[TheForge] Re: Flux, was rust & pickling

[Mike Spencer]

> So are you telling me that melting borax on an iron cookie will pick
> up some of the iron?

Yes, but precious little -- a few billion atoms maybe.  Enough for
analytical chemistry but not enough to influence a weld one way or
another.

> Don't some companies add iron to the flux mix anyhow?

Metallic iron particles or iron oxide by the spoonfull.  On the order
of 10^23 atoms.  If a few billion atoms filled a peanut butter jar,
then to store 10^23 atoms, you'd need 10,000 peanut butter jars --
say, a 20' shipping container full -- for every man, woman and child
in the world.  Approximately. :-)

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                 						   /V\ 
mspencer@tallships.ca            						  /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/						  ^^-^^

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