Quote:
Originally Posted by Azathoth
Where did you buy your BBBmax from. I hadn't considered the possibility of knock off or imitation product. And given the supply drought, it worries me that knock off or glass/acryllic BB's can be substituted.
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Airsoft Extreme. They came in the standard bag you see on their website. In my experience, AEX is one of the most reputable airsoft stores so it seems exceedingly unlikely that these are knockoffs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azathoth
This is the first time i've seen such large debris and about the 10th or so BB i've crushed in a baggie.
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That looks similar to every time I have crushed a BBBMAX. I've used both a pair of channel locks and a hammer, producing a mixture of powder and large chunks each time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amoki
MikeG, while your argument may sound sound for your average joe, you're going to have problems convincing those who have done engineering degrees, in particular those with background in material science. The fact is, Bioval has stated that these BBB Max are made of 1) Resin 2) some form of hardening agent. Without knowing what base material it is you can't determine what material is.
For example, PVC with a hardening agent forms your hard, brittle PVC pipes. PVC with softening agents forms your gardening hose. Both will have different volume, density etc. but both are essentially PVC.
Another case in point: http://www.google.com/patents?id=_OqkAAAAEBAJ&dq , where you have a biodegradable resin composite at 250C. |
I do have an engineering background, admittedly not in materials science though. My article was not meant to be definitive, but to encourage discussions like this one, given the available info on the 'net.
The suggestion of the PVC pipe is one of the better ones I've seen so far, as it has a tendency to chip, sometimes explosively, when impacted. However, it still is a type of plastic, made up of entangled polymer chains, and occasionally shows this makeup. If you've ever cut PVC pipe with a saw, you will see that it leaves frayed edges. I've never see that happen to glass or a ceramic. That's what I'm essentially saying, I don't believe it's possible to make a polymer into something that behaves like this. Most polymers have some kind of physical 'tell' that lets you know that they can only be what they are. For example, Lexan is almost rubbery - incredibly hard to fracture by hand and its surface easily scratches.
Further, I have never heard of a polymer that has a Rockwell hardness anywhere near that of glass and similar ceramics. (I've seen a pane of window glass scratched by a shard of BBBMAX. Please tell me whether you've ever seen any type of polymer scratch glass!) I highly doubt that Bioval has invented some kind of super-material here that externally behaves entirely like glass yet is cheap enough to package and sell to people as bbs.
Since you seem to know a good deal about materials science (at least more than I do, I've taken only an introductory course on the subject), perhaps you could help me devise a few physical tests to determine the makeup of these BBs.