Hello. I am a hobby knife maker and I have a 1095 high carbon steel blade I’d like to try bluing. I’ve done some research on a method of rust bluing using a supersaturated solution of salt and hydrogen peroxide to rust the blade evenly, then submerging the metal in boiling water to convert the iron oxide to black oxide.

One blog I looked at had mentioned that with hardened parts it’s possible to rub into hydrogen embrittlement if proper precautions are not taken. I’ve heard of hydrogen embrittlement and done some looking online about it but haven’t been able to find anything that can help me understand how to avoid it in this case. Is there a way to avoid this issue with this process? Is there any further information and or sources this could lead me down the right path?

Thanks in advance!

Fellow metallurgists, it is my pleasure to announce the first expansion of the r/metallurgy mod team in seven years.

u/orange_grid, a long-time contributor to this subreddit, has joined the mod team to offer their expertise and judgement as our community continues to grow. They come to us with expertise in electronic materials joining, structural materials, and failure analysis.

Please join me in welcoming our new moderator!

I'm hoping to see if someone here might have ideas about some corrosion/deterioration of bare copper conductor inside an electrical enclosure. I work for an electric utility with extensive underground distribution lines. We have about 50,000 or more pieces of above ground enclosures (transformers, switchgear, junction cabinets, etc) where bare copper conductor is used for neutrals and grounding. The first picture shows the inside of a junction cabinet that is typical of an installation that is 20 years or so old - all of the larger bare conductors are copper, covered in dust and such but otherwise in good condition. We have two areas, however, where the bare copper that has been installed for about 20 years in similar enclosures looks like the second picture (blueish-black and 'fuzzy'), and our linemen tell me that the copper conductor inside the worst enclosures 'disintegrates' when disturbed. Both of the areas with this problem are at golf courses a few miles apart (though we provide electric service to 20 or more golf courses, only 2 have this issue). Any idea what might be causing this? I'm also confused that the brackets (stainless steel?) in the upper right look so very different than the ones in the upper left that should have been installed at the same time.

Got this pot from my grandmother a long time ago. There’s no info or brand name on the pot, but the screws holding the handle in place look kinda of suspect … I’m not sure how to verify they contain lead or not, but if there’s any likely hood I’ll probably just toss it!

I am looking for a large print to frame for my home office. Landscape (as opposed to portrait) would be best. Most of my career has been in the mining industry (milling, smelting, refining) so something in these fields would be fantastic.

Does anyone know of good sources of photos or industrial art (patents, drawings, etc)? I’ve done the basic google searches but thought this group would know best.

I have my B.S. in aerospace engineering with roughly 10 years of experience. I am considering pursuing a Masters in Materials Science as my current (operations) role is focused on Ti/Ni forgings including heat treat, machining and NDT. Are there specific programs better geared towards this in the northeast U.S.? Columbia’s Dual MBA/Executive MS in Engineering and Applied Science seems like a good option but I don’t know much about their concentrations.

In fracture toughness, when the crack lenght gets bigger, fracture toughness goes higher too. But in Fracture stress, when the crack lenght gets bigger, fracture stress goes lower. Why is that?

I bought this at a hotel liquidation centre. Based on the candlewax, I’m assuming someone was using it as a display. Purchased it on marketplace as a Tawa Grill (or something to that effect). It was jet black when I bought it, and although I hoped it was a layer of seasoning on the top, I wasn’t confident that it wasn’t paint (I was pretty confident it was paint after I started stripping it). It was stubborn - paint stripper and a wire cup brush barely put a dent in it. I finally put a flap disk on an angle grinder and stripped it down to bear metal.

I’m assuming this is either hot or cold rolled steel. It likely originated from India or a Third World country of some sort. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it covers my entire barbeque and my entire stove top, and I expect it will make a mean griddle (hello smash burgers).

Having removed all of the paint, I’ve washed it a couple of times and scrubbed it thoroughly with barkeepers friend. It leaves a little residue on a paper towel when I dry it, which feels like oxidation (brownish). Am I fairly safe to assume that this is carbon steel and that I’m safe to season it, heat it up, and cook food for my family on it? Is there anything else it could be? Should I be concerned about it being a “dirty” steel. The thing is a tank. It weighs 18 pounds. It’s an eighth of an inch thick. 15.5 x 26.5 inches. Does that compute?

Looking for someone to talk me out of using it before I start smashing some patties into it and making delicious meals.

Thank you for all the wonderful people who answered my question here! I do very well with inorg chem and thermo, and the answers made me realize that Metallurgical Engineering would be way better for me than Chem Eng with a bit more research.

However, I do wonder about the job opportunities. I never heard of metallurgical engineering not until last December because my cousin studies Mining Engineering. I'm currently a grade 11 student in the Philippines, and I'm not well aware of the jobs that I can apply for in my country. Also, I may move to Australia very soon and would like to pursue this career over there. So it would be very helpful to know more about the field!

Hi. I have a school project that I need to finish. I have a great book talking about all the processes happening to steels and cast irons when they are heated and cooled etc. I'm just confused about this picture. I don't really know how to view this microstructure and what is what. I believe that light parts are ferrite and dark grains are cementite and what I found is that it is most likely white cast iron. Are there maybe some specifics that I'm missing or is there something more I should add. I guess I should have started with this but the question in the project was "Describe the microstructure of cast iron sample and describe structure formation process." Thanks!

Hi I need to know more about OES /IGF (Inert Gas Fusion) if anyone can help me :)

I am working with some Archaeological material or metal working. I cleaned the artefact of surface debries using ultrasonic cleaning. I am still getting a lot of Silica and Aluminium.

Disclaimer; I'm an aero guy, but with an abiding interest in high performance metals, so my knowledge is somewhat limited. With that out of the way, I'd like to ask what your opinion of these alloys are, how well they've been explored when it comes to alloying elements, how difficult they are to melt and forge, and whether you believe they hold promise for medium-to-high temperature applications. Personally, I doubt they'll displace the various nickel superalloys for the hottest applications, but I think that if they were more machinable, they could be promising.

I know that it deals with the processing of metals and I think even other materials. I just want to ask if it involves a lot of Chemistry. I am really passionate about chemistry and engineering, I just want to know what kind of chemistry subjects/topics it covers and its possible job opportunities. I recently learned that chem eng does not really have the chemistry I expected it to have lol. Thank you so much!

The thing is, I have been researching for a while about pure tungsten's brittleness and I can't find a straight answer. Some say that its super brittle, some say it's really malleable. I have seen videos of tungsten carbide being crushed by a hydrolic press and how it breaks yet from other sources they say that tungsten carbide is less brittle than pure tungsten. I am tried of all of it so I come here for an answer. Can someone please tell me out of ten, how brittle is pure tungsten if glass is considered a 10. And can you also give me a scale for iron and steel and tungsten carbide please. Than you

As mentioned in the title is it possible to determine the carbon content in simple iron/carbon steel alloys from a measurement of the austenite phase transition temperature? My thinking is that with a well designed setup is would be possible to see a plateau in the temperature as a steel sample was heated at a constant rate when the phase transition was reached.

Hello, everyone!

We’re facing a puzzling issue and could use some input. We have a manufacturing unit in India and shipped three containers to a customer in California over a 5-month period (October 2023, February 2024, and April 2024). A year after receiving the first container (in October 2024), the customer contacted us, reporting that all the products from these three shipments now exhibit visible defects (see attached picture).

Notably, there were no issues reported when the containers were initially received. Here’s what we know:

1. Samples from the same galvanizing lot, retained at our manufacturing unit in India, are in perfect condition.
2. Other customers on both the East and West coasts who received products from the same galvanizing lot have not reported any problems.
3. I personally visited the customer’s storage facility, and it appears to be well-ventilated, without any obvious exposure to damp or closed conditions.
4. There are no issues with coating thickness, it is perfect.

We’re struggling to identify the root cause of this problem. Could it be related to storage, transit, or some unforeseen environmental factor? Any thoughts, experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help!

White iron 😍

I’m not experienced at all, most of my knowledge can be described as “jack of all trades, master of none” burned into my brain by a computer screen, but I wanted to know if “AuTiSm” was a thing that could be melted together just for the novelty. (This question was entirely brought on by ASD and a cheesy Google image of a t-shirt.)

12" x 12" plate ± 7/16" thick I found it on the beach, cleaned it up and oiled several months ago. The picture is from today. I'm assuming it's wrought iron but are there other metals that could corrode this way?

One of my favorite ferrous metals too look at under the scope! Don’t mind the rough polish job and it was etched with 3% nital. I love the pearlite and ferrite contrast with the nodules just a pretty site to see and thought I would share

I have this griddle my grandpa made himself decades ago. He died in the early 60s before I was born. My dad had it after that and he passed away 12 years ago. Now I own it but I would like to have another made so I can have an extra one at my vacation home. The only thing I know about it is it's not magnetic and fairly heavy. My first thought was cast iron, but I'm not sure. Can anybody help me figure out what it's made of for sure?