how can you tell pot is pot metal?

[BVKLLP]

what are the tell tale signs? if someone handed you a piece of steel and a piece of pot metal how could you tell?

[FigureLLC]

if it's cast, too heavy to be aluminum, and isn't magnetic, it's likely pot metal. that's the best i got...

[KCV6]

Pot metal looks like cast aluminium but usualy has a strange pattern in the finish with some parts looking darker than others almos crystaline like. this is the various metals used not mixing properly. take a look at a bare part on a die cast toy car, you will see what I mean.

As FigureLLC said above, see if it is magnetic. If it is it is steel or iron or one of the lower grades of stainless.

If it is not magnetic, place a drop of 10% muriatic acid on a clean part of the bare metal. If it is aluminium or pot metal it will start to fizz. after about 10 seconds wipe the surface off with a wet cloth thoroughly. if the patch that was fizzing has gone shiney and clean it is aluminium. If it has gone dark grey to black in colour it is pot metal. The zinc in the pot metal will turn dark grey to black. Make sure you remove all the acid or it will just keep eating through the zinc.

Cheers

Mark

[FigureLLC]

If it is not magnetic, place a drop of 10% muriatic acid on a clean part of the bare metal. If it is aluminium or pot metal it will start to fizz. after about 10 seconds wipe the surface off with a wet cloth thoroughly. if the patch that was fizzing has gone shiney and clean it is aluminium. If it has gone dark grey to black in colour it is pot metal. The zinc in the pot metal will turn dark grey to black. Make sure you remove all the acid or it will just keep eating through the zinc.

Cheers

Mark

awesome piece of info. thanks!