In melt spinning, the alloy or metal is first melted in a crucible. Then, an inert gas, usually argon, is used to jet the molten material out of a nozzle located on the underside of the crucible. The resulting stream of liquid is directed onto the outer circumferential surface of a rotating wheel or drum which is cooled internally. The drums outer surface is located extremely close to the nozzle but does not touch it. Generally, the velocity of the drums surface must be between 10 m/s and 60 m/s in order to avoid the formation of globules (droplets) or breaking the ribbon respectively. Once the stream contacts the drums surface, a small puddle of melt (molten material) is formed. Due to the low viscosity of the melt, the shear forces generated by the relative movement of the drums surface underneath the melt only extend a few microns into the puddle. In other words, only a small amount of the puddle is affected by the friction from the rotation of the drum. Consequently, as the drum spins, most of the melt puddle remains held between the nozzle and the drum by surface tension. However, the melt on the very bottom of the puddle, which is in direct contact with the drum, rapidly solidifies into a thin ribbon. The solidified ribbon is carried away from under the nozzle on the drums surface for up to 10° of rotation before centrifugal force from the drums rotation ejects it.
This process occurs continuously, so as solidified material is removed from underneath the puddle of melt, more liquid material is added to the puddle from the nozzle.