On Mon, 08 Jun 2015 15:40:28 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:37:39 -0700, wrote:

On Mon, 08 Jun 2015 14:42:11 -0400, "Steve W."
wrote:

JoshAGS wrote:
Okay so, I ordered about 2 pounds of zinc off of ebay from a good seller.
At first I suspected it wasn't zinc because it was really soft. Zinc is a
soft metal but is it that soft? I asked the seller and he insisted greatly
that it was melted from zinc wheel weights, however, I think otherwise
because of this reasons. I experimented on the metal. I suspected lead
because it leaves a residue on my bare hands after handling and because
it's a tiny bit harder than lead, I also did the sound test by dropping
the ingot, it did not make a blunt sound but more of a "ding". So I ruled
out lead. Next, I got some zinc from a melted penny. Since I heard zinc
reacts with acid to produce hydrogen, I took some metal form the ingot and
the zinc from the penny and placed it in vinegar. After 1 hour, the zinc
from the penny was producing hydrogen and turning into a black powder
while the other did nothing at all. After a few days The zinc was totally
dissolved and the other metal was still perfectly fine. Next I did a
hardness test, I could not easly dent or scratch the zinc from the penny
but I was able to dent the other metal easily. it's harder than lead but
softer than zinc. The metal is a shiny gray color. Does anyone here know
what it could be? (I haven't tried to melt it because I don't want to
create toxic fumes if it is something other than zinc.)


More than likely it's a lead alloy. While there are zinc wheel weights
they are not in popular use, lead and steel are the common ones,

As for the (I haven't tried to melt it because I don't want to
create toxic fumes if it is something other than zinc.) Melting zinc
CREATES VERY TOXIC fumes. Ask anyone about welding and working with
galvanized metals.
Melting zinc doesn't cause fumes until it gets very hot. When you see
white smoke coming off it is too hot. Breathing the fumes will make
you sick if you breathe enough but is unlikely to kill you.
Eric

Right. It causes "zinc fume fever," also called "metal fume fever,"
which has symptoms a lot like a bad flu. I had it once, when the wind
direction changed on me and I didn't get out ot the way. It's not
deadly, but it's really upleasant.

At a decent welding supply you can find throw-away masks made
expressly for dealing with this, made by 3M. I forget what I paid for
mine but it's not something you want to throw away in a hurry. I keep
mine in a big zip-lock bag.

Lead fumes, on the other hand, can produce permanent neurological
effects that are not nice.
I got metal fume fever once when welding an alloy that I didn't know
contained a bunch of zinc. I knew there was some from the way it was
welding but didn't realize there were clouds of fumes coming out. My
welding hood lens was just plain to dark. I felt really ****ty for a
few days and realized that I now knew what fume fever is like.
Eric