What might prevent metal “blowing” and other forms of shaping from working if gravity was not a factor? Let’s handwave-ignore the extremes of temperature as it relates to techniques and the present primitive space habitats and craft.
Is it possible to suspend a pool of molten metal, with a tube inside, spin while adding a gas to shape a container, and form more complex shapes through additional heat cycles in a repeatable process?
Why does it need to be in no gravity? Glass blowing isn’t done in no gravity.
Intuitively, when I have handled molten metals, they are deceptively heavy and viscous. There is very little time when they are in a mushy slushy state or like Taffy in the way that glass behaves. I thought, perhaps if the pool of molten metal were somehow suspended in an environment without gravity, it might be possible to apply glass blowing techniques for shaping.
I know centrifugal casting is a thing and used a lot by gold smiths in jewelry making. It was just a moment of curious imagination this morning thinking perhaps someone one day in the future might manually work metal in space like how glass in worked on Earth. I’ve been thinking about how things might be manufactured differently in a distant future when most of humanity lives in cislunar space habitats. This post was just a half curious passing shower thought.
