wlaidlaw Posted August 31, 2018 Share #1 Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Having heard this week, that my car is going to be recalled like all VW Group Electric and Plug in Hybrid vehicles because apparently there is 0.3 grams of cadmium somewhere the traction battery charging system. This is not a problem for owners as it is all sealed away but could be an issue for vehicle recyclers. "Hang on a minute", I thought, I was about to put an order in for 25 grams of Woods metal for re-filling the engravings in all my black painted pre-war Leicas and Woods metal is 10% Cadmium. Therefore in the amount I buy, there is the same amount of cadmium as in over 83 VW group cars that they want to recall. Maybe I should look for a safer alternative. Luckily there is exactly that and it is called Field's metal or Rose 144 and is an alloy of Bismuth, Tin and Indium. It is the same non-tarnishing silvery colour as Woods metal but far less toxic with no lead and no cadmium. Mind you I seem to survived handing cadmium plated aircraft bolts and nuts for the last 50 years, when building race and rally cars. You can buy Field's metal from Amazon or many modellers suppliers, as it is used for low temperature (melts at 62º) casting for model making. Wilson Edited August 31, 2018 by wlaidlaw 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 31, 2018 Posted August 31, 2018 Hi wlaidlaw, Take a look here Non-toxic alternative to Wood's metal (Lipowtiz alloy) for filling engraving . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pico Posted August 31, 2018 Share #2 Posted August 31, 2018 What's wrong with white lacquer? Wrong color? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrogallol Posted September 1, 2018 Share #3 Posted September 1, 2018 I have a small bottle of mercury, should I buy a heater and take up Daguerreotypes ? !! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted September 1, 2018 Share #4 Posted September 1, 2018 I have a small bottle of mercury, should I buy a heater and take up Daguerreotypes ? !! Or take up hat making? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted September 1, 2018 What's wrong with white lacquer? Wrong color? Jac, Yes, I tried with a white paint stick and it just did not look right at all. Also on the prewar cameras, the engraving is very shallow and the white paint is not retained well in the grooves. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share #6 Posted September 1, 2018 I have a small bottle of mercury, should I buy a heater and take up Daguerreotypes ? !! Best used with uranium intensifier, then you not only go bonkers but you glow in the dark as well. Apparently you can no longer buy uranium intensifier - what a surprise, given that not only is it radioactive but being the ferricyanate salt, extremely poisonous as well. I remember my father using it for increasing the contrast on thin looking prints. It came in two bottles from Johnsons: Solution A and B, that you had to mix before use. It was one of the few photo-chemicals that as a 12 year old, I was not allowed to handle. Those were the days when there was strychnine in the garden shed for killing rats (and unwanted relatives). Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramarren Posted September 1, 2018 Share #7 Posted September 1, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) And to think that my brothers and I, aged 6 to 3, were once given a bottle containing about 6ml of mercury to play with as a toy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted September 1, 2018 Share #8 Posted September 1, 2018 We shared some mercury experiences in this thread 11 months ago: Thermometers - mercury or dial . A few weeks after that we were dining with a friend who's a toxicologist and A&E physician. She was surprised by the EU's Hg-phobia. Yes, don't breath the vapour or ingest organic compounds, and preferably don't swallow it. But occasional contact with metallic mercury wasn't on her radar as a danger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambro51 Posted September 1, 2018 Share #9 Posted September 1, 2018 Actually Dags can be made without mercury. Exposures are longer but the results are similar. http://motamedi.info/daguerreotypy.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambro51 Posted September 1, 2018 Share #10 Posted September 1, 2018 Jason Motamedi, who wrote this article, worked with me doing images at a Gettysburg re-enactment some years ago. He shot a few dags, used a Speed Graphic, a lightmeter and made good images. A most interesting aspect of development was the image appears after the plate, under a red glass, is exposed to direct sunlight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
schattenundlicht Posted September 1, 2018 Share #11 Posted September 1, 2018 Having heard this week, that my car is going to be recalled like all VW Group Electric and Plug in Hybrid vehicles because apparently there is 0.3 grams of cadmium somewhere the traction battery charging system. This is not a problem for owners as it is all sealed away but could be an issue for vehicle recyclers. "Hang on a minute", I thought, I was about to put an order in for 25 grams of Woods metal for re-filling the engravings in all my black painted pre-war Leicas and Woods metal is 10% Cadmium. Therefore in the amount I buy, there is the same amount of cadmium as in over 83 VW group cars that they want to recall. Maybe I should look for a safer alternative. Luckily there is exactly that and it is called Field's metal or Rose 144 and is an alloy of Bismuth, Tin and Indium. It is the same non-tarnishing silvery colour as Woods metal but far less toxic with no lead and no cadmium. Mind you I seem to survived handing cadmium plated aircraft bolts and nuts for the last 50 years, when building race and rally cars. You can buy Field's metal from Amazon or many modellers suppliers, as it is used for low temperature (melts at 62º) casting for model making. Wilson Just remember, not to take the black camera into the desert or leave it in a car in summer (which us film users never will, I know). The melting point of Wood’s (Bi50Pb25Sn13Cd12) is 72 Centigrade, whereas that of Field’s (Bi33In51Sn16) is 62 Centigrade. Kind regards Mathias Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph. Posted September 1, 2018 Share #12 Posted September 1, 2018 At that time the specialty chemicals firm assumed that if you asked for ferrocyanate and so on, you knew what it was and how to handle it responsibly, so there were no particular restrictions. p. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted September 1, 2018 Share #13 Posted September 1, 2018 Just remember, not to take the black camera into the desert or leave it in a car in summer (which us film users never will, I know). The melting point of Wood’s (Bi50Pb25Sn13Cd12) is 72 Centigrade, whereas that of Field’s (Bi33In51Sn16) is 62 Centigrade. Kind regards Mathias When I lived in Qatar I saw an air temperature of 54C. I imagine that ground or metal or inside cars temperatures would have been close to that 62C temperature. You needed a handkerchief to open the metal door handle on your car and windscreen covers were essential in order to keep the steering wheel from getting too hot to hold. If you left a cup of water on the bonnet of your car for an hour, it would have been close to boiling by the time you got back. Digital cameras worked, but I left my film cameras back in Dublin. William Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
schattenundlicht Posted September 1, 2018 Share #14 Posted September 1, 2018 At that time the specialty chemicals firm assumed that if you asked for ferrocyanate and so on, you knew what it was and how to handle it responsibly, so there were no particular restrictions. p. I fondly remember, from the time of my doctoral thesis in a pharmacology/ physiology lab, the safety warning on a rather large container of lethal tetrodotoxine (blowfish/ fugu poison) simply stating „Do not eat.“... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted September 1, 2018 Share #15 Posted September 1, 2018 (edited) I fondly remember, from the time of my doctoral thesis in a pharmacology/ physiology lab, the safety warning on a rather large container of lethal tetrodotoxine (blowfish/ fugu poison) simply stating „Do not eat.“... One of the rare times I had a bad boss, he took me to a strange Asian restaurant. I suggested that we order the Blowfish Surprise. Edited September 1, 2018 by pico 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted September 1, 2018 Share #16 Posted September 1, 2018 My dad told me that in his college engineering lab (1930s) they cast teaspoons out of Rose metal, and left them in the lunch room by the coffee maker. Surprised a few guys stirring their coffee. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted September 2, 2018 Share #17 Posted September 2, 2018 Staying with a pathologist friend of the family when I was about 14 - mid-1960s - and looking for something in the garage/workshop, I noticed under the workbench among the jars and tins containing various screws and nails and solvents and so on, a jam jar full of fine white crystals with the letters "KCN" in magic marker. Fortunately I knew a little chemistry. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share #18 Posted September 2, 2018 When I lived in Qatar I saw an air temperature of 54C. I imagine that ground or metal or inside cars temperatures would have been close to that 62C temperature. You needed a handkerchief to open the metal door handle on your car and windscreen covers were essential in order to keep the steering wheel from getting too hot to hold. If you left a cup of water on the bonnet of your car for an hour, it would have been close to boiling by the time you got back. Digital cameras worked, but I left my film cameras back in Dublin. William A few cars ago, the car I had at the time (bought second hand so it was not my specification) had a black carbon fibre steering wheel - idiotic. I used to have to keep gloves in the car, to drive it in the south of France after it had been parked or it would have burnt your hands. At the height of summer, I have to draw my curtains in the afternoon, to protect my collection of Leicas from getting too hot. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share #19 Posted September 2, 2018 My dad told me that in his college engineering lab (1930s) they cast teaspoons out of Rose metal, and left them in the lunch room by the coffee maker. Surprised a few guys stirring their coffee. You could buy those teaspoons from Ellisdon's Joke Catalogue. Even if they were the somewhat less toxic Rose/Field's metal rather than Woods metal, you would get a nasty shock if you drunk your tea. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share #20 Posted September 2, 2018 One of the rare times I had a bad boss, he took me to a strange Asian restaurant. I suggested that we order the Blowfish Surprise. I ate Fugu fish in a New York restaurant. They had a Japanese fugu chef who came and explained it all at your table. He explained that if he ever killed a client, he lost his Fugu licence for ever and you were not charged for the meal. In Japan, the skill is that you have to include a minuscule amount of the poisonous liver with each helping, to give the correct tingle on your tongue and frisson of terror, when you eat the fish. However in the USA he was not allowed to include any of the poisonous liver, as it is not FDA approved. As far as we could see, my business partner and I were the only clients partaking. In the end it was a bit tasteless and nothing like as good as blue fin tuna/fresh wild sock-eye salmon sashimi or my favourite, the sweet smoked freshwater eel. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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