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e
On 8/7/26 14:01, wmartin wrote:
> On 8/7/26 06:10, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 07/08/2026 13:35, Daniel James wrote:
>>> On 07/08/2026 11:38, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> "Unobtainium is a humorous engineering and fictional term for a
>>>> hypothetical material that has the ideal, perfect properties for a
>>>> specific application, but is impossible to get or does not actually
>>>> exist. It combines the word "unattainable" with the chemical suffix
>>>> "-ium
>>>
>>> Stating the obvious, here, but that should say "unobtainable" not
>>> "unattainable" ... I`ve never heard of "Unattainium", but it sounds
>>> like it should be a hypothetical element that exists but can`t be
>>> extracted ... a bit like potassium was before Humphrey Davy and
>>> electrolysis.
>>>
>>> I might also mention "Handwavium", which means, you know ...
>>>
>>
>> that is new to me.,..
>>
>>> ... and "Chinesium" which so many cheap imported goods are made from.
>>>
>> ...That isn`t!
>>
>> A late friend had a similar word for pot metal. [Zinc alloy casting].
>> Can`t remember what it was.
>>
> Don`t know about that one. I want to know where to buy "scratch", there
> are so many things that can be made...
In USA, the term "pot metal" has been around for
a very long time. Mostly zinc but with who-knows-
what also mixed in there. It`s not a consistent
recipe.
IS good enough for low-stress housings and such
however and easy to cast/machine. Better than
plastic but not as good as decent aluminum or
steel alloy. HAS it`s place IMHO.
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