Jules wrote:


Yes, it seems to have the characteristics of Mazac (sp?) or some such crap,
of which things like Dinky Toys used to be made.

I thought exactly the same thing - then I googled for Mazac and came up
blank,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAMAK

In article , Andy Champ
scribeth thus
Roger Mills wrote:

In case it's of interest to anyone, I've posted a picture of the failed bit
at http://www.mills37.plus.com/broken_lock.JPG - where you can see the
L-shaped bit which has broken off.


I recognise that kind of casting. I've got that stuff in all the
internal catches in my house. It's some kind of zinc rich low melting
point easy to cast stuff. Which is soft, weak _and_ brittle.

I reckon if it had been proper steel - or even brass - you'd never have
had the problem.

Andy

Mazak is it called?..
--
Tony Sayer

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Andy Champ
scribeth thus
Roger Mills wrote:

In case it's of interest to anyone, I've posted a picture of the failed
bit
at http://www.mills37.plus.com/broken_lock.JPG - where you can see the
L-shaped bit which has broken off.


I recognise that kind of casting. I've got that stuff in all the
internal catches in my house. It's some kind of zinc rich low melting
point easy to cast stuff. Which is soft, weak _and_ brittle.

I reckon if it had been proper steel - or even brass - you'd never have
had the problem.

Andy

Mazak is it called?..

I have always known it as "monkey metal"


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not

In article , Bob Mannix
scribeth thus
"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Andy Champ
scribeth thus
Roger Mills wrote:

In case it's of interest to anyone, I've posted a picture of the failed
bit
at http://www.mills37.plus.com/broken_lock.JPG - where you can see the
L-shaped bit which has broken off.


I recognise that kind of casting. I've got that stuff in all the
internal catches in my house. It's some kind of zinc rich low melting
point easy to cast stuff. Which is soft, weak _and_ brittle.

I reckon if it had been proper steel - or even brass - you'd never have
had the problem.

Andy

Mazak is it called?..

I have always known it as "monkey metal"


Thats the one ..
--
Tony Sayer

"Bob Mannix" writes:

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Andy Champ
scribeth thus
I recognise that kind of casting. I've got that stuff in all the
internal catches in my house. It's some kind of zinc rich low melting
point easy to cast stuff. Which is soft, weak _and_ brittle.

I reckon if it had been proper steel - or even brass - you'd never have
had the problem.

Andy

Mazak is it called?..

I have always known it as "monkey metal"

My grandad called it "muck metal", implying that it was made
of workshop-floor sweepings.

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

On Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:51:50 +0100, Jon Fairbairn wrote:
I have always known it as "monkey metal"

My grandad called it "muck metal", implying that it was made
of workshop-floor sweepings.

Heh - I've heard muck metal before, but not monkey metal... either seem
appropriate though, bloody awful stuff even for decorative bits, and I
don't know why anyone would use it for anything critical (apart from the
obvious, obviously

On 2 June, 09:51, Jon Fairbairn wrote:

My grandad called it "muck metal", implying that it was made
of workshop-floor sweepings.

It isn't, it's actually extremely high purity.

Late 1930s Dinky toys are relatively(sic) common and cheap. Early
1930s ones are rare, thus valuable. The difference was just in the
purity of the zinc alloy, particularly the reduction of iron
impurities from it. Early impure alloys suffered from intergranular
precipitation of this iron, causing distortion & cracking. Zamak was a
new high-purity alloy, based on using a whole new zinc smelting
process. This was what solved the Dinky toy problem. Mazak was the UK
licensee for a very similar process and alloy, but the original and
better known name is Zamak.

"Pot metal" is a Victorian term used for mostly lead, sometimes
brasses, that were literally made from floor sweepings and local
recycling of turnings by throwing them back into the melting pot. The
term was applied to zinc alloys too, but in practice you've never been
able to be this careless with alloys for diecasting. Moulding sprues
were thrown back into the next melt, but only if they were clean and
reliable. Machining swarf was very carefully segregated (certainly at
Binns Road) and didn't go back into the pot without going back to the
smelter first.

wrote:
On 2 Jun,
Jon Fairbairn wrote:

"Bob Mannix" writes:

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
Mazak is it called?..
I have always known it as "monkey metal"
My grandad called it "muck metal", implying that it was made
of workshop-floor sweepings.

Sh*tite was what it was called when I was much younger and it was used where
plastic is used now.

Mezak, muckite, ****tite, pot metal..Zinc mainly I think.

A low temperature die casting ,material of little strength and less
intrinsic value.

Used to make Dinky toys and B&Q cabinet hinges...;-)