WHAT IS THIS ??

[GOOFY063]

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.

 

[bearcar1]

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

 

[GOOFY063]

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

 

[ksouers]

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

 

[Metal Butcher]

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

 

[GOOFY063]

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

 

[mklotz]

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.

 

[Metal Butcher]

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

 

[Kermit]

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..

 

[Maryak]

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

 

[Blogwitch]

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

 

[Captain Jerry]

You might try Archimedes method.

Jerry

 

[GOOFY063]

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

 

[itowbig]

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 ?

 

[Troutsqueezer]

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

 

[Deanofid]

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.

 

[Mutley]

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

 

[ksouers]

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.

 

[Richard1]

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

 

[shred]

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.