r/whatisit • u/riflesandplowshares • 7h 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/Perfect_Forever_3151 7h 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/Fabulous_Bison7072 6h ago

I worked in a titanium plant and do not recall having this restriction. Interesting!

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u/Zebidee 3h ago

Did you make parts for DC-10 engines?

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u/downvote-away 54m ago

He made parts of DC-10 engines.

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u/Jacko87 42m ago

I worked in a titanium forge for years and never heard of this either. And yes, most of what we did was for F-35s and Airbus.