Carborundum (man-made - old!) ex Mullane Coll.

Item Description

A huge and unique, old-time specimen of man-made carborundum (trademark name) or silicon carbide. Very light weight for its size, the lustrous, black, hexagonal blades have excellent iridescence! Patented by E.G. Acheson in 1893. He had helped Thomas Edison develop the incandescent light bulb in the 1880s! Carborundum has a crystal structure like that of diamond and is almost as hard. It is used as an abrasive for cutting, grinding, and polishing, as an antislip additive, and as a refractory. Ex Dennis Mullane Collection and the OLD card with piece indicates the piece was acquired at the factory in about 1900! We have no idea as to the value, but this is a UNIQUE, old, example of an inorganic compound and it even looks like a large crystallized mineral specimen! Only 4.9 pounds or 2.2 kilos despite that it LOOKS like it should weight as much as a bowling ball.