Found a few lbs of it in an induction furnace that I bought for $30...
Picture:
These are oxidized metal grains. The oxidation color is bluish and most closely resembles blueberries, though I am somewhat color blind.
Any idea what this metal is? Could it be cobalt?
Oxidized copper looks a lot like that too ... have you tried smashing one of those chunks with a hammer ?
"Ignoramus16448" <ignoramus16448@NOSPAM.16448.invalid> wrote in message news:qJqdne snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com...
Steel turns blue when heated.
A simpler test is to dissolve a little in hydrochloric acid, dry the solution over heat (acid fumes!), and see if it turns blue. You could neutralize the acid by adding garden lime or baking soda until it stops fizzing. I don't know if other metals would interfere.
Definitely not copper, when ground down they look dull grey. Not magnetic.
That sounds like a plan. The induction furnace is 100 kva by the way
You really need to splurge and treat yourself to one of those handheld x-ray fluorescence machines. No more guessing on mystery alloys or things like these beads. You could even do analyses for scrapyards and pay it off even sooner :-).
Koslow Scientific
Disclosure: I do a lot of electronic design work for them, but don't make any extra money from sales.
Cobalt is ferromagnetic, so unless it is fully oxidized, it would be magnetic.
Jon
So it is not cobalt... no attraction to magnet...
Perhaps the light blue color came from oxidized copper plating?
The hand held xrf machines cost about as much as a economy car. And the local scrap yard has one already. But if you send me one of the buttons I will try talking one of the guys into scanning it.
Dan
Palladium beads? They're used in catalytic converters on autos and withstand high temps.
It s a copper phosphorus alloy or compound, as foud out with xrf gun!
Nice new toy? Are they under fifty grand yet?
I bought a Flir C2 for my birfday. This Old House needs work. LOL.
It was at a scrap yard, I do not own one...
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