluminum bronze is great for sea water exposure.

[@williamliamsmith4923]

If you are still into this -Can you make arsenic bronze (while keeping yourself safe) in proportion same as what Bronze Age people made and check how it compares with aluminum bronze and tin bronze you made?

[@rcpi9336]

Totally flipped when I saw this. Forgot it was Friday.

[@PaulsGarage]

TGIF indeed

[@martinblouin3639]

you should cast a hood ornement for your van

[@dfross87]

An aluminium bronze hammer would make an interesting ornament. Many people would probably whine that a hammer is not pedestrian friendly, but the front of that van isn't really any softer.

[@PaulsGarage]

If someone gets hit with a van, the hood ornament is the least of their worries! Aluminum bronze badges and stuff would be pretty awesome now that you mention it...

[@williamtimmons8791]

Cool project

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@notamouse5630]

It would be really cool to see the actual metallurgy graphs and calculations. Look up "phase diagram of aluminum bronze" on google. I found this to be particularly enlightening: www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/aluminum-bronze Interestingly, it forms martensite like steel does. Also look at the effect of adding 10-15% manganese to the mix as it will make a better hammer by means of strengthening and reducing the formation of a brittle microstructure at the center of the hammer when quenched. Another interesting fact: Casting grade aluminum generally has silicon in it which has strong effects on crystal structure. In majority aluminum alloys, it interferes with or complicates age/solution hardening. I am not sure what it will do in copper, however I suspect it will create nucleation sites like when used in silicon tombac. www.totalmateria.com/Article71.htm Accounting for dross reduction of aluminum content (copper oxidizes slower) is important as there is a 1.5% margin in each direction from 10% Aluminum for good material properties.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks for the info!

[@sweetdrreemz]

Sir, you are funny and melt metal and have tools. You are success at life.

[@PastorTonyManuel]

I might have to jump on the alumina-bronze smithing hammer bandwagon as well

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

I love it! I wanna make myself a knife!

[@PaulsGarage]

it would look amazing. I would probably buy an industrial aluminum bronze alloy, though. The industrial stuff has some iron in it and can be heat treated super tough. They make non-sparking hammers and wrenches out of it. It's amazing.

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

@PaulsGarage can you imagine telling people you have traditional bronze aluminum alloyed knives and stuff I mean how cool is that! I don't need the toughest thickest knife to go out I'd love to have a cool Outdoors knife that was made from super old tec that actually lasts and looks awesome

[@R462venom]

You're funny as! I'm definitely subscribing!

[@Jagdtyger2A]

If you can get it try adding 3% Beryllium to the alloy. Th addition of 1-3% to a copper/Bronze alloy makes it as strong and tough as tool steel

[@dwwolf4636]

Avoid beryllium like the plague. Devil metal.

[@MrAndrew990]

Interesting good vid my dude.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@BuddysBeats]

haha loved it, great video.

[@adamcain7103]

HEY I've never heard of "AL. Bronze" but I'm interested in "sci.-tech." and I'm wondering about the thermal conductivity properties of this alloy and if you could create a superior kind of CPU heat-sink with this material I was wondering if it would be even better if you threw a bit of silver into the mix say a silver dime or quarter. Silver being one of the best, thermal conductors in of it self or what if you Silver plate the whole thing I'm sure it'd look cool as hell. Just an idea I'd love to see a VID on the topic.

[@PaulsGarage]

That sounds interesting but im sure it would be less effective than just pure copper. Silver alone is better yet and I think gold is even better. Aluminum only gets used as a heat sink/heat exchanger because its light and cheap by comparison. Perhaps a tiny bit of aluminum in copper would help reduce the weakness issue with copper with a minor loss in thermal conductivity, but i doubt it would be worth the insane increase in production difficulty that comes with aluminum bronze. You're probably onto something with coins, though. If any alloy could cool better than aluminum or copper it might be a silver/copper alloy like found in coins. Maybe a sterling silver? Pure silver might be great but its insanely soft, like butter soft. It is very ductile but good luck with the weakness. I have a feeling aluminum and copper are the best balance of production costs, materials cost, and effectiveness. My PC for a while had a big honking cpu heatsink with 2 fans. More area and more airflow is probably easier to achieve than a crazy alloy.

[@GuyBrown]

Dude I get a kick out of watching your videos! Good job.

[@PaulsGarage]

Thanks!

[@duuuuuudddeee]

Does the badass Tweed jacket also serve any safety prurpose? Also where can i get 1?

[@PaulsGarage]

It’s wool which resists burning ;). You can get all sorts of wool old mans jackets at goodwill

[@pixelpatter01]

I know it would make a hammer, but maybe it would make a great anvil as well.

[@PaulsGarage]

Probably but that would be a LOT of material. I'd go broke

[@tuxedohampster3843]

you should use a heat gun from harbor freight, I use one for my wood burning furnace plus the end of it is about 2" in diameter

[@PaulsGarage]

I have a heat gun somewhere now that you mention iy

[@stime6472]

Awesome!

[@shanenikolaus9870]

Such a fun and funny channel and I learned a lot about forging. I want to make an aluminum sword and I was looking for ways to add metals and make an aluminum alloy so that way the sword can be light but also strong and durable to take lots of hits. I do stage and film acting and I was looking for ways to make my own weapons so we can use them on stage not risk the weapon breaking or hurting myself and it be light and easy to use.

[@badsantaclaus4522]

Paul How about making a belt buckle in the same pour with the left overs Have your Wife make it on your 3-D printer Enjoyed

[@PaulsGarage]

that's not a bad idea, golden belt buckle sounds cool

[@dylansolis9089]

I've been having some hard time with melting down aluminum cans, I always end up getting absolutely no dross once im finished melting them all down. Is there anything you think I can be doing wrong?

[@DakotaFart911]

No dross, what do you mean

[@dylansolis9089]

Jordan Howard There is absolutely no black dross that you get when you melt down cans, it only started happening to me recently, and whatever i do it won't produce the dross and get the impurities out of the aluminum until i melt it down again, and then I have a harsh smell of plastic coming off of the aluminum

[@swdweeb]

When I melt cans I get just the opposite effect. It smells bad and smokes as it is burning the paint off the can and I feel like I get about 50% dross off the top. I just recently started adding "light salt" to the aluminum after its melted. It produces a dark liquid on top. If I stir that in I get a little more dross out of the melted aluminum but not a lot. The ingots that I make produce very little dross when remelted. I think you're always going to get oxidation and some dross unless you've figured out a way to bathe it in some inert gas. That sounds like a lot of work and expense for very little benefit though.

[@dylansolis9089]

swdweeb I can only get the plastic and paint out in the 2nd melt and it comes only out as a very syrupy liquid at the bottom of the crucible and I use the morton light salt but all that does for me is completely mix the dross and aluminum together, but everything is still a liquid. Its a very strange thing, and I can't seem to find why of how it happens

[@swdweeb]

That is a very strange thing. Sorry, wish I could be of more help.

[@CharlieMacklin1]

This may be a silly question but, did you have the heat function going on the hair dryer going or was it just blowing regular air? The reason I ask is because I have an old vacuum cleaner motor and moves a ton of air but with no extra heat…I would assume the propane is sufficient?

[@cha1rtech]

what's with the caption that pops up for maybe 0.1 seconds at 2:12? Assuming it's some sort of algorithm gaming to make ppl replay it to actually read it

[@PaulsGarage]

? Must have been a glitch that I missed. This is an old video and I definitely had no idea what I was doing editing anything

[@nobackhands]

Could you please make and test batch of equal weight brass and pewter. If I did the math right 31% copper, 20% zinc, 46% tin and 4% antimony

[@nakoawarrior3186]

Alluminum bronze would make an Ozzie the ice man axe Or you could use an Indian Axe as a pattern. Otzie used copper because it was malleable see when it gets dull to you just heat the tip and hammer it sharp then heat it up and quench it and its sharp and hard again they did that in old times in Austria and they did it with steel too. I think with early axes they just used soft steel and ball pean hammered the edge sharp, because you cant keep heating steal it gets brittle,... and eventually they went to harder steel and files and wasted material away with a file which meant they needed axes quicker but they were higher performance axe's. You could make an Axe or a sword out of that bronze.

[@ananonymousoyster365]

Nakoa Warrior quenching softens copper

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Have you ever tried to add iron or manganese in your aluminum bronze?

[@ronyerke9250]

Have you seen the video by Brian Oltrogge: Casting Brass|Sand Rammer-3D Printed Pattern? I really like the way he supported his burner and the way he extended his riser and vent. It kind of reminded me of Myfordboy's method. BTW, if you want to reduce the airflow & still use that hair dryer, try taping it to a y-pipe first. By changing the input and output port arrangement, you might get the flow that better suits you, and no additional moving parts.

[@PaulsGarage]

I've seen that vid, VERY cool sand rammers! I could modify my burner for sure and get some more adjustability, but full power mode works pretty great. It's too bad I only have mild mode and full blast, nothing in between, but I can deal with that.

[@ronyerke9250]

Okay. It also occurred to me tat you could switch blow driers. I've got a cheap, low-powered 2-speed that I can't turn off the heat, but if I wanted to dedicate it to furnace use, the heating coil could be disconnected or removed. I liked the way Brian used primer paint to help him smooth out irregularities on his pattern. I thought that was a great idea.

[@THEAngryProjects]

this material will make a great hammer for hammering cold things but I don't think it will work for forging stuff like steel which forge at temperatures high than the melting point of the aluminium bronze

[@PaulsGarage]

copper alloys diffuse heat pretty well, i'm pretty sure the momentary hits won't transfer enough heat into the hammer to cause any problems

[@wearetherandombros7782]

Hi mate... I am looking for a pure metal OR alloy that has a silvery look but is not Nickel or Silver. I need to replace those too for a project. any ideas ?

[@paulwiggins183]

Like "Dirilyte"? Cool.