Perhaps the most satisfactory bronze metal is the alloy used in France for more than a century. It contains 91.60 per cent of copper, 5.33 per cent of zinc, 1.70 per cent of tin, and 1.37 per cent of lead. Somewhat more zinc is taken for articles to be gilded.

Gun Bronze.—See Phosphor Bronze under this title.

I.—Copper, 81.62 per cent; tin, 4.61 per cent; lead, 10.21 per cent.

II.—Copper, 76.60 per cent; tin, 4.38 per cent; lead, 11.88 per cent; zinc, 6.53 per cent.

III.—Copper, 88.55 per cent; tin, 2.42 per cent; lead, 4.72 per cent; zinc, 3.20 per cent.

Sometimes a little antimony is added just before casting, and such a composition would be represented more nearly by this formula:

IV.—Copper, 68.25 per cent; tin, 5.47 per cent; zinc, 8.88 per cent; lead, 17.06 per cent; antimony, 0.34 per cent.

For imitation Japanese bronze, see Plating under Bronzing.

II.—Copper, 80 per cent; tin, 16 per cent.

A bronze is sometimes made with an extra high percentage of phosphorus, namely, 6 per cent. This alloy is made so as to have phosphorus in convenient form for use, and the process of manufacture is as follows: Ninety pounds of copper are melted under charcoal in a No. 70 crucible, which holds about 200 pounds of metal when full; 11 pounds of tin are added and the metal is allowed to become hot. The crucible is then removed from the furnace and 7 pounds of phosphorus are introduced in the following manner: A 3-gallon stone jar, half full of dilute solution of blue vitriol, is weighed. Then the weights are increased 7 pounds, and phosphorus in sticks about 4 inches long is added till the scales balance again. The phosphorus is left in this solution half an hour or longer, the phosphorus being given a coating of copper, so that it may be dried and exposed to the air without igniting. Have ready a pan about 30 inches square and 6 inches deep, containing about 2 inches of water. Over the water is a wire netting, which is laid loose on ledges or supports along the inner sides of the pan. On the netting is blotting paper, and on this the phosphorus is laid to dry when taken out of the blue-vitriol solution. The pan also has a lid which can be put down in case of ignition of the phosphorus.

The phosphorus is now ready for introduction into the metal. This is done by means of a cup-shaped instrument called a retort or phosphorizer. One man holds the retort on the rim of the crucible in a horizontal position. A second man takes about three pieces of phosphorus and throws them into the retort. The first man then immediately plunges the mouth of the retort below the surface of the metal before the phosphorus has a chance to fall or flow out. Of course the phosphorus immediately melts and also begins to volatilize. As the phosphorus comes in contact with the metal, it combines with it. This process is continued till all the 7 pounds of phosphorus has been put into the metal. The metal is then poured into slabs about 3 inches by 4 inches by 1 inch thick. The metal is so hard that a greater thickness would make it difficult to break it up. When finished, the metal contains, by analysis, 6 per cent of phosphorus. When phosphorus is to be added to metal, a little of this hardener is employed.

Copper is a soft, ductile metal, with its melting point at about 2,000° F. {59} Molten copper has the marked property of absorbing various gases. It is for this reason that it is so difficult to make sound castings of clear copper. Molten copper combines readily with the oxygen of the air, forming oxide of copper, which dissolves in the copper and mixes homogeneously with it.

A casting made from such metal would be very spongy. The bad effect of oxygen is intended to be overcome by adding zinc to the extent of 1 per cent or more. This result can be much more effectively attained by the use of aluminum, manganese, or phosphorus. The action of these substances is to combine with the oxygen, and as the product formed separates and goes to the surface, the metal is left in a sound condition. Aluminum and manganese deoxidize copper and bronze very effectively, and the oxide formed goes to the surface as a scum. When a casting is made from such metal, the oxide or scum, instead of freeing itself from the casting perfectly, generally remains in the top part of the casting mixed with the metal, as a fractured surface will show. Phosphorus deoxidizes copper, and the oxide formed leaves the metal in the form of a gas, so that a casting made from such metal shows a clean fracture throughout, although the metal is not so dense as when aluminum or manganese is used.

Copper also has the property of absorbing or occluding carbon monoxide. But the carbonic oxide thus absorbed is in a different condition from the oxygen absorbed. When oxygen is absorbed by copper, the oxygen combines chemically with the copper and loses its own identity as a gas. But when coal gas is absorbed by the copper, it keeps its own physical identity and simply exists in the copper in a state of solution. All natural waters, such as lake water, river water, spring water, etc., contain air in solution or occlusion. When such water is cooled and frozen, just at the time of changing from the liquid to the solid state, the dissolved gas separates and forms air bubbles, which remain entangled in the ice. The carbonic oxide which is dissolved or occluded in copper acts in exactly the same way.

Hydrogen acts in exactly the same manner as carbonic oxide. Sulphur also has a bad effect upon copper and bronze. Sulphur combines with copper and other metals, forming sulphide of copper, etc. When molten copper or bronze containing sulphur comes in contact with air it absorbs some oxygen, and this in turn combines with the sulphur present, forming sulphur dioxide, which is a gas which remains occluded in the metal.

Tin is a soft, white metal, melting at 440° F. Toward gases it acts something like copper, but not in so marked a degree. Although copper and tin are both soft, yet when mixed they make a harder metal. When bronze cools from the molten state, the copper and the copper-tin alloy tend to crystallize by themselves. The quicker the cooling occurs the less separation will there be, and also the fracture will be more homogeneous in appearance.

Gun bronze contains copper and tin in the proportion of 9 or 10 parts of copper to 1 of tin. This is the metal used when an ordinary bronze casting is wanted. A harder bronze is copper and tin in the ratio of 6 to 1. This is often used as a bearing metal. When either of these metals is to be turned in the machine shop, they should contain about 3 per cent of lead, which will make them work very much better, but it also decreases their tensile strength. Bearing metal now generally contains about 10 per cent of lead, with copper and tin in varying ratios. The large percentage of lead is put in that the metal may wear away slower. Lead, although a metal having properties similar to tin, acts entirely different toward copper. Copper and tin have a good deal of affinity for each other, but copper and lead show no attraction at all for each other. Copper and tin mix in all proportions, but copper and lead mix only to a very limited extent. About 3 per cent of lead can be mixed with copper. With bronze about 15 per cent to 20 per cent of lead can be mixed. In bearing bronze the lead keeps its own physical properties, so that the constituent lead melts long before the metal attains a red heat. It sometimes happens when a bearing runs warm that the lead actually sweats out and forms pimples on the metal. Or, sometimes, in remelting a bearing bronze casting the lead may be seen to drop out while the metal is warming up. All of these metals, however, should contain something to flux or deoxidize them, such as zinc, manganese, aluminum, silicon, antimony, or phosphorus.

The phosphor bronze bearing metal in vogue has the following composition: Copper, 79.7 per cent; tin, 10 per cent; lead, 10 percent; and phosphorus, 0.3 per cent.

Melt 140 pounds of copper in a No. 70 pot, covering with charcoal. When copper is all melted, add 17 ¹/₂ pounds of tin to 17 ¹/₂ pounds of lead, and allow the metal to become sufficiently warm, but {60} not any hotter than is needed. Then add 10 pounds of “hardener” (made as previously described) and stir well. Remove from furnace, skim off the charcoal, cool the metal with gates to as low a temperature as is consistent with getting a good casting, stir well again, and pour. The molds for this kind of work are faced with plumbago.

There are several firms that make phosphor-bronze bearings with a composition similar to the above one, and most of them, or perhaps all, make it by melting the metals and then charging with phosphorus to the extent of 0.7 to 1 per cent. But some metal from all brands contains occluded gas. So that after such metal is cast (in about two minutes or so) the metal will ooze or sweat out through the gate, and such a casting will be found to be porous. But not one such experience with metal made as described above has yet been found.

This practical point should be heeded, viz., that pig phosphor bronze should be brought to the specifications that the metal should have shrunk in the ingot mold in cooling, as shown by the concave surface of the upper side, and that it should make a casting in a sand mold without rising in the gate after being poured.

In bearing metal, occluded gas is very objectionable, because the gas, in trying to free itself, shoves the very hard copper-tin compound (which has a low melting point and remains liquid after the copper has begun to set) into spots, and thus causes hard spots in the metal.

Phosphorus is very dangerous to handle, and there is great risk from fire with it, so that many would not care to handle the phosphorus itself. But phosphor copper containing 5 per cent of phosphorus, and phosphor tin containing 2 to 7 per cent of phosphorus, and several other such alloys can be obtained in the market. It may be suggested to those who wish to make phosphor bronze, but do not want to handle phosphorus itself, to make it by using the proper amounts of one of these high phosphorus alloys. In using phosphorus it is only necessary to use enough to thoroughly deoxidize the metal, say 0.3 per cent. More than this will make the metal harder, but not any sounder.

Phosphor bronze is not a special kind of alloy, but any bronze can be made into phosphor bronze; it is, in fact, simply a deoxidized bronze, produced under treatment with phosphorus compounds.

Although the effect of phosphorus in improving the quality of bronze has been known for more than fifty years, it is only of late that the mode for preparing phosphor bronze has been perfected. It is now manufactured in many localities. Besides its action in reducing the oxides dissolved in the alloy, the phosphorus exerts another very material influence upon the properties of the bronze. The ordinary bronzes consist of mixtures in which the copper is really the only crystallized constituent, since the tin crystallizes with great difficulty. As a consequence of this dissimilarity in the nature of the two metals, the alloy is not so solid as it would be if both were crystallized. The phosphorus causes the tin to crystallize, and the result is a more homogeneous mixture of the two metals.

If enough phosphorus is added, so that its presence can be detected in the finished bronze, the latter may be considered an alloy of crystallized phosphor tin with copper. If the content of phosphor is still more increased, a part of the copper combines with the phosphorus, and the bronze then contains, besides copper and tin, compounds of crystallized copper phosphide with phosphide of tin. The strength and tenacity of the bronze are not lessened by a larger amount of phosphorus, and its hardness is considerably increased. Most phosphor bronzes are equal in this respect to the best steel, and some even surpass it in general properties.

The phosphorus is added to the bronze in the form of copper phosphide or phosphide of tin, the two being sometimes used together. They must be specially prepared for this purpose, and the best methods will be here given. Copper phosphide is prepared by heating a mixture of 4 parts of superphosphate of lime, 2 parts of granulated copper, and 1 part of finely pulverized coal in a crucible at a temperature not too high. The melted copper phosphide, containing 14 per cent of phosphorus, separates on the bottom of the crucible.

Tin phosphide is prepared as follows: Place a bar of zinc in an aqueous solution of tin chloride. The tin will be separated in the form of a sponge-like mass. Collect it, and put it into a crucible, upon the bottom of which sticks of phosphorus have been placed. Press the tin tightly into the crucible, and expose to a gentle heat. Continue the heating until flames of burning phosphorus are no longer observed on the crucible. The pure tin phosphide, in the form of a coarsely crystalline mass, tin-white in color, will be found on the bottom of the crucible.

To prepare the phosphor bronze, the {61} alloy to be treated is melted in the usual way, and small pieces of the copper phosphide and tin phosphide are added.

Phosphor bronze, properly prepared, has nearly the same melting point as that of ordinary bronze. In cooling, however, it has the peculiarity of passing directly from the liquid to the solid state, without first becoming thickly fluid. In a melted state it retains a perfectly bright surface, while ordinary bronze in this condition is always covered with a thin film of oxide.

If phosphor bronze is kept for a long time at the melting point, there is not any loss of tin, but the amount of phosphorus is slightly diminished.

The most valuable properties of phosphor bronze are its extraordinary tenacity and strength. It can be rolled, hammered, and stretched cold, and its strength is nearly double that of the best ordinary bronze. It is principally used in cases where great strength and power of resistance to outward influences are required, as, for instance, in objects which are to be exposed to the action of sea water.

Phosphor bronze containing about 4 per cent of tin is excellently well adapted for sheet bronze. With not more than 5 per cent of tin, it can be used, forged, for firearms. Seven to 10 per cent of tin gives the greatest hardness, and such bronze is especially suited to the manufacture of axle bearings, cylinders for steam fire engines, cogwheels, and, in general, for parts of machines where great strength and hardness are required. Phosphor bronze, if exposed to the air, soon becomes covered with a beautiful, closely adhering patina, and is therefore well adapted to purposes of art. The amount of phosphorus added varies from 0.25 to 2.5 per cent, according to the purpose of the bronze. The composition of a number of kinds of phosphor bronze is given below:

I for axle bearings, II and III for harder and softer axle bearings, IV to VIII for railroad purposes, IV especially for valves of locomotives, V and VI axle bearings for wagons, VII for connecting rods, VIII for piston rods in hydraulic presses.

The alloy marked IV is sometimes called deoxidized bronze.

Violet-colored bronze is 50 parts copper and 50 parts antimony.

Cadmium Alloys:

See also Fusible Alloys.

This alloy is most excellent for soldering tin, lead, Britannia metal, and nickel, being especially adapted to the last two metals on account of its silver-white color. But here again its costliness prevents its general use, and cheaper alloys possessing the same properties have been sought. In cases where the silver-white color and the low melting point are not of the first importance, the alloys given below may very well be used in the place of it.

II.—Cadmium alloy (melting point, 170° F.): Cadmium, 2 parts; tin, 3; lead, 11; bismuth, 16.

III.—Cadmium alloy (melting point, 167° F.): Cadmium, 10 parts; tin, 3; lead, 8; bismuth, 8.

Cadmium alloys (melting point, 203° F.):

VII.—A very fusible alloy, melting at 150° F., is composed of tin, 1 or 2 parts; lead, 2 or 3; bismuth, 4 or 15; cadmium, 1 or 2.

VIII.—Wood’s alloy melts between 140° and 161.5° F. It is composed of lead, 4 parts; tin, 2; bismuth, 5 to 8; cadmium, 1 to 2. In color it resembles platinum, and is malleable to a certain extent.

IX.—Cadmium alloy (melting point, 179.5° F.): Cadmium, 1 part; lead, 6 parts; bismuth, 7. This, like the preceding, can be used for soldering in hot water.

X.—Cadmium alloy (melting point, 300° F.): Cadmium, 2 parts; tin, 4; lead, 2. This is an excellent soft solder, with a melting point about 86 degrees below that of lead and tin alone.

II.—Gold, 750 parts; silver, 125 parts; and cadmium, 125 parts. Malleable and ductile alloy of yellowish-green hue.

III.—Gold, 746 parts; silver, 114 parts; copper, 97 parts; and cadmium, 43 parts. Likewise a malleable and ductile alloy of a peculiar green shade. All these alloys are suitable for plating. As regards their production, each must be carefully melted together from its ingredients in a covered crucible lined with coal dust, or in a graphite crucible. Next, the alloy has to be remelted in a graphite crucible with charcoal (or rosin powder) and borax. If, in spite thereof, a considerable portion of the cadmium should have evaporated, the alloy must be re-fused once more with an addition of cadmium.

Alloys For Casting Coins, Medallions, Etc.

Alloys which fulfill the requirements of the medalist, and capable, therefore, of reproducing all details, are the following:

III.—A soft alloy suitable to take impressions of woodcuts, coins, metals, engravings, etc., and which must melt at a low degree of heat, is made out of bismuth, 3 parts; tin, 1 ¹/₂ parts; lead, 2 ¹/₂ parts; and worn-out type, 1 part.

Casting Copper:

II.—Yellow.—Copper, 67 to 70 parts; zinc, 33 to 30 parts.

III.—Red.—Copper, 82 parts; zinc, 18 parts.

These alloys, when of a certain composition, have considerable strength and hardness. With an increase in the quantity of the iron the hardness increases, but the solidity is lessened. A copper and iron alloy of considerable strength, and at the same time very hard, is made of copper, 66 parts; iron, 34. These alloys acquire, on exposure to air, an ugly color inclining toward black, and are therefore not adapted for articles of art.

I is cast, II hammered, III rolled, and IV hot-stamped metal. Delta metal is produced by heating zinc very strongly in crucibles (to about 1600° F.), and adding ferromanganese or “spiegeleisen,” producing an alloy of 95 per cent zinc and 5 per cent of iron. Copper and brass and a very small amount of copper phosphate are also added. {64}

Minargent and Minofor are sometimes used in England for purposes in which the ordinary Britannia metal, 2 parts tin and 1 part antimony, might equally well be employed; the latter surpasses both of them in beauty of color, but they are, on the other hand, harder.

Geneva Composition Files.—

Vogel’s Composition Files.—

VI.—Another alloy for composition files is copper, 8 parts; tin, 2; zinc, 1, and lead, 1—fused under a cover of borax.

Easily Fusible Or Plastic Alloys.

(These have a fusing point usually below 300° F.)

(See also Solders.)

I. Rose’s Alloy.—Bismuth, 2 parts; lead, 1 part; tin, 1 part. Melting point, 200° F.

II. Darcet Alloy.—This is composed of 8 parts of bismuth, 5 of lead, and 3 of tin. It melts at 176° F. To impart greater fusibility, ¹/₁₆ part of mercury is added; the fusing is then lowered to 149° F.

III.—Newton alloy melts at 212° F., and is composed of 5 parts of bismuth, 2 of lead, and 3 of tin.

IV.—Wood’s Metal.—

This silvery, fine-grained alloy fuses between 151° and 162° F., and is excellently adapted to soldering.

V.—Bismuth, 7 parts; lead, 6 parts; cadmium, 1 part. Melting point, 180° F.

VI.—Bismuth, 7 to 8 parts; lead, 4; tin, 2; cadmium, 1 to 2. Melting point, 149° to 160° F.

Other Easily Fusible Alloys:

These alloys are prepared by melting the lead in a stearine bath and adding successively, and during the cooling, first, the cadmium; second, the bismuth; third, the tin. It is absolutely necessary to proceed in this manner, since these metals fuse at temperatures ranging from 850° F. (for lead), to 551° F. (for tin).

Fusible Safety Alloys for Steam Boilers.—