Made by Republic Steel, this color film is one of a series called “Stainless Steel…The Miracle Metal”. This particular film features Dr. Carl Zapffe presenting a lecture on the history and development of stainless. It dates to 1960. Stainless steel is a group of ferrous alloys that contain a minimum of approximately 11% chromium, a composition that prevents the iron from rusting and also provides heat-resistant properties.
Opening: Republic Steel presents Stainless Steel, the Miracle Metal. Part 1: Historical Development (:06-:42). Dr. Carl Zapffe, a metallurgist (and also an internationally known physicist, engineer and chemist), looks through a microscope. He then starts to explain the film’s focus. He holds a piece of stainless steel. he holds rusted iron. He picks up a piece of iron ore. He shows a picture of the piece inside a dead bison and a viking boat along with tin being used on an old table. A restored Viking boat at a museum in Oslo has original nails in it going back many thousands of years. Steel and carbon inside the nail is shown in detail (:43-6:27). A Damascus blade, the Damascus steel make-up is explained. Dr. Zapffe explains how we’ll go back in time to discuss metal. He holds a meteorite in his hand which was found in Normandy. Going back to the pictures, the sectioned meteorite is shown. The 18-8 is explained. The numbers 18/8 refer to the percentages of chromium and nickel in the stainless steel alloy. The “18” refers to the chromium content, which gives flatware its rust-resistance properties, and the “8” refers to the nickel content, which gives it its silver-like shine and some rust-resistance (6:28-11:28). In 1797, a chemist in Paris is working on a new mineral, in 1798, the man shows off chromium. The father of chromium is Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin. He hammers chromium with a hammer and is splits (11:29-15:00). The doctor talks about how stainless steel needs certain minerals and explains what is required (15:01-16:50). A stainless steel piece under a microscope without the proper makeup. Another piece from under a microscope is shown and again the makeup isn’t correct. Berthier’s experiments are shown on a chart, it is explained how carbon kept causing him a problem (16:51-19:35). Dr. Zapffe stands in front of sulfuric acid, water, nitric acid, citric acid, acetic acid, hydro-chloric acid. Steel is placed in each one of these solutions, the Dr. pulls the piece out of each and explains (19:36-20:50). He moves back to a chart and explains how the percentages were off with trying to attain stainless steel. Goldschmidt’s crucible experiments are explained in a diagram (20:51-23:16). Dr. Zapffe shows a map and explains where chemists who had pure chromium experimented, England, Germany, and the USA. He goes into great detail while standing in front of the map (23:17-26:25). Back at another board, the Dr. points out Carbon, Chromium, Iron, and Nickel. He explains other facts about these metals (26:26-28:49). Dr. Zapffe continues to summarize what the important chemists discovered (28:50-29:23). End credits (29:24-29:33).
Republic Steel was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899, and rose to become the nation’s third largest producer. The company still exists as a subsidiary of Grupo Simec and produces Special Bar Quality (SBQ) steel bars.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
