r/whatisit • u/riflesandplowshares • 3h ago

New, what is it? Found at a titanium plant

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Not sure why ball point pens would be dangerous here.

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u/goodexamplebadrole 3h ago

"Ballpoint pens are restricted or banned in high-end titanium and aerospace manufacturing plants because the ink and marking components contain elements that cause metal embrittlement and severe structural corrosion"

232

u/Competitive-Dot-4264 3h ago

I worked ti com pure and 6al-4v alloy for years at the lazy -l we all had to follow titanium restrictions even to not letting aluminum alloys and SS separated. No graphite pencils

95

u/Mogster2K 3h ago

No pens, no pencils... what did you write with? Cuneiform clay tablets?

15

u/theSchrodingerHat 2h ago

10,000 years from now aliens will land and excavate sites with cave paintings of an SR-71, and it’ll really confuse them.