totally off the wall question

[chuckwood]

Long ago, I managed to acquire a big spool of magnesium ribbon, and it was fun to burn the stuff and watch the brilliant white almost welding arc light it made. I'm at the moment having fun going through a basket of old L65 and L77 cases and splitting them and keeping the good halves. I've got two magnesium case halves so far that are bad. What will happen if I place one of these in a campfire? Can I get them started, can I light up my woods with one of these? Anybody done this?

 

[HarleyT]

Probably, if you got them hot enough,

we used to drill and collect the shavings, back before we got cable.

 

[46 Poulan]

Sure--My dad worked on small engines in the 1960's--He would smash up scrap magnesiun mower frames to keep. We use to light up peices with propane torch--Like a arc welder so bright.

 

[hanniedog]

There will of course be video of this indever.

 

[hotshot]

Chuckwood,
Why don't you throw a handful in your running wood stove & then tell us where the temp gauge peaked out at, LOL

 

[stihl waters]

About 15 yrs. ago my building was piling up with worn out 61's,a 66,266,268,dolmar114 and an old 55 partner 10 saws in total.Being environmentally conscious I applied the 3 R's ,reduce,reuse,recycle. I reduced their size by starting a fire and piling them all on yea they burn pretty bright.

 

[chuckwood]

Chuckwood,
Why don't you throw a handful in your running wood stove & then tell us where the temp gauge peaked out at, LOL

I've already done that with a small pile of magnesium drilling chips, it's quite impressive and startles people. I've heard that if you get a big hunk of magnesium on fire, it's impossible to put it out, it can even burn underwater. Haven't tried that yet.

 

[chuckwood]

Sure--My dad worked on small engines in the 1960's--He would smash up scrap magnesiun mower frames to keep. We use to light up peices with propane torch--Like a arc welder so bright.

Just how much propane torching is required to light one up? I've been using my propane torch right on the cases to heat them up so I can pop out the bad bearings. I'm amazed at how tough the paint is on my Husky cases. It takes a big direct flame from a torch and won't char or bubble.

 

[chuckwood]

About 15 yrs. ago my building was piling up with worn out 61's,a 66,266,268,dolmar114 and an old 55 partner 10 saws in total.Being environmentally conscious I applied the 3 R's ,reduce,reuse,recycle. I reduced their size by starting a fire and piling them all on yea they burn pretty bright.

Good! I'm gonna try it and see what happens. Will make video if I can get them to burn.

 

[stihl waters]

The plastics in them produce plenty of heat, I remember tossing an O28 on a fire a couple of yrs. ago as well.

 

[tomdcoker]

Probably, if you got them hot enough,

we used to drill and collect the shavings, back before we got cable.

I got a good laugh out of that. Even more funny is that I can remember back when we did not have TV. Tom

 

[46 Poulan]

Just how much propane torching is required to light one up? I've been using my propane torch right on the cases to heat them up so I can pop out the bad bearings. I'm amazed at how tough the paint is on my Husky cases. It takes a big direct flame from a torch and won't char or bubble.

Heat up the edge of a peice of broken scrap--its easy

 

[svk]

I've heard of this.

Does burned magnesium cause any environmental issues? My fire pit is upstream from my spring well so I don't want to be poluting anything, especially me or my family members.

 

[Vibes]

There is a plant near me that makes powders for the fireworks industries. It has caught on fire twice in my lifetime. The fireman don't even try to put out the fire. They are just there for crowd control. The last time it burned I heard it look liked a Star Trek lazer came along and just evaporated the building. You couldn't see any of the building because it burned to below the giant earth wall that surrounds the plant.

 

[ANewSawyer]

Google is your friend:

 

[JTM]

I've heard of this.

Does burned magnesium cause any environmental issues? My fire pit is upstream from my spring well so I don't want to be poluting anything, especially me or my family members.

You might test your pH. Burned magnesium (Mg) ends up mostly as the oxide MgO that will then react with water to make it alkaline. Although it is good for indigestion. Mg metal reacts with water to produce hydrogen which is flammable. When the metal dust is finely divided it doesn't take much to get it going (friction, heat) and is very dangerous with no do overs. I'm from Alabama. We are experts with the famous (rather infamous) last words of, "Hey! y'all watch this!"

 

[ANewSawyer]

As Ray Stevens said: "Hey, Bubba, watch this!"

 

[Marshy]

I had a co-worker that had a 3 wheeler in the bed of his truck in his garage catch fire. It had a mag case engine in it. He lost his house but the interesting thing was the mag burnt through the concrete floor in the garage.