My wife (correctly) thinks I’m a little crazy to be so excited about
a pile of metal scraps. Crazy like a fox, I think to myself, after
scoring two buckets of remnants and a large chunk of 1" thick
Magnesium plate for the grand total of $56, or exactly a buck a
pound. It was last week when I was selling copper scrap, when that
little voice inside tells me “go have a look around the yard, they
might have something interesting today”, which they did. I had just
ordered online two short, thick pieces of round aluminum bar for
about $50, and in a cruel twist of fate (just the opposite, in fact)
I asked the boss if he had any scraps of thick aluminum bar. He took
me over to the back lot and showed me a pile of “titanium and
magnesium” that turned out to only be the latter, and I thought
“well, this is curious ; I guess I should take a few chunks home and
see what it’s like”. So, for about three bucks I got some pieces of
2.25" round stock, the same size and amount of aluminum I had just
ordered for $25. Cruel, a little bit, in a humorous way, but mostly
an excellent score.
I use thick pieces of metal (brass or aluminum so far) for the tips
and= hubs of my large geometric wire sculptures, soft metals for ease
of cutting, sanding, and drilling. Thick metal does not come cheaply
new, and after I took home the big score today I did a little price
comparison. One plate I got is about 1" thick by 12" by 18", and
weighs maybe 20 pounds, so 20 bucks is what I paid. One online price
was $211 for a 12" by 12". It’s so light too, I get even more volume
per pound than aluminum. The other thing is that it’s very easy to
work with. I understand that the chips and dust can be flamamble. I
got hold of some magnesium powder whan I was a kid making fireworks,
so I know what happens when it burns. I have experimented on this
alloy with a chop saw, angle grinder, bandsaw, and rubber drum
sander, and didn’t get a hint of any sparks or fire, but I suspect
that dust collecting in my drum sander will be dangerous when I come
along next and grind steel, which makes lots of sparks.
I did some brief reading about Aluminum Zinc Magnesium, AZ31B alloy,
and found one interesting application called ‘superforming’. This is
done (in one example) in forming car door parts, as in whole
internal door panels with their complicated, multi-level shapes.
Steel molds are made to the desired shape, the magnesium sheets are
heated to 500 C and then air pressure is used to force the sheet
against the die, conforming it exactly into it’s permanent shape. I
found reference to, but didn’t follow up on, use of Magnesium for
jewelry. I also found a forum for finishing that some folks here
might find useful at some point
Now, I do need to poke around for info on it’s toxicity…
Dar Shelton