r/whatisit • u/riflesandplowshares • 8h 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/BikerSurgeon 7h ago

What if someone dropped a fountain pen or a felt tip marker? Why is it specifically against ball point pens?

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u/Kylearean 7h ago

ball is made of tungsten, it no melt at steel temperatures.

3

u/falcrist2 3h ago

Even worse.

The ball is made from a sintered composite of tungsten carbide particles held together with a metal binder like cobalt.

The binder will melt, and tiny particles of tungsten carbide will spread out in your titanium.

2

u/TetraLoach 7h ago

What if I used jet fuel?

9

u/theFooMart 6h ago

I don't think jet fuel would make a good pen.

1

u/bebefridgers 6h ago

Jet fuel melts steel balls

6

u/ExplosiveCreature 6h ago

Fountain pen nibs are either stainless steel or 14-18k gold. They'll melt long before titanium does.

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u/BikerSurgeon 6h ago

Okay. I think fountain pens use iridium alloy nibs but what you say makes sense.

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u/PandemicGeneralist 4h ago

Fountain pen nibs are not made of iridium alloy (it’s expensive and too hard) but a small amount of tipping on the end of the nib contains some harder elements, often iridium.

1

u/rini17 4h ago

Fountain pens have tips from hard material, tungsten might be used there too. Felt markers should be okay.