Metalworking oxidation is one of the main reasons that gold is found in nuggets. These nuggets are relatively pure gold and are workable as they are found. Copper ore, being relatively abundant, and tin ore became the next important players in the story of metalworking. Using heat to smelt copper from ore, a great deal of copper was produced. It was used for both jewelry and simple tools. However, copper by itself was too soft for tools requiring edges and stiffness. At some point tin was added into the molten copper and bronze was born. Bronze is an alloy of copper
Nickel Babbitt Babbitts high in tin content, consist of a relatively soft, solid matrix of tin in which are distributed hard copper-tin and tin-antimony cuboids. Babbits are often employed as a thin surface coating to obtain the advantage of their good rubbing characteristics. Nickel Babbitt Babbitt refers to a bearing alloy consisting typically of tin, lead, antimony, and copper. "XXXX Nickel" is a trade name for such an alloy that also contains a small percentage of nickel. Isaac Babbitt was issued the first patent for an alloy that was excellent for making bearings. The word Babbitt has been applied to many alloys