www.liquidmetal.com - Could this stuff be the next wave in firearms materials? A post-polymer material?
Liquidmetal the next step in firearms materials?
- Thread starter Higgins
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Owen
Moderator Emeritus
I am getting more info on it, but it sounds an awful lot like MIM.
owen
owen
Too expensive, molds for forming even more so, lighter than steel but heavier than Ti, requires special safety controls for final machining, currently only a berrylium "alloy" (Be is a very hazardous material that a percentage of the population is lethally sensitive to at otherwise non-hazardous concentrations).
Very tough, easily formed, lighter than steel, good wear properties.
Very tough, easily formed, lighter than steel, good wear properties.
timbo
Member
Looks like pretty impressive stuff, but not enough info there to tell how to fabricate stuff with it. I imagine it will be quite expensive in addition to being quite toxic. If we do see it in firearms technology, it won't be a real competitor for some years. Then again, we do have plastic guns...
Lennyjoe
Member
Didnt do to good in sales as far as Golf club driver head material was concerned.
Andrew Wyatt
Member
there would be no finish machining. it comes out of the mold exactly to specification.
also, there is no Be dust produced when it is ground or machined, only liquid metal particles. (it's a compound, not a suspension)
also, there is no Be dust produced when it is ground or machined, only liquid metal particles. (it's a compound, not a suspension)
CJ
Member
I've been watching this stuff in knife manufacturing too. Apparently, it's possible to mold it with a decent enough edge for use straight out of the mold. Still, hasn't caught on, and the company has lost some major contracts which would have lent them credibility. Not quite sure what I'd want to see made out of this in a firearm though...
timbo
Member
This just came to me when I was reading through this site more... Glass guns. Yes, that's it, glass. They even describe some of what they experiment with as "metallic glass". A lot of what they describe in their materials remind me of glass.
At their current state they are nowhere close to marketing this, they're just looking for people to fund their research. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, people need to start somewhere, but I wouldn't mind having more reading material on it. If this is truly just a compound, then how do you liquify it? Does it just soften with heat like conventional glass or does it cure like epoxies? Not enough manufacturing information here to really tell how to make anything out of it.
At their current state they are nowhere close to marketing this, they're just looking for people to fund their research. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, people need to start somewhere, but I wouldn't mind having more reading material on it. If this is truly just a compound, then how do you liquify it? Does it just soften with heat like conventional glass or does it cure like epoxies? Not enough manufacturing information here to really tell how to make anything out of it.
Looks like promising technology.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=LQMT&t=2y
The company itself is struggling though IMO. The stock price has plummeted the last two years, and their cash flow statement looks troublesome to me.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=LQMT&t=2y
The company itself is struggling though IMO. The stock price has plummeted the last two years, and their cash flow statement looks troublesome to me.
Saw a show 'bout this, Discovery channel, doesn't shrink when cooling so it can be injection moulded, uses 20(?) something metals to keep the atoms from forming grids. Thats where it gets its strength. It becomes maleable(sp?) at 750 degrees F. Steel does same at 2400. Thats its major drawback. Is slightly more expensive than aluminum.
fmjcafe
Member
I`ve got a liquid metal knife. I`ll be trying it out this deer season.
Kamicosmos
Member
*Arnold Terminator Voice*
It's a Polynumetic Alloy. Liquid Metal.
*end Arnold Terminator Voice*
It's a Polynumetic Alloy. Liquid Metal.
*end Arnold Terminator Voice*
Andrew,
LM is neither a compound nor an alloy in the traditional sense, but a bulk metalic glass. It is a mixture of metals rapidly cooled from the melt before matrix formation can develop. As such the Ti, Be, Cu atoms pack closely together leaving next to no void space and preventing the formation of any structures that might promote failure. This results in a material with interesting mechanical properties. When machined it still produces particles. Those particles that are small enough to be inhalable may represent a problem to people subject to berylliosis. The mechanism for berylliosis isn't understood, but it is known that alloys of CuBe (which is an alloy in use) can cause it. The problem becomes greater when respirable particles are inhaled, but the material represents no hazard when introduced into the body as a medical appliance outside of the lungs. Think of lead alloys that represent no hazard when used in the body, but are toxic when inhaled or ingested.
LM is neither a compound nor an alloy in the traditional sense, but a bulk metalic glass. It is a mixture of metals rapidly cooled from the melt before matrix formation can develop. As such the Ti, Be, Cu atoms pack closely together leaving next to no void space and preventing the formation of any structures that might promote failure. This results in a material with interesting mechanical properties. When machined it still produces particles. Those particles that are small enough to be inhalable may represent a problem to people subject to berylliosis. The mechanism for berylliosis isn't understood, but it is known that alloys of CuBe (which is an alloy in use) can cause it. The problem becomes greater when respirable particles are inhaled, but the material represents no hazard when introduced into the body as a medical appliance outside of the lungs. Think of lead alloys that represent no hazard when used in the body, but are toxic when inhaled or ingested.
simon
Member
Liquid Metal?
A drop of Mercury in your HP's and a drop of wax to cover it.
A drop of Mercury in your HP's and a drop of wax to cover it.
Andrew Wyatt
Member
HSO: aah. ok. All of the information have on the stuff is contained in that monster thread on bladeforums. I'm sorry for 1. not prefacing my reply with a AFAIK, and 2. not acquiring the proper information.
well they aren't jsut trolling for research money, there's a number of products. IIRC the biggest and earliest you ahve run into are the little adhesive anti-theft squares you canstick on products (the sticker kind, not the plastic lump kind).
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