i need to do a melting point test for my gear and i was going to use superchicken's oven idea but instead of puting little bit of the gear on foil paper i was going to put the entire thing in the glass (10g) vials and then do the melting test on the whole thing by put the glass vials in the oven. This way the i dont lose any gear ( i know i am stingy) and more importantly i will have a around figure to work with. So what do u guy think. Will this work? any better ideas. Please serious answers.
Thankx
Im going to give you an honest answer. Thats a terrible idea. Its very difficult (near impossible) to accurately monitor the temperature in your oven and watch the powder at the exact point in which it melts. Ive done these tests several times, and ive come up with an excellent method.
Use an infrared temperature gun. They range in price from $30 - $130. You can get s pretty goof one for $40. The gun has a laser aiming device built in, a digital temp display, and a grip and trigger for operation. You can buy one easily online, I think home depot even has them now.
The only draw back to this device is its not accurate when aimed at reflective items, like a spoon or aluminum foil.
Take a small pinch of powder. (Quit being stingy, you want good results, right?) Anyway, take a pinch of powder and place it on a flat black surface, like a cast iron skillet. Remember, no reflective items. Now set the skillet with the pinch of powder on it, on the stove top. Turn on the heat. Aim your temp gun at the pinch of powder. Keep the gun about 12 inches from powder. (The gun instructions will tell you this). You will keep the laser trained on the powder. As the heat increases, you will see the temp steadily rise. Keep one eye on the display, and one eye on the powder. The powder will start to melt, note the temp. My experience with this method will give you results within 4 degrees of the desired melting point.
Before you start, you can play with the gun, and you can quickly see how well they work. Aim it at your hand, at the element on the stove, at the driveway outside, etc. It reads temp instantly.
Goof luck, I hope this helps. I think this method works great for people that dont have access to sophisticated lab test equipment. Let us know how it works out.
