|
|
|
© 2005 - Bob Thorne All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Some images reproduced with kind permission of their owners, all other images ©Bob Thorne. Site by pdWare |
Home :: About The Materials |
||
About The Materials
Quick Access Index:
A polymer blend plastic with excellent surface quality, colourfastness & strength. First produced in the fifties, this thermoplastic can be injection moulded or vacuum formed. It is used widely used in automotive construction, such as manufacturing car dashboards, office equipment mouldings such as printers, keyboards, computer & monitor housings, telephones & luggage shells. It is also used for electrical enclosures, as most grades are fire resistant.
Aluminium is the ideal metal for set dressing & adding detail to props. It is a light ductile & malleable silver-white metal that is easily machined, drilled, glued and can be polished to a mirror finish. It can be anodised in a wide variety of colours, a process that also hardens the surface & prevents corrosion. Aluminium is the 3rd most abundant element in the Earth’s crust (7.3%). Only discovered in 1808 by Sir Humphrey Davy, originally more expensive than gold! About 80% of an aircraft is aluminium & about 90% of the space shuttle. Most drinks cans are made of aluminium. Raw material October 2006 price £1,325 ($2,480) per tonne (£980 per tonne scrap price).
Brass is a yellow-gold coloured alloy of 70% copper & 30% zinc. It is used to make musical instruments, ornaments, valve components, ammunition shell casings, door furniture, hinges, fasteners, bathroom taps & fittings. Its down side as a prop or set-dressing component is its weight. On the plus side, it has excellent machinability, good electrical conductivity, it is easily joined, drilled & tapped, it is easily electro-plated, has good corrosion resistance, it is strong, has an attractive yellow metallic lustre and is very easily highly polished. It photographs as gold. It has been used for eons. It was used back in prehistoric times & extensively by the Romans. Raw material October 2006 price £3,900 ($7,300) per tonne (£3,200 per tonne scrap price).
A fairly soft metal that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and is very malleable and ductile. It has a characteristic red colour when fresh (copper-red), but tarnishes to a greenish colour (look at old pennies and 1 or 2 cent coins). Copper dissolves easily in acid. Because it is such a good conductor and it is so ductile, copper is mainly used in electrical goods, printed circuit boards, copper wire, car radiators, plumbing, coins (U.S. quarters & British pounds) Copper has been used since prehistoric times to make the zinc/copper alloy brass, and was used extensively by the Romans. It is easily recycled. The price of copper has gone through the roof recently, more than doubling in the last 18 months. Raw material October 2006 price £5,500 ($10,700) per tonne (£4,400 per tonne scrap price).
Electro-plated gold components are often used in high quality electronic equipment because gold has extremely good electrical conductive properties. Used for pins & contacts in electronic equipment, mobile phones, medical components, jewellery. Gold is the most maliable & ductile of all metals; 1 ounce of which can be beaten into a sheet covering almost 30 square metres (gold leaf). Raw material October 2006 price £304 ($570) per troy ounce (31.1 grams).
A super-alloy that is 72% nickel, 16% chromium & 8% iron. It is often used in extreme conditions, such as aircraft engine parts, black box flight recorders & pressure vessels. It is very difficult to drill, cut or machine without highly specialised tools. Raw material April 2006 price approximately £16,400 ($30,695) per tonne (£9,200 per tonne scrap price).
Over 99% iron alloyed with less than 0.5% carbon and at least small amounts of manganese and silicon. It is widely used for domestic appliances (white goods), car bodies, construction (such as RSJ’s). Rusts easily in contact with moisture, but can be electro-plated, galvanised (dipped in molten zinc), powder coated or painted to prevent rust. Quite easily drilled, machined or welded. Slightly higher carbon content steels can be surface hardened. Raw material August 2005 price £230 ($410) per tonne (£60 per tonne scrap price).
A strong, stiff, clear plastic that is used to make shatterproof windows, transparent coloured lenses & diffusers for lights, headlamp lenses, mobile phones, baby bottles, riot shields, computer & audio compact discs. There are 2 types of polycarbonate; thermoplastic, which means that it can be moulded when it is hot, and thermoset, which means it does not melt & can’t be remoulded. Thermosets are used to make things that need to be really strong & heat resistant, including spectacle lenses. Almost all the polycarbonate items in ‘Bobs Bits’ are injection moulded thermoplastic. Polycarbonate was discovered around the turn of the 20th century, but wasn’t really in commercial production until 1960. Among its trade names are Makralon & Lexan.
A fairly soft, very heavy, ductile and malleable metal. It is the best known conductor of heat and electricity. Silver is mainly used in photographic paper and film, followed by the electronics and jewellery/tableware industries. The silver or silver plated ‘Bobs Bits’ components predominantly come from the medical industry. Raw material October 2006 price £5.86 ($11) per troy ounce (31.1 grams).
A low carbon steel that contains a minimum of 10.5% chromium, which gives it its stainless, corrosion resisting properties. Adding other elements such as molybdenum, nickel & nitrogen further increases these properties. Stainless steel was only discovered in the early 20th century. Commonly used for cutlery, kitchen sinks, catering & medical equipment, medical instruments. Raw material October 2006 price approximately £1,600 ($2,850) per tonne (£1020 per tonne scrap price).
A silver-grey, strong, lightweight aluminium-like metal that is stronger than steel, but only 42% of the weight. Uses include aircraft (new Lockheed F-22 Raptor contains 40% titanium), rockets, mortar launchers, guns & surgical implants. 95% of all titanium is used for the production of a white pigment, titanium dioxide TiO2, used in paint since lead was banned. August 2005 price £20,000 ($35,000) per tonne (£??? per tonne scrap price).
A white to bright blue-grey, brittle metal. ‘Bobs Bits’ made from zinc are generally small to medium sized intricate die-castings. Zinc is easily drilled & tapped, glued & painted. It is used for galvanising (coating) iron and steel to protect against rust. Zinc has been used since prehistoric times to make the zinc/copper alloy brass, and was used extensively by the Romans. Raw material October 2006 price £1,800 ($3,385) per tonne (£670 per tonne scrap price).
Ductile Describes a substance that can be stretched or drawn out into thin wire. Gold, copper and aluminium are very ductile Malleable Describes a substance that can be shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers. Troy ounce A unit for measuring the weight of gold. One troy ounce of gold weighs approximately 31.1 grams. The word "troy" is named after the French town of |
 |
On this page you will find out information about the typical materials the components that I supply are made of.
