The Very Best... of METALS...

[mrrsm]

Its amazing how much of of our daily lives are dominated by the presence and utility of “METALS”. This raft of videos covers both The Heavy Hitters and the Lightweights of Metals that have forged our Modern World.

ALUMINUM:

STEEL:

IRON:

COPPER:

GOLD:

SILVER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGlDnta0neY

TITANIUM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLLFNmTVmpQ

...and here is a Cool "How to do Desktop Silver Smelting"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGlDnta0neY

 

[mrrsm]

This one covers a whole panoply of FERROUS METALS.... Watch this one if you want to find out a good reason to Wear Eye Protection and a Clear Face Guard whenever working with any piece of Metal being manipulated by a Strong Machine. Loads of other pieces of Metal-Working information are covered on this cool video, too.

..and more about Metals...

 

[mrrsm]

When Admiral Yamamoto was a visiting student in the The United States... he toured the country and came to the conclusion that while mostly docile in nature... if push came to shove...America was capable of using its vast wealth of Natural Resources to emerge as a very formidable Enemy. He had rendered the opinion that Japan might be able to do enough damage to our Naval Military to buy some time for The Americans to sue for peace and withdraw from the Pacific Island regions and not continue its Oil and Materials Embargo because of concerns about the maltreatment of the Mongolians and The Chinese Peoples. The strategy would become the singular spark to really make the citizens of The United States...to UNITE. In the end... Yamamoto would say dejectedly, "I fear that the only thing we have accomplished with the Sneak Attack upon Pearl Harbour...was to awaken a "Sleeping Giant..." In the end... their actions would set the stage for the creation of two Super-Powers.

Youtube.com has a large library of WWII Manufacturing and Production Films that were created as public propaganda and for the purposes of bolstering that portion of all the Allied Nations to feel connected to and directly responsible for the creation and sustenance needed to fight a dreadful, World Wide War. The portrayal of those industries and the actions of Skilled and Semi-Skilled Workers was indispensable in making sufficient numbers of machines, weapons and munitions to overwhelm and kill the Axis Powers Enemies. Here are a few of these to see and hear and observe what happens when the Raw Materials of the lands are heated white hot...melted into Liquid Metals and then pounded and shaped into the means to an end by all of the Allies...Victory!. I'll add a few of these at a time depending upon the level of interest the topic generates:

Please enjoy...
BRITISH WWII WEAPON, AMMUNITION, TANK, WARSHIP & AIRPLANE PRODUCTION FILM 85604:

 

[Bow_Tied]

There is a BBC documentary on Netflix called "World War 2 in Colour" which is excellent and spends time on the Pacific theatre action.

 

[mrrsm]

To set the mood for your mindset about this topic and its place and time in history... I'd like to suggest first a listen to one of Dimitri Tiomkin's many great Movie Music pieces from the film called "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (The Full Movie is also available for viewing on Youtube) as it best captures the feel of these historic uses of Metal:

In the present day of advanced communication and with the advent of technological gadgets that give us all access to our Banks via the Internet… with the disappearance of the normality of having either Paper Money in our Wallets or Metal Coins in our “Change Pockets”… there is a great loss of societal experience with actually knowing what it feels like to Handle Cash and Coins in any real and tactile ways. This is actually very unfortunate because without the sensation of touching, feeling, handling and exchanging while “counting coins”… the ability for us all to actually pause ...and feel directly connected to our Money and consider that very physical transfer of control over one’s wealth from their own immediate physical possession … to that of another’s… is lost to the seemingly painless and instantaneous nature of how “paying the bills” gets done in modern life. Look no further than the average Credit Card Debt Load in American Society as daily proof of this effect.

Historically… (or in the Numismatic sense) “Metal Money” as a standard for the exchange of Durable Goods and Payment for Labor was well entrenched in all emerging cultures on the European and Asian Continents; even as countries in this hemisphere with as much if not more Gold and Silver found greater value in using the Natural Durability and Beauty of Shells and Pearls and even Glass Beads as having higher monetary esteem in certain South American Indian Cultures. This of course was all happening well before the manufacture of durable paper money was possible. And so here again… it is ”METAL” that became “Precious” in Making The World Go ‘Round. And no matter how technologically advanced Human Societies ever become… Nothing will ever replace the unique sensation of holding durable Gold and Silver and Bronze Coins that have either been “Struck” or minted and bearing the important Faces, Symbols and Events of the Times as they got distributed and used throughout history … and all happening right before our very eyes while passing from one human hand to another and back again:

Please be Patient as this Film has a Very Long Fade in from a Black Screen:

 

[mrrsm]

Among the many more Exotic and Heavy Metals represented on The Periodic Table of Elements… Bismuth is one that would seldom get so much as a passing Nod in the face of so much admiration and attention for the others.

But in this instance... “Draw Ye Nigh…” and observe how this Beautiful Metal will gradually emerge in stages after being carefully coaxed and safely extracted by a Young Chemist, simply following training... and his natural curiosity.

He will use some Strong Muriatic (Hydro-Chloric) Acid, some Water, some Aluminum Foil all collected in Glass Beakers and Containers while using some Heat in order to work, cleanup and finally extract this Unique Metallic Substance in its Purest Crystalline Form… And he will do this with 480 Tabs… of Pepto-Bismol:

 

[mrrsm]

On the face of it... "The Miracle of 3D Printing" might seem like the Universal Solution to the problem of creating "Parts from Scratch" made out of Synthetics, Plastics and even Very Fine Powders of Metals. But sadly... while it is a WAY Cool thing to watch happen...almost like observing something emerging from a Time-Space Transporter... The Ancient Science and Knowledge of Materials Man has accumulated about How to Work Metals has literally been "Turned on its head".

Make no mistake about it ... there are SOME applications that have emerged from companies like SpaceX that have proven Whole Rocket Engines can literally be Grown from a combination of High Performance Metal Powders,

This is accomplished by using Powerful Industrial Lasers to repeatedly Melt many, many layers of the Powders, one after the other while creating Completed Rocket Engines like the Super-Draco Rockets successfully fitted onto the Crew Dragon Space Craft:



These "Grown From Scratch" Engines are fitted as Pairs located in 4 Pods around the N-E-W-S perimeter of the Space Craft. Each Rocket Motor burns Hypergolic Nitrogen Tetr-Oxide (NTO) and Mono-Methyl-Hydrazine (MMH) or (UDMAH) Fuels that create an astonishing 15,000 Lbs of Thrust coming out of EACH individual Rocket Nozzle. This Video bears witness to their Power as demonstrated during a Ground Rocket Firing Test of One Pair from the Escape Rocket System:

...and "The Real Escape" Test:

But for making other things out of More Conventional Metals... their 3D Printing Applications also involve the use of very expensive Printing hardware and the creation and modification of the ordinary "Raw Metal Materials" into some quite exotic and very fine Powders. This is the Subject being Explored in this next Video in which many of these efforts have fallen well below the mark of necessary Reliability and Endurance:

 

[mrrsm]

We've all seen the YouTube Videos of Huge Slabs of "Pig Iron" being Hot Hammer Forged under enormous Pounding Pressures while SHEETS of Carbon Graphite literally Flake off of the sides where the near molten temperatures allow the Forged Steel components to emerge.

But not here... Not today. In this video you will NOT see any such thing. The VOP is giving as the Gift of seeing something Absolutely Magical as he takes a Round Bar of Nearly Pure TITANIUM...

...and Forges a Titanium Hammer...

Better than that is the fact that he will create this Hammer from this Bizarre Metal in a Coke Forge where you will not have to struggle to see everything that he is doing because the Coal Fuel he is using has been pre-burned into Coke. No... Not THAT Kind of "Coke" and NOT the "Things Go Better With..." flavor either.

This Refined Fossil Fuel that has Very Little Impurities left in it that it's Mother Coal imbued it with eons ago. Thus, there will be NO Billowing Clouds of Smoke and Steam to obscure watching him shape this Enormously Tough, Durable and Ridiculously Light Weight Metal.

Watch what will emerge from under the VOP's Own Sledge Hammer as he turns it into something that looks... Other Worldy! If you Don't Bust Out Loud Laughing at just how COOL this segment is... Then You have NO appreciation for the Soul and Beauty of a Rare and Powerful Mechanical Thing:

Making a Titanium Hammer:

...and the Source of this Exotic Titanium Metal Stock comes from:

https://6al4v.shop/

 

[mrrsm]

On Friday, December 4th, 2020... SpaceX will attempt the launch of its First, Fully Assembled Starship SN-8 for a Test Flight (HOP) to 15 Kilometers from the Boca Chica Space Port in Texas. Now would be a good time to refer to the Materials and Processes that this HUGE Space Ship is constructed from... with the "Primary Metal" being 304L Stainless Steel. If you want to observe the Test Flight...Here is the Latest News about the Launch:

Starship SN8 expected to make 50,000-foot flight in Boca Chica

The remote village of Boca Chica is a place nature has called home. However, the wilderness is sharing its home with a spacecraft and rocket building facility, SpaceX’s Starship facility.

www.click2houston.com

Originally, Elon Musk and his Staff of Engineers had a desire to use Carbon Fiber constructs for the majority of its major cylinders and super-structures. But he soon discovered that these manufacturing processes would "...Just take too long...".

The Solution? Initially, he had switched over to 304 Stainless Steel. But after welding up the seams on the Giant Segments in each "Stack" of his early Starship SN-1-5 Test Beds, when joining the enormous cylinders sections together... the issue of Brittle Carbides precipitating within the welds became a serious concern. The Carbides reduced the ability of the melted amalgam formed post-welding to resist corrosion and it weakened those bonds in between each one. Having anything assembled on your Space Craft that can be described as "Being Too Brittle..." is a Very Big No No.

The plot thickened when he opted to get the variant of 304L Stainless Steel, which presents with an adjusted Chemical Mix of Elements that Reduces the amount of Carbon to an Ultra-Low Level. The placement of an "L" at the end of the definition of 304L Stainless Steel distinguishes between the two. These changes were also happening at a time when the Machine Welding Methods were being adapted to improve the Quality and Consistency of the Welding Procedures. Here are Two Charts that describe "The Stainless Steel Recipes" comparing Regular 304 S/S versus 304L S/S:



There is an unfortunate, prevailing 'Mystery' surrounding EXACTLY what Stainless Steel is that often prompts the Questions, "How is it Made ?" and "What are its properties ?". But without doing a little reading from some reliable resources, you won't get any closer to understanding "WHY?" this choice of metal materials has worked out so well as "The Metal of Choice for Making Rocket Ships" by Elon Musk for the unique construction of his Shining, Gleaming SpaceX Starship Machines.

The excellent Properties of these Metals will eventually prove their value and defy our comprehension of just "How?" these Giant Machines manage to "Hold Together" while Launching... slowly ascending upwards from Boca Chica and then increasing their velocities enough to arrive in Outer Space ...and Safely return to Our Earth. If you want to get the "Straight Dope" on these issues for your own needs for the use of Stainless Steels... The Links below have been prepared by some of the prime manufacturing companies creating them:

https://www.aksteel.com/sites/default/files/2018-11/304-304l-stainless.pdf
https://www.makeitfrom.com/material-properties/AISI-304L-S30403-Stainless-Steel
https://northlakesteel.com/blog/whats-cold-finished-steel-bar/
https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/637/hot-rolling
https://www.convertunits.com/from/MPa/to/psi

 

[mrrsm]

With the development of Functional, Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Batteries for a wide range of Technologies comes the need to Re-Cycle these Rare, Purified and Useful Trace Metals. This is the Story of a Canadian Company based out of Vancouver that does precisely THAT on a Commercial Scale:

For the Sake of SAFETY and Scientific Understanding... I'm adding in THIS Important Video:

 

[mrrsm]

THIS is One GEM of a Movie (almost prescient) about what happens if undiscovered problems with the engineering and use of Metal in a Unique Airplane goes sideways due to Vibrations... resulting in the Tails of a New "Reindeer" Design Airplanes FALLING OFF IN FLIGHT.

THIS is a fine mixture of Post-WWII England's Aviation Industry along with Science, Metallurgy, James Stewart "BOFFIN" (The Absent Minded Professor) Glynis Johns as the Stewardess Love Interest, Marlene Dietrich (a REAL Movie Star playing an Imaginary Movie Star) along with Jack Hawkins galvanizing the right people ASAP to pay attention to "The Looney American Scientist Making DISASTER Predictions" ...in a FREE Colorized version of this 1950's Classic Movie:

"No Highway In The Sky..."

PS... This Story Idea for this movie probably emerged around the time of the British de Havilland Comet Jet Plane in 1954 that suffered from a similar problem caused by the Expansion and Contraction of the Passenger Windows causing catastrophic failures by explosive decompression... at altitude... because of Metal Fatigue around the Large SQUARE Designed Passenger Windows, right within the corners of the frames as an explanation of WHY Airline Windows are so Small and ALMOST Round... but NEVER Square:

 

[mrrsm]

If you are looking to Kill some Holiday Time in a Creative and Entertaining way... Start by Playing THIS Video from "Kurtis From Cutting Edge Engineering in his Machine Shop" in "The Land Down Under" Lathing several Heavy Chromed Pins. And while the Video works away... MUTE the Sound:

Simultaneously... Click on THIS Video and Turn UP the Volume on John Williams' amazing Soundtrack from "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" ...and enjoy this Watching and Listening to this "Metallic ASMR" and enjoy a Hypnotic Experience in all of its Shining, Metal-Working Glory!

This process WILL Surprise You... :>)