random question

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Re: random question

Postby Dot » Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:03 pm

Thanks Banjo, I'll give them a try. Sorry for delay, we've no internet in our Glasgow flat and have to splash out at McDonalds for their free wifi!
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Re: random question

Postby Dot » Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:07 pm

Does anyone know anything about white metal?
I think I read somewhere that it is a term used to describe items of silver where there are no hallmark signs.

I read somewhere else that Palladium is a white metal which is a bit like Platinum.
Anyone on here with any thoughts on the matter?
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Re: random question

Postby The Egg Man » Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:27 pm

Dot wrote:Does anyone know anything about white metal?
I think I read somewhere that it is a term used to describe items of silver where there are no hallmark signs.

I read somewhere else that Palladium is a white metal which is a bit like Platinum.
Anyone on here with any thoughts on the matter?



I believe the antique and auction trade use the term 'white metal' to describe anything which looks like silver but bears no trustworthy identifying marks. The metal could be Sterling Silver, overseas silver which may not meet the 925 parts per 1000 needed for Sterling or any of the plating processes (like electro plated nickel silver - EPNS). I think this is done to protect themselves from alleagtions of false description.

There's lots on Google about Palladium but I think the basis of its popularity in the jewellery trade is the rarity - much as Platinum used to be the metal of choice for those who sought something less 'common' than yellow gold.
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Re: random question

Postby Dot » Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:53 pm

Thank you Egg Man.

I found a bracelet which I thought was silver but have since heard it was white metal.
It is always possible it could have come from abroad or it was just because there were no visible markings.
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Re: random question

Postby The Egg Man » Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:22 pm

Dot wrote:Thank you Egg Man.

I found a bracelet which I thought was silver but have since heard it was white metal.
It is always possible it could have come from abroad or it was just because there were no visible markings.


A bracelet of chain type links may not have been assayed because the individual links are too light to be require to be hallmarked or bacause the stamping process would damage them.
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Re: random question

Postby Dot » Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:33 pm

Funny you should mention that as it was made of links.

It is possible it may have come from abroad but it had been lying forgotten in back of a drawer.
My Dad had relatives who were out in the Far East during World War II and possibly for some time after that.
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Re: random question

Postby The Egg Man » Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:37 pm

Dot wrote:Funny you should mention that as it was made of links.

It is possible it may have come from abroad but it had been lying forgotten in back of a drawer.
My Dad had relatives who were out in the Far East during World War II and possibly for some time after that.



That sounds like a possibility. Equally it might have been made by someone who hadn't registered their maker's mark at the Assay Office.

I assumed it was made of links because you called it a bracelet. I think that's what distinguishes a bracelet (links) from a bangle (solid).
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Re: random question

Postby Hairy Peatcutter » Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:11 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6ho1-G6tw
Anyone into bikes ( the ones with the wheels ! ) How does he do that, It must be that clean air in Skye that makes him fly :D
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Re: random question

Postby Doorstop » Wed Nov 24, 2010 1:29 pm

That's the bloke from the insurance (?) advert on the telly eh?

Nothing short of astonishing.
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Re: random question

Postby jodieohdoh » Wed Nov 24, 2010 8:04 pm

Doorstop I was reading back in this thread that you were getting into astronomy. Did you watch Brian Cox's Wonders of the Solar System series? It was just the right level of science for me to keep me interested but didn't go too far over my head. Loved the stuff about the moons of Jupiter.
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Re: random question

Postby Doorstop » Wed Nov 24, 2010 8:19 pm

I did indeed Jodie and, like youself, found myself completely absorbed by it.

Cox is ideal as a host for that sort of show as I find he has an almost infectious enthusiasm for his subject that engenders an empathy that helps things along nicely - much the same can said of Michio Kaku and Alex Philipenko, another two astronomy boffins that often do these types of show.

Fascinating stuff.

The moons of Jupiter are particularly thought provoking I also find, so many different environments inside the microcosm of a few orbits. Europa really captures my imagination .. I'll definitely never live long enough to find out if there's an ocean under that ice but, by God, I wish I could. :D
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Re: random question

Postby jodieohdoh » Wed Nov 24, 2010 9:05 pm

Yes! The geological aspect is intriguing isn't it? How Io has a molten core because of the gravitational forces which cause it to flex like a tennis ball!!, and Europa having shifting ice plates like the tectonic plates on earth. The pictures of the ice geysers were stunning. I spent most of the series with my jaw dropped in amazement. I also loved the way he explained how the scientists often make breakthroughs by studying earth's extreme landscapes.

I also watched (was it horizons?) the programme about the Big Bang Theory going out of date... I got a bit lost in the whole "Brane theory" thing but do find the guys totally engaging.
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Re: random question

Postby Doorstop » Wed Nov 24, 2010 9:26 pm

The brane theory is absolutely noodle twisting .. universes being contained on a brane and 'new' universes being made when branes' bump into each other .. eh?

What gets me is if the Universe is everything .. where are the branes located? And are there more of these 'brane repositories'? What happens when they collide then?

Don't even get me started on the extra dimensions being coiled up inside our own dimensions being the reason that gravity is so weak .. I mean I understand it but it must take a near madman to come up with these ideas in the first place.

Clever, clever people.

I remember tying myself in such knots with Heissenberg's uncertainty principle (Shroedingers' cat et al) but that stuff is enough to cook your nut. Really interesting though.
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Re: random question

Postby Lone Groover » Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:46 pm

Doorstop wrote:I remember tying myself in such knots with Heissenberg's uncertainty principle (Shroedingers' cat et al) but that stuff is enough to cook your nut. Really interesting though.



Engineering Chief Miles O'Brian can install a replacement Heissenberg compensator in under 22.2 minutes.
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Re: random question

Postby Doorstop » Thu Nov 25, 2010 6:42 am

He's always left with half a jam jar of 'spare' screws and nuts etc when he's finished though.
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