I'm going to try my hand at growing bismuth crystals. I've been reading up on it and it doesn't seem too difficult except for getting the metal to it's melting point of 520F which should be possible by using a small propane torch. I can't wait to get started. I'll definitely post pictures about it. If anyone has ever done this before, any tips would be much appreciated. I have a feeling there will be a lot of trial and error.
I had to do an internet search for Bismuth Crystals. Needless to say... "no" I've never tried it since I've never heard of it! Wow. That's something that can really be grown? Amazing. Now you must give it a try so you can share it with us.
I knew a lady once who made jewellery out of Bismuth Crystals. Her work was really beautiful but I didn't realise that she'd probably grown the crystals herself!! I'm already looking forward to seeing how you get on with growing them and what you're going to do with them. :-D
You folks are fascinating with all the things you know and do! I had to look up bismuth crystals, too, having never heard of them. Let us know how your experiment turns out, please.
It should be a fairly easy process. I basically liquify the bismuth metal and let it cool slowly. The rest of the crystal making process is natural. When the metal atoms realign, they align themselves into geometrical stair step patterns. So really, I'm not so much growing crystals, but rather cooling metal slowly. The different colors in the crystals are a result of oxides in the metal dispersing light at different angles. So you can get red, blue, green, and even clear in one crystal. I just happened upon a picture of a bismuth crystal while browsing the internet. It peaked my interest and wondered how they were formed. So I did a basic search and found that they can be made at home as well as naturally.
Ok, I finally received my bismuth and started trying to make crystals. Its fairly easy to make the crystals, but harder to make good quality crystals. The bismuth I have is 99.99% pure. I melt it on the stove top in a small stainless steel cup then cool it slowly by dialing down the temperature. When the metal is between the point of fully solidifying and still being liquid, I pour off the rest of the metal and crystals should be left in the cup. I have made lots of crystals so far, but only kept the best ones from each batch and remelted the rest. I also tried wrapping copper wire around a crystal and submerging it in the metal, however, I think I need more practice with that as well as overall crystal making. My crystals are still fairly small, but with more practice I think I can make bigger ones. Here are some pictures... Holly modeling the bismuth chunk. ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden )
Wow! In my considered opinion you are doing awfully well with your crystals. They are lovely. Please explain the copper wire thing--I'm so ignorant about making/creating beautiful things (but I can bake bread!).
Thank you! The copper wire has a higher melting point than the bismuth, so it won't contaminate the liquid. The thought was since the crystals are formed on the sides and bottom of the cup, which leaves one side of the crystal flat and dull looking; I could suspend a "seed" crystal in the middle of the liquid metal and form a crystal around the "seed" so that it won't have a flat side on it. The trick is to do it when the metal is hot enough to still be liquid, but cool enough to not remelt the crystal. Then cool the liquid metal just a bit further so that the crystals start forming. Then pull the suspended crystal out before the metal fully solidifies around the wire and crystal. I thought this might work in making jewelry. Also I can't make bread, but then again I have never tried either.
Crystals are beautiful. Can't wait to see the jewlery. And I can vouch for jane's bread making. She tought me.
I wish I was still in touch with the lady who made jewellery out of these crystals as she may have had some tips for you. I do seem to recall that she had different sizes of copper 'tubes' and shaped moulds that she would grow her crystals in but I really can't remember now how she did it. You seem to be getting to grips with crystal growing rather well on your own and are producing some individual shapes that could possibly be made into pendants. :-D
I finally managed to make a nice crystal. I don't know how I did it. I probably just got lucky. This is the kind of crystal I want to make more of. You can see the classic stair step pattern and the square spiral shape. Bismuth Crystal ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) Bismuth Crystal ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden )
Unusual Bismuth crystal formation... This last week, I started experimenting with making my own Bismuth crystals too. It is fun and it does take some trial and error. Has anyone ever seen bismuth form triangles? Most of the crystals I've made are in the typical form of squares in a step pattern. But two nights ago, I poured off the molten bismuth and immidiately noticed ALL of the crystals from that batch were only in triangle form. Not a single square crystal. (I will post photos soon, as I am a new member and it wont let me post photos until tomorrow). I can't find any reference of this online, and so far, I have not been able to replicate those results. Is it common for bismuth to triangulate when crystalizing?
