Thinking about making something else out of my 19th century metal precipitates a question ‘what are my artefacts made of?’
I’m not sure it matters, but I really want to know. I can guess from looking that they are probably nickel and some are silver plated. Some have products of corrosion on them which will be different again.
I make contact with the chemistry department of a nearby school and talk to them about making chromatographs out of a solution containing the dissolved objects.
I cut up the pieces into small bits and take them to the lab.
I keep finding bits everywhere
