Today, Ke Mai's editor will share with you some feelings about the use of paraffin inlay method (only representing personal opinions). Keywords: paraffin, inlay, thin slice, easy to use.

The commonly used inlay methods in metallography are hot inlay and cold inlay, which are particularly mature and mainstream experimental methods. However, the editor recently encountered a thin sample and requested that it be taken out for the next experiment after grinding and polishing, which has some special characteristics. Both cold and hot inlays are difficult to take out.


This experimental requirement reminds me of the paraffin embedding method. Paraffin wax has low melting point, low cost, easy to clean, easy to remove, and very high operability. Therefore, I started this inlay using the equipment at hand.


The difficulty of embedding operation is not significant. Place paraffin on the mold and heat it to melt into a liquid. The melting point of paraffin is very low, and it becomes liquid when heated slightly. Then use tweezers to attach the sample to the mold, wait for a moment, and the sample will be solidified into liquid paraffin embedded on the mold. Next, we can hold the mold and perform grinding and polishing operations.

Although it is a simple tool found temporarily, it is easy to operate and not very difficult. If specialized equipment such as paraffin embedded heating tables are used, the effect may be even better.


The experience of polishing this time was good. The paraffin wax was firmly embedded, and the paraffin wax was tightly solid without deformation. The difference from the usual polishing experience was not significant, but it only reduced the loading force (force, load) a bit, and the presented effect was also satisfactory. In terms of practical application, experimental science still needs to think of ways, find ideas, and try more. This is where people tend to gain more.


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