RotoMetals Gallium Spoon Mold-Create a Magic Disappearing/Bending/Melting Gallium Spoon, Includes Syringe

We made a gallium spoon using this, and it’s so much fun. The kids loved it.

After reading "Disappearing Spoon" I couldn't help but want to make a disappearing spoon of my own, however, I was reluctant to spend this much on a spoon mold for a gag (as cool as it is). I tried building molds from clay, silly putty and wax but they were messy, not really reusable and produced a poor replica. After a couple weeks (and April Fool's day was quick approaching) I gave in and dropped the cash to do it right. I was glad I did. It worked perfectly with no mess and produced a great gallium spoon for only a few minutes worth of effort. This is really the best way to do it.By the way, gallium expands slightly when it solidifies so don't store it in a glass test tube.

The instructions were at least clearly written. Even following them and preheating the block and using gallium the temperature of hot coffee, several attempts have produced partial spoons that look more like a modern art exhibit than a passable spoon due to cooling causing blockages before finishing. Also horrifically overpriced for what little engineering went in to this. Do not buy.

I purchased this product after much internal debate and having it sit in my cart for several months. I finally broke down and bought the mold and 100 grams of gallium.The bad:Gallium stains - BADLY! Wear grubby clothes, and I recommend gloves (though I did not use them.) It all washes off, but you'll get the stains everywhere.Gallium is FRAGILE! - The mold is well made, but you have to be careful. Don't overtighten the mold, and remove the spoon carefully and slowly from the mold. Solid gallium is FROZEN gallium, and it is very brittle.The good:Looks Real - When you've done it right, the spoon will look like a standard cheap metal spoon, so it is very believeable.This is the right kit - I can't see how any other kit would yield results this good. This kit is all inclusive, and even a dummy like me can use it.Its SIMPLE! - Follow the instructions. They are not hard. Follow the instructions exactly, and you'll have a cool gallium spoon.This is a great product that is a lot of fun. I've used the gallium spoon a few times now, and I'm already building a slight of hand trick around it. If you're interested in Gallium BUY THIS PRODUCT!

The mold itself wasn’t great but I made it work. Usually with molds there’s an opening at the top where the syringe fits. Unfortunately this mold had two openings so if I put the syringe in one hole, the gallium would squirt out the other. It worked well enough if I covered the other hold. What was super frustrating is that the screws that held the mold together did not line up in the middle. They fit in the four corners but then not in the middle part. This would lead to leaks/spills. Then I tried to squeeze the middle part together with my hands the gallium would leak out the top and bottom. Was very frustrating and it took me 2 hours to finally make a spoon after having spilled much of it.

Worked great the first couple of times, but we've had issues with students (middle school science) experiencing less than perfect casts after that. It may be necessary to carefully clean it between uses - not a forte of 12 year olds. Given the expense it might make sense to have kids make molds themselves using a simple item that can be cast. Would require experimentation to figure out what material to use for making the mold and whether a coating would be necessary.

At first I was a little hesitant to pay this much for a mold of a spoon but since you can use it over and over I think it's worth its price!PROS:-Only need about 3ml (via syringe) or 10g to make one spoon-Looks exactly like a real spoon-Will trick someone into believing it's a real spoon (so beware)CONS:-The instructions are in English but they are poorly written both grammatically and spelling wise... Read them but then be advised it might take some trial and error-The mold will leave your spoon with a little excess material at the end of the stem of the spoon so try not to over-inject the liquid gallium or you'll get jagged distortion unless you put exactly the required amountI have made 3 spoons already (I ordered 40g of gallium and still have some left after 3 spoons) and I am impressed with the results... The way I have found that works best is to use the plastic pieces and assemble the mold and wing-nuts together and only slightly tighten the nuts (enough to hold the mold together and in place) and then use something like a heat gun or small heating device to warm up the gallium in the bottle and wear rubber/latex gloves while doing so and once the gallium is liquified enough (there may still be a disc but you only need to get half to turn into liquid) turn the bottle on its side or tilt it sideways and put the syringe in to the liquid and SLOWLY draw the syringe back and admit about 2-4ml of liquid gallium into the syringe.After you've got your liquid gallium in the syringe put it at the base of the mold in the "injection hole" and slowly apply pressure and watch the gallium work its way into the mold. Make sure you fill the mold completely and then put any excess liquid back in the original container and then tighten the wing nuts in a criss-crossing pattern. I put mine in the freezer and let it set and about an hour later it was ready for removal and TA-DA... I have my gallium spoon!Keep in mind it's not to be ingested so if you prank someone let them know BEFORE they eat it/drink it so they don't get any in their mouth.ENJOY!

I found a number of cheaper molds, but I decided to go with this because it was advertised as being made specifically for forming gallium spoons. The product comes with a silicon spoon mold, two clear flat plastic boards with holes and eight bolts to hold the whole thing together. It also comes with very well written and detailed instructions for making a good gallium spoon. I followed the instructions as well as I could, and the resulting spoon was perfect! I used it for a class demonstration and it completely blew them away.