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My Tungsten Cube (2019)

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Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#291

Post by SilverRed »

BizarroLand wrote: post #210
learc83 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a tantalum ring. It look a bit like tungsten or titanium but it's much softer.

The ones I saw from a quick search were nice looking but pretty pricey. Basic Gold rings were going for the same price as some of the fancier designs so I think that would be more of a design / aesthetic choice. Titanium / Tungsten / Silver are for people who want an inexpensive ring.

Funny because titanium is actually a very cheap material. I got a 1" cube of it for about $30. I assume almost all of the price is labor for working with it rather than the cost of the metal itself.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#292

Post by 8bitsrule »

dhosek wrote: post #273
ethbr0 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then my neighbor delivered it to me The only thing that would make this story more perfect is if they'd said, "Wow. Heavy. What do you have in there? A cube of tungsten?"

True story: When my brother was in college, he played in the University of Illinois marching band. One year, the football team made it to the Rose Bowl. The band flew to Los Angeles to perform and do tourist stuff. On the beach, in a fit of eccentricity, he started picking up rocks from the beach and calling them seashells. He brought the rocks back to Chicago. Our grandfather picked him up at the airport and picking…

Good for him. There are a lot of places I've been that I was so sure I'd make it back to. Yeah, not gonna happen. But in a few of those places, I brought something back. One's mostly quartz, one's mostly basalt. With them, I can travel in time.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#293

Post by SilverRed »

skyfaller wrote: post #221
Animats wrote: post #203

You can get cubes of most of the solids in the periodic table here.[1] Some are very expensive, but available. [1] https://luciteria.com/metal-cubes

What's not 100% clear to me, after reading through some descriptions, is which metal cubes I could handle semi-regularly without damaging them (iron? will it rust?) or endangering myself (lead? how likely is handling it to poison me?). It seems to me that the point of buying a cube of some metal is to feel its weight and texture, to see it respond to light. If you're just going to keep it in a capsule and never take…

I have a few of the non toxic ones. I like titanium most since it has a decent weight and doesn't make my hands smell like copper.

Some of them will oxidize and if you want to stop that you can coat them in a clear resin. I wouldn't touch lead even with the resin coating as I wouldn't trust it to not chip off.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#294

Post by tastyfreeze »

kadoban wrote: post #256
anonporridge wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Melted gold is just as valuable as gold jewelry, since they melt it down anyway when you sell it. It might be worth marginally less than an intact piece of gold bullion that can be resold without processing. Diamonds don't have resale value anyway. They're literally a scam.

One thing I've wondered, exactly how easy would it be to find a gold puddle after a fire anyway? I mean it's not going to vaporize or walk off on its own, but is it just going to be a little solidified glob there to pick up or what?

Yes, it might flow around in the fire but it would be in the same area. A metal detector would be the fastest way to find it. Likely less time to find it solidified than looking for jewelry on a beach. Certainly less time than mining the gold.

I've found aluminum globs under fires that had cans or trashed roofing thrown in. Pretty clean, since nearly everything floats on it, and easy to spot in ashes.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#295

Post by tmm »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #277
toiletaccount wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or you could just not wear rings at all. I'm an EMT and the only trauma injury that gives me the creeps is degloving. Happens e.g. when somebody falls off a ladder and their ring gets caught on a nail on the way down. Don't google it.

> the only trauma injury that gives me the creeps is degloving

I worked with a guy who was missing most of his ring finger. I asked him about it one day at lunch. I regretted it.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#296

Post by hutzlibu »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #277
toiletaccount wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or you could just not wear rings at all. I'm an EMT and the only trauma injury that gives me the creeps is degloving. Happens e.g. when somebody falls off a ladder and their ring gets caught on a nail on the way down. Don't google it.

Thats the reason I never wore any rings or necklace, or co.

You never know, when you suddenly need to move fast.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#297

Post by elliottkember »

quwert95 wrote: post #2

I also have this cube as part of a set. As a far as desk accessories and toys go it's unique and a fun thing to show off. If you get the set that has the copper cube beware that the copper one will oxidize and discolor if you touch it a lot.

Bar keeper’s friend will shine it back up nicely!

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#298

Post by ncmncm »

MgB2 wrote: post #129

I 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…

It is, for all practical purposes, impossible to buy an actual tungsten ring; all sold as "tungsten" are really just tungsten carbide ceramic. Really-pure elemental tungsten is not difficult to machine, unlike common tungsten alloys.

A company near Los Angeles, American Metals, will sell you a 0.99999 pure tungsten boule for a few $thousand. You can ask for it to have a nominal (e.g.) 22 mm outer diameter, and slice it up and core out a collection of rings. The boule melt pattern on the outside is really appealing.

You can sell the rest of the rings, then, provided you can find a way to cut through the noise of the $2 tungsten-carbide hawkers. You might be tempted to paint on a design with resist and electro-plate gold where it isn't.

The scrap you cored out is pretty valuable. Maybe have the cores cut out as discs, instead of just drilling, because the "swarf" would be really hard to melt! They would resemble very heavy, thick coins; you can use a CNC machine to mill designs onto them, if you like.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#299

Post by JoachimS »

analog31 wrote: post #216
dvaun wrote: post #161

Earlier 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.

Mine too, but mine got deformed when I held my fingers behind a plank I was mounting to a concrete wall using a power screw driver, and didn't engage my brain safety-wise.

Re: My Tungsten Cube (2019)

#300

Post by Doxin »

SilverRed wrote: post #293
skyfaller wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's not 100% clear to me, after reading through some descriptions, is which metal cubes I could handle semi-regularly without damaging them (iron? will it rust?) or endangering myself (lead? how likely is handling it to poison me?). It seems to me that the point of buying a cube of some metal is to feel its weight and texture, to see it respond to light. If you're just going to keep it in a capsule and never take…

I have a few of the non toxic ones. I like titanium most since it has a decent weight and doesn't make my hands smell like copper. Some of them will oxidize and if you want to stop that you can coat them in a clear resin. I wouldn't touch lead even with the resin coating as I wouldn't trust it to not chip off.

I can hardly see lead chipping, it's much too soft for that. In general handling lead in its solid state is pretty safe. It's mostly lead dust you'd need to worry about. In any case washing your hands after handling lead is pretty much a foolproof way to be safe. It doesn't absorb through the skin.
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