Bainite - 8-11-2012 at 02:42
Hello.
I could need some help with a chemical analysis of steel.
Background:
There is a rumor that some old straight razors made of “Silver steel” actually contain silver.
As a hobby metallurgist that´s just.. Well.. BS!
Silver steel is nothing more centerless ground round bar of ordinary tool steel with a fancy name.
Anyhow, I occasionally meet people who are absolutely certain that silver indeed is an element in the alloy, giving the razor extraordinary
properties.
So, how can I detect the presence of Ag in a sample of steel?
I have access to a metal spectrometer at work, but two problems arise.
1. These razors are quite expensive and modifying one to fit in the spectrometer is not an option.
2. The spectrometer does not currently read Ag and enabling/calibrating it for Ag is expensive and would disturb normal production.
The only option seems to be a chemical analysis.
If I can get ahold of one of the silver bearing razors it would be possible to shave of a small sample without ruining the razor.
If we assume the silver steel is made of e.g. AISI O1 it will consist of the following elements:
In weight %
0.5% W
0.2% V
0.5% Cr
1% Mn
0 .3% Si
1% C
Small amount of S and P slag inclusions. Typically in the 0.001% range.
And the rest would be Fe
Could be some Ni and other elements in there too depending on what steel is used..
I have access to a calibrated scale capable of weighting 0.0001 .. or was it 0.00001 g.... and normal lab glassware.
It there were only Fe and Ag I think I could have made it but all the other elements makes me a bit insecure. How could I test a really small sample
for Ag without risking a false reading from the other alloy elements?
Lambda-Eyde - 8-11-2012 at 02:49
Dissolve in nitric acid, filter, add dilute HCl. AgCl should precipitate. From the top of my head I don't think any of the other elements would give a
false result.
watson.fawkes - 8-11-2012 at 06:57
ICP-MS would work, if you've got access to a machine. It would find Ag in the ppm range or lower, as well, if you want to really put the
question to rest.