By the metre it arrive in your home , throw iron is one of the most indestructible stuff you ’re likely to lay your hands on . Getting it to that level , though , turns it to be an incredibly fussy process .
io9 ’s comment of the day comes from commenteramp0730 , an technologist at an automobile parts foundry . They explained just what goes in to making the cast iron so strong — plus the unlikely part that K - Y Jelly sometimes plays in the whole process :
I ’m an engine driver at a metalworks that make tensile cast iron automotive element . Namely suspension components , which more or less are the bits that hold the cycle onto the chassis of your motorcar . So , as they say in our manufacture , “ safety critical ” portion .
Cast iron has a very deserved report for being very brittle , which is why pliable branding iron is so utile ; by adding sure elements to the melting , you’re able to make cast iron parts that are very malleable and wo n’t crack over time . This ductileness is crucial though .
If we were to ship a part that did n’t get enough “ ductileness metal ” , the part will be very brittle and could fail while someone was ride the car . Which is why we perform an ultrasonic test on 100 % of the parts we send out of our plant .
For the most part , this is done during the finishing process in bombastic tanks make full with UT solution , but in a few musca volitans we have to use portable testers . To habituate this tester , you demand to smear a little gelatin on the part ( exchangeable to what they use for ultrasounds ) .
So what materialise if someone in the stockroom screws up and we do n’t have any UT gel and we need to send piece that ca n’t be tested in a UT storage tank ? Some poor saphead has to go to the clam store and grease one’s palms all of the KY personal lube ( which will do the same thing in a emergency ) that they can .
And then they have to explain why they want to get reimburse for $ 40 Charles Frederick Worth of KY …
Image : sorapol / shutterstock
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