The once ubiquitous 60W light bulb is about to plop off the production line for the last time across Europe. But while its light may be dimming, it is still illuminating many of our homes.

It is at once a thing of delicate beauty and robust science.

Encased in its own glass world, a miniature laboratory keeps a tiny thread of tungsten burning brightly. There is even a touch of romance in its soft flare, as it casts a painterly glow over the room and the faces of its occupants.

The 60W has long been the bulb of choice for the modestly-sized rooms in the typical British home. But this very domestic species will be put on the endangered list on Thursday 1 September, when an EU-wide ban on the manufacturing and importing of 60W incandescent clear light bulbs comes into force.

Customers will still be able to get hold of a 60W bulb but once stocks run out, it will go the same way as candlelight and gaslight before it.

People are being forced to use energy-saving light bulbs. And no matter how much fans of compact fluorescent lamps proclaim their virtues, there will be some who will see Thursday as the day which consigned their homes to eternal dimness.

Cultural historian Christopher Cook is not a fan of the new light bulbs. He says light creates an atmosphere in a room and the new bulbs give off a "different light".

"We are seeing a fundamental change in the way interiors are illuminated," he says.

"The light that the old bulbs cast through a lampshade is different. It's a softer, more natural light. The light is diffused through the shade."

Cook is not alone in preferring conventional light bulbs - the vast majority of the 600 million light bulbs in UK homes are tungsten filaments and people are still buying them.

The market share of incandescent bulbs was 56% in 2009, down from 85% in 2005, according to retail analysts Mintel. The compact fluorescent lamp accounted for 23% of the market in 2009 compared with only 3% in 2005.

But the 60W tungsten bulb means more than a warm glow, it is a beacon of modernity. The "perfect demonstration of a brilliant idea" is how cultural commentator Stephen Bayley describes it.

"Because it is such a very legible design, the tungsten light bulb became a symbol of switched-on genius. It's literally, as well as metaphorically, illuminating.

"Its one fault? Like many a genius, it gives off as much heat as light. So it now joins tallow and the gas mantle on technology's scrapheap."

He says one day the public might come to feel sentimental about its "charmless" replacement but if feels like a "poor trade" at the moment.

The 60W is the latest old-fashioned light bulb to be switched off in favour of the fluorescent lamps, energy-saving halogen bulbs and LED lights. Many of the major retailers stopped selling the bulbs well ahead of the European deadlines.

Bulbs of 100W and greater have already ceased production, as well as all pearl bulbs, and the same fate awaits all remaining clear incandescent lights next year.

But while the higher wattages may be missed by those with bigger homes, the loss of the ubiquitous 60W may be more keenly felt.

Critics continue to circle the substitutes although there is no doubt they have improved since they were first introduced.

However, the bulbs have still found it difficult to shake off that reputation for giving out a dim, cold, white light. Their critics say they are slow to warm up, the light flickers, and they are too big for some fittings. There also seem to be more types than there are shapes of pasta. The proponents say these problems have already been addressed.

But for the incandescent aficionados, fluorescent lights tend to be associated with morgues, prisons and tenement hallways. Cook says they give off a "cold creepiness" and make you feel like you're being interrogated.

The death warrant of the conventional bulb was signed by EU leaders in 2007 to help meet climate change targets, but other countries have been thinking about it too. In New Zealand, a new government scrapped the ban in 2008, saying it was an example of the "nanny state philosophy".

But the US will start banning the traditional bulbs from the start of next year and a very vocal opponent is Howard Brandston, one of the most respected lighting experts in the world who was asked to redesign the lighting of the Statue of Liberty as part of the 1986 restoration.

He is against the ban on many levels, including the unsatisfactory lighting quality, the cost of retrofitting homes to use the new light sources and the safety risk posed by the mercury.

Brandston has used compact fluorescent lamps in commercial projects but he says there is no place for them in people's homes.

"They are not bad products, just bad applications. Your home should be your castle and they are coming into your home and reducing the quality of light and life.

"It changes the colour of your appearance, your food, your furniture. They don't dim well and the colour of the light deteriorates."

But for Chris Oxlade, author of The Light Bulb: Tales of Invention, it is simply a matter of scientific progression and the new light bulbs should be embraced.

"I have no nostalgia for the old ones, which are knocking on 100 years," he says. "My parents will say that the new light bulbs are rubbish - they don't come on quickly enough or they are not bright enough but I have accepted them."

There will certainly be people who start hoarding bulbs in earnest on Thursday, but the 60W's days will soon be over.

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Background

Tungsten Carbide is often referred to as a Hard Metal due to it’s very high hardness in relation to other metals.

Typically a Tungsten Carbide Hard Metal can have a hardness value of 1600 HV, whereas mild steel would be in the region of 160 HV a factor of 10 lower.

Although called a hard metal, Tungsten Carbide is actually a composite material with hard particles of Tungsten Carbide embedded in a softer matrix of metallic Cobalt .

What is the Chemical Formula for Tungsten Carbide?

The chemical formula for Tungsten Carbide is WC.

What is the History of Hard Metals or Tungsten Carbide?

Tungsten Carbide was originally developed in Germany in the 1920’s as there was a requirement for die materials that were able to stand up to the high wear encountered in the drawing of tungsten filaments for light bulbs

How is Hard Metal or Tungsten Carbide Made?

Tungsten Carbide Hard Metals are primarily produced using a Powder Metallurgy process, whereby the powdered forms of tungsten carbide and cobalt are mixed using ball mills, a binder material is added to hold the powders together during the next stage of the process which is compaction or pressing.

During the compaction processes, hydraulic presses or isostatic presses are used to compact the powders into a shape which approximates the design of the finished product.

Whilst in this condition, the powder compact can be easily machined using conventional metal working tools. This process is often referred to as “Green Machining”. Care has to be taken with the removal of the fine powder particles as they can pose a health hazard so effective extraction methods are required.

Following “Green Machining” the powder compact is then ready to be Sintered. Typically this is done in a vacuum furnace at temperatures between 1300 and 1600°C.

The sintering process causes the tungsten carbide and cobalt matrix to fuse together to produce a dense “Hard Metal”.

After sintering the material is so hard that it can only be machined by diamond grinding, a specialised form of micro machining that is relatively expensive as it is not possible to remove large amounts of materials by this process.

Applications of Tungsten Carbide and Hard Metals

Tungsten Carbides have a wide range of application in many industry sectors such as metal machining, wear parts for mining and oil industries, metal forming tools, cutting tips for saw blades and have now expanded to include consumer items such as wedding rings, plus the ball that is in many ball point pens.

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Larson Jewelers is proud to announce they are now an authorized dealer of the ArtCarved line of bridal jewelry and wedding bands, a division of Frederick Goldman, Inc. ArtCarved is one of the oldest designers of wedding bands in the US. Since 1850, they have been designing and manufacturing beautifully crafted wedding bands.

Artcarved Rings is one of those classic American companies that have been around for over 150 years because of their dedication to good old fashioned values of hard work and innovation. In fact, they were the first jewelry designer to start making wedding bands that were seamless, meaning you could not see where the two ends of a ring were joined together. This means not only is the ring more aesthetically pleasing to look at, it is also much more comfortable to wear. They also helped make it popular for both men and women to wear a wedding band. Before World War II, wedding bands were primarily worn by the bride only.

Artcarved has a long reputation for quality, and today their rings can be found all over the country in the largest chain jewelers. They are very selective about which jewelers they work with. They put principles before profits. This can be seen by the fact that they recently reduced the number of authorized dealers. Most designers would love to have their products in as many showrooms as possible, not ArtCarved. They want to make sure they have the best retailers representing their products, not the most retailers carrying their products.

Their rings also comes with a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty that covers size exchanges for life, as well as replacement in case of accidental damage, for a nominal fee. For a limited time, use coupon code WINTER15 to get an extra 15% off all ArtCarved branded rings at Larson Jewelers.

About LarsonJewelers
LarsonJewelers provides the largest selection of tungsten rings in the world. They also have large selections of palladium rings, ceramic rings, and cobalt chrome rings.

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Plenty of fields across the UK are still saturated, so lots of farmers are choosing tine drills as the best way to get seed into the ground. Weaving Machinery’s interestingly-named Sabre Tine Drill should appeal to those struggling with the ground conditions.

The angle of the three rows of tines is adjustable, as is the position of the seed pipes. But the main feature of the new drill is the new tungsten-pointed tine, which is narrow to minimise soil disturbance. Two rows of levelling tines should tidy up any loose soil at the back.

The same 1.5t hopper is shared with the firm’s standard tine drill and an RDS auto-calibrating metering system allows seed rates to be changed on the move.

Weaving reckons the main appeal of the Sabre drill is the low horsepower requirement. It can be used either on ploughed ground on directly into stubble, with working widths extending from a 3m rigid version up to the widest 8m variant.

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UK - The latest UK arena leg of the successful Mumford & Sons Tour of Two Halves world tour featured 2,547 of XL Video's latest FX-200 product, together with three Pixled F11 LED screens, HD cameras / PPU and crew.

The versatile FX-200s were specified by lighting and visuals designer Ed Warren from Next Level Lights.

The small opaque plastic balls encase LED clusters and can be fitted together and configured to suit any design.

The band have been touring for the last three years with various different arrangements of tungsten lightsources over and around the stage as an integral part of the lighting rig.

Earlier in this tour, Warren introduced LED festoon lighting, going from the stage and reaching right out into the audience ... and he wanted to take this up another level and add another dynamic and adaptable lightsource to the mix - enter the FX-200.

He had seen the product in action at various festivals over the summer and thought it ideal for the next evolution of his design. "I wanted something far more than just a standard light bulb or lightsource, and something that could produce high-impact low-res effects like the stars at night or burning embers."

Apart from that, he needed to be able to get a good tungsten to match and complement the rest of the lighting aesthetics.

The FX-200s were mounted on small different length steels and hung on two independent trusses. Their layout and where they were positioned onstage was critical to the rest of the lighting rig, and when in position they brought two distinctive additional curved visual layers to the stage.

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Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is an arc welding process that uses a tungsten electrode within the welding gun. The difference between metal inert gas (MIG) welding and TIG welding is that the electrode does not contribute material to the weld. A separate welding rod is used to add material to the weld if it is needed. Argon is generally used as a shielding gas for TIG welding operations. TIG welding is most often used to weld stainless steel, aluminum, and other non-ferrous metals.

Basic TIG Welding Technique
To create a TIG weld, the welder holds the electrode at a 10 degree angle from vertical, with the electrode pointed in the direction of the weld. This is called the "push" method, and the process "pushes" the metal along the weld. This position also maintains optimal coverage of the shielding gas, resulting in a clean, consistent weld. The welder must maintain a short distance between the electrode and the work piece while preventing physical contact. TIG welding is considered more difficult than MIG welding or gas welding processes. The welder moves the electrode around in a small circle until a pool of metal is formed, and then he begins a cyclic process of moving the electrode forward and adding filler material as needed. The process continues until the end of the weld is reached, and the welder pulls the electrode away from the work piece, allowing it to cool.

Hot Wire Technique
The hot wire technique includes pre-heating the filler wire to increase the rate of melt of the filler material, resulting in more material being deposited into the weld. The energy from the arc is used solely to heat the work piece, rather than requiring a diversion of some of the energy to melt the filler wire. This method is used for thick welds where a significant amount of filler material is added.

Pulsed Current Technique
Pulsed current TIG welding is used on thin pieces such as sheet metal where excess heat can cause burn through or warping. The power supply cycles through two levels of voltage. The higher level of voltage causes the material to melt, and is then allowed to cool during the period of lower voltage. This process can be automatically programmed for specific weld rates to maintain lower heat levels in the work piece.

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The art of welding requires some key insights into the nature of energy and chemistry. For example, if you are trying to weld together two metals, you need to know at what temperature the metals may melt and merge together at. A common example of such a situation is welding together tungsten and silver to form an alloy.

Nature of Tungsten
Tungsten is a highly reactive element. It is used to help in the welding process by heating an electrode made of tungsten. The electrode is heated to temperatures up to 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is noted that at such high temperatures tungsten tends to be slightly radioactive. It is recommended that the welder wears a respirator so he does not breath in radioactive gases.

Welding Process
Clean off and sand the tip of the tungsten electrode. This removes all moisture from the element and will help it rise to immense temperatures. The welding process that tungsten is used for is categorically called brazing. This is because the tungsten melts off and merges with the new element, in this case silver.

More alloys
Having a pure silver and tungsten alloy is possible, but welders might find it hard to process this alloy without more elements in the batch. It is suggested that elements such as manganese, cadmium or tin are added. Even though there is an elemental benefit to having more products in your alloy, each element has its drawbacks. Tin could create a relatively weaker alloy compared to cadmium, but cadmium is a hazardous element. Manganese is generally thought to be the best element to utilize in the brazing process, but it can often create a "gummy" metal before it hardens and cools.

Design and Support
If the alloy is being created for a design, such as a part for a device or an art project, it is recommended you support the metal through the welding process. The extreme heat may make it difficult for the metals to retain the desired design and shape you want. Therefore, welders should, in some way, have the silver anchored down or supported on the welding table. A work clamp connected to the table can act as a support for the metal. The clamp holds down the metal as you weld.
 

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Tungsten-copper is used to make composite materials for heat sinks in computers and other electronic devices. The materials can be mounted to computer chips or ceramic bases.

Properties
Tungsten-copper materials conduct heat efficiently without the excessive expansion that would present problems when mounted to other materials. Copper by itself has high thermal expansion properties, making it unsuitable for such applications unless combined with a material such as tungsten.

Powder Form
Tungsten and copper do not form an alloy because their melting temperatures are very different. The composite material is instead made by mixing metal powders. They are then heated and injected into a mold for heat-sink manufacture.

Heat Sinks
Heat sinks are used to conduct heat away from computer chips and integrated circuits, preventing thermal damage. Depending on the electronic device, heat sinks come in different sizes and shapes. Tungsten-copper composites, with copper content (by weight) of 15 to 20 percent, are often used to make heat sinks.

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Tungsten bulbs, particularly tungsten halogen bulbs, are among the most popular bulbs for use in indoor photo shoots. Tungsten bulbs are ready available, fairly inexpensive, predictable and create a warm tone. Tungsten bulbs, while most commonly used in black and white film photography, can be used by virtually any photographer regardless of experience.

Instructions

1
Keep your tungsten lights mounted on safe and stable stands, as tungsten lights burn hotter than other types of bulbs. If a bulb falls or is brushed by a person or object, it can quickly start a fire. If you are rearranging your light setting, moving light stands or working with the bulbs, turn them off and unplug the power source to prevent accidents.

2
Choose the right film for the job. Tungsten lights are most commonly used with black and white film photography, as the light warms the image. However, it color photography, tungsten lighting can add a slightly red hue. Therefore, if using tungsten lighting in color photography, be sure to choose tungsten films designed for this type of lighting.

3
Dim your tungsten lights while setting up the photograph and focusing you camera, turning the lights to full strength only to take the shot. Tungsten light burn very hot and will quickly disturb you, your assistants and your live subject. The bulbs will also burn out quickly if left on full strength. Never use tungsten lighting when shooting plants, animals or insects and the heat is too much.

4
Create dramatic lights and darks in your photos with a simple tungsten light set up of your choice. While other forms of lighting can easily fill a room with light, tungsten tends to focus light only where directed, which can be used to the photographer's advantage in a controlled setting. If you would like to flood-fill the room with light, it is best to use additional light sources, such as natural daylight or other types of bulbs.

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Steel, an alloy of iron and carbon, comes in many varieties. Mixed with other metals, it takes on different properties. Tungsten was one of the first metals used to improve steel. It adds strength to steel over a wide temperature range.

Alloys' Value
Metals that have been mixed to obtain materials with new properties are called alloys. Mixing steel with small amounts of other metals, such as vanadium, cobalt and tungsten, contributes strength, hardness and corrosion resistance.

Tungsten Properties
Tungsten, like iron, is a basic chemical element. It stands up to heat better than any other metal, having the highest melting point, 6192 degrees F (3695 C), and the highest tensile strength at temperatures over 3000 F (1650 C). It also expands less than any other pure metal from heat and has high resistance to corrosion.

Applications
Cutting tools, such as drill bits, produce great heat from friction. Tungsten, added to steel in amounts varying from 2 to 18 percent (along with small amounts of molybdenum and vanadium), maintains the metal's strength at high temperatures. Called high-speed steel, it goes into making drill bits, milling bits, saw blades and other tools.

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