The other day I was actually wondering if you could forge Rhenium (a couple over on the periodic table) it has about the same density as platinum but a lot harder and cheaper.
Hi, chemist and hobby jewellery smith here. The problem with working with platinum is not just embedding iron particles and scale, but actually alloying iron and other metals into the hot workpiece, which is probably the reason why it is so sticky on your anvil and tongs. This can result in discoloring or hardening of some spots. To avoid this, it would be best to have platinum tipped tongs (wrap some platinum foil around your tong tips) to handle the hot platinum and to cold forge it. For smaller pieces I use ceramic-tipped tweezers that are pretty cheap, because they are used to replace the heating wire in e-cigarrettes. You have to anneal the metal often to avoid cracks, because it work hardens. However before annealing, it would be best to pickle the metal in some 10% nitric acid, to remove any iron that rubbed off your hammer or anvil. If your forge lacks oxygen, the firebrick can also become problematic. In a reducing atmosphere, platinum likes to react with silicon that forms from silica and the resulting platinum silicide is really brittle. So it would be best to use pure alumina-based bricks. For platinum labware, that is heated repeatedly and for longer times, it is even recommended, not to use carbon-based fuels at all but oxy-hydrogen instead. An oxy-propane torch works well for me, however. That being said, these effects only affect the surface, so as long as you don't fold the metal over and grind/file/turn away the surface layer after forging, you will probably be fine, the way you handle it now.
Alec's approach to ads is pretty predictable intentionally. Subscribers know to skip 60-90 seconds by default at the mention of "But First" and carry on. It's slightly annoying, but it's a UA-cam standard, so if you're here, you're used to it.
honestly, i get why people hate raid specificaly next to alot of other sponsors but i honestly dont mind it, i like alec and his content, i dont have enough money to go to patreon to support him, but i do have the fortitude to press the right arrow key 3 times to skip a raid ad which he still gets alot of money for, these ads dont realy hurt anyone, yes what they are doing is looking for weak people to give them money through the game but even if raid didnt exist they would "fall" for something
@@renealbrechtsen9743 that’s really the only way that he would be able to actually sell a pen for 10k. If he forged a vintage style gold flexible nib along with the platinum as well as a unique exotic tipping material. Make it a glass converter with platinum fixtures or a platinum vacuum filler. And then platinum trimming all over the pen inside and out. Then after he has polished the nib up and made it work he would have to send it off to someone like Richard binder or some other well known nibmeister for extra tuning and as a way to prove to the buyer that the pen will write like a $10,000 pen. Then pen he is making right now is not worth anywhere close to 10k. I’d say more in the 1-2k if it actually has a decent amount of platinum. It looks like he didn’t use much.
@@MisterRorschach90 but it's also a one of one collectible from a well known blacksmith, with custom Damascus steel, all precision cut, everything in order, record of the platinum source, video of the making, the whole thing is value on top of value, cost of materials is far from the crucial element at that point. Any pen collector would be happy to have this special piece in there collection, because there's just so mich that comes with it, it has a story, it has a well known craftsman behind it, even this guy's tools have a story, I mean that's a lot of pen for the money when you think about the value, tangible, and intangible inherent to it.
@@williamrosen3179 no. Just the nitric on the surface to get the iron off. It will melt up perfectly in any case. If the swarf was full of emery and metals, you can clean the lamel. Usually Hcl and sulphuric, as you are not trying to dissolve Pt
Indeed. You've gotta have quite the safety net of machines, space, and knowhow to be able to even attempt working with Platinum. Although, I mean I assume it's much like anything else, mistakes happen. You won't ever get 100% retention, especially if you're working with a lathe and the shavings get all over the machine itself. XD wouldn't recommend lathing anything quite precious, but Alec seems to have cleaned up the shavings pretty well.
@@AlexDuWaldt I noticed almost instantly that if you watch when it shows the wider shots of him working the lathe he put down a layer of cardboard and paper taped together and to the lathe to catch it as much as he could. I remember like a month ago Linus Tech Tips worked with a world renowned jewelry maker to make an xbox controller with a solid gold casing. It was like $100,000 worth of gold and in the build video they mentioned that just the dust they sweep up and save from grinding and polishing the pieces they make in the matter of a month is thousands and thousand of dollars. Working with valuable metals is extremely expensive.
@@zach2beat There are even youtube videos covering people who go and sweep the pavement outside jewellers to recover dust that has been tracked out in people's shoes. Not a big enough quantity for the jewellers to do themselves, but it just goes to show what ends up on the floor.
Damn the raid shadow legends money is really paying off. I wrote this comment at the start of the vid and of course there is a bloody raid shadow legends sponsor
I know they just want to get that money, but I wish more UA-camrs had some sort of integrity to their ads instead of shitty mobile games, shitty VPNs and shitty headphones that not one of them actually would use.
honestly, i get why people hate raid specificaly next to alot of other sponsors but i honestly dont mind it, i like alec and his content, i dont have enough money to go to patreon to support him, but i do have the fortitude to press the right arrow key 3 times to skip a raid ad which he still gets alot of money for, these ads dont realy hurt anyone, yes what they are doing is looking for weak people to give them money through the game but even if raid didnt exist they would "fall" for something
@@pjbth integrity has nothing to do with it. This is a job that they need to put food on the table and home their family with and youtube simply doesn't pay out enough to achieve that, the money these mobile game sponsors and VPN providers throw around is ludicrous, you'd have to be a fool not to sieze the opportunity while you can
Actually I have to be that guy but platinum does lose mass every time you forge it due to the formation of platinus oxide which is gaseous. This is why jewellers advise that if they are resizing platinum rings with stones it can cause the ring to shrink and crack the stone.
I really, REALLY love how you put the sponsor logo in the top left during the ad. It makes it so much easier to scrub ahead to the content. Everyone knows Raid is hot garbage but you gotta pay the bills!
This sort of reminds me of the story of how a group of scientists pooled their resources to buy a diamond and then proceeded to heat it up to the degree (no pun intended) to have it burn and they determined that what resulted was pure carbon dioxide, thus diamonds are made of carbon. And they didn't have a computer game sponsoring them.
Yeah but imaging the ad revenue from these two videos: "We Safely Hold and Display $5,000 in Platinum" Vs "I Turned This Platinum Bar Into a $5,000 Puddle!!!"
@@Cautionary_Tale_Harris No kidding! I wonder how much $ they lost in forging and in the lathe. It must be at least 100$. Though to be fair, these guys are way better at forging than I am, and almost never end up with a lump of scrap anyways.
I love that he has sponsors, even Raid. I do not mean to come off derogatory towards Alec. I think he should keep on having Raid give him money. I just know when ever I hear "Raid" on any UA-camr's channel I skip like crazy.
I actually have a lot of experience with platinum (we refine it commercially). Absolutely phenomenal to work with, particularly drawing and welding (jolly good fun indeed, especially ten kilo slabs!). A little tip...when it’s going toward red, before putting it back in the furnace, give it a dip in dilute sulfuric acid to pickle off the iron contamination. The stuff forge welds amazing!
@@anatexis_the_first not welding but rolling. It then gets stamped into small pieces that end up as components for cardiac devices. Pt is still also used as thin sheet for severe hydrofluoric acid service.
Personally, I would love you, Adam Savage , Mark Rober, Shane from stuff made here, and Dustin from smarter every day locked into ware house with all the tools materials and anything else needed with one simple task. Make something awesome. Bonus points if Colin Fruze joined in. Would be EPIC
Thanks for watching guys! Please check out part 1 of the pen making series on my channel and a big thank you as ever to our sponsor: If you haven't already, go Install Raid for Free ✅ Mobile and PC: clik.cc/N90N5 and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days 💥
@@donnymurray7439 a pen handmade by Alec with these badass materials, someone will pay top dollar to own it. Doing a giveaway would probably just end up being an invite for someone else to sell it.
It might sound stupid but every time am feeling down or anything I always come here as all your vids are inspiring and I love it all keep up the work you got a good future coming your way
When you are working with thin pieces like this, maybe you should consider preheating your anvil by placing a big hot chunk of metal on the top. It will reduce the cooling process of your product. I'm not a professional in hand blacksmithing, but i know that it is a common technique in industrial forging.
Its actually very easy to forge it, about dull red heat, it has a phase change similar to what tungsten does when it gets much hotter. Made some platinum crucibles years back by forging it because casting is not much of an option. Use a bit of talcum powder when forging as you noticed it likes to cold weld. Heat beat and repeat to the shape you want. Used the crucibles to grow test batches of crystals used for radiation detectors in.❤
Plot twist: the million daily players on Raid: Shadow Legends are in fact UA-camrs getting sponsorship footage. And as long as they keep paying Alec to forge platinum, I’m good with that.
Everyone of your videos inspire me to build a forge, find a eBay anvil and just try forging in my back yard. Just wish I had the funds to do it. I’m 40 years old, live in Florida and have watched your videos for the last 3 years. Absolutely love the content.
Mostly used the keyboard and math myself when i screwed around with 3d models but i am so far out of it. Do you use a mouse in 3d design mostly? I mean working with absolute coordinates using a keyboards seems to be more usefull when you want to create precision pieces.
Wow! As someone who wants to work with Platinum as a career I have to send you a great big thanks Alec : D getting to see the properties, tendencies, and results of your processes provides a great learning opportunity for not just me but for everyone interested in metallurgy. Didn't know Platinum would be so sticky, I wonder if the Platinum did grab any steel particles from your tools? That's what a lot of these posts on Ganoskin or Reddit make it sound like. If not then it sounds like forging Platinum is probably like the go to method for working with it considering that enormous melting temperature of 1700 C and it's tendency to be a relatively supple metal when compared with things like Steel, Tungsten or Iridium.
Well, depends on the alloy. We tend to cast it more than forge.. forging is much too labor intensive and as you saw with the amount of shavings created, way too costly in lost metal weight. You always lose some amount.
@@nottheoneyourelookingfor0504 This is true, I guess I shouldn't say forging is the go to method considering my main method is wax casting. I guess it depends on what you want to do with the platinum. I wonder which way might be quicker, which way easier, to produce Alec's pen parts. Quite possibly it could save a lot of time, headache, and precious metal to simply create the parts in wax and then cast them using an oxy propane swiss torch (ganoskin says to avoid acetelyne when working with Platinum in particular because of carbon molecules getting into the Platinum.)
@@AlexDuWaldt oh yeah. You definitely want to avoid acetylene. I had to use it at my last job and it makes platinum BRITTLE! In my opinion, the best way to do this would be to cast a blank and then forge it out. That way you save the time and waste of forging from an ingot, and you get the strength/spring hardness of working the metal. In an industrial situation, stamping would be the way to go. But presses and dies are prohibitively expensive.
@@crapshoot5264 I was wondering about that myself. I don't know whether or not our US laws frown upon altering a mint-issued ingot, but I know there's a fair bit of confusion about what is legal for actual coinage. Every time the issue comes up in a video, it's common to see dozens arguing in the comments, all of whom are absolutely convinced that their lofty teenage wisdom is unassailable.
@@anne-droid7739 it's pretty simple with US currency (idk about metal ingots as they are not currency and you can prolly do what you want with em after buying them) you can do what you want to coins you just cannot sell them at higher prices than their monetary value, so you turn a quarter into a ring you can't sell it unless you sell it for exactly 25 cents.
im confused.... wouldn't you be able to forge ANY solid metal?... you know, outside of ones that melt in your hand. I would have thought the question is more along the lines of how effectively can it be molded into what you want. Less about rather or not it was possible, more about is it easier or harder. And I see the platinum ingot on the thumbnail... and think to myself "Well, that answers that question without even viewing the video"
How else will they be able to afford to make a living on youtube? Obviously your happy in your communist enclave... Wait, how are you watching this if that's true. Oh, your one of THOSE people... Nevermind.
Can’t believe you are at 2.31 mil subs! I mean I can but its unbelievable what you’ve been able to accomplish all the hard work and dedication has paid off looking forward to many years ahead!
If you buy that pen, then you buy all of Alecs mistakes and that means... That it won't be more unique, since... He is the master at making mistakes, while getting the best product in the end. You buy his learning experience.
Looking very well. Loving this video series so far. Can't wait to see what you do next. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Keep Making. God Bless.
It seems the platinum moved a bit more freely once enough of it had stuck to the anvil, very interesting~! Also, stunning smithing~! Most people think horse shoes, or wrought iron gates, or blades when they think of blacksmithing, but it is also for delicate complex things like that cracker-jack pen~!
I want to see Alec make weapons inspired by Dwarf Fortress (this *platinum warhammer* menaces with spikes of bone. there is an image of dwarves on it. they are dancing.)
It's really cool how platinum is such a good conductor of heat that when you strike it with a hammer the spot that touches the anvil is instantly cooled.
Alec, the royal mint and every mint needs to know that those bars and coins get melted down all the time. They are sometimes cheaper than buying casting grain. They are a good way to buy certified, pure material that you can alloy or forge as needed.
Once it’s finished It would be interesting to know the weight of your left overs, shavings etc, and the weight of the finished piece. To see how much was lost in the crafting process. Great video as always!
I worked with gold for the first time a few days ago and it was a mistake. I think I will leave the expensive stuff to the professionals. Keep up the great work Alec!
Platinum is extremely heat conductive thats why it kept cooling fast, that is also why it has practical applications in phones and catalytic converters
May need some correction on this, but if you're forging a prescious metal like Platnum and it becomes "sticky" when it's heated, it's probably: a.) Absorbing the metal that pre-cleaning couldn't clar from the anvil. or b.) Forging it is maling the platnum bond to the porus surface of the steel hammer/anvil.
You should try to make an air tight forge. That way you could experiment smithing in different gas mediums or in different pressures. This way the chemical reactions within the forge can be controlled more ideally. A heated anvil might also come in handy.
The specific heat capacity of platinum is approximately a third that of steel. That combined with the tiny size of the ingot makes it no wonder it cooled off so quickly.
The other day I was actually wondering if you could forge Rhenium (a couple over on the periodic table) it has about the same density as platinum but a lot harder and cheaper.
Maybe not the same ridiculous conductivity of heat and electricity either.
@Joseph Dead yes. It’s an iron loving metal, this is why the earths core contains most of the platinum, it goes where the iron goes.
You should send Alec some and ask him to forge it
🙂 Nice seeing you here men !
I didn't thought I would see Cody's Lab in here, i had no idea that you watch Alec Steele's work.
I’ve often wondered if Iridium can be forged. I’m in no rush to get married and if I do I’d love to have Iridium bands
I like how the $5000 platinum bar came in the same cheap plastic packaging as toy scissors come in.
Well you want the platinum and not the plastic. Same goes for the scissors. It's not like you are going to stick the box on the mantle piece.
I like that we all skipped the raid shadow legends ad 🦾
@@cavemanvi no, I just read comments waiting for the ad to end
Packing is not cheap, it’s backed by a frustration guarantee...
@@cavemanvi at this point ill never play it because they advertise too hard
Hi, chemist and hobby jewellery smith here. The problem with working with platinum is not just embedding iron particles and scale, but actually alloying iron and other metals into the hot workpiece, which is probably the reason why it is so sticky on your anvil and tongs. This can result in discoloring or hardening of some spots. To avoid this, it would be best to have platinum tipped tongs (wrap some platinum foil around your tong tips) to handle the hot platinum and to cold forge it. For smaller pieces I use ceramic-tipped tweezers that are pretty cheap, because they are used to replace the heating wire in e-cigarrettes. You have to anneal the metal often to avoid cracks, because it work hardens. However before annealing, it would be best to pickle the metal in some 10% nitric acid, to remove any iron that rubbed off your hammer or anvil. If your forge lacks oxygen, the firebrick can also become problematic. In a reducing atmosphere, platinum likes to react with silicon that forms from silica and the resulting platinum silicide is really brittle. So it would be best to use pure alumina-based bricks. For platinum labware, that is heated repeatedly and for longer times, it is even recommended, not to use carbon-based fuels at all but oxy-hydrogen instead. An oxy-propane torch works well for me, however.
That being said, these effects only affect the surface, so as long as you don't fold the metal over and grind/file/turn away the surface layer after forging, you will probably be fine, the way you handle it now.
Alec - " I wonder what the royal mint would say?"
The Royal Mint - "faints"
Better than seeing it used a gold chocolate foil covering.
I can hold those shavings?
They would say, you paid $5k, do whatcha want.
"I'm sorry Mr. Steele, we have a no refund policy."
Royal mint is too busy being robbed by Professor and his team.
Here's for two years of getting Ad abused by Raid Shadow Legends.
Adbused?
Alec's approach to ads is pretty predictable intentionally. Subscribers know to skip 60-90 seconds by default at the mention of "But First" and carry on. It's slightly annoying, but it's a UA-cam standard, so if you're here, you're used to it.
Get sponsorblock for your browser and get vanced for your phone ezpz m8
honestly, i get why people hate raid specificaly next to alot of other sponsors but i honestly dont mind it, i like alec and his content, i dont have enough money to go to patreon to support him, but i do have the fortitude to press the right arrow key 3 times to skip a raid ad which he still gets alot of money for, these ads dont realy hurt anyone, yes what they are doing is looking for weak people to give them money through the game but even if raid didnt exist they would "fall" for something
The best part about ads is how offended people get at being subjected to them. Abuse? Lol come on.
Amazing Alec! Now 200,400,800,1200,2000 sandpaper grit and platinum will shine perfect 😂 Happy sanding !!💪
Love your videos!
I wonder if Alec has Will on speed-dial for just such an occasion.😂
5000, 10000, 20000, 100000, 1000000, 10000000, 100000000
Could you imagine being like "I have never made an ink pen before, I should probably make one to sell for $10K"?
Oh, there's an idea for Alec. A $10k fountain ink pen.
gotta aim high :P
Next is a paperweight!
@@renealbrechtsen9743 that’s really the only way that he would be able to actually sell a pen for 10k. If he forged a vintage style gold flexible nib along with the platinum as well as a unique exotic tipping material. Make it a glass converter with platinum fixtures or a platinum vacuum filler. And then platinum trimming all over the pen inside and out. Then after he has polished the nib up and made it work he would have to send it off to someone like Richard binder or some other well known nibmeister for extra tuning and as a way to prove to the buyer that the pen will write like a $10,000 pen. Then pen he is making right now is not worth anywhere close to 10k. I’d say more in the 1-2k if it actually has a decent amount of platinum. It looks like he didn’t use much.
@@MisterRorschach90 but it's also a one of one collectible from a well known blacksmith, with custom Damascus steel, all precision cut, everything in order, record of the platinum source, video of the making, the whole thing is value on top of value, cost of materials is far from the crucial element at that point.
Any pen collector would be happy to have this special piece in there collection, because there's just so mich that comes with it, it has a story, it has a well known craftsman behind it, even this guy's tools have a story, I mean that's a lot of pen for the money when you think about the value, tangible, and intangible inherent to it.
To avoid steel inclusions, just use platinum tools. The anvil might by hard to come by.
The bar costs 5000 dollars I don't know if plat tools are too reasonable
eh to expensive, just coat the tools with a thin layer.
@@hmdragon1638 if that's serious, it would get dented and peeled away too quickly
@@kindadim ah yes because solid platinum tools and anvil is a much more reasonable solution.
imagine how heavy a hammer would be if it was titanium. id stick with steel
I am really looking forward to the damascus spring he’s totally got to make for this pen.
Cool as that sounds a Damascus spring will just break too many weld points
@@linkthor5247 Oh, better stud it with gemstones to hold it together then.
@@nathan87 lol maybe he can but I'm not quite that good yet
gold plated spring ,, that would bring up the pen cost ..
@@linkthor5247 i dunno. I think it would work.
hey, if you mess up, you could always do a collab with Codyslab & refine those mistakes back into ingots!
Bit of HCl, bit of Nitric, and a whole lot of patience.
Or nilered those men need to do colab
@@williamrosen3179 no. Just the nitric on the surface to get the iron off. It will melt up perfectly in any case.
If the swarf was full of emery and metals, you can clean the lamel. Usually Hcl and sulphuric, as you are not trying to dissolve Pt
5:46 it’s crazy that each one of those shavings is worth at least like 5$ and up to 50$ for the big ones. I’d be so scared to lose any piece
Right? Like, what came off of that lathe would probably cover my mortgage this month.
Indeed. You've gotta have quite the safety net of machines, space, and knowhow to be able to even attempt working with Platinum. Although, I mean I assume it's much like anything else, mistakes happen. You won't ever get 100% retention, especially if you're working with a lathe and the shavings get all over the machine itself. XD wouldn't recommend lathing anything quite precious, but Alec seems to have cleaned up the shavings pretty well.
@@AlexDuWaldt I noticed almost instantly that if you watch when it shows the wider shots of him working the lathe he put down a layer of cardboard and paper taped together and to the lathe to catch it as much as he could. I remember like a month ago Linus Tech Tips worked with a world renowned jewelry maker to make an xbox controller with a solid gold casing. It was like $100,000 worth of gold and in the build video they mentioned that just the dust they sweep up and save from grinding and polishing the pieces they make in the matter of a month is thousands and thousand of dollars. Working with valuable metals is extremely expensive.
@@zach2beat There are even youtube videos covering people who go and sweep the pavement outside jewellers to recover dust that has been tracked out in people's shoes. Not a big enough quantity for the jewellers to do themselves, but it just goes to show what ends up on the floor.
i think you have to be mentally prepared that you will eventually loose all your money by doing this 😅
Damn the raid shadow legends money is really paying off.
I wrote this comment at the start of the vid and of course there is a bloody raid shadow legends sponsor
Lol
I know they just want to get that money, but I wish more UA-camrs had some sort of integrity to their ads instead of shitty mobile games, shitty VPNs and shitty headphones that not one of them actually would use.
@@pjbth yeah just spam 10 seconds like I do it's just easier
honestly, i get why people hate raid specificaly next to alot of other sponsors but i honestly dont mind it, i like alec and his content, i dont have enough money to go to patreon to support him, but i do have the fortitude to press the right arrow key 3 times to skip a raid ad which he still gets alot of money for, these ads dont realy hurt anyone, yes what they are doing is looking for weak people to give them money through the game but even if raid didnt exist they would "fall" for something
@@pjbth integrity has nothing to do with it. This is a job that they need to put food on the table and home their family with and youtube simply doesn't pay out enough to achieve that, the money these mobile game sponsors and VPN providers throw around is ludicrous, you'd have to be a fool not to sieze the opportunity while you can
Me: Oh, platinum is great, you can forge it forever and it won't loose any material on oxidation.
Alec: And now we're gonna turn it in a lathe.
Actually I have to be that guy but platinum does lose mass every time you forge it due to the formation of platinus oxide which is gaseous. This is why jewellers advise that if they are resizing platinum rings with stones it can cause the ring to shrink and crack the stone.
I really, REALLY love how you put the sponsor logo in the top left during the ad. It makes it so much easier to scrub ahead to the content. Everyone knows Raid is hot garbage but you gotta pay the bills!
The fact this guy's uses them as sponsors is messed. Don't they teach kids loot box gambling lol
This sort of reminds me of the story of how a group of scientists pooled their resources to buy a diamond and then proceeded to heat it up to the degree (no pun intended) to have it burn and they determined that what resulted was pure carbon dioxide, thus diamonds are made of carbon. And they didn't have a computer game sponsoring them.
Oh NileRed did that too, a while back, to make the world’s most uselessly expensive sparkling water
Platinum is disgustingly expensive. Glad to see you got to a point in your career that you can risk making a 5000$ puddle! Super excited for the pen!
Yeah but imaging the ad revenue from these two videos:
"We Safely Hold and Display $5,000 in Platinum"
Vs
"I Turned This Platinum Bar Into a $5,000 Puddle!!!"
@@Cautionary_Tale_Harris No kidding! I wonder how much $ they lost in forging and in the lathe. It must be at least 100$.
Though to be fair, these guys are way better at forging than I am, and almost never end up with a lump of scrap anyways.
@@tpeter4240 I’m sure they collected the scraps. They are not idiots.
Platinum is actually relatively cheap compared to gold now. Also, this is closer to a $3000 bar, if he paid $5k then he got ripped off.
Who else hears "Raid" and then just starts hitting the 10 sec skip like crazy?
same lol, but im glad he gets dat sponsor money
I hate that game and will never give them a second of my time. So yeah, I skip a minute ahead until the video is past the whole 'sponsorship' thing...
Hey the sponsors mean he can make better videos without like he said at the end. Going bankrupt.
I love that he has sponsors, even Raid. I do not mean to come off derogatory towards Alec. I think he should keep on having Raid give him money. I just know when ever I hear "Raid" on any UA-camr's channel I skip like crazy.
@@bmcgee8206 its an annoyance im willing to tolerate for alec :)
Raid let you buy $5000 worth of platinum. You Alec, are a madman. Pure anarchist
You might wanna look up the meaning of anarchism.
@@baddoopey Alec would've been Proudhon in the First International, obviously.
@@baddoopey you might want to look for a sense of humor
low risk.... the money is just going to be made back.
the deal may even leave Raid profiting off it.
That ending made me miss the Montana shop and will a lot
He has his own channel now, but hasn't posted in a while.
@@epauletshark3793 Whats his channels name?
@@ntokozomasilela4259 will stelter
Alec:" Let's forge $5000 platinum!"
Me: Somehow struggling to afford air to breathe, "Interesting."
I finally paid off my Air Loan!
@@jaksilver3656 lucky, my lawyer has been breathing down my neck to finish my payment.
I actually have a lot of experience with platinum (we refine it commercially). Absolutely phenomenal to work with, particularly drawing and welding (jolly good fun indeed, especially ten kilo slabs!). A little tip...when it’s going toward red, before putting it back in the furnace, give it a dip in dilute sulfuric acid to pickle off the iron contamination. The stuff forge welds amazing!
I know I'm late in this reply, but what on earth does anyone weld 10kg slabs of platinum for, if I may ask??
@@anatexis_the_first not welding but rolling. It then gets stamped into small pieces that end up as components for cardiac devices. Pt is still also used as thin sheet for severe hydrofluoric acid service.
@@Fatenglishman I see, very interesting! Thanks for replying =)
Personally, I would love you, Adam Savage , Mark Rober, Shane from stuff made here, and Dustin from smarter every day locked into ware house with all the tools materials and anything else needed with one simple task. Make something awesome. Bonus points if Colin Fruze joined in. Would be EPIC
This would be the best thing to ever happen
-Dustin- Destin. But yes, it would be!
can’t forget ALEX LAB
This comment needs about 50k more likes
That would be so absolutely awesome i would faint
Thanks for watching guys! Please check out part 1 of the pen making series on my channel and a big thank you as ever to our sponsor: If you haven't already, go Install Raid for Free ✅ Mobile and PC: clik.cc/N90N5 and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days 💥
Will you do a giveaway of the pen Alec?
@@donnymurray7439 a pen handmade by Alec with these badass materials, someone will pay top dollar to own it. Doing a giveaway would probably just end up being an invite for someone else to sell it.
@Alec steele It buggs me that you dont use a mask when your using the micro burr's. those particles are as bad as the grinding room ones.
Comment: 5 hours ago
Video: 14 minutes ago
Loveee this channel, amazing satisfying production with nice humor
6:10-6:18 😭😭
I just noticed that Alec has an enormous amount of patience for a man of his youth. Congrats sir on achieving something so lacking in our world today.
well that is why he is so successful. patience can make or break you when you are learning a craft.
The Alec Steel Channel - "making something exquisite, or making very expensive mistakes"
0:12 ngl I thought Alec had super human strength and was cutting the platinum for a second
It might sound stupid but every time am feeling down or anything I always come here as all your vids are inspiring and I love it all keep up the work you got a good future coming your way
I haven’t watched Alec Steele in a long time and his voice and appearance has changed so much since the last time I watched one of his videos.
Dude just started smithing been a fan for 1 year keep it up!!!
3:17 Pro tip: When metal is taken out of a blazing inferno that is a forge, it may be hot.
id be very curious to see the bar weighed before and after forging just to see how much money has been lost in the process
The weight is stamped on the bar...
@@sjv6598 i am aware but that doesnt mean you cant do a before and after weight
@@DramaticFlora You don’t need to do a before weight...
@@sjv6598 it's to test the scale.
I agree with you Nicholas. Because it won't be an exact 100g with all the scraps due to platinus oxides, so it would be handy to find out.
When you are working with thin pieces like this, maybe you should consider preheating your anvil by placing a big hot chunk of metal on the top. It will reduce the cooling process of your product. I'm not a professional in hand blacksmithing, but i know that it is a common technique in industrial forging.
I breathed a sigh of relief when he showed he was collecting the shavings!
Yeah same. I was thinking the whole time "He BETTER be collecting those shavings."
Watching the shavings curl off of the lathe and thinking 100...200...300...
Alec: let’s smash platinum
Will: can I make a knife from this railroad track?
Bless you both!!! Love the vids boys. Keep em coming
3:28 "cooling down so fast"
Proceeds to blow on it
Alec breathes fire
When he blows out his birthday candles, the wicks singe even more
@@timtheguy2179 Nice!
Its actually very easy to forge it, about dull red heat, it has a phase change similar to what tungsten does when it gets much hotter. Made some platinum crucibles years back by forging it because casting is not much of an option. Use a bit of talcum powder when forging as you noticed it likes to cold weld. Heat beat and repeat to the shape you want. Used the crucibles to grow test batches of crystals used for radiation detectors in.❤
Alec STEELE: "Well it definitely feels softer than steel"
Everything is softer than Steele.
Plot twist: the million daily players on Raid: Shadow Legends are in fact UA-camrs getting sponsorship footage.
And as long as they keep paying Alec to forge platinum, I’m good with that.
Sometimes I wonder , is there anything that our Alec can't forge ?
In 2030 we will see " Can I forge water ? "
You're forgetting about the meteorite and the mokume gane
@@paolojorge oh yeah , I forgot about that part
Yes...it's called an ice cube tray lol
@@shanus11 my man , you missed the joke 🤣
If he could somehow get metallic hydrogen... sort of?
Everyone of your videos inspire me to build a forge, find a eBay anvil and just try forging in my back yard. Just wish I had the funds to do it. I’m 40 years old, live in Florida and have watched your videos for the last 3 years. Absolutely love the content.
Alec: Has every tool
Alec: Doesn’t use a mouse to 3D model
Mostly used the keyboard and math myself when i screwed around with 3d models but i am so far out of it. Do you use a mouse in 3d design mostly? I mean working with absolute coordinates using a keyboards seems to be more usefull when you want to create precision pieces.
The new format of advertising the sponsors... LOVE IT!!!!!
Just over an 8th of this episode was an advert =|
Fascinating to find out plat gets sticky.
Wow! As someone who wants to work with Platinum as a career I have to send you a great big thanks Alec : D getting to see the properties, tendencies, and results of your processes provides a great learning opportunity for not just me but for everyone interested in metallurgy. Didn't know Platinum would be so sticky, I wonder if the Platinum did grab any steel particles from your tools? That's what a lot of these posts on Ganoskin or Reddit make it sound like. If not then it sounds like forging Platinum is probably like the go to method for working with it considering that enormous melting temperature of 1700 C and it's tendency to be a relatively supple metal when compared with things like Steel, Tungsten or Iridium.
Well, depends on the alloy. We tend to cast it more than forge.. forging is much too labor intensive and as you saw with the amount of shavings created, way too costly in lost metal weight. You always lose some amount.
@@nottheoneyourelookingfor0504 This is true, I guess I shouldn't say forging is the go to method considering my main method is wax casting. I guess it depends on what you want to do with the platinum. I wonder which way might be quicker, which way easier, to produce Alec's pen parts. Quite possibly it could save a lot of time, headache, and precious metal to simply create the parts in wax and then cast them using an oxy propane swiss torch (ganoskin says to avoid acetelyne when working with Platinum in particular because of carbon molecules getting into the Platinum.)
@@AlexDuWaldt oh yeah. You definitely want to avoid acetylene. I had to use it at my last job and it makes platinum BRITTLE!
In my opinion, the best way to do this would be to cast a blank and then forge it out. That way you save the time and waste of forging from an ingot, and you get the strength/spring hardness of working the metal. In an industrial situation, stamping would be the way to go. But presses and dies are prohibitively expensive.
"I wonder what the Royal Mint would say". Pretty sure they'd say, "You paid for it! It's yours. Do what you like."
Not sure they have that much freedom on the other side of the pond.
@@crapshoot5264 da faq is wrong with you? :P
@@crapshoot5264 I was wondering about that myself. I don't know whether or not our US laws frown upon altering a mint-issued ingot, but I know there's a fair bit of confusion about what is legal for actual coinage. Every time the issue comes up in a video, it's common to see dozens arguing in the comments, all of whom are absolutely convinced that their lofty teenage wisdom is unassailable.
@@anne-droid7739 it's pretty simple with US currency (idk about metal ingots as they are not currency and you can prolly do what you want with em after buying them) you can do what you want to coins you just cannot sell them at higher prices than their monetary value, so you turn a quarter into a ring you can't sell it unless you sell it for exactly 25 cents.
@@n0nam3491 Do you have a source on that? Thanks.
I'm so glad you are back in the UK
I am really interested in knowing how much platinum is lost so far. Maybe you can weight the parts, shavings and stock that’s leftover.
I was so relieved when I saw that you collected the platinum shavings
Holy crap I was about to comment how much it hurt seeing him put it in the lathe
I saw this pop up and I literally asked out loud, "can you?"
Its an age old question that needs an answer or else there won't be peace
im confused.... wouldn't you be able to forge ANY solid metal?... you know, outside of ones that melt in your hand.
I would have thought the question is more along the lines of how effectively can it be molded into what you want. Less about rather or not it was possible, more about is it easier or harder.
And I see the platinum ingot on the thumbnail... and think to myself "Well, that answers that question without even viewing the video"
@@MrMeow-iq7kq My thought was since platinum has such a high melting point I figured you may not be able to get it quite hot enough to work it
Been following from the beginning. Loved your Damascus steel videos. Can’t wait to see this pen finished.
At $500 a gram, I would do as tiny bit of stock removal as possible, forged so close to shape only polish nessesary. That dust is expensive!
You should check your math there buddy. It’s platinum, not rhodium.
@@nottheoneyourelookingfor0504 lol, yep,.$50 a gram, lol one to many zero's 👍😬
@@billwoehl3051 I know... it was late when you said it.
Imagine if it were $500 a gram....
Putting a platinum bar in a turn lathe feels economically sacrilegious. 🏴☠️
2:09 to skip the stupid ad
Raid virus ads
Man that was a good plug for the sponsor in under a minute. Very impressed
Usually I hate when UA-camrs sell out to sponsors like yours, but I appreciate you wasting all of their money. :)
How else will they be able to afford to make a living on youtube? Obviously your happy in your communist enclave... Wait, how are you watching this if that's true. Oh, your one of THOSE people... Nevermind.
@@xxxdiresaintxxx What the hell are you on about
@@MaikMakensi some people (mainly americans) have the outlook of. I disagree with you. Communist.
It's not a waste, he will probably sell it on his website for $20000.
I love the „this has been a great material to work with“ after it being sticky and everything
Raid shadow legend.. never heard of that.. is it an old meme or something?
Loved this. Thank you for another great metal working video.
Me :wait for the second episode of the pen
Alec :platinum go brbr
First video iv noticed super change in editing. Looks great!!!
So what your saying is that I’ve been shown Raid shadow legend ads for TWO YEARS...TWO YEARS
And STILL haven't downloaded the game. 😆 I'm morally opposed to peer pressure, but I'm glad that the content I enjoy for free gets paid for somehow.
you're* :)
@@themalakorein396 grammar nazi on the loose 🤓
have you ever tried it?
Can’t believe you are at 2.31 mil subs! I mean I can but its unbelievable what you’ve been able to accomplish all the hard work and dedication has paid off looking forward to many years ahead!
If you buy that pen, then you buy all of Alecs mistakes and that means... That it won't be more unique, since... He is the master at making mistakes, while getting the best product in the end.
You buy his learning experience.
Looking very well. Loving this video series so far. Can't wait to see what you do next. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Keep Making. God Bless.
Me: Sees video title
Also me: pfff, of course he can
It seems the platinum moved a bit more freely once enough of it had stuck to the anvil, very interesting~! Also, stunning smithing~! Most people think horse shoes, or wrought iron gates, or blades when they think of blacksmithing, but it is also for delicate complex things like that cracker-jack pen~!
Raid Shadow Legends: PLATINUM edition!
I want to see Alec make weapons inspired by Dwarf Fortress (this *platinum warhammer* menaces with spikes of bone. there is an image of dwarves on it. they are dancing.)
Glad I didn’t go to bed now!
That is awesome. The Parker Jotter is an icon, and my favorite
My friend has a flute with a tiny bit of platinum on one side of the lip plate, so like a really tiny bit and his flute cost a mint 👀
It's really cool how platinum is such a good conductor of heat that when you strike it with a hammer the spot that touches the anvil is instantly cooled.
Platinum is used for thermal couplings do to it being able to conduct heat but also due to it staying in shape under heat.
I love how the print on it just got short and fat, but not distorted
Isn't that literally distortion..?
Alec, the royal mint and every mint needs to know that those bars and coins get melted down all the time. They are sometimes cheaper than buying casting grain. They are a good way to buy certified, pure material that you can alloy or forge as needed.
"Making something exquisite, OR making some very expensive mistakes."
Why not both?
there were some really good lines in this one, Alec's comedic delivery > Alec's puns
no views, 90 likes, 28 comments, cant see the comments, youtube is drunk again
Lay a hot steel bar on the anvil while waiting for the platinum to heat and keep swapping, the warm anvil will help keep the ingot at working temp,.
Episode 2 of asking Alec to do this to my Parker Jotter.
4:43 forbidden Hi-Chew
Oof, that's expensive to play with :D
Once it’s finished It would be interesting to know the weight of your left overs, shavings etc, and the weight of the finished piece. To see how much was lost in the crafting process. Great video as always!
😖😖😖 me watching you pound on that platinum bar.
I worked with gold for the first time a few days ago and it was a mistake. I think I will leave the expensive stuff to the professionals. Keep up the great work Alec!
As soon as you left Montana, the quality of your content went way downhill, your views are reflecting it too
Lots of macro camera work there alec.
Are you perhaps reviewing your angles of attack during hammer strikes?
We handle platinum crucibles in our testing labs and we use Pt tipped tools to grip them at temperature - helps overcome the sticky nature of hot Pt.
I definitely need your playlist of music.. They are all amazing!
Oh euh, joli boulot sur ce petit stylo... Comme toujours
Platinum is extremely heat conductive thats why it kept cooling fast, that is also why it has practical applications in phones and catalytic converters
May need some correction on this, but if you're forging a prescious metal like Platnum and it becomes "sticky" when it's heated, it's probably:
a.) Absorbing the metal that pre-cleaning couldn't clar from the anvil.
or
b.) Forging it is maling the platnum bond to the porus surface of the steel hammer/anvil.
Been looking forward to this one Alec!
Yes I've been as well
Me: >wondering how it will be worth $10k<
Alec: alright, time to forge some platinum
Ohhhhh now I see it
Ridiculously addictive watching you making things, keep it up.
Great editing and camera work.
Also note that platinum gives off little to no scale while forging because platinum literally doesn't oxidize easily is our atmosphere
You should try to make an air tight forge. That way you could experiment smithing in different gas mediums or in different pressures. This way the chemical reactions within the forge can be controlled more ideally. A heated anvil might also come in handy.
Makes sense that it cools down so fast, thin rectangles like that have a high surface area to volume ratio
Impressive work! I make axes in a eccentric press and people call me a blacksmith. This is real smithing
I've started watching again now you back in the UK, I enjoy watching you more when your back here for some reason !!
The specific heat capacity of platinum is approximately a third that of steel. That combined with the tiny size of the ingot makes it no wonder it cooled off so quickly.