Piggin Homobase

It had a much better reputation than the diecast zinc alloys before it. Diecast zinc was around a few years earlier than the Zamak alloys, but they were really dreadful and cracked or distorted after a few years as their iron impurities precipitated out between the crystal grains.

Hmmm.... That article text seems strangely familiar 8-)

I'm not sure how I'd tell. I suppose I could measure the density, but to do that I'd have to strip off the plastic part and most of the corrosion before I could measure the volume.

You could be right. It's heavy enough in the hand that it might be something denser than aluminium.

Sounds like muckite. Other name pot metal. A mixture of sweepings off the floor. ;-) Once much used on cars for intricate decorative mouldings etc. It can be chrome plated easily - unlike aluminium. Trouble is it is pretty prone to corrosion which causes pock marks all over it.

And muckite. ;-)

Exactly. And it's not very strong structurally - it has a habit of shearing quite easily (whereas aluminium tends to just bend), or at least I've seen it happen quite often on old car parts made of the stuff.

cheers

Jules

Yup. The outside door handle on my BMW sheared off - made of this stuff. The replacement plastic. Only good thing is you don't have to dismantle the door to replace it.