Subject: PotMetal ?

From: [email-masked] (niels jalling)
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 22:42:32 -0500

What exactly is PotMetal ??

Well I know this question is trivia for most readers of this newsgroup, but on this 
side of the pond in little Denmark we may have different "nicknames"/tradenames.

The grey/white metal I know as Potmetal is much softer than Aluminium. 

The reason for asking the question is: I am started on the Gingery Lathe. After two 
months of studying, trials and errors the project is now on the way. I have molded 
the bases, the bed and the carriage. The next parts for the carriage assembly is in 
the modelmaking stage. 

On p 45 in the Lathe book Dave says that Potmetal is stronger than Al for the handles, 
and later on in the description of the splitnut, potmetal is again the preferred material.

/Niels

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From: [email-masked] (John O. Kopf)
Date: 6 Dec 1996 05:47:19 GMT

>What exactly is PotMetal ??

According to Holtzapffel (1843, England), Pot metal is an allow of
copper and lead; 4-8 parts lead to 16 parts copper...used for making
COOKING pots (What would OSHA say!)

JK

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From: "J. M. Reid" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 02:14:11 -0700

> side of the pond in little Denmark we may have different "nicknames"/tradenames.
Gingery uses the term for zinc alloys.  That is the common usage in the
U.S. Old automobile door handles, trim pieces, etc.  Watch out for lead
contamination as this leads to cracking in time, as found on old toys,
toy train wheels, etc.
I too may tackle that lathe.  Hope you have read all of the books in the
series. Let me know how it goes.

Jack Reid