Does anyone (Andrew?) know a suitable molten salt mixture for use in hot isostatic pressing of carbon fibre reinforced {silver/copper 779 C mp eutectic} ?
Basically that's a mixture of salts that doesn't boil or react with copper or silver to ~800 C, and which melts at some lower temperature, eg 300 C.
Another question, if I have a wound carbon-fibre/silver composite, in order to hot isostatically press it after winding I need to form some sort of skin on the outside in order to stop the fluid getting into the part - any ideas about how to go about that?
in a cylindrically-symmetrical shape? The inside needs no support (it's the chamber for a rocket engine, will be made on a solid stainless internal mandrel)
while keeping an initial imposed winding tension on the fibre ?
ps - arr :) - I finally successfully turned some copper bar which had been f*xxing me for quite some time. Months and more. My litle lathe is not too rigid.
I used extra extra extra (more than triply extra recommended) loads of rpm with a synthetic lubricant brushed on. Sharp HSS, of course :) , diamond honed and not too deep a cut.
Easy, if you know how ... when you know how ... but it shure looks pretty now :)
Ta,