The CLAM!

[vrocco]

Very nice article and pictures. However, I believe this is classified as Advanced material. At least when I asked db if I could write about my clam kit, I was told so.

The metal is called Wood Metal and I think it is a bismuth alloy that has a very low melting temp.

I was able to put my casting on a duplicator and cut a permanent key from it.

Good stuff

[raimundo]

Nickel is used in turbine blades for jet engines, it is not low melt metal. that stuff is a mix of probably lead, cadminium, and bismuth. use in well ventilated area, cadminium is not good for your longevity.

[dmux]

that is pretty cool, reminds me of metals making molds out of black dirt and packing it in metal squares, dusting it with some powder and pouring aluminum in.. pretty fun

[dougfarre]

It would be interesting to see some homemade clam kit designs. You could buy all the supplies yourself. Here is a link i found for some Wood's Metal.

http://www.sciencestuff.com/prod/Chem-Rgnts/C2965

Also excuse my thoughts about nickel being used in the metal alloy.

[raimundo]

pennys since the reagan regime are copper coated zinc, you can easily cut a tiny hole at the top and bottom of the copper and then heat the metal, with a little crack lighter, and the insides will spill right out. you will have to hold the penny with tweezers,

You could also incorporate a penny into the mold to use as a key bow.
or you could cut the pennys top and bottom and put three to four of them cut and set up as a group on edge at the keybow end of the mold and they would serve as crucibles for the melting of the zinc, this would probably require a slightly larger torch.
but the metal would be poised over the sprue hole as it melts.

various mint tins can be substituted for the plastic cope and drag in the 150 dollar kit.

in looking for the proper material to make the mold, be aware that any liquid content will boil and destroy a mold when heated. So whatever you use as the mold material must either be dry or be dried out before putting hot metal in. and you make air holes that do not drain down, but route air and escaping gasses up to the top of the mold so molten metal will not run out the bottom, but will fill the gas escape holes toward the top of the case.

[Stray]

Yeah I downloaded a PDF on How to Cast keys a while ago and it seems to show the same procedure, just the tools look more home made.


Also don't know if they said it in your manual but the Manual I read said you shouldn't use the key you cast in the lock since it is soft. It can be used but not recommended.


Since the manual does show you how to cast keys and since you can use the principles for the high security locks too I would be willing to post a link to the e-book but only in the advanced forums. (Don't need kids getting a hold of dad's keys and making castings of them )

[maintenanceguy]

...since you can use the principles for the high security locks too....

Maybe. I doubt you could cast the angles of a medeco key with this kit, as the mold was opened, the angles would be lost. Same with the abloys.

[Stray]

You mean because It opens up along a pivot?

[Wrenchman]

It's woods metal - approimately 23 to 25 percent lead content. Very soft metal and not suggested to be used as a permanent key as it can easily break or get stuck in the lock from bending.

That's perfect for impressioning, then!



Wrenchman

[MacGyver101]

That's perfect for impressioning, then!

Hrm. It would be excellent for receiving the marks and would be easy to file (assuming you had a good file card)... but I think it would be too weak to put up with much torquing. I've seen warnings against using aluminum blanks for impressioning, because they fracture too easily -- I would imagine this would be a similar concern?

[freakparade3]

It's woods metal - approimately 23 to 25 percent lead content. Very soft metal and not suggested to be used as a permanent key as it can easily break or get stuck in the lock from bending.

That's perfect for impressioning, then!



Wrenchman

It would not work well at all for impressioning. It would not be strong enough to make the marks needed without breaking off in the keyway. Your file would clog with every stroke.

[Jaakko]

...since you can use the principles for the high security locks too....

Maybe. I doubt you could cast the angles of a medeco key with this kit, as the mold was opened, the angles would be lost. Same with the abloys.

No it doesn't lose those angles, I have done Abloys with this method.

And please people, use Field's metal as it doesn't contain lead or cadmium, it is non-toxic.

And for raimundo: Fields' metal melts at 62 degress Celsius (144 F), so the clay can be wet as the water doesn't boil

[LeeNo]

Very cool! You make it look easy.
As I was looking at the images and saw the candle burning and then the drippings on the plate/table I was thinking you were working with wax and I was thinking you would use the wax key in a plaster mold or something.

I never realized there were metal alloys that could be melted by candle and still be strong enough to work as a key.

[MacGyver101]

When I was a student I did some work with a fellow who's major research area involved these sorts of low-temperature alloys. He'd melt the metal in an oven, and then use magnetic fields to levitate it and form it into complex 3D shapes while it cooled in an inert gas atmosphere. (The main application was the space industry, who wanted ultra-pure parts without any contaminants introduced by the casting process.) Really, really cool to see a levitating liquid blob of metal pulled into shape by magnetic fields. (Also enough math to really, really make one's head hurt.)

[kg4boj]

You do NOT need a very strong keyblank for impressioning, nor do you need to file down the marks. The rule as it goes is the more bold the mark, the closer to the actual depth you are.... for example... I have seen a certain vehicle side track key impressioned with that very same clam kit.

The key is cast in woods metal, or fields metal, then you get a key with a few marks on it (more easily visable than ordinary keyblanks.
You get big bold marks... what the hey, you can safely figure they are #1 cuts, slightly lesser marks, they might be a #2, if you get faint baby marks, go try a # 3 cut in that location, no marks? try a deeper cut. Remember, a LOT of cars only have 4 depths, and a MACS of , so using that in conjuction with what just the marks tell you, you can sometimes just punch out a key without filing any, twist... punch... and it works
or you need to impression/progression the sidebar ignition if applicable. (depending on skill)