Hmmm... Tungsten?

[Max]

After getting into how much fun titanium can be -- light, durable, etc., I stumbled upon some mention of tungsten and tungsten carbide, which is incredibly hard and extremely dense.

Here are some densities (in g/cm³):
2.7 aluminum
4.5 titanium
8.0 stainless steel
8.5 brass
10.5 silver
11.3 lead
15.6 tungsten carbide
19.3 tungsten
19.3 gold
21.5 platinum

Anybody here have anything made out of tungsten? I saw that tungsten carbide is used to make some watch cases and wedding bands.

 

[Marduke]

Metal machining bits are often tipped in tungsten carbide. Also, they recently came out with a safety razor which uses tungsten carbide blades which supposedly will last for 10-15 years.

 

[Max]

http://www.buckingbar.net/images/bar.jpg
This tungsten alloy bucking bar weighs 1.68 lbs.

 

[flash_bang]

what's a bucking bar?
oh, and btw…
Cool! It weighs a lot! w00t!

btw, there was a coating somewhere that was baked on, looked pretty cool

HAGO,
Flash

 

[Echo63]

what's a bucking bar?
oh, and btw…
Cool! It weighs a lot! w00t!

btw, there was a coating somewhere that was baked on, looked pretty cool

HAGO,
Flash

a bucking bar is used when using normal rivets (not the pop rivets)
the rivet gun sits on one side of the material, and moves the material, the bucking bar is forced off the material and as it hits the back of the rivet again it compresses the end of the rivet
of course i could be wrong, but when i was building a plane at high school thats how it was used

 

[Valolammas]

Also, they recently came out with a safety razor which uses tungsten carbide blades which supposedly will last for 10-15 years.

My apologies for a small thread hijack, but that sounds interesting. Who did? Yeah, I hear your "supposedly", but if it lasts 10-15 months, it might be worth looking into.

 

[Max]

a bucking bar is used when using normal rivets (not the pop rivets)
the rivet gun sits on one side of the material, and moves the material, the bucking bar is forced off the material and as it hits the back of the rivet again it compresses the end of the rivet
of course i could be wrong, but when i was building a plane at high school thats how it was used

I've never used one, but I believe you are correct.

This is how a bucking bar is used when driving a rivet:
http://www.homebuilthelp.com/RV images/cap291.jpg
The rivet gun is on the left, and the bucking bar is on the right. I assume that when the gun is triggered, it rams the rivet into the bar, which flattens the end of the rivet. A good bucking bar should therefore, I guess, be hard and massive, so as not to recoil excessively

 

[matrixshaman]

Tungsten is so hard I can't imagine trying to work with it - at least not to make a flashlight from it. I think it would take some very expensive machinery to make a flashlight body from it. And as far as the densities you listed it appears tungsten is heavier than lead for the same volume. So I'd say that does not make it appealing for an EDC flashlight anyway.

 

[flash_bang]

I would definately be interested in a tungsten flashlight.
Imagine a Surefire M6 in Tungsten
HAGO,
Flash

 

[Max]

Let's see, if a Fenix E0 (1xAAA) weighs 9g, and for argument's sake, let's say that after you exclude the LED, circuit board and whatever else, that leaves 7g of anodized aluminum.

7g of aluminum is 2.6cc of aluminum
2.6cc of pure tungsten weighs 50g or about 1.8oz

By comparison, a Fenix L1T (1xAA) weighs 45g.

One AAA battery weigh in the vicinity of 12g, and one AA battery weighs about 24g.

So, loaded up with alkaline batteries, a tungsten Fenix E0 would weigh roughly the same as a Fenix L1T.

 

[Theatre Booth Guy]

I was lucky enough to get a tungsten carbide wedding band. I've had it for 4 months now and have yet to cause anything other than an almost microscopic scratch! I do quite a bit of work with my hands and regularly "grind" the ring against hardened steel so, I'm very happy with the results since any "regular" ring metal would have serious scratches.

As a test, before the wedding, I tried a stainless band and found it to show serious scratches after only a couple days of being worn - sealed the deal on the choice for the real band! Friends of my wife recommended a company in the States that we ended up using and have been very happy with the resulting ring!

Not sure if I'd want a flashlight made of the stuff though. . . . Ok, yes, I would But, it would be horribly expensive as the material is next to impossible to machine in any regular sense of the word.

 

[Marduke]

Tungsten is so hard I can't imagine trying to work with it - at least not to make a flashlight from it. I think it would take some very expensive machinery to make a flashlight body from it. And as far as the densities you listed it appears tungsten is heavier than lead for the same volume. So I'd say that does not make it appealing for an EDC flashlight anyway.

Tungsten carbide isn't usually machined like most metals. Tungsten wedding bands, for example, start as a powder which is heated and compressed inside of a ring-shaped mold. When emergency technicians need to cut off a wedding band, tungsten cannot be cut. It must be crushed with a vice or good set of pliers, and it breaks apart similar to how you would expect a ceramic to break.

Tungsten (not carbide) is somewhat more scratch prone, but can be machined like tool steel.

 

[Icebreak]

tvodrd's photo of his work with custom built CR2 flashlights.

Black HA on Aluminum, Copper, Titanium, Brass and Tungsten.

 

[flash_bang]

awesome! how much is the tungsten one?
thanks,
Flash

 

[Icebreak]

Apologies for leading you to believe they were available. I believe the tungsten and maybe the Ti were one-offs. tvodrd contributed them to the community via an exciting and very successful raffle.

Several folks noted the irony of a high-tech LED flashlight made from tungsten. IIRC tungsten does fairly well in sea water so maybe not such a bad idea for a dive light.

 

[jcompton]

Anybody here have anything made out of tungsten? I saw that tungsten carbide is used to make some watch cases and wedding bands.

The Rolex is not tungsten carbide but the Movados are. I have worn the black one almost every day for over 2 years and I think the band may have one very faint scratch on it where the clasp meets and I am extremely rough on my watches.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee129/JACompton/1DSC00476.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee129/JACompton/DSC00511.jpg

I would love to have a light made out of Tungsten. Not only will it match my watch but it will be extremely durable!!!

 

[matrixshaman]

awesome! how much is the tungsten one?
thanks,
Flash

Do you know about the Larry Lights? I'm just guessing that most people can't even afford an aluminum Larry light much less a Tungsten one - which is probably one of a kind.

 

[Max]

The Rolex is not tungsten carbide but the Movados are. I have worn the black one almost every day for over 2 years and I think the band may have one very faint scratch on it where the clasp meets and I am extremely rough on my watches.

That would be really nice. I'm also eyeing this one as one I might get some day (and save $1000):
http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Carbide-Watch/STUTTGART-White-Mens
http://www.tungstenworld.com/mainPics/6026MW_A_500_.jpg

Purely to satisfy my curiosity, I just bought a piece of solid tungsten just to have on my desk. I found a seller on eBay (metallectric) who was willing to look into his leftover bits of stock and find me a rough piece of tungsten that he would be willing to sell at a discount. I ended up getting a 2 1/8" segment of 1" diameter tungsten rod that weighs 530g (about 18.7oz). I'm going to get similar sized pieces of other metals like aluminum and steel and make them like a little set. Aluminum and steel make a pretty good low and medium density example compared to tungsten, and the cost for those pieces would be under $4.

And yes... I am feeling a little bit silly.

 

[Marduke]

That would be really nice. I'm also eyeing this one as one I might get some day (and save $1000):
http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Carbide-Watch/STUTTGART-White-Mens
http://www.tungstenworld.com/mainPics/6026MW_A_500_.jpg

Purely to satisfy my curiosity, I just bought a piece of solid tungsten just to have on my desk. I found a seller on eBay (metallectric) who was willing to look into his leftover bits of stock and find me a rough piece of tungsten that he would be willing to sell at a discount. I ended up getting a 2 1/8" segment of 1" diameter tungsten rod that weighs 530g (about 18.7oz). I'm going to get similar sized pieces of other metals like aluminum and steel and make them like a little set. Aluminum and steel make a pretty good low and medium density example compared to tungsten, and the cost for those pieces would be under $4.

And yes... I am feeling a little bit silly.

Hmm... maybe I should start selling my leftover tension test specimens on Ebay. I have aluminum, steel, and copper in samples that look similar to these.
http://civilx.unm.edu/laboratories_ss/mechmat/tensilespec.JPG

 

[benchmade_boy]

tungsten is in each of out high output incadecent lamps as well. also I cant remember if it is tungsten or tungsten caribide is the hardest man made metal.