Having trouble id'ing metal in lab equip

**miked** · 07-20-2014, 03:10 PM

I have been getting lab equipment recently and am unable to identify some of the metal.
It is very similar in appearance to stainless steel. It produces NO spark when hit with a grinder. I can scratch it with a screwdriver and seems to be a little harder.
Magnets from hard drives are not attracted to it even mildly
Most impressive is it seems to weigh about the same as brass.

The use for this material in the lab equipment is for round chambers.

Thanks in advance for forum members assistance also no photos at this time due to rain. Mike

**Mechanic688** · 07-20-2014, 03:15 PM

I was at first thinking titanium but it's listed as lightweight, offhand I'd say diecast.

**miked** · 07-20-2014, 03:27 PM

Thanks for the immediate response. I am under the impression that diecast is brittle and light weight and this metal is not either. I thought that it might have a high Nickel content but I would expect some mild attraction to the hard drive magnet. Mike

**KzScrapper** · 07-20-2014, 06:31 PM

Maybe the pieces were milled from a block of aluminum.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bill...w=1680&bih=881

**miked** · 07-20-2014, 08:33 PM

Kz, that could be possible if its a very dense alloy. Mike

ps None of the local yard have a gun to determine what it is. Mike

**ilyaz** · 07-20-2014, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by miked

The use for this material in the lab equipment is for round chambers.

Do you know what type of chambers these are? I know nothing about lab equipment but FWIW just googled and ended up at this link, and then this

**eesakiwi** · 07-21-2014, 03:59 AM

In DNA sequencers there's a silver metal block. Solid silver, sometimes gold plated...

There's also a crucible with a flat lid that has a edge jutting out of it. It looks just like a stainless steel double shotglass.
If its got platinum written on the bottom. Its made of platinium.. About $1000 worth of it.

Google these two items..

Since sequencers are sold all the time, often by people who don't know what they are, or their scrap value, and since the original price fof this sort of stuff
is astromical, they often vet sold for near zilch compaired to their scrap value.

Google this stuff anyway because you never know when you might find something like this.