My Tungsten Cube (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#11

Post by burnished » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:56 PM UTC

Avshalom wrote: post #3

Gotta say I love the ad copy for the 10 pound cube: ADD to your collection! This cube is the larger version of the world famous tungsten cube COMPARE the density to our 2.5" Aluminum cube to enhance the experience

this is the sort of value driven advertising that I appreciate

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#12

Post by zanecodes » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:57 PM UTC

at_a_remove wrote: post #4

I wonder why it is 5% nickel/iron -- availability? Machining purposes?

The Amazon seller mentions that pure tungsten is typically too brittle to machine.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#13

Post by changoplatanero » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:57 PM UTC

I really want to get a gold plated one. The density of tungsten is less than 1% different from gold

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#14

Post by minsc__and__boo » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

The Amazon reviews make it seem like this is a meme product.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#15

Post by opwieurposiu » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

at_a_remove wrote: post #4

I wonder why it is 5% nickel/iron -- availability? Machining purposes?

Because of tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals, it very expensive to cast pure tungsten ingots. Instead, powdered tungsten is mixed with small amounts of powdered nickel or other metals, and sintered.

Also pure tungsten is often excessively brittle.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#16

Post by lisper » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

foobarian wrote: post #7

I often marvel at the densities of the various heavy metals especially compared to steel. The densest of them like osmium are almost 3x as dense! I wish I could afford an osmium cube. I guess tungsten is the best cheapest-yet-still-heavy option.

Tungesten is only 10% less dense than osmium. I doubt you could tell the difference without a scale.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#17

Post by jamesgreenleaf » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

Some of the reviews on these are fantastic:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RZKKKAM6FE5AI

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#18

Post by thrown » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 6:59 PM UTC

Dudes posting their W's online

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#19

Post by lisper » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 7:00 PM UTC

I have a 2kg tunsgsten sphere. Also deeply viscerally satisfying to hold, and makes a great party trick.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#20

Post by scrps » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

I had a neighbor a few years back who was a retired mechanical eng & machinist and as a retirement gift someone gave him a calibrated high percision gauge block set. There was some weird brain tingle I would get handling them, I think simply due to the extreme percision of them, I wonder if the sensation from handling the cube is similar?