What Metal Is This?

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Historian
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What Metal Is This?

Post by Historian »

Friend who was cleaning out his shop gave me two one foot bars of 1" rod that were drilled out,
threaded an inch deep. They were once one piece and rough cut in half.

Outer surfaces and internal threads have the same outer dull metal looking surface.
They are non-magnetic.
Inside and cross section has shiny copper color
which stays when I file a little.

He has worked in high voltage labs and my first guess
was that it was plated copper. But in all my years I
have never run across this combo.

Appreciate any input from experienced folks. I do not
want to fiddle with it on the far out chance that it is, say,
cadmium plated or with some other debilitating metal.

I can always use them as counter weights. Too mature
to do dumb things. :)


Thanks.
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J Krammes
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by J Krammes »

How about Beryllium copper? You might not want to cut or file the stuff if you think it might have the possibility of being toxic. Ask the guy if they ever had anything like that in the lab.
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nice shot
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by nice shot »

Historian wrote:Friend who was cleaning out his shop gave me two one foot bars of 1" rod that were drilled out,
threaded an inch deep. They were once one piece and rough cut in half.

Outer surfaces and internal threads have the same outer dull metal looking surface.
They are non-magnetic.
Inside and cross section has shiny copper color
which stays when I file a little.

He has worked in high voltage labs and my first guess
was that it was plated copper. But in all my years I
have never run across this combo.

Appreciate any input from experienced folks. I do not
want to fiddle with it on the far out chance that it is, say,
cadmium plated or with some other debilitating metal.

I can always use them as counter weights. Too mature
to do dumb things. :)


Thanks.

It sounds to me like it could be Beryllium Copper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_copper

As long as you DO NOT breath in any fumes while welding or machining (yes it will smoke while on a lathe) you will be ok. No one has ever died from handling it. . . but breath enough of it and you will develope serious lung issues.

I'd say you owe him a pack of beer, that stuff can come in handy for somethin.
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Jeff in OH
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by Jeff in OH »

High voltage stuff is typically silver plated copper...silver plating makes for low resistance contact connections, and copper and silver both conduct well with low resistance.
Historian
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by Historian »

You guys are fabulous. Thank you for your great advice.

Silver polish did not even touch it.
The coating on the surface and threads is thick.

As my friend works in high voltage lab I shall take your collective
sage warnings and relegate the rods to the 'trash' heap.

The other 1.5" diameter copper rods will be used for safe applications.

Again, heartfelt gratitude.

Best.
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weaponsloader
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by weaponsloader »

Historian wrote:Friend who was cleaning out his shop gave me two one foot bars of 1" rod that were drilled out,
threaded an inch deep. They were once one piece and rough cut in half.

Outer surfaces and internal threads have the same outer dull metal looking surface.
They are non-magnetic.
Inside and cross section has shiny copper color
which stays when I file a little.

He has worked in high voltage labs and my first guess
was that it was plated copper. But in all my years I
have never run across this combo.

Appreciate any input from experienced folks. I do not
want to fiddle with it on the far out chance that it is, say,
cadmium plated or with some other debilitating metal.

I can always use them as counter weights. Too mature
to do dumb things. :)


Thanks.
Careful with that s--t(Beryllium Copper). The tips of all of our f-22 and f-15 pylon posts are tipped with that stuff. As are the hook coatings on some of our weaponry racks. If we even touch it we are supposed to log it in our medical records and get checked out at the hospital. There are numerous warnings in our tech data about wearing gloves and masks when dealing with it. Just a heads up...
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GTFord1
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by GTFord1 »

That sounds overly cautious.

Seems about as safe as lead to touch with the same precautions. Wash hands after using, and don't inhale.

http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/alloys/bery ... -notes.pdf

The fact they make handtools out of the stuff would give you the assumption it's not bad to touch.

Image

Image

Image
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weaponsloader
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by weaponsloader »

GTFord1 wrote:That sounds overly cautious.

Seems about as safe as lead to touch with the same precautions. Wash hands after using, and don't inhale.

http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/alloys/bery ... -notes.pdf

The fact they make handtools out of the stuff would give you the assumption it's not bad to touch.

Image

Image

Image
I certainly hope so. At the same time pylons on aircraft vibrate and move quite a bit in flight. Resulting in inevitable chaffing. The end result is a nice sparkly dust whenever we remove one from the aircraft. Maybe its the inhalation risks, who knows?
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doubloon
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by doubloon »

Look something like one of these only drilled out and threaded?

Image

Image
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Historian
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by Historian »

doubloon wrote:Look something like one of these only drilled out and threaded?

Image

Image
Doubloon, you have pictured the rods exactly, as in the cylinder, just a thin external coating.

What are these used for? And are there no 'hazard warnings' associated with them?

And how does one safely get rid of these rods?

As I often repeate, the brethren on this site stand head and shoulders
above others.
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by nice shot »

Historian wrote:You guys are fabulous. Thank you for your great advice.

Silver polish did not even touch it.
The coating on the surface and threads is thick.

As my friend works in high voltage lab I shall take your collective
sage warnings and relegate the rods to the 'trash' heap.

The other 1.5" diameter copper rods will be used for safe applications.

Again, heartfelt gratitude.

Best.

Easy there brother. Ill pay shipping in a "if it fits it ships box". [email protected] is my paypal. Send me the invoice.

I could find a use for that stuff, since your putting it in a trash heap. (FYI, you cant throw that stuff away, has to be disposed of at certain places.) When we used it in the military we made bushings out of it. AMAZINGLY STRONG bushings. They went on the landing gear of the F16 falcon. So google how much that pig weighs and then factor in landing on em. I think each leg of the gear had like 8 or ten bushings, on three legs of the landing gear. . . thats a lot of weight to be handeled by such a small part (measured ID about 1.2-3 inches)
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Larrysmachine
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by Larrysmachine »

You need to take precautions when working with BeCu but don’t be afraid of it. I have been a machinist for over 27 years and have cut truck loads of this stuff, machine it under coolant and never grind, these are good rules to follow for a home shop.
Historian
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Re: What Metal Is This?

Post by Historian »

Larrysmachine wrote:You need to take precautions when working with BeCu but don’t be afraid of it. I have been a machinist for over 27 years and have cut truck loads of this stuff, machine it under coolant and never grind, these are good rules to follow for a home shop.
Thank you Larry et al. Since I was given this BeCu rod as scrap I shall spare myself
any concern and stick with SS and Aluminum ... simple metals for a simple mind. :)

Again thanks to all for resetting the compass.
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