Search for Melting in Topics

I recently got some thin PVC plastic for cheap.  I would like to soften it so I could shape it, but I have no idea what temperature to do it at or what to use to heat it.  I don't want to spend money.   Thanks!

If I ask you for melted ice and you come back the next day with plain water have you behaved unethically?

So I tryed melting some cans with a propane torch and they didn't exactly melt, been told they aren't the best for melting. I think I have some think aluminium wire lying around so I will try melting that , Anything else/ideas. I don't really know what i'm doing with aluminium. I have inkots trays steel ladels ect from my dad. We have done lead plenty of times but never aluminium.

I'm interested in trying to do something with the dozens of old CD's and DVD's.  I was thinking of trying to melt the polycarbonate and shape it while it's  Pliable. I understand polycarbonate melts at around 150 degrees C, so it's possible to melt in an oven, but is it safe?  Will it release any toxic fumes, or does it only vent at higher temps? Also, will it deform\shrink as it cools, or will it hold it's shape? Thanks!!!

Hey guys, can you suggest me a way to melt zinc into iron? for making alloy of them... thanks

Hi! Could anyone tell me what do I need to do in order to melt old tires and pour the liquid in a mould?

Hello. I found this hanging lamp at a garage sale, had to have it... Cannot find any information on this style. Looks homemade, melted plastic strips. Does anyone have any information you could share with me? How it was made? Maybe when making things like this was popular? Was it possibly mass produced? They kind of look like Fruit RollUps....Anything at all would help. Thank you. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=601755359858795&set;=pcb.601760483191616&type;=1&theater; https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=601755389858792&set;=pcb.601760483191616&type;=1&theater; Couldn't upload photos with the uploader.

Now I'd like to see an 'ible on that! A very neat contraption indeed! The only thing that was weird, was when he described a hot-dog. "Traditional, American, lunch-time, hot-dog, snack."  Very strange.      Link via Boing Boing

I am intersted in purifying water through freezing. I know when you make ice cubes, the white cloudy stuff/minerals/solids gets frozen in the center and therefore is the last thing to thaw out back to liquid. I was wondering if that would be about what snow would do, or would it have to be a solid block of ice for that to work? I don't have a dissolved solids meter or I would test it myself. I'm pretty sure snow is fairly pure to start with, but I could be mistaken. It does have a taste to it. What is that taste?

Hello everyone, Iam a disabled pensioner living in Australia. I have a few pieces of silver jewellery where links have opened, and require "soldering". A jeweller has quoted me $40 each repair. I have a 3 inch square of silver sheet left over from a jewellery course I took years ago, and want my husband to melt it on the links for me. He has tried a hand held soldering iron and also a blow torch, neither worked. Please can someone advise us what else to try ? They are only minor melts required, but we cant make the silver molten in our garage. Many thanks

Right now i'm trying to build a circuit that goes from a two AA pack to a switch to a potentiometer to a motor but every time I try to add a resistor of any size it always stops working. When I don't add the resistor the battery pack just melts and I have to buy a new one. Does anyone know how I can stop this from happening?

The title says it all.

So if you apply extreme heat to a book in either an inert or vacuum chamber, what happens.

Does anyone know an easily accessible adhesive that will neither melt or conduct electricity?? I'm using it for the cotton candy machine, which by the way, is really close to completion!

What kind of respirator would be good for filtering the fumes from melting aluminum? Would a regular paint one work?

Hello!  I'm attempting to make a costume and I need to make bubble eye caps. Could I use a plastic bottle and heat it up so that it'll melt partially?

I have been experimenting with transistors for 3 days now, both NPN and PNP. So far I have concluded nothing. I figure the easiest thing to do is to make a transistor work as a switch. With the NPN, the current seems to flow from the base to the emitter automatically. My understanding is that current should flow from the collector + to the emitter- only when I apply voltage +? to the base, is that correct? I don’t even need to connect the collector on the NPN and current flows. I have also read a million things about transistors online. My experiments seem to disprove most(all?) of the findings. This leads me to one conclusion. I’m not doing something right. Maybe I don’t have the right transistors. I have no idea. I have been using radioshack NPN’s (276-2016) and PNP’s (276-1604) When it tried to make a switch with a PNP my voltages was going back through my emitter to ground. If I disconnected it the system(test led) no longer worked. You might need to know that I was using a 5v voltage regulator to supply a 10v 5v and ground leads for my experiments. I was getting odd voltage readings on my circuits so I put diodes on the leads. The diodes stopped my PNP from working(I figured the current was flowing odd ways…back in the 5v+?) and didn’t seem to effect my NPN experiments. So I figure I’m closer on my NPN’s than my PNP’s. I wish I could explain better but my brain is about to melt. My wife is mad at me because I am obsessed with making this work… please help :P

I want to melt PET plastic at home. I want to make a clear tube. I know i have to dry the plastic as much as possible to keep it clear. I will dry the plastic by exposing it to a lower temperature than its melting point for few hours. I plan to melt the plastic into a liquid and pour it into a mold. For the mold i will use 2 fire resistant pipes,and pour the plastic in the gap. Are there any hazards to this,like toxic fumes? Can i use 2 fire resistant pipes as a mold? Is there a better way to dry the plastic? If i forgot to ask something important please answer that too. thank you for the answers.

While writing some nonsense in the fun section I started to wonder... Rock or stone melting is certainly possible but how to do it properly? In India they went as far as melting stone chains... But that was ages ago and the know how is lost now. So how do you do it at home?

 Matter can change states. Most solids need an increase in temperature to melt. Is there a solid that can melt at a lower temperature.

Hello, I am looking for a viable way to melt some teflon tape so to form a sort of spiraled tube . I am thinking of wrapping it around a steel tube and heating the tube up to 600 °F  or such . How should I heat the steel tube so to melt the teflon not  permanently bonding it (teflon) to the tube surface ?

I am trying to make my own rubber-soled shoes. Is there a good rubber I can melt at home for this? It needs to be relatively hard. Also, what kind of mold would I need to use & how would I make that? If I am successful, I will certainly make an instructable. This is the only part I need help with. Thanks.

I had my dad weld up an ingot mold out of 1 1/2" angle steel, yesterday, and I started wondering. How many people have melted aluminum here? I have, but here its so hot (Florida...Southern Florida.), that its almost unbearable to melt it anymore. I'm getting into sand casting, and I was wondering if anyone had experience in that area. My .gifs are of my foundry, and how I made it. (they aren't exact)

Http://andthatsthewayitis.net/2011/05/17/salt-does-not-melt-ice/  thought about running a chainsaw to remove ice from roof gutters. rethought that. sodium chloride? corrode metal gutter and hurt plants. mag sulfate?   have it on hand, but above link indicates it wont work. would it work if baked to drive off h2o?  stuf comes hydrated. calcium chloride? directly on metal?

I am new in electronics, and I am building an LED circuit with 2 AA batteries, green LED, and toggle switch. I put the batteries in the circuit (it's a 9v battery clip with a Two AA Battery holder) and it ran for a bit, then the bottom started to melt a bit. It is an older AA holder but the 9v clip is new. Is it because of the old component, switch, voltage, anything!

If a Bolt of lightning is 30,000C and someone gets hit by it how can they not get vaporized on the spot?? I mean that HOTTER than the sun.

Hi ... could someone explain me, why may car charger FUSE has been melted down ??? I was using it several times, and suddenly I realised, that it doesn't work. So I have inspected the fuse, and the wire in the middle was completely melted - a lot of small drops. I have changed the use ... it worked 3 times and again. The next one as well. Unfortunately I can't tell you, if it stops work when the charger is in the socket and I start the engine or by having the engine already running and then trying to put the charger in the socket. I think, I did both of those situations ... but I'm not sure. But WHAT COULD CAUSE THE MELTING of the fuse, when before it was working OK ??? Thank you in advance, Zholy

I am making a simple circuit with only batteries and LED strips - I know it must be shorting but very new to this and wondering how I can find the short and fix it? It takes around 4 minutes to melt the pack, I am using 8 AA batteries as was told the LED strips work at 12V.  Would really like your help.

Hi - I have been crocheting, knitting and sewing with plastic bags for several years.  Now, I'm wanting to try something new with the plastic bags by molding them into beads, brooches and other fun stuff. Can you safely heat plastic bags to be moldable?    Thanks for any help I can get..... 

I want to do some vacuum forging (from another instructables) and i was thinking about melting milk jugs for it. if i heated them with a blowtorch would it emit bad fumes into the air, as long as i didint burn it?  I would do it outside and im 13 so i dont want to mess myself up.  if it does make fumes, would a respirator with a fine filter stop them?

I've coated my usb (the circuit board, split the case) in electrical tape, but the USB gets warm (as expected. Will this damage my USB, despite the fact that it's a useless 128mb one anyway?

I've been thinking about this for a long time. What I am wanting to accomplish is finding a way to combine steel and rubber together to form a new substance where the two are no longer able to be distinguished from each other.

Aloha, I am working on recycled PET plastic for art projects. I have read everything that I can find on melting clear PET and reforming it. My issue is it keeping it clear or at least translucent for the art projects. I cut clear water bottles into small pieces and place on a cookie sheet and place in 500F degree oven. In about 3 mins it is liquid, still clear, and in the shape of the round pizza pan it is in. Almost immediately after I pull it out it begins to cool and turn white and opaque. So, my question is, is there something I can do to keep it clear? Is there possibly a cooling process to do this? Maybe slowly drop the temperature? Any help or tips will be greatly appreciated. Aloha, Tim

This probably looks like a really strange thing to ask, but I need to know what kind of temperature K'nex can endure before it softens and/or looses shape.  I am building something which will need to be able to withstand hot water/steam splashing onto it (but not  submerged in it), as well as being near a considerable heat source.    I've look for what they are made of, but nothing has come up, though I presume they are made of a mix of low-to-mid-temperature polymers with a  high toughness.  Don't get any mad ideas!!! Image is from Bartboy's candle rocker. 

Forgive my ignorance but I was wondering if a sparkler could be used as a heat source for something like soldering or melting small quantities of aluminum? I could use something to bead up the end of a brass rod too. Any idea if that could work?

I want to know because I have always wondered this. May the electromagnetic force be with you lol.

I heard today that to be politically correct the United States are no longer considered to be "a melting pot". I don't remember what it is now or where that idea came from though... but its no longer "a melting pot".

I want to melt metal, preferably silver, to stamp in the process of making jewelry. I want to know the process and the materials/equipment needed.

Can it be done?

I have found some Galena, an alkali metal ore containing silver and other metals, and am trying to melt it down to extract the silver to use in jewelry making. I have tried to melt some with a mapp gas torch with no success, it does not seem to heat enough that I can seperate the metals. Does anyone know of any cheap and easy solutions to extracting the silver without haveing to build a furnace.

We're facing this situation with black masterbatch for LDPE in extrusion lamination process where some of the masterbatch granules are not properly melted and mixed with LDPE, which creates a lot of defects in the lamination. I've tried a number of Black masterbatch samples from different companies and in different prices and the problem still exists. Increasing the extruder temperatures doesn't seem to be helping either. This happens only with Black masterbatch and all other masterbatch colors melt and blend in with LDPE to give an uniform color strength. Appreciate your professional advice on preventing this issue..Thank you!

Hello. I would like to know what is the melting point for most integrative circuits epoxy molded plastics ? The kind of plastic I am talking about would be the ones used for BGA chips found in smart phone IC's (integrative circuits). I would think that a decent powerful household kitchen microwave should have enough power to melt this type of epoxy material used for BGA IC's. I would like to de-cap the BGA. PLEASE note that I will be using a cheap throw away kitchen microwave to melt the IC and the BGA is not important even if the heat generated damages the die layers made of silicon. This is strictly for hobby purposes. The same question but does anyone know what kind of metal is the bottom part (the tiny metal circles ie solder balls) of a BGA IC made from ?

Hi Everyone, this is my first post on this site!  I am seeking advice to help me construct a home-made melting point apparatus (M.P.A).  A melting point apparatus allows it's operator to determine the melting point of a chemical sample by heating it in a controlled fashion and noting the temperature when the sample melts.  I have most of the design made up in my head, but I'm not sure as to how I can obtain the proper heating element.  The heating element I am seeking is an emulation of the M.P.A.s heating elements in my school's chemistry lab, which look like this: a metal block (about 3cm tall by 2cm deep by 3 cm wide) with vertical holes bored into the face with a pane of glass pressed against said holes so a glass capillary tube (containing the sample) can be slid into the bored hole and viewed through the glass pane as the sample is heated by the metal.  Another hole is bored into the metal, adjacent to the sample hole, for a thermometer.  So again, my question is do you have any suggestions as to where I could by a heating element like this?  Or, any suggestions on how to build one?  I have a jewelry shop at my disposal so I can probably bore any holes myself.   Any suggestions will be appreciated, thanks!

I've made several attempts to melt down a tin alloy metal (92% tin, 8% antimony) to make pendants; small pendants for necklaces. I haven't had any luck with this at all!  The mold has been cast - the metal has been chosen but...my process isn't working. I'm using a hot plate and a small teflon pan to melt the metal. The problems I'm running into are: Once I melt the alloy, I can't get it into the mold before it starts cooling.  It pours out too quickly from the pan, then cools too quick to finish pouring.  It's a small mold (1 3/4" diameter with 1/8" lines) which isn't helping I'm sure.  Not sure on a couple things I'm hoping somebody who know more about this than I do could possibly make some suggestions. I don't know if I should be using a flux to keep the metal clean because it is getting dirty after the melting. I don't know how to get it from the pan to the mold before it cools? Someone, I'd imagine, must have come out with a tool for transferring small amounts of metal to molds.  I tried a glass eye dropper today but didn't have any luck with the transfer process.  Not sure if a crucible and flux is the way to go or not. If so, does anybody know of a good company that has items designed for this type of work? Any and all help / info / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!  Thank you

Hi all, I am looking for an ice/ snow melter that won't harm concrete or other surfaces, is safe for pets and can be easily made from household products or at home. I would like to be able to apply it before or after ice forms. Thank you

I cut a hole in my computer mouse to put a window in with a colour changing LED. I want to know if i can put a cd cover in the oven and melt it to make it conform to the mouses contours. I don't have a heat gun so can i just use an oven to do it. Has anyone tried this? if so what temperature.

Seeing as how I have a spare microwave, and I've heard of people doing melts in a household microwave, I though that I'd try it myself.What do I need to add so that I don't destroy the microwave?"From a hardware store on Fourth Street, I bought a silicon carbide sharpening stone and 3 pounds of tin/silver plumber's solder; from Macy's, I purchased a microwave-safe casserole dish and a stainless-steel measuring cup; and at Williams-Sonoma, I found a cute cast-iron cornbread fish mold and a pair of long-cuff leather grilling gloves. " - PopSci's Theo GrayA good source of silicon carbide? A better material? (I don't even understand its purpose here).

Good day viewers! I recently found out about the wonders of electric furnaces, cheap to run and no smoke. I went looking around for some designs, there are some nice i'bles about it and I got very exited since my neighbours already start nagging when I strike a match, an electric furnace would be the perfect solution. I decided to go with kanthal wire, its relatively cheap at a few bucks per meter, and it can handle temperatures up to  1300C. I plan to melt alluminium and maybe some brass so I should be fine with that. now to the questions part, I have an ATX PSU with a 12V 16A output (DC), I was wondering how many (centi)meters or inches for the americans under us, it could power (if I can power it it would eventually go up to full temp right?) I am a complete nitwit at these Ohms formulas and electric furnaces, at the moment I am abstaining from sleep to build this furnace and I am sure that others are as well. I hope some nice fellow diyers can help me with it. This could be a dumb questions, maybe I need a wall outlet (230V in my place) or maybe I need some rocket science. I don't know, do you? kind regards and a thank in advance from 2 young exploramenters that want to melt some metal without ruining our lungs. excuse us for spelling mistakes, this written by non-native speakers and with shaking hands,...

1) What voltage do they use? Would 12v, 110v, or 1kv work best? 2) Would simply directing the power into the heating coil work? Or do they need supporting circuitry? 3) What frequency should be used? Will low frequency AC such as 60 hz work, or will I need to step it up into the khz range?