Mrmerlin

Pete the dipstick test is a quick way to confirm the engine is making metal.
Note most oil will have very small amounts of flakes you will even get flakes from inserting the dipstick in its tube.

That said if you have an automatic and the stick test shows lots of metal you should proactively check the flex plate.

The oil analysis will show increased levels of bearing material and lots of copper , iron and aluminum will be particularly bad