Checking our incoming raw-material quality often involves rating nonmetallic inclusions, particularly when heat treating to high hardnesses.

Microindentation hardness testing is a very powerful tool for characterizing materials and diagnosing problems. It is a complicated process, however, and the subject is rarely taught in schools. 

The most common tint etchants are those that deposit a sulfide-based interference film on the specimen.

Many metals etched with standard reagents to reveal the grain boundaries often yield only a high percentage of the boundaries rather than all of them.

Because we have minimized surface damage in cutting, grinding can commence with a relatively fine particle-size abrasive, depending on the hardness of the metal/alloy and/or the metal-removal rate in grinding.

Color has historically seen limited use in metallography, mainly due to the cost of film and prints and the difficulty and cost of reproducing images in publications.