# what is monel metal



## werowance (Nov 27, 2015)

hello everyone,  I decided to try my hand at making a trench style cigarette lighter out of a popular science magazine from the 50's and have a few questions.

1. it recommends monel metal.  what is that?  what would be a good substitute?  im trying brass without much success
2.  on the flint tube, I must tap the inside to #10 x cant remember the threads. and cut the outside to 3/16 by cant remember the number of threads.  sorry im at work and don't have the plans here.   but with brass I snap the tube off every time cutting the outside.  I have even increased the outside from 3/16 to a 5 mm thread still witout luck. so was wondering if there would be a trick such as annealing the brass first or something.  or if I just need to find monel metal.

thanks much.
Bryan


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## james_III (Nov 27, 2015)

Monel metal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monel But where it is actually used, I have no idea


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## bazmak (Nov 27, 2015)

Monel metals are alloys in the family of stainless steels.316 would be an adequate substitute for what you are doing.Easy to btain and work


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## werowance (Nov 27, 2015)

ah, great, I happen to have a stick of 316.  just hope its big enough.

I figured it was going to be soft metal since most trench lighters are brass.

thank you very much.

have a great weekend and don't eat to many thanks giving left overs.


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## 10K Pete (Nov 27, 2015)

Monel is a high nickle alloy used in corrosive sea water situations. Most
larger metal dealers will have access to it although its us has been pretty
much been replaced by stainless steel as Monel has a lot of copper in it.

Pete


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## Charles Lamont (Nov 27, 2015)

Monel comes in various grades, but they are all roughly 1/3 copper & 2/3 nickel, with very small amounts of other stuff. The main use in model and to a greater extent full size steam engines is as firebox stays in locomotive type boilers.


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## Mark Rand (Nov 27, 2015)

It is/was also used for brake pipes in cars when you didn't want them to rust through in a few years.Very good in that application.


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## Cogsy (Nov 27, 2015)

werowance said:


> but with brass I snap the tube off every time cutting the outside.


 
Just a thought - is it possible to cut the outside thread while it is still solid, then drill and tap the internal thread after? If you can do it in that order you have a better chance of the part staying in one piece.


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## tornitore45 (Nov 28, 2015)

Am I missing something?

#10 major diameter = 0.190  regardless of TPI
3/16 major diameter = 0.188

How can you have a pipe threaded inside and outside with those two dimensions?

The result is nothing but disconnected metal dust particles


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## Tin Falcon (Nov 28, 2015)

Hastelloy and inconel are similar High nickel alloys
Tin


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## werowance (Nov 30, 2015)

Cogsy said:


> Just a thought - is it possible to cut the outside thread while it is still solid, then drill and tap the internal thread after? If you can do it in that order you have a better chance of the part staying in one piece.


 
yes I should be able to,  just the plans say to do it opposite,  but it also says to start your threads on the lathe then finish with a die.  I just cant thread with my lathe right now due to a chipped gear.

but ill give that a try.  tried stainless with tap inside first, then die outside second this weekend and failed.  but hopefully reverse will work.  I have plenty of that ss rod and its a very small part so I can keep on trying.

thanks for the suggestion.


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## werowance (Nov 30, 2015)

tornitore45 said:


> Am I missing something?
> 
> #10 major diameter = 0.190 regardless of TPI
> 3/16 major diameter = 0.188
> ...


 
forgive me,  instead of #10 its #6  I didn't have the plans in front of me when I posted

here is the link to the popular science article
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z...pular science turn yourself a lighter&f=false


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## rklopp (Nov 30, 2015)

Tin Falcon said:


> Hastelloy and inconel are similar High nickel alloys
> Tin


Other than high nickel content, not really. Hastelloy is largely nickel and molybdenum, inconel is largely nickel and chromium, and monel is largely nickel and copper. There are various flavors of each with different main and minor alloy contents.


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## Cogsy (Nov 30, 2015)

werowance said:


> here is the link to the popular science article
> https://books.google.com/books?id=Z...pular science turn yourself a lighter&f=false


 
Thanks for the link, it looks like an interesting project. I finally gave up smoking 2 years ago after 20 years of trying, but making a lighter sounds like a cool thing to do. I'd be interested in seeing more of your build.


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## cynthiamyra (Apr 21, 2016)

Monel metal is a copper and nickel alloy containing 65-70 percent nickel,         20-29 percent of copper and small amounts of iron, manganese, silicon and
    carbon. It was discovered by Robert Crooks Stanley, who
    worked for the International Nickel Company (INCO) in 1905. It is stronger than steel, malleable, resistant to corrosion, has low coefficient of thermal expansion, highly resistant to alkalis. It can be easily brazed, welded and soldered. It is used in sheet and plate ductwork, flashing, gutters and downspouts, mail chutes, laundry chutes, elevator fittings, lighting fixtures, and skylights.


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