18 replies to this topic

[satchmo]

I was sorting through some parts today and found about twenty cox wrenches packed individually in small sealed bags. Inside each back is one Cox combo wrench... and a bunch of little rocks.

 

They seem to be sorta like chips of glass... medium to dark brown. The edges of some of the pieces are semi-translucent.

 

I've attached a few pics... anybody got a clue what they are? Can't imagine Cox packing glass/rock chips in the little sealed bags. 

 

A chemical reaction between the caustic, polluted 1960s air and the metal wrench?

 

Obviously I have no clue!

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

[Kim Lander]

My guess would be some sort of grease to prevent rust and over time it has just crystalized... just my thought.

[Ramcatlarry]

Dessicant (sp?)- like the bags found in pills bottles to absorb humidity to reduce corrosion.

[MattD]

Un-refined gems of some kind?

[Martin]

I just cleaned up my bench the other day. I guess I had got a bag of these in a pile of slot car junk. Was not sure what they were, some kind of drug maybe left over from the '60s I thought?

 

My curiosity was at at a low and they went to the trash. Had not realized they came with the Cox wrench.

[don.siegel]

I think you've found a new element: Slotium! 

 

Don 

[Don Weaver]

Hope there aren't any DEA slot racers !

[Pappy]

Wrench turds.

[MattD]

I bet they are raisins from 1960 that are now rock hard.

[Phil Hackett]

My guess is that Cox coated those wrenches with a wax commonly used to protect cutting tools against rust and dinging the cutting edges. (Why? I have no idea why Cox might do that) The wax will eventually harden or disintegrate and the pieces shown in the picture have the same coloring as the wax described above.

 

Take one out and slowly heat it. Does it melt? Does it have a waxy consistency?

[Zippity]

Can someone please explain to me how the grease could have possibly increased so much in size?  

 

 

[Phil Hackett]

Can someone please explain to me how the grease could have possibly increased so much in size?  

 

 

I doubt it is grease as grease would smear even if hardened. That's why it needs to be heated. I believe it's wax.

[Jay Guard]

It might have been some type of a dip that was on both ends to keep the wrench from punching out of the ends of the package.

[satchmo]

I heated one of the larger pieces with a hot soldering iron tip for 30 seconds or so and it did not melt.  

[Bill from NH]

At this point, you could ask PDL. He will either know or have an opinion.

[don.siegel]

I tend to agree with one of the first posters, that it's a dessicant, but there's an awful lot of it for such a small item! 

 

Don 

[satchmo]

Dessicant makes the most sense...hope it was!

 

Jim

[satchmo]

...hope it was inexpensive!...

[edscars]

Jim, when you heated the pieces did you detect any odor of formaldehyde?  A hot pin can be used to test for it as well.  If so, it the material could be Bakelite, an early plastic, which can reduce the corrosion of some metals. It also gets brittle with age. Another test for Bakelite is a q-tip wetted with Formula 409 and rubbed on the suspected Bakelite.  If you get a yellow color on the q-tip, it could be Bakelite.  Just a thought, based on my background in chemistry.