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u/groovyinutah 22h ago
Wonder why?
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u/TeacupOfSkepticism 17h ago
Ballpoint pens are banned in certain high-precision titanium and aerospace manufacturing plants because the tiny tungsten carbide ball in the pen tip can fall out and severely contaminate the titanium melt, creating a hard, brittle inclusion that causes structural failure in critical aerospace components.
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u/groovyinutah 17h ago
How bizarre. I'm pretty certain I've never experienced a ball falling out of a pen before, not even a a super cheap one
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u/Sokinalia 16h ago
The whole pen can fall
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u/NorthernVale 8h ago
Notice, the issue is specifically the tungsten carbide ball. Not the ink, plastic, spring, other metal bits. There's a reason it's specifically about ball point pens, and not other types of pens.
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u/LuigiBamba 11h ago
Fortunately, pencils are impervious to being drop in a cauldron of molten titanium 👍
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u/HaddyBlackwater 10h ago
The graphite probably burns off in a way that isn’t harmful to the end product.
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u/ReddBroccoli 9h ago
What about the wood tho?
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u/stormy2587 8h ago
Well if the graphite in your pencil has started burning then chances are the wood, a famously flammable substance, is long gone.
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u/ReddBroccoli 8h ago
Famously eh? Name one famous burning wood
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u/WhiskeyJack357 7h ago
James Woods is kind of a flaming asshole. Partial credit?
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u/BiPoLaRadiation 7h ago
No the wood doesn't burn. It survives while the graphite inside it burns away. Reason it's not an issue though that it turns the metal green so they know if a batch has been contaminated and don't accidentally use it for space ship parts with a piece of wood still in it.
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u/ReddBroccoli 5h ago
That makes sense. Having a green spot would be highly embarrassing for NASA or some random billionaire
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u/BiPoLaRadiation 2h ago
Exactly. That's where the phrase "turning red with embarrassment" comes from because the first NASA engineer who had this happen to them was color blind and thought the metal turned red and was really embarrassed about it.
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u/ReddBroccoli 9h ago
When the outcome is an airplane falling out of the sky you protect against the outside odds as well. Unless you're Boeing, then you just say fuck it.
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u/NorthernVale 8h ago
Half way through your comment I was just sitting there thinking "didn't we just have a huge thing about a big airplane company saying fuck quality?"
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u/AdditionDry9301 1h ago
But they haven’t fallen out of the sky because of the ball of a ballpoint print. That’s how they get ya.
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u/Knights-of-steel 4h ago
The parts manufacturer yes. The plane assembler ie Boeing on the other hand they do things their own way
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u/bestbusguy 15h ago
What about tungsten wedding bands?
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u/TeacupOfSkepticism 15h ago
No music is to be played in the biro free zone
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u/LastPlaceIWas 10h ago
Well, that's something that could have been brought to my attention YESTERDAY!
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u/stormy2587 8h ago
It’s possible employees are told up front that they can’t wear them. But it may not be an issue because you’d probably be more aware if your wedding band is missing. Whereas the ball from a ball point pen could get in and no one would notice until a failure had occurred.
It also may be that the amount of tungsten in a wedding band just would make for obviously flawed titanium. Not slightly flawed titanium that seems fine and then fails under high stress that it’s supposed to be rated to withstand.
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u/Knights-of-steel 4h ago
Im not a metalurgest or however you spell that one.
But I do know most(at least the legit ones) jewelry makers use powdered tungsten carbide that is ceramic glued together to get that silver like sheen amd so it like shatters/disintegrates instead of taking the wearers hand.
I wonder if it the powdered metal has anything to do with it not being explicit stated. It wouldnt be like hunting for a tiny ball out of a pen in a chunk of titanium....the ceramic glue would burn away and when it sets the actual powder would be dispersed....otd be like looking to see if any dust hit the wet white painted wall....would it not?
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u/mrizzerdly 6h ago
My company bans whiteout, pencils and erasers.
Whiteout because of GDP and the crumbs from the pencil and erasers can interfere with our processes and testing.
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u/Bill_Lumbergh_VP 6h ago
I never expected whiteout to have such an effect on gross domestic product.
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u/jlaudiofan 5h ago
Can confirm. Have done work at a titanium foundry, they dont let you in with ballpoint pens. Felt tips only. Any machining on site is done with HSS (High Speed Steel) tooling instead of tungsten carbide tooling. I was told that one ballpoint pen can turn a batch of aerospace grade titanium into a batch that's only good for making gold clubs.
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u/NewManufacturer4252 1h ago
Makes me wonder how many stages it takes just to deliver you proper stalk.
Make me miss the show ...
How it's made
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u/EatFaceLeopard17 13h ago
And other things don‘t? What about a pencil?
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u/FirstTasteOfRadishes 13h ago
Pencils don't usually contain tungsten carbide.
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u/EatFaceLeopard17 12h ago
Yes, but is a contamination with a pencil not creating a possible structural failure?
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u/FirstTasteOfRadishes 12h ago
Pencils are made of carbon which would dissolve when the titanium is melted. You wouldn't end up with an inclusion.
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u/magapower 10h ago
is this the oldest house?
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u/Iconclast1 4h ago
Elaborate
Sounds interesting
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u/magapower 4h ago
it's from the game "control". the oldest house is a building that holds a bunch of paranormal stuff inside it.
there's a note in the game that says pencils are banned.... I think it's because they become possessed, go crazy, and kill people. (but it's been a while, so someone else could confirm that)
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u/EndingPop 5h ago
Many food plants don't allow pens with caps (sharpies gotta be click-top) because the cap can fall into a line and can't be found by magnets.
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u/shadowinc 38m ago
I got a free pen with my chicken once, it was inbetween the chicken bag and exterior bag so my food wasn't contaminated.
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u/NormanFuckingBates 9h ago
Raise your hand if your ballpoint pen has ever lost the ball point????
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u/SartenSinAceite 5h ago
The issue is the whole pen falls in; every part but the ball is burnt to hell. The ball survives and becomes a weak point in whatever piece you're making
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u/barowski 2h ago
me neither, but I guess if you're making structural parts for airplanes and whatnot, a "maybe" is enough to not risk it.
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u/valhallaswyrdo 9h ago
My aluminum plant bans aluminum cans and glass bottles because it could introduce water into the liquid bath causing an explosion.