The Grind

People ask me as to what we do in metallurgy. And so today I am going to squash all rumours about how less we work. First of all, we daily have classes from 9 to 5. Ya, I know it is too long, but then aren't we the brightest minds in the country. Next, our department firmly believes that practise makes a man perfect. For the past 2 years we have been doing the same practical. We are required to grind samples, polish them with 4 grades of emery paper and then polish it on the wheel. And finally view the microstructure. Simple, you would say and would be wondering what am I making a fuss about. But I will let you into a secret. Barring 2 or 3 illustrious people in my class, none of us can still get all the planes alligned in one direction nor can we remove all scratches. Everytime I polish the sample, instead of becoming more fine and flat, more and more scratches are generated. And if any one of us to is fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the structure, then we break into a victory dance. And I tell you, the achievement is as big as landing on the moon.
This time I managed to get some photographs. This is a photograph of our beloved grinder which has seen various other competent students like us, unable to get a perfect surface.

I also managed to photograph my friend hard at work. This is how we polish a sample on the emery paper.

I will try to give you more insights into the lives of metallurgists from time to time. But right now, I am going to draw those microstructures. And I really hope, that one day I will achieve the perfect surface and see the always elusive microstructure, all by myself.