lead used in Soviet cooking implements?!

[the_physicist]

Hey all

Comments

[tisiphone]

Might be lead, but more likely it's oxidizing aluminium or tin. Still not great and I probably wouldn't use it, but no need to check yourself in for a round of chelation therapy quite yet.

[the_physicist]

aluminium oxide is white though? i make aluminium electrodes for LEDs at work, and they turn white when they oxidise. I thought tin oxide was also white. is it different if it's not pure? obviously at work the materials i use are ridiculously pure, lol.

[carmy_w]

Does it rust at all? Because unless it's solid lead (which I doubt; too soft), it might be a steel or iron/lead alloy, and it should rust.

If it's pretty old (more than a few decades, in other words), it might be pewter, which does have some lead in it. Heck, if it turns black when it oxidizes, it may be silver, or a silver alloy.

And aluminum, when it rubs off on things (like if you put an aluminum pan in the sink/on the counter and slide it), is black. That's not oxidized, that's just the dust/scrapings itself. Stainless Steel will do the same, though, but it's not as soft-I don't think it would leave marks on your hands.

[the_physicist]

nope, not a speck of rust on it at all! that's the odd thing! it isn't rusting at all in any way. and i don't dry it, i leave it to dry itself.

the silver alloy might explain the colour, but i find it hard to imagine that it's a silver alloy somehow XD . pewter actually makes more sense. i wish i could pin an exact date on it. it is somewhere between 30 and 60 years old.

And it very readily leaves marks on my hands, i just need to touch it and it will leave marks on my fingers in dark grey/black. so i think it must be an oxide rather than it just being bits that have rubbed off.

[carmy_w]

I'm guessing if it doesn't rust, it's either pewter, or aluminum. What's the weight of it like? Is it heavy for it's size, or light? Pewter feels really heavy, whereas aluminum is lighter than it looks like it ought to be....

If you're really invested in finding out, you could take it to a jeweler's and they could perform some acid tests to get an idea of what metals are in it, just like they do to test for gold or silver content.

[the_physicist]

i think it's heavier than it looks. it doesn't look like either aluminium or pewter, but that's probably because the finish isn't shiny. it's all grotty and matt.

i've had some other garlic crushers in the last decade, but have lost them all at some point, they were also all rather useless compared to this one.

The acid test is a good idea though. i could just dip it in a solution of hydrochloric acid and salt that contains iodine.

[mejor_del_mundo]

If it looks like this one, it is made from alluminium. Or Silumin, it contains alluminium. I have a lot of utensils like this and even parts of my kitchen mincer - and can't use dishwasher because they are going grey...
http://hozmeloch.ru/shop/product/chesnokodavilka-aluminievaya

[ionracas]

This is exactly what I was thinking, I had a vintage Kenwood mixer and I put the parts in the dishwasher and they were ruined, it was like a coating had been removed and they left stains everywhere, finally had to get rid of it. I think it would have been fine hand washed.

[the_physicist]

i think it was like this even before i put it in the dishwasher, but given the age of it... XD . any protective coating would be long gone.

[owner_of_dooom]

I never knew that could happen! My mums kenwood has this exact thing on the K hook.

[the_physicist]

good idea! ;)

[snoglobel]

We have an aluminum robot at work that gets black oxidation on it all the time. It's not easily visible until I clean it though.

[the_physicist]

i was just surprised that it would be black as all my aluminium at work definitely turns white when it oxidises. or see-through. but i only work with really pure aluminium that's on the nano scale... XD

cheers!