Before 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%
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