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Zinc Powder: Zinc Crushed Hot, Just Below Melting
Zinc has an odd temper: brittle cold, soft enough to roll at 100 to 150 °C, and above 200 °C so tender that it crushes to powder. Thorpe (1913): zinc dust can be made by crushing the metal in a mortar at a heat somewhat below its melting point of 420 °C. Work hot with leather gloves.
The picture: our own drawing.
Beginner
Half a day
Instructions
1
1
Cut the zinc small
Cut the zinc small
Saw 300 g of zinc into small pieces.
Materials for this step:
Zinc Ingot300 gTools needed:
Hacksaw
Balance Scale2
2
Heat to just below melting
Heat to just below melting
Heat the pieces in an iron pot above 200 °C but below 420 °C, where zinc melts. Check with a pyrometer.
Tools needed:
Cast Iron Pot
Charcoal Stove
Pyrometer
Leather Gloves3
3
Crush in the mortar
Crush in the mortar
Tip a few hot pieces at a time into the mortar and crush them. Hot zinc breaks to powder; reheat what is left whole.
Tools needed:
Mortar and PestleLeather Gloves4
4
Sieve and store
Sieve and store
Sieve the cooled powder, return the coarse bits for another crushing, and keep the powder in a closed jar.
Tools needed:
Fine Sieve
Glass Jars with LidsMaterials
1- 300 gPlaceholder
Tools Required
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