Fusible Alloys and Their Uses

LOW 158 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 158°F (70°C)
Bismuth
Lead
Tin
Cadmium
  • Anchor bushings in drill jigs
  • Internal or external support of delicate parts for machining
  • Cores for spinning
  • Fusible mandrels in filament winding.
  • Fiberglas lamination
  • Drop hammer and embossing dies
  • Tube bending filler (up to 1-3/4″ diameter)
  • Heat transfer medium in processing plastics, chemicals, etc. (up to 255°F)
  • Shielding Blocks for Nuclear Medicine
LOW 158-190 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 158-190°F (70-88°C)
Bismuth
Lead
Tin
Cadmium
  • Toy soldier casting
  • Proof casting cavities (threads, dies, moulds, blind holes)
  • Duplicate patterns in foundry match-plate making
  • Supporting work pieces while machining
  • Spray coating wood patterns
  • Masks for electroplating and spray-painting.
LOW 203 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 203°F (95°C)
Bismuth
Lead
Tin

  • Cadmium Free alternative for LOW 158 for Nuclear Medicine.

LOW 217-440 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 217-440°F (103-227°C)
Bismuth
Lead
Cadmium
Antimony
  • Originated by GE for anchoring punches in dies
  • Anchor non-moving parts in machinery; hold down bolts in concrete floors, locator parts in tooling docks
  • Split jaw chucks, jigs, fixtures
  • Metal forming dies, form blocks, joggle jaws
  • Repairing broken dies
  • Filling blowholes in castings.
LOW 255 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 255°F (124°C)
Bismuth
Lead
  • Anchor cutlery handles, inserts in wood, metal parts in glass (Tuflex doors)
  • Make fusible spinning chucks
  • Mandrel for electroforms
  • Drop hammer dies, stretch form blocks
  • Moulds for plaster, plastics
  • Tube bending filler (over 1-3/4″ diameter)
  • Hydrodynamic forming, seamless fittings
  • Duplicate patterns in pottery and foundry
  • Liquid metal in autoclaves, heat-treating
  • Heat transfer (Up to 327 °F)
  • Shielding Blocks for Nuclear Medicine
LOW 281 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 281°F (138°C)
Bismuth
Tin
  • Anchor shafts in permanent magnet rotors, locator members in aircraft assembly fixtures, metal parts in glass, magnets in fixtures
  • Make nests for parts in jigs and dial feed stations
  • Cores for electroforming
  • Embossing dies, form blocks
  • Joggle jaws
  • Lost wax pattern dies
  • Duplicate foundry patterns
  • Tracer models in profiling
  • Moulds for plastics, sheet plastics, plastic teeth, prostethetic development
  • Potting electronic components
  • Laps for rifle barrels.
LOW 281-338 Typical End Use Melt Temp: 281-338°F (138-170°C)
Bismuth
Tin
  • Parallels LOW 281 in its end uses
  • Electroforming mandrels, lost wax pattern dies due to greater dimensional accuracy
  • Holding jet turbine engine blades for machining.
Eutectics Non-Eutectics
Properties Low Low Low Low Low Low
158 255 281 158-190 217-440 281-338
Melting Temperature (F) 158 255 281 165 240 302
Range F 158-158 255-255 281-281 158-190 217-440 281-338
Yield Temp 158 255 281 162.5 240 302
Tensile Strength Lbs/In2 5990 6400 8000 5400 13000 8000
%Elongation in slow Loading 200 60-70 200 220 <1% 200
Brinell Hardness No. 9.2 10.2 22 9 19 22
*Specific Heat – Liquid .040 .042 .045 .040 .040 .047
*Specific Heat – Solid .040 .03+ .045 .040 .045 .047
*Latent Heat – Fusion Btu/Lb. 14 7.2 20 10 – 22
Conductivity (Electrical) Compared with Pure Copper 4% 3% 4.5% 4% 3.2% 4.6%
*Maximum Load – 30 Seconds Lbs/In2 10000 8000 15000 9000 16000 15000
*Maximum Load – 5 Minutes Lbs/In2 4000 4000 9000 3800 10000 9500
*Safe Load Sustained – Lbs/In2 300 300 500 300 300 50
  • *Approximate
Eutectics Non Eutectics
Growth/Shrinkage Time after Casting Low Low Low Low Low Low
158 255 281 158-190 217-440 281-338
2 Minutes +.0025 -.0008 +.0007 -.0004 +.0008 -.0001
6 Minutes +.0027 -.0011 +.0007 -.0007 +.0014 -.0001
30 Minutes +.0045 -.0010 +.0006 -.0009 +.0047 -.0001
1 Hour +.0051 -.0008 +.0006 .0000 +.0048 -.0001
2 Hours +.0051 -.0004 +.0006 +.0016 +.0048 -.0001
5 Hours +.0051 .0000 +.0005 +.0018 +.0049 -.0001
7 Hours +.0051 +.0001 +.0005 +.0019 +.0050 -.0001
10 Hours +.0051 +.0003 +.0005 +.0019 +.0050 -.0001
1 Day +.0051 +.0008 +.0005 +.0022 +.0051 -.0001
4 Days +.0051 +.0015 +.0005 +.0025 +.0055 -.0001
8 Days +.0051 +.0019 +.0005 +.0025 +.0058 -.0001
21 Days +.0051 +.0022 +.0005 +.0025 +.0061 -.0001
  • Cumulative Growth and Shrinkage, Inch per Inch Compared to Cold Mold Dimensions.
  • Test Bar 2″ x 2″ x 10″.