Cyanide was once used in "case" hardening, and today on rare occasions, it is still used to color case harden firearms. You just have to excercize caution when handling most of today's materials. Wear nitrile gloves when possible and don't inhale the fumes. What kind of tripod did you have that you suspected that cyanide was used in it's manufacture? What did you end up doing? Guy Quoting Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com>:
Yikes, I hope I didn't just shoot off my mouth and say something stupid -- wouldn't be the first time. My impression is that cyanide is used in hardening steel and that it can be released by cutting it. Maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe it's not a significant hazard. I tried to get my tripod legs cut down a year or so ago and one of the places I went said there was a problem because of cyanide. I had already had that impression, too, but I'm not sure where I got it in the first place. Other than that I don't know much. Best wishes, Joe
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com