I visited a national laboratory for an experiment and saw the tungsten bricks the size of a normal building red brick) they used to shield parts of experiments from high energy particles. They weighed about 60 lbs each.
My Tungsten Cube (2019)
261–270 of 336 posts
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They have the mean tendecy to explode into super sharp pieces when you're not expecting it, so wear goggles. Well, I guess I need to buy a new wedding ring at some point.
i read something about a guy shattering his tungsten wedding band on his wedding night, after deciding that slapping his hands on concrete was how you're supposed to dance. professional advice: don't use an exotic metal for your wedding band. some fire departments can't cut it if your ring finger swells up.
Tungsten (carbide) ring wearer here: I've looked into this and supposedly they're easy enough to crack.
Lucky for me, I bought mine for ~$30 on eBay and it's always been a bit too big for me. If my finger only swells a bit, it could probably still come off.
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#263We put a $600 tungsten sphere on our secret wedding registry as a joke, along with lobster flavored pillow mints, etc.
It arrived in the mail. My husband's high school friends had pooled their resources.
Now it's on the mantle, resting amongst warm woolen pom-poms.
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#264I used to work with tungsten carbide cubes during my PhD thesis. They're used in multianvil high-pressure synthesis. With the right setup you can reach almost 20 GPa of pressure. Not as much as with diamond anvil cells, but you have more reasonable sample sizes (a few milligrams). And thats still like the pressure pretty deep into Earth's mantle. I also used the opportunity to snap a neat picture of a polished WC cub…
Those things look awesome. What's cost of getting one of these?
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#265I used to work with tungsten carbide cubes during my PhD thesis. They're used in multianvil high-pressure synthesis. With the right setup you can reach almost 20 GPa of pressure. Not as much as with diamond anvil cells, but you have more reasonable sample sizes (a few milligrams). And thats still like the pressure pretty deep into Earth's mantle. I also used the opportunity to snap a neat picture of a polished WC cub…
> They have the mean tendecy to explode into super sharp pieces when you're not expecting it, so wear goggles. This seems understated. Shouldn't you also wear armor?
A 3mm deep cut 2cm long will heal just fine on your arm with minimal first aid.
You’ll be lucky to keep an eye with the same injury even with an excellent surgeon.
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
FYI, tungsten carbide (tungsten + carbon) is a different substance from the pure metal tungsten... They have very different physical properties. But I do appreciate your story about tungsten carbide, too :-)
If anyone knows where to get a tungsten cube I would be interested. I’ve wanted one since reading this post a few years ago but every vendor usually sells alloys.
Aliexpress, with the usual gamble as to what you actually receive :)
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=S...
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
I accidentally dropped my tungsten carbide wedding band on my kitchen tile floor. Now, I have 4 shattered pieces of tungsten carbide sitting in a box on my desk.
Sounds like the start to an epic quest.
The four shards must be reunited for the prophecy to be fulfilled!
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They have the mean tendecy to explode into super sharp pieces when you're not expecting it, so wear goggles. Well, I guess I need to buy a new wedding ring at some point.
Given that my wedding ring is permanently egg shaped due to some impact that I don't even remember, I'll stick with gold.
Sounds like a good night!
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#269I held a neptunium (20.45 g/cc) sphere once. It was about the size of a baseball and I hard the hardest time lifting it. It was like lifting a full gallon jug of milk when you think it's empty - you apply a force and it doesn't budge. I had to lift it as if I was lifting a stack of books to get it off the pedestal.
I'm quite curious what the circumstances of that would have been. I looked it up because I thought I was mistaken, but ya: it's nuclear reactor byproduct and itself capaple of being turned into a nuclear weapon (or only some isotopes maybe? Not sure). It also apparently is capable of just starting on fire in open air, is poisonous, radioactive obviously and accumulates in the bones. Sounds like fun stuff.
Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)
#270Kids ask "ahh, gee, when will I ever need to use geometry?" and the answer is when you realize you got ripped off by paying the same price for a 1.5" diameter tungsten sphere as you would for a 1.5" tungsten cube.
In terms of bullion value, absolutely. In terms of cost to manufacture, maybe not? I can't imagine making a sphere meeting any kind of surface tolerance is any easier than making a plain old cube to a similar surface tolerance.