I've been acquiring back issues of Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette, and I came across an article in the May/June 1993 issue on The Craddonium Connection. According to the authors, Craddonium was discovered in France in 1835, and later in America. This substance can be used as a rocket propellant or an explosive, having the properties of completely stable nitroglycerine, and when mixed with chalk from a certain region in France, causes steel to become" as malleable as macaroni."
GERN was not the first... 8-)
MountainMan Wrote:GERN was not the first... 8-)
I don't know about that.........but it is 3% be
tter
Does craddonium have the same wide range of applications as Flux, or is it just to make things go "boom" (and admittedly change the properties of steel)?
Andrew
Wide range of applications,especially in industry. And when mixed with GERN Flux...? Well...who knows what could happen?
Our scientists have investigated thoroughly the issue of Craddonium and see it as an element of limited commercial importance, especially given its narrow distribution of occurrence and the low-volume output of the existing mines. Most of the benefits attributed to it can be easily duplicated with much more readily available (and therefore cheaper) GERN Brand products.
As for the colourful description of its affect on steel, in-house laboratory
and field tests have shown the futility of trying to beat macaroni into a sheet of any type: uncooked, al dente, or cooked beyond recognition, it made no difference.
On the other hand, GERN Brand flux, when used as an additive during the steelmaking process, can increase both malleability and ductility by up to 3%, and, if desired, impart a macaroni-like aroma to the operation, too.
Cookie
Charles Wrote:Our scientists have investigated thoroughly the issue of Craddonium and see it as an element of limited commercial importance, especially given its narrow distribution of occurrence and the low-volume output of the existing mines. Most of the benefits attributed to it can be easily duplicated with much more readily available (and therefore cheaper) GERN Brand products.
As for the colourful description of its affect on steel, in-house laboratory and field tests have shown the futility of trying to beat macaroni into a sheet of any type: uncooked, al dente, or cooked beyond recognition, it made no difference.
On the other hand, GERN Brand flux, when used as an additive during the steelmaking process, can increase both malleability and ductility by up to 3%, and, if desired, impart a macaroni-like aroma to the operation, too.
Cookie
Funny...that's what the Craddonium salesman said about GERN Flux.
tetters Wrote:Add some Gern Brand Chedder Cheese (which is 3% cheeser) to the mix and you'll have a delicious operation to boot.
Now, that is a matter for some long consideration.......it would make the process of "chewing nails, and spitting battleships", a bit more enjoyable, and I know you can get a satisfactory amount of
BOOM !!!, from a battleship.
Craddonium and GERN Cheese - the poor man's plastique'.