Where can I find quantities of iron filings?

I need a powdered metal that looks like pepper for a trick I'm developing.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

Try a machine shop, sheet metal fabricator or a welding shop.

Kregg

Try Edmund Scientific on the web.

Hi Ventman,

I went to the Edmund site and they have it but it seems iron filings are brown, not black, in color...I did not know that.

But thanks for the info!

You can change the color of iron filings with gun bluing. However, you might find that iron filings will work fine. Some pepper is brown, too.

The problem is to find pepper that looks rusty (i.e., like iron filings).

Sid

If you get them from a machine shop, they will usually have a light coating of machine cutting oil, sometime more than a light coating! As long as you keep moisture out of them, you should not have problems with them rusting. You can also consider, depending on how much you need, taking some old bit of iron, or nails, and a large flat file (FCC forbids me using the machinists name for this item) or a grinder, and go to town making our own. Be sure to use a metal file, NOT a wood rasp!

If you are going to buy them, and BTW Edmund is not the only source, you will need to insure you provide a mesh size, or particle size number. Telling them the size of pepper grinds will not help, you will need to be a bit more specific, checking with a machine shop will help you get the right infromation to ask for what you want.

Pepper comes in several colors.

Kregg