White metal?

[fastcar]

I got some scrap white metal from work late last year .
When it cooled in the ingot mold it looked like this.
Is it white metal or something else?
Thanks Marcus

[bangerjim]

Sorry, my crystal ball is clouded over today.

We have absolutely no way of knowing what is in there

Do a search for White Metal and read the Wikipedia listing.

If you have a lot of it, get an x-ray gun shoot at a local scrap yard. That is the only way you will ever know.

Good luck!

banger

[JSnover]

Any idea what the temperature was? Do you have any lead ingots? If you do you can whack them against each other and see which is softer.

[country gent]

White metal or mish metals are an aluminum zink and some other metals in smaller quanities. There can also be some magnesium in them.Tis would be the material some car parts, and many other castings are made from. Dad worked for Dohlers in Toledo for years they diecast white metals into grills, starter end caps, auto molding and such

[scottfire1957]

Sorry, my crystal ball is clouded over today.

We have absolutely no way of knowing what is in there

Do a search for White Metal and read the Wikipedia listing.

If you have a lot of it, get an x-ray gun shoot at a local scrap yard. That is the only way you will ever know.

Good luck!

banger


Exactly.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Marcus,
It'd be impossible to ID your metal from a photo.
But, since the vast majority of those who would respond here is from the USA, I figured it'd help if I posted a definition of "White Metal" from the "British & World English" section of the Oxford dictionary. Assuming you are using that term correctly for your region.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/white-metal

A white or silvery (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/silvery#silvery__2)alloy (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/alloy#alloy__2), especially a tin (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/tinplate#tinplate__2)-based alloy (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/alloy#alloy__2) used for the surfaces of bearings (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/bearing#bearing__2).

[dilly]

There's a fellow here who does X Ray analysis in exchange for lead at extremely reasonable rates. I can't remember his name but he should be able to tell you what you need to know.

[Smoke4320]

doubt seriously shipping from Tasmania /Australia to US for testing will be reasonable unless he has a huge supply of this metal :) :)

[BigEyeBob]

White metal was used for casting machine bearings , I'm surprised you were able to get some as I haven't seen it around since the early 70's.
It was common in a lot of industrial machinery bearings ,and early some vehicle engine bearings had a coating of it .Ford Model A flat head four cylinder engines had main bearings cast in white metal .
I have no idea what you have there in the pics.

[typz2slo]

I would be more than happy doing the XRF analysis for you but as mentioned shipping would probably cost more than its worth....

[bangerjim]

Babbitt and white metal were many times used interchangeably for bearings in the "dark ages".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(metal)

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

There are as many alloys of Babbitt as there are days in a month! Same with white metal. Same with pot metal! Only true answer is an x-ray shoot.

I have over 8 different Babbitt alloys in my stores.

banger

[fastcar]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes i mean white metal as in bearing metal.
What i got is the swarf after the bearing was machined . The bearing was about 2 meters in diameter and 300 mm tall.
I should have asked if anyone has seen these srink patterns with high tin content or do you think i have something else.
The local scrap yards don't have anything that fancy down here in Tasmania.
Thanks marcus

[mozeppa]

that is neutronium ...no doubt about it!

comes from the white dwarf star in the vega galaxy....hey!....how did you get there and back in only one lifetime!?

[dpunch]

Just weigh what you have and that should give you the answer

[Retumbo]

Answer is yes but I have seen it for different types of metal. More to do with temp and cooling rate.


Thanks for the replies.
Yes i mean white metal as in bearing metal.
What i got is the swarf after the bearing was machined . The bearing was about 2 meters in diameter and 300 mm tall.
I should have asked if anyone has seen these srink patterns with high tin content or do you think i have something else.
The local scrap yards don't have anything that fancy down here in Tasmania.
Thanks marcus

[glicerin]

White metal is a new term to me. In heavy industry, crusher bearings used Babbit, usually 80% tin. Other babbits have down to 20% tin (balance lead-antimony). The ingots should ring like a bell, and dent with a hammer. Zinc will often break with a hammer, with fine crystalline structure

[RogerDat]

If white metal is much like Babbitt then you have a couple of data points you can go for. Melt and record temperature every minute as it cools. It will plateau at one temp for a few minutes as it goes from liquid to solid. That temperature may well line up with a known metal, specific gravity measured via water displacement. Mass per volume may also align with a known metal alloy of Babbitt. Hardness if you can measure might also be a data point of use since Babbitt bearing alloys have known hardness.

[Wayne Smith]

And some sulferic acid droped on zinc will spit and bubble. Not on lead.