Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Metal prices on ebay.

Mixell - 12-6-2011 at 01:15

I'm interested in purchasing a nice variety of metals to experiment with, the cheap option would be probably using some scraps or alloys, but who know what is in them and its a mess to separate different metals with similar properties.

Anyone is familiar with a site that sells various metal in the 20-300 gram quantities, and do combined shipping?

I have found the following prices in some ebay shop:
Nickel 1.5$/ ~10-15g.
Zinc- 2$/~35g.
Bismuth 1$/~7.5g.
Tin 1$/~11.5g.
Molybdenum- 1$/ ~3g.
Cadmium- 1$/~20g.
Silver- 10$/~3g.
Tungsten 1$/5.5g.
Niobium- 1$/~2g.
Titanium- 1$-~29g.
Chromium 1$/7g.

Shipping is around 25-40% add is you buy multiple items, quite good compared to other sellers.

Anyway, the question is, are any of these prices a bargain? Or should I venture outside of ebay in search of good prices on metals but in small quantities?




Mixell - 12-6-2011 at 17:25

Nothing?

Mixell - 12-6-2011 at 17:55

If anyone is willing to spend around 40$ (or less) including shipping for almost 1kg of cesium chloride: http://cgi.ebay.com/2-lbs-934-g-Cooper-Chemical-Co-99-9-Cesi...
I would be very grateful if someone can split this order with me and may be send a part of the cesium (shipping and my party of the order on me) to me himself, if it doesn't break any laws or restrictions (international shipping).

Fleaker - 12-6-2011 at 18:41

It's just CsCl, there are no shipping restrictions. It's just a saltier tasting salt than table salt!

I'm glad I saw the link, because now I want it!

BromicAcid - 12-6-2011 at 18:50

It depends on how much you really want. Of course there are economies of scale on all of these but if you don't need that much it's not worth it. Supposedly older Canadian nickels are pretty much all nickel and you can pick them up cheaper from a Bullion seller, bisumth is available (on a limited basis) as a alternative to lead shot, silver is a commerce metal and you can pick it up in 1 troy oz and 1/2 troy oz coins for only slightly over base prices. But again, these all might be too much material for you. Personally this is what I have on my wish list:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=16052...

All five of them :D


Fleaker - 12-6-2011 at 19:03

What the hell do you want with all that cadmium?


The WiZard is In - 12-6-2011 at 19:14

Quote: Originally posted by Fleaker  
What the hell do you want with all that cadmium?


With the bismuth - tin - and some lead he could make
Woods metal and same such. I bought some Wood's
metal on eBay a bit back to show my nephews.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood's_metal

The PDF is from the McMaster-Carr catalogue. They are
fast and reliable, however, they are NOT inexpensive.

Attachment: Low melt alloys.pdf (159kB)
This file has been downloaded 1315 times

Fleaker - 12-6-2011 at 19:20

The indium-gallium eutectic is liquid at room temperature, and while an order of magnitude more expensive (or several perhaps), it is also far safer and better illustrative of a truly low-melting point alloy. Too bad it's so damn sticky.

woelen - 12-6-2011 at 23:24

@Mixell: These metals are not really cheap, bit their price is acceptable. The good thing is that with these metals you can do much better experimenting than with stuff from scrapyards. Purity is much better and you do not always have to ask yourself the question whether your observations are due to impurities or the main metal.

Mixell - 13-6-2011 at 05:06

After I'll get an answer from my local lab supplier I'll consider buying them ,depends on the results, but those guys sell stuff by the kilo, so I'll probably end up buying it from ebay.

redox - 13-6-2011 at 11:44

Darn you Mixell! I was hoping no one else would see that cesium chloride lot! I wanted it for myself, but it looks like now I'll have some competition!:D

Mixell - 13-6-2011 at 13:06

I just want someone to share that order with me, I've been dying to get 200-300g of this stuff...

Mixell - 13-6-2011 at 13:19

If there are 3-5 people that are very interested in this lot, maybe we could split it somehow instead of paying outrageous prices? I just discovered that he can ship internationally at my own risks, and its a risk worth taking.
Better to have 200g for 10$ then 900g for who knows how much.
Redox, send me a U2U.

[Edited on 13-6-2011 by Mixell]

Ebay seller of mostly obscure automotive parts also has

franklyn - 30-1-2014 at 03:34

5 Pounds Zinc Dust Powder , Ultra Pure 99% 5-8 Micron
Purity Zinc Metals ( North American Zinc Company )
Made in April 2013
$24 free shipping
www.ebay.com/itm/161059408224

Braided Flexible Corrogated Stainless Steel Tubes
9.75 inches long , 5/8 Iinside diameter , 3/4 inches outside diameter
10 pieces - $39 free shipping
www.ebay.com/itm/161025775918

.