I think the reson is that it has a low specific heat - ie doesnt take much energy to heat it up a lot. Maybe not because the graphite (no idea what its SH is..), maybe just the design, with the tip being very small.
As an example, get a very thin peice of STEEL (not alu, or somethinig that might melt!) and heat it with a lighter, or another gas flame. It will go bright red hot instantly, but as soon as the heat source is gone, its touchable. This happens because at that temp, the dT is somuch, that it loses most of the heat instantly, and because its so thin, only the surface needs to be cooled, and the heat doesnt need to conduct very far atall before it can disipate.
Might be compleatly wrong though.
@ work we use graphite, and one thing thats important to note, is that its MESSY. Machining it probably wouldnt be fun, atleast cleaning up the mess after wouldnt be!
|