• stupidcasey@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    This could possibly be the worst possible prize. Raw tungsten isn’t actually that expensive. What’s expensive is working with it as it melts 3,410c (6,170f) isn’t very malleable and is heavy like really really heavy to move this block you will probably need larger equipment than standard industrial moving equipment, bigger trucks and loaders also you’ll need to get the city’s permission to haul it on the roads , that alone is probably going to cost more than the cube is worth you will then have to pay a monthly storage fee until someone wants to buy it. Shouldn’t be that long right? It’s a valuable metal… well good luck finding a company that works with tungsten outside of china, and you absolutely can not ship it. But let’s assume you find someone who wants it(at a considerable discount) well now you have to higher the specialized movers again.

    EDIT:

    Actually I just did the math and plugged in all the known values I could find and assuming you could sell it within the first year you could probably make $700,000, so it would still be well worth it. But a lot of trouble.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      I wonder if there’s a foundry in the world with a crucible that can hold, melt, and pour that much tungsten? To make a 5 foot solid cube.

      Then imagine trying to machine the damn thing square.

      • stupidcasey@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Then good news you can buy it! But you’ll have to commission it’s very specialized construction, and pay to have it shipped across seas… you know that thing I said you absolutely could not do, well with money all things are possible.

    • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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      6 days ago

      Rocket nozzles are commonly made of tungsten, there are more than a few manufacturers in the US. Drill bits can be made of tungsten carbide. Armor piercing weapons use tungsten too. All of these have industries in the US.

        • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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          6 days ago

          The company I worked for made tungsten nozzles, they had to be welded using atomic hydrogen welding. One day a bottle of hydrogen shows up and receiving rejected it, we had the supplier label it protium and it went right through.

      • Wogi@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Drill bits are coated in tungsten carbide. Sometimes. There are a variety of coatings.

        The drill bits you’re buying at the big box store are high speed still with some kind of coating to help them last a little longer. The specialty drill bits you’re buying for working on metal are also HSS with a different coating and probably different tip geometry.

        End mills are milling/lathe inserts can be HSS or carbide, also with some tungsten coating. Importantly, these are sintered, and made out of dust.

        Tungsten carbide is waaaay too brittle to work as a drill bit.

    • smokebuddy [he/him]@lemmy.today
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      6 days ago

      Don’t forget having to pay income tax on the original retail value of the cube (assuming this is USA where lottery and prizes are taxable gains)

  • Blaster M@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Just imagine placing this in the front yard as an ornament and watching it sink into the ground from its weight.

  • Zwiebel@feddit.org
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    7 days ago

    Assuming that’s a meter cubed it weighs 19 tons, or 65 tons for 1.5m³

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
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    6 days ago

    It’s being teleported to your location as we speak. I hope you don’t mind it would redesign a couple of floors below you.

  • dan@upvote.au
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    6 days ago

    I like how there’s so many comments about the value of the cube, and no two comments have the same value.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Let’s say that cube is 4.5’ a side. That’s 91.125 cu ft. Tungsten weighs 1,201.738 lb/cu ft. Which means the cube weighs 109,508.38 lb.

    That’s an impressively sturdy floor.

    Currently, tungsten is selling at about $340 USD/ton.

    The block weighs 54.7542 tons.

    So this is indeed a decent prize at $18,616 USD.

    All you have to do to claim your prize is get it home.

    Edit: corrected to a less whelming but still difficult to transport prize thanks to chiliedogg.

    • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      My immediate response was to do the same calc. But using SI units, because I don’t live in Myanmar or the USA.

      I figure that it’s a cube, and judging by the size of the lucky winner, I would guess that the sides are 1.5m. 3.375m^3 at 19.254 g/cm^3 is roughly 65 tons. According to https://www.metal.com/Tungsten/202212260004 tungsten bars are trading for 49USD/kg. IDK where you got 340 USD/ton, but we seem to differ.

      65 tons at 49 USD/kg is 3’185’000 USD.

      I’d say that a solid homogeneous of tungsten should probably fetch a fair bit more than my price. Casting a cube like that is not going to be easy. Tungsten is rather reactive in the molten form, and has to be kept from air. Just alone keeping 65 tons of molten tungsten under a protective layer of inergen gas is going to be challenging.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        No idea why the difference in price. I checked again and it still shows $340/ton on a UK site, another shows $335/ton, some higher for powders or carbide, some way lower for scrap.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I just looked it up; assuming that thing’s about 5ft³, that thing is worth like $54,000. Granted, you’re going to need somebody to come haul it off, but at 10.66k per cubic foot, I’d say it’s not a bad prize.