# W Pb Mo Bi Cu Fe Sn Zn Ti Al C Mg



## Bill Kahn (Apr 7, 2020)

I have finished a carbon bar now.  So, I am up to 1”x2”x6” bars of 12 elements.  If anyone has any ideas of how to source any more, please let me know (on a hobbyist budget).

Each element is fascinating.

W  Tungsten          Almost unbelievably heavy
Pb Lead                 Soft
Mo Molybdenum   Rings nicely
Bi Bismuth             Both soft and also highly frangible
Cu Copper             Amazing color
Fe Iron                   Magnetic
Sn Tin                    Creeks when squeezed
Ti  Titanium            Sharf piles ignite and burn white hot
Zn Zinc                  Cheap
Al Aluminum          Stays shiny
C  Carbon              Makes your fingers grey and dirty
Mg Magnesium      Light

Oh, and much more too.  Like, the Titanium’s low coefficient of thermal conductivity (19 times less than Copper) makes it sort of feel warm (even though it is all at room temperature). And, of course, Copper’s electrical conductivity makes a variety of Lenz’s Law demonstrations just wonderful. And Bismuth also creeks like Tin does. (I have 2/3rds of the Lead and Carbon bars coated in a very thin polycrylic (added 3 parts water)—the Lead so my wife wasn’t nervous about guests handling and the Carbon because the graphite does come off on your fingers.  Coatings don’t really change the experience much, but the real material is on the remaining third for the adventurous.)

-Bill


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## ThinWoodsman (Apr 7, 2020)

You could check out rotometals (https://www.rotometals.com/), they might have a couple more.


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## T Bredehoft (Apr 7, 2020)

That's a pretty adventurous undertaking all by itself.


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## pontiac428 (Apr 7, 2020)

Nickel and antimony are the low-hanging fruit for your next couple of blocks!

Looks like indium, germanium, and gallium will be doable, right before gold...


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## macardoso (Apr 7, 2020)

The US Federal Reserve might be able to help you out with the Gold 

Silver would cost you around $960 (EDITED)

Gold would cost you around $200,000 (Yikes!) (EDITED)

This seems to be a thing overseas? I've seen lots of 10mm cubes available on Aliexpress of some interesting metals. Perhaps you could pick a smaller size for the more expensive elements?









						21.0US $ |Rare Metal Cube 10mm Density For Simple Element Collection Y Gd Sm Sc Er Yb Tm Sc Lu Er Dy Hand Made Diy Hobbies Display - Magnetic Materials - AliExpress
					

Smarter Shopping, Better Living!  Aliexpress.com




					www.aliexpress.com


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## macardoso (Apr 7, 2020)

Sulfur could be melted and cast (stinky stinky!) and is quite cheap. Don't know how easily this can be done, but the melting point is within range of an oven. Also on you to analyze safety.

From a purely cost based approach (don't know about suppliers of large pieces):

Sulfur $4.57
Antimony $13.06
Nickel $36.15
Cobalt $50
Gallium $348
Indium $575
Germanium $1942
Niobium $4000
Tantalum $11,400


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## rwm (Apr 8, 2020)

Definitely add sodium and lithium. I would place these on each side of the titanium. 
I am curious what you are using for Iron? I have never seen pure Fe. Steel and cast iron are obviously alloys. (Oh, I see it now you have Steel. I wonder if you coudl get pure Fe?)
Robert


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## SLK001 (Apr 8, 2020)

rwm said:


> Definitely add sodium and lithium. I would place these on each side of the titanium.
> I am curious what you are using for Iron? I have never seen pure Fe. Steel and cast iron are obviously alloys. (Oh, I see it now you have Steel. I wonder if you coudl get pure Fe?)
> Robert



Sodium needs an inert atmosphere to machine.  Also, it has to be stored in an O2 free environment, like in an oil.


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## rwm (Apr 8, 2020)

It was a joke! The Na and Li would ignite the Ti.
Robert


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## Cadillac STS (Apr 8, 2020)

Could work out some faux ones for the very expensive elements like gold, silver, platinum. Just to have in the collection for comparison.

Maybe hollow out copper cases and fill with lead to the exact weight including the weight of the plating. Solder closed and finish.  Then have them plated.

Could be an interesting project in itself.


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## Bill Kahn (Apr 8, 2020)

pontiac428 said:


> Looks like indium, germanium, and *gallium* will be doable, right before gold...


Oh.  I like the gallium idea.  I find a mill I can use in a northern-clime winter.  Open the garage door, and machine my 1x2x6 in the cold.  (Maybe spray liquid nitrogen on it to keep cold while being machined?  Maybe just ice water would be enough)   Then I place on the mantle and remind my wife to keep the air conditioning on in the summer.  If we forget, and it gets up to 86F, it turns into a puddle.  Maybe leaking over to the aluminum bar and dissolving the bottom of that. While everything on the mantle is safe (and fun) to hold, I would have to make sure folks had their hands in an ice water bucket for a minute before handling the gallium for a minute. That does sound like fun.  -Bill


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## Bill Kahn (Apr 8, 2020)

Cadillac STS said:


> Could work out some faux ones for the very expensive elements like gold, silver, platinum. Just to have in the collection for comparison.
> 
> Maybe hollow out copper cases and fill with lead to the exact weight including the weight of the plating. Solder closed and finish.  Then have them plated.
> 
> Could be an interesting project in itself.


This would be an interesting project.  I think it would not be possible to mimic any material that is extremal for the price.  Meaning, to mimic platinum's density you'd have to have a material more dense, but cheaper, than platinum. There is none, so you can't fake platinum.  Similarly, silver is the most conductive, so can't fake that. Tungsten is much cheaper than gold, and epsilon more dense (and unscrupulous people have done that swap) but it is much less electrically conductive, so it is easily identified as fake with a micro-ohm meter. Add in basic material properties like the speed of sound and stiffness (the molybdenum bar rings with a special high ting--something about its speed of sound and stiffness and density I guess), and thermal conductivity, magnetic permeability, and I think it is not possible to fake a material from knowledgeable investigators.  Now, for the lay visitor to my living room, well, they just see grey rectangles.  All interchangeable.  When I insist they hold the magnesium and the tungsten they do get they are different. But for all I know maybe they think the magnesium is just a hollow box. A key to making the project fun would be to identify the engineering level of sophistication I am trying to spoof.  (My mechanic once picked up a high-strength bolt and immediately said it was a fake--he could tell by it being too "cold." I figured out that real high-strength bolts are not pure steel and have a different coefficient of thermal conductivity and that experienced mechanics know what the real McCoys feel like.)  

And, while I do like to think I have pretty good specimens, I am not really satisfied with my Tungsten.  While way way dense, it is still about 5% shy of real W.  And, is slightly magnetic.  So, it has some iron in it.  I continue to be on the look-out for a better, and affordable, sample.  But the normal form factor of W is much smaller--bucking bars and such.  And often has Fe mixed in.  So, I choose to be happy with what I do have.  And continue the hunt.

-Bill


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## Cadillac STS (Apr 8, 2020)

Source some clear glass containers same size and collect the gaseous or liquid elements as well.


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## Tozguy (Apr 8, 2020)

Hg, it used to be common but where to get it today?


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## pdentrem (Apr 8, 2020)

Fisher can be a source for metals etc.
Mercury for example








						Mercury Standard For ICP/MS, Claritas PPT Grade, SPEX CertiPrep™  | Fisher Scientific
					

ISO/IEC Guide 34 Certified, NIST-Traceable Certified Reference Material




					www.fishersci.ca


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## Bill Kahn (Apr 8, 2020)

Well, a quick amazon search popped up this






						Amazon.com: Mercury Metal (Quicksilver), 3X Distilled, 1/2lb: Health & Personal Care
					

Buy Mercury Metal (Quicksilver), 3X Distilled, 1/2lb on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders



					www.amazon.com
				




$160/half pound. 

And ebay this









						1lb Rugby Super-Dent Triple Distilled Chemically Pure Dental Hg Quicksilver  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1lb Rugby Super-Dent Triple Distilled Chemically Pure Dental Hg Quicksilver at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					www.ebay.com
				




$165/pound

So, it seems to be fairly easily commercially available.  My brothers and I had a great time playing with it as kids. Rubbing it hard into a penny made the penny real shinny--like a new dime.  I wonder if I would have been smart if I hadn't done that.

I think the real question is how do you get rid of it if you have it.  Everyone is pretty cautious about it now.


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## CluelessNewB (Apr 8, 2020)

Let's not forget U and Pu


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## Bill Kahn (Apr 8, 2020)

There are tens of thousands of pounds of depleted uranium around the world.  It is so common that major militaries just use it as bullet material instead of lead (or tungsten).  From     https://www.eia.gov/uranium/marketing/ the price seems to be like $50 a pound, but not quite in metallic form.    My guess is if you can find a seller, the price is going to be reasonable. But all I have found are little boutique players like https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-uranium that want $800 for 10 grams. If a find a big chunk to machine down to a 1x2x6” sample for my collection I’ll try to remember to put on my N95 respirator while milling.  A small amount is legal to own, but they don’t want me to own the 10 pounds I would like.

I think 238Pu is well north of  $1 million a pound.  Used to power spacecraft.  Not the 239PU which is for bombs. And, to the best of my quick internet research, I don’t think I can get permission to own it. Even NASA is having a hard time finding it as no one seems be producing it and with only an 88 year half life, it’s use-it-or-lose-it. A 1x2x6” brick of it would produce like 2KW of heat—enough to keep the living room warm even on cold days. 

Yeah, I have thought a bit about some of these exotics.  Will stick with Antimony and Cobalt and Nickel as my next targets. Would love to find someone who can melt down Nickel—I have a source for affordable pellets.  But a vacuum induction furnace shop on a hobbyist budget, well, I haven’t found.


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## FanMan (Apr 8, 2020)

My BIL used to machine depleted uranium.  Really really nasty stuff, and a ***** to machine as well.  The place he worked at, the  DU was machined in a separate room on dedicated machines, and the DU was the only thing handled in that room.  _Not_ something I'd care to mess with.


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## Wheelcock (Apr 8, 2020)

Might not meet your intent with the project — depends how DIY you want, what your budget is, and how exacting you want to be — but American Elements should be able to provide what you need. They are kind of like the McMaster for material science. Like McMaster, they tend to have whatever you could want all retailed in one place, but aren’t particularly price competitive if you know the direct source for a particular material product


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## Bill Kahn (Apr 8, 2020)

Yeah, I have seen them.  Isn’t it amazing their ability to deliver what you want? But also, I have seen some of their (and similar company) prices.  Like 10 or 100 times what can afford. I have been scrounging these interesting elements for about 10 years now.  With patience I seem to stumble on stuff I can make work. So, with more patience than money, my collection, and experience, grows, albeit slowly.  Savoring each new element is actually quite a joy—if I just clicked and 10 new ones just showed up, all machined to size, finished, and maybe even labeled, well, it wouldn’t be the same.  If anyone on this list gets a bead on some cast-offs of something I can machine down to size, please let me know. I’ll pay, but can’t do full commercial retail.  -Bill


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## Wheelcock (Apr 8, 2020)

Bill Kahn said:


> Yeah, I have seen them.  Isn’t it amazing their ability to deliver what you want? But also, I have seen some of their (and similar company) prices.  Like 10 or 100 times what can afford. I have been scrounging these interesting elements for about 10 years now.  With patience I seem to stumble on stuff I can make work. So, with more patience than money, my collection, and experience, grows, albeit slowly.  Savoring each new element is actually quite a joy—if I just clicked and 10 new ones just showed up, all machined to size, finished, and maybe even labeled, well, it wouldn’t be the same.  If anyone on this list gets a bead on some cast-offs of something I can machine down to size, please let me know. I’ll pay, but can’t do full commercial retail.  -Bill


Hmmm... polycrystalline silicon castoffs should be easy to get a hold of, but you’d be in the same boat as with the nickel based on your size requirement and typical scrap chunk size


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## rwm (Apr 8, 2020)

I really like what you have done here. I did something similar by making discs out of various metals to act as drink coasters. It was a lot of  fun asking guests to guess what metal they had. They were generally fascinated. OK, inebriated too!
For some of these more exotic metals maybe you should consider another smaller shape and mass? It could still be uniform, just not the large blocks you have now. 
Robert


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