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

[Tom Peters]

We used to live dangerously as kids (a different time, perhaps?) and there 
was a company that had 55 gallon drums of magnesium turnings in the back-- 
I know OSHA or some other agency would likely have shut them down long ago 
these days. But we managed to climb the fence and steal a few paper grocery 
bags partially filled with it.

What a fourth of July we had that year. We'd take smaller lunch-bag size 
paper bags, line the bottom with about a half inch of shavings, roll it up 
into a flat packet about 3-1/2 x 5 inches, and take them to the fireworks 
at the lake front. Up on the hill, away from the crowds, we'd line up a few 
about 10 feet apart and stake them to the ground with a sparkler. Plenty 
hot to ignite the magnesium. The sparker would burn down to the packet, 
which would then go up in a brilliant display, visible from all over the 
place.

I suppose we had little idea how dangerous it was to store the stuff in the 
house and carry it around.

At 09:17 AM 4/18/2005 -0700, you wrote:

>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
> >


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