# WHAT IS THIS ??



## GOOFY063 (Nov 28, 2009)

i found this in the back of a junk truck at the shop i worked 20 years ago. though it was lead so i grabbed it took it home throwed the torch to it but it didn't melt. any ideals, as you can see its 10" long about 2" thick, the old scales are a little lite but still shows at 35 lb.


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## bearcar1 (Nov 28, 2009)

What sort of spark is generated if you took a grinding wheel to it? Interesting that it has a grading percentage cast into the ingot.

BC1
Jim


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## GOOFY063 (Nov 28, 2009)

i dont think its either, its been laying in a out building for 20 years no rust. and the stamping says 99.99% pure


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## ksouers (Nov 28, 2009)

I was thinking zinc when I first saw it (grade 99.99). But, the pics show a bit of rust. Maybe just a stain?


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## Metal Butcher (Nov 28, 2009)

It could be a bearing material like Babbitt. The 99.9% indicates the purity of the alloy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_metal 


-MB


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## GOOFY063 (Nov 28, 2009)

ill put the grinder to it this afternoon and check the spark, 6 or 7 years i broke off 1 of the ingots and give it to a friend its still a brite silver color ill take more photos this afternoon


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## mklotz (Nov 28, 2009)

Putting a purity percentage on an alloy (like babbitt) seems a strange thing to do. Thus it's likely an unalloyed material.

Try calculating its density (may require a more accurate scale) and compare that with density figures in reference tables.

The purity percentage makes me suspect that it's an electrode for some sort of plating process. Kevin's guess of Zn is thus a good one.

Separating cast iron and zinc by density might be problematic; their densities are very similar. However, zinc is highly reactive so an acid test of some sort on the bare, clean metal should provide some information.


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## Metal Butcher (Nov 28, 2009)

GOOFY063  said:
			
		

> ill put the grinder to it this afternoon and check the spark, 6 or 7 years i broke off 1 of the ingots and give it to a friend its still a brite silver color ill take more photos this afternoon



Brite "silver" color, hmm...hmm...

Its just scrap- junk. Send it to me. I'll pay the shipping and send you an additional $10.00 to boot. :big:

-MB


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## Kermit (Nov 28, 2009)

Could be a nickle ingot. Element 28? I think. Rather light like zinc, but a volume and weight check should get you close enough to find the element on the periodic table. Silver is heavier though so,... 8)


Shhhhh..


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## Maryak (Nov 28, 2009)

Hi Guys,

Looks to me like a sacrificial anode from/for a cathodic protection system. Some are a Zinc alloy, some are Aluminium alloys.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Bob


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## Blogwitch (Nov 28, 2009)

That could be almost anything, even anodes for steel hulled ships.

http://www.aberdeenfoundries.co.uk/marine.htm

But by the purity level, I don't think it will be much use in a home shop, in fact it could be downright hazardous just to have it knocking about.

Take it back from whence it came, if you can, and let them have the trouble of getting rid of it.


Blogs


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## Captain Jerry (Nov 28, 2009)

You might try Archimedes method. 

Jerry


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## GOOFY063 (Nov 28, 2009)

i tried the grinder no sparks, muritaic acid and a brush cleaned it good, you can see large metallic flakes. scratch.gif


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## itowbig (Nov 28, 2009)

that looks like those thingys they put on ship hulls or parts of bridges that is under water 
any ship builders here or bridge builders ?


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## Troutsqueezer (Nov 29, 2009)

Looks a lot like a Claymore Mine to me. Are you sure it's solid?  *bang*

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...mage_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAw


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## Deanofid (Nov 29, 2009)

Doesn't look like any Claymore I've ever seen, except for the very basic rectangular shape. Anyway, why would they put 99.99 pure on a mine?

This kind of has the appearance of cast antimony. Just another guess for you. 
Would be worth a lot more than lead, if it was.


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## Mutley (Nov 29, 2009)

If it is a ships anode, it will be made of Aluminium and Zinc.


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## ksouers (Nov 29, 2009)

All the ship anodes I've seen have holes already drilled in them for mounting. They are a solid block or disk, no scoring for breaking off pieces.

I still think it's zinc, though. Probably ingots to be used for alloying, hence the grading. Could have been used in the glass industry. Molten zinc is the substrate for float glass.


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## Richard1 (Nov 29, 2009)

It is not likely to be lead, tin or zinc as Goofy said he threw the torch on it and it didn't melt so either it has such a mass that it absorbed the heat without raising any point to the melting temperature or it is something with a rather higher melting point. Nickel perhaps?
Richard


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## shred (Nov 29, 2009)

Diymania  said:
			
		

> ksouers, i thought they used molten tin for that. ??? :-[


Tin is the most common for float glass, but it still could be zinc or just a random metallic element sample, though those normally have the element name stamped into them. Best bet would probably be to measure the density.


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## ksouers (Nov 29, 2009)

Sorry, my bad. You're right. I had just woken up brain was still quite fuzzy :
Tin for glass, but I still think it's zinc ingots.


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## websterz (Nov 29, 2009)

It's a doorstop.

What did I win?


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## Tin Falcon (Nov 29, 2009)

definitely MYSTERY METAL
Tin


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## woodchip85 (Nov 29, 2009)

Ibro Corpperation- Merchant Exporters of Metal Scrap, Steel Scrap, Iron Scrap, Aluminum Scrap, Zinc Scrap, Copper Scrap, this might narrow it down a little, and if all else fails, if in doubt dont use it!


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## GOOFY063 (Dec 1, 2009)

sorry I've not got back quicker ;D .can you guys help with the math ??? i broke off a small bit a put it on my reloading scales, 67 grains not grams and displaced .8 cc in a old syringe. 
 :bow: :bow: :bow:


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## mklotz (Dec 1, 2009)

67 grains = 4.342 gm.


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## GOOFY063 (Dec 1, 2009)

mklotz thanks but i need a little more help i dont know the math and is there enough info to figure what this block is


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## doc1955 (Dec 1, 2009)

According to your weighs the nearest element would be.









http://www.webelements.com/bismuth/


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## shred (Dec 1, 2009)

To show the work, what you want is density.

Density = mass / volume.

So, a mass of 4.342 grams / 0.8cc = 5.4275 gm/cm3

Popping over to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements_by_density

the nearest to 5.42 is.. urk.. Germanium or Radium. Arsenic and other fun stuff are nearby as well. I hope I borked up the math somewhere or it's an alloy.

edit: Vanadium is around there as well I think


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## Kermit (Dec 5, 2009)

Accepting the approximation methods that got us to the weight and volume and consulting the table of elements we find Titanium.

If I were to bet on what you have I would say it was 99.99% pure Titanium for use in steel alloying foundry work.

Read up on the physical attributes and see what you think...


Kermit


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## Tin Falcon (Dec 5, 2009)

He said no spark titanium would give a bright white spark.
At least he aircraft grades do.
Tin


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## vlmarshall (Dec 5, 2009)

What's the stuff look like when broken?


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## Kermit (Dec 6, 2009)

In that case the Bismuth is about the only one left with the right attributes.  Very few of the elements in that range of density would be found in such large quantities so pure, unless it had a big use in industry.

http://www.rotometals.com/Bismuth-s/4.htm


Not the big price commander like silver would be but still, 10 lbs over $100 in value. With some lead and a little tin.(solder is 50/50) you could add the Bismuth and make your own low melting temp casting metals.  ;D


Kermit


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## vlmarshall (Dec 6, 2009)

I've been hoping you'd find out it was bismuth... fun stuff! ;D


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## shred (Dec 6, 2009)

Bismuth's density seems way off. At 9.78g/cc, that's almost 2x the calculated value. 

Zinc would be closer (~7g/cc). Did we ever rule out zinc? It's widely available in 3-slab ingots marked "99.99+" at about 25Kg ea (which this would be two thirds of)

Here's a web pic:


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## Kermit (Dec 6, 2009)

If it was zinc it would have reacted very vigoursly to the cleaning in muratic acid mentioned on page 1. Like an alkaseltzer in water.

 ;D


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## shred (Dec 6, 2009)

Kermit  said:
			
		

> If it was zinc it would have reacted very vigoursly to the cleaning in muratic acid mentioned on page 1. Like an alkaseltzer in water.
> 
> ;D


right.. but... Bismuth's melting point of 520'F is below that of lead (620'F), so throwing a torch on it as mentioned in page 1 should have done something (maybe the same for Zinc @ 780F))

Pure bismuth would be cool because it can be used to make colored square-spiral crystals.


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## vlmarshall (Dec 6, 2009)

shred  said:
			
		

> Pure bismuth would be cool because it makes cool square-spiral crystals.


It sure does... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth

Yeah, we're all going to find out this is something far less exciting. Call it "Lumponium" or "Uninterestingium"... or something. ;D


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## shred (Dec 6, 2009)

Vernon  said:
			
		

> It sure does... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth
> 
> Yeah, we're all going to find out this is something far less exciting. Call it "Lumponium" or "Uninterestingium"... or something. ;D


"Oh, that... we just poured a bunch of molten swarf & pot metal into the ingot mold..."  ;D ;D


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## Kermit (Dec 6, 2009)

Well, most of the other things it could be aren't exactly healthy to have around in large quantities. Take it to a college somewhere and have the chemistry dept identify a sample for you.


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## SKIPRAT (Dec 6, 2009)

Hi All

I just thought i would throw another guess into the melting pot pun intended as it looks similar to the manganese ingots that are used as an alloying element in steel production manganese does not spark and has quite a high melting point .

Cheers Paul ;D ;D ;D ;D


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## GOOFY063 (Dec 9, 2009)

hey guys sorry for not getting back sooner i work at a funeral home and we got busy and this is my internet. i emailed a chem,teacher waiting for a reply.


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## GOOFY063 (Dec 9, 2009)

here's a photo of the piece i used for the displacement test


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## RobertT (Dec 9, 2009)

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I have access to a scanning electron microscope, if you want to send me a small scraping and i will analyze it for you and tell you the elements its made of and the percentage of each.
Rob


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## Tin Falcon (Dec 9, 2009)

Coll Robert it is apparently 99.99 % something we are just not sure what.
Tin


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## GOOFY063 (Jan 20, 2010)

i mailed a piece to robertt to test. its pure zinc. what can i build with that? ??? 
thanks again robertt


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## ksouers (Jan 20, 2010)

Cool.
Now if you just had some copper...


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## starbolin (Jan 21, 2010)

GOOFY063  said:
			
		

> i mailed a piece to robertt to test. its pure zinc. what can i build with that? ???
> thanks again robertt



Zinc can be mixed with copper to make spelter ( solder ). It is used as is by riggers to fix fittings to cables. Old school galvanizing was done by putting the work with some powdered zing in a tumbler and heating to 350F. 

Someday I'll find an interesting use for the bar that's in my collection.


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