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Aluminum foil (2021)

dernocua.github.io

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Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#41

Post by MezzoDelCammin »

secretslol wrote: post #12

Another thing not mentioned on there about aluminium foil is how clean it is. We work with a laminar flow hood and pull a fresh layer of foil anytime we are working to create a clean base to work on. I can guarantee you that if you run a swab over a fresh sheet of foil and smear it onto sterile nutrient agar that it won't grow anything - that said, we use costco foil which is thicker gauge and not the budget thinner…

any tips on how to reliably get that "thicker gauge" one? I've been craving it since maybe 20y ago when I got a roll from my old stint in a restaurant. I've tried buying some rolls by "heavy duty" labels and these days it's just as likely to be one of those thin "look at it funny and it tears".

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#43

Post by toast0 »

0-_-0 wrote: post #11

This made me wonder about a 3D printer alternative that builds things by folding a thin sheet of metal into arbitrary shapes instead of extruding filament.

My college had a 'rapid prototyping' machine circa 2000 that worked in paper. Roll out a layer of paper, cut through the top layer, something something glue, roll out the next layer, etc. No reason that couldn't work with aluminum foil.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#44

Post by whilenot-dev »

aradaelli wrote: post #33
whilenot-dev wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made an artwork in 2013-ish, where I attached an aluminum foil to a good DC motor. I mounted it from the ceiling with 2 stepper motors to control height and one orthogonal axis. The motor would unwind the foil by accelerating quickly in either direction (CW/CCW). By changing directions it would also create folds and stabilize the emerging shape: https://imgur.com/a/gaRKGtQ I always imagined an additional stepper mo…

Imgur is not working anymore in UK :(

Alternative links:

https://postimg.cc/Q9vjhdrk

https://postimg.cc/9D1Vzphj

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#46

Post by cperciva »

bluGill wrote: post #26
1970-01-01 wrote: post #16

>Alternatively, though, it might be possible to stiffen the foil by making the equivalent of corrugated cardboard out of it, maybe using aqueous boric acid (US$1.70/kg according to Potential local sources and prices of refractory materials) or borax as the glue. The surface tension of water is ample to hold aluminum foil in place until the water dries. Hello Amazon? Billion dollar idea here. This needs more attention…

aluminum foil is generally not something you can recycle. Not that it can't be recyled, but the oxide to pure aluminum ratio is high and so you don't gain much since you need all the energy of refining in the first place to get back to something usable. Amazon needs stronger boxes than foil anyway. Cardboard is likely best for them.

the oxide to pure aluminum ratio is high

For some definition of high? Standard foil is around 20 um thick while the oxide layer only goes about 10 nm deep.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#47

Post by s0rce »

At my previous job we made >1m wide 8um thick copper foil by electroplating it onto a giant titanium drum from blue copper sulfate solution. It was quite impressive.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#48

Post by badc0ffee »

jagged-chisel wrote: post #34
badc0ffee wrote: post #29

It's non-toxic and food safe, and yet a significant number of people on the internet still act like it's poison that will give you Alzheimer's. I wonder how many of those people touch their lips to the lid of an aluminum beverage can. Or how they might bake a lasagna at home.

1) all of them 2) glass dish

I use a glass/Pyrex dish, but put foil on top. I guess you could use a fitted glass lid instead, depending on the container.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#49

Post by badc0ffee »

br0ceph wrote: post #40
badc0ffee wrote: post #29

It's non-toxic and food safe, and yet a significant number of people on the internet still act like it's poison that will give you Alzheimer's. I wonder how many of those people touch their lips to the lid of an aluminum beverage can. Or how they might bake a lasagna at home.

i heard aluminum food containers are often coated with toxic liners, like plastics, bpa, and pfas. If Alzheimers isnt a risk with pure aluminum metal, id say those liners are a huge risk. Are kitchen foils coated? Im pretty sure cans are most of the time.

"Plastic" in general isn't toxic as a liner. It's used in plumbing, and in zillions of containers for potable water and foods. When you get food from even a nice restaurant, they probably marinate meat in a plastic container, and squeeze fruit juice into a plastic container. They sous vide items in plastic.

I've also never heard of a plastic/Alzheimer's connection, only one claimed with aluminum.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#50

Post by roughly »

IshKebab wrote: post #18
Forgeties79 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sound like someone who hasn't explored the upper limits of what aluminum foil can solve!

Read this guy's ramblings and give me one cool application that he has found. Lots of "maybe it could do this!" and "it can do !"

The trick to being a good hacker is acquiring a sufficient supply of useless information, such that when that information is suddenly not useless, you have it at hand.

Which is to say, it's your job to figure out what the cool applications are.

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