John Becker Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 First off, correct me if I'm wrong, but this seemed like the best place to post this question. The other day I found a bunch of these rods in my basement: To me they feel like steel, they weigh the correct amount and my hacksaw cut it similarly to steel, but they look like they're coated in bronze or brass. My question is this: are these safe to stick in the fire? I'm concerned about there potentially being some zinc or other dangerous metals in the coating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebeaux Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Possibly a copper clad grounding rod, the kind used for electrical installations on house exteriors. Does a magnet stick to it? I'd grind it down to bright steel, or burn it off outdoors and downwind of any humans. I did some forging after a couple days of copper sanding and the copper dust was in the air and getting burned in the forge. it felt like a horrendous whiskey hangover the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Not worth the effort when unplated steel is so cheap---spend US$20 of effort to save $2???? Risk an expensive hospital or funeral bill? "Brassy" coatings hit my Cadmium plating button *much* worse than Zinc or copper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Becker Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Bebeaux, I didn't think of that as a way to check if it was ferrous; yes a magnet does stick. But not working it is kinda what I was thinking, just wanted to double check. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 John: Never risk working with plated steel! Alaska prices a 20' stickof 1/2" sq. cost me $33. A night in the hospital runs a few hundred $$ per hour, plus meds, tests, and such. Sponge bathes are over rated. Really. Plating on a ground rod needs to be a little tougher than pure copper so I'm thinking byrillium copper, bad, Bad, B-A-Dness. The rhyme to remember when scrounging scrap is: "Trust in Rust." If it isn't rusty you can't trust it to be safe. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Glenn sells a shirt with that motto on it; I wear it regularly. I hope to get to the scrap yard this weekend because my 2 lifetimes supply of scrap must certainly need some additional rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.