Magnesium Fires, was Re: HP-2116A chassis (or repairing cast aluminum)

[Marvin Johnston]

Many years ago, I did some machine work on magnesium and kept the chips.
At some point, I wanted to see how it would burn and put a small pile of
chips on the sidewalk and lit it with a match. Burned *very* nicely all
the way up to the time the concrete exploded from all the heat being
generated (and probably moisture from rain the day before.) It left a
scar above one eye and put a hole in my dads brand new convertable top.
People still wonder how I managed to live this long :).

> > Alex wrote:
> >> No need to worry - trying to get a magnesium case to burn is _hard_
> >
> > Actually, it's very easy.  You just grind it up into powder first.
> > Time-consuming, but not particularly difficult.
> >
> Once a small part is ignited, it will burn quite well in solid chunks if  
> it gets enough oxygen.
> A bit of iron oxide can make the situation very interesting.
> 
> Drilling or grinding magnesium without proper precautions is risky.
> Welding is done with inert gas, so that is usually quite safe.
> 
> -- 
> Bjørn
>