Hello, I am an acupuncturist who goes through a good quantity of surgical stainless steel needles, likely 316 or 304? Currently I have to send these needles as biohazard material to a certified waste disposal company. I am looking for ideas on how I could possibly repurpose this material for potential  art projects. I understand that SS is difficult to melt, so casting may not be an option. I also understand that any use of this material would have to include sterilization because of the biohazard nature of the waste. My initial thought was that melting the needle would take care of that aspect, but the more I read about SS, melting does not seem like a great option. I would appreciate any idea that you may have. I kind of tripped into this forum, so maybe I am not in the right place. I also have zero experience with metal work, so I do ask for patience. Thank you so much.

Welcome to the forum. 

Look into the Steam Autoclave, Ethylene Oxide "Gas" Sterilization, radiation, and other methods.

May want to contact your local hospital and see what they use for sterilization of surgical instruments.

Thanks Glenn, I appreciate your response...in regards to sterilization, I really don't want to put the idea out there that I want to sterilize to reuse as needles. I want to actually find a way to repurpose the metal...to change it and use it in same way that would prevent the waste and maybe make some sort of art piece with it. I was hoping for ideas in how I could melt or change this material. Do you think it would even be worth the trouble? I mean right now I have to buy the needle and then pay to dispose of them...looking for a better way.

Look into "canister Damascus" or "Mosaic Damascus" where you can fill the canister with high carbon steel powder and then insert the needles to make a pattern.  (Your initials or a simple ideogram for instance). Then it's forge welded into a billet that can then be forged into various things and will show the pattern when etched.  Another one would be to chop them up and load them randomly in a cannister with powdered steel for a random pattern.

Is this the sort of ideas you are looking for?  The big issue is that you will be producing them much faster than they can be re-used.

How many pounds a day, week, month do you dispose of ?

What size, or sizes do you use?

I was 2 years short of having my AOM, wont likely finish it, but I never thought about the reuse, steel is 100% recyclable,  If you  worry about a landfill, see what your disposal service does.

 I commend you

Wow, thank you for all the great responses. Thomas, I really like the idea of the Mosaic Damascus, I think some really interesting things could be done with that! Do you think working with the powdered high carbon steel is something I could work with at a home forge? (After getting some training that is.) 

To answer wpearson and BiggunDoctor, I go through maybe 5-10 pounds of needles a month, and I use .20x30mm and .18x15mm surgical stainless steel needles almost exclusivley...there are a few cases of needles that have plastic handles, but not many.

Steve, thank you and I am not so much concerned about the landfills, because I bellieve the needles are being recycled and the metal used for something. I would just love to do something creative and save the cost of recycling to boot.

Thanks again for the great feedback!!

To piggy back on my first question--any thoughts on getting some experience/training? I really like the idea of making a home forge/kiln--leaning a new hobby.

Add your location to your profile. There may be a blacksmithing group near you. Go to the meetings and you can learn more in a day than you can ever imagine.

A word of caution, blacksmithing is addictive, and sometimes only a single exposure to the craft is all that is needed to get you hooked. 

32 minutes ago, Yoyoronnie said:

Wow, thank you for all the great responses. Thomas, I really like the idea of the Mosaic Damascus, I think some really interesting things could be done with that! Do you think working with the powdered high carbon steel is something I could work with at a home forge? (After getting some training that is.) 

Yoyoronnie, check out this video of a guy making a canister Damascus knife with stainless steel fishhooks.

Also, since you're here, head over to the Introduce Yourself page and make sure to read this first!

Well as I know dozens of people doing it at their home forges the answer would be yes.  A press would be nice but folks are doing them without one.  The video mentioned above is very very close to what you want to do I think and done using a pretty simple setup.

Thank you Thomas and JHCC, I updated my location--the video you sent was perfect, I am going to watch more of this. You guys have given me some great ideas on how I can move forward--I really appreciate it!!

Go forth and make wondrous things is all the thanks I need---just think of a door handle with your clinic's name done in the steel....it doesn't have to become a blade...

Good advice offered above, my mind also turned straight to canister damascus but not completely sure as regards the stainless, I've not done a lot of work with it at all. I have one question for the original postee, if you recycle yourself rather than dispatching it for recycling, is there any paperwork you could get tripped up on?

Smoggy, I would likely have to document how I have recycled the waste--right now, I prepay recycling with my biohaz containers so when they are full I ship them back and they send me a receipt of receiving. 

 

Just make sure they know that welding temperature is about 2300°F.

JHCC, the 2300F is for melting the stainless steel correct? With the Mosaic Damascus, the needles would not necessarily have to be melted, they could hold there shape as a pattern, correct? I think I have given up on the idea of reforming the stainless steel in a home forge, but I seem some great potential with the canister method.  

No, forge welding which is done below melting point as it's a "solid phase welding" process.

2300°F is pretty much the standard reference point for forge-welding temperature. As ThomasPowers has noted elsewhere, welding = temperature + cleanliness + pressure. If you increase one or two of those variables, you can decrease the other(s); hence the emphasis on the cleansing power of welding flux as an aid to lowering welding temperatures.

Not nearly so "artsy" a solution, ... but it occurs that the needles might work as "filler" rod, for TIG welding.

1 hour ago, SmoothBore said:

Not nearly so "artsy" a solution, ... but it occurs that the needles might work as "filler" rod, for TIG welding.

For teeny tiny little welds!

Blow gun darts?   Of course the biohazard aspect might cause issues...

16 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Blow gun darts?   Of course the biohazard aspect might cause issues...

I held off on that comment, which I have wanted to say since I first saw this thread, but the OP was so nice about it I didnt want to scare them away, figured  he needed to get to know us better first.

As short, and thin as those are I might consider uses like bundling them into a handle for texturing leather projects.

If my metric estimating is right they are only around .008" in diameter, and .590"-1.180" long.  

Some artists may be able to use them as small pins.

Use them as media in a tumbler, or sPINner deburrer. A sPINner uses magnetic arms to spin the media pins around the parts. Our pins were 304 stainless. The media is pricey, so you may be able to sell them of they work.

Well he's discussed sterilization of them already; but even if you've done it correctly people still tend to get nervous about it---I bet you that someone will bring it up in relation to a cannister damascus blade even though 2300 degF is roughly 3 *times* the temp required to destroy prions! (And they are probably the "hottest" limit item out there.  I was always torqued off at places that were serving beef well done due to the mad cow scare.  Well done was still several hundred degrees too cold to deal with prions and I like my rare steak!)