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3DBefore and after arc-melting.
This shows what happens when you blast some compressed rhenium powder (left) with a high-current electric arc in an arc melting furnace (under an inert argon atmosphere): You get a nice shiny button of solid rhenium (right). Max Whitby made this button while visiting an arc melting furnace at Leeds university: It worked so well now he's working on building one himself, using a welder as the power source.

He'll use it to make solids out of powders for a number of elements that are much cheaper in powder form, for use as samples in his commercial element set.

Source: Max Whitby of RGB
Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB
Acquired: 12 May, 2003
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.9%
Rhenium