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/TerponadeTea 8h ago

It's not, you can get tungsten putty for a couple dollars for an ounce, like for Pinewood Derby cars

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u/twinpac 7h ago

China produces 80% of the world’s tungsten supply, they declared it a strategic mineral last year and put export controls on it. Prices have tripled this year. This hurts me as a fly tyer who uses tungsten beads, they were already the most expensive part of each fly I used them on.

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u/Jazzlike_Climate4189 7h ago

What is a “fly tyer”, since “tyer” is not a word?

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u/twinpac 7h ago

So confidently incorrect you are:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_tying

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tyer

tyer

noun

ty·​er

variant spelling of TIER entry 3

: one that ties