Magnesium slabs for knife handles?

cotdt

cotdt

Joined
Oct 2, 2006
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How well does magnesium hold up as handle slab material? Does it stratch easy? I like lightweight metals.
 
Magnesium behaves as if it were fluffy aluminum. It is a little lighter, a little softer, and a little more flexible. It is not as strong or scratch resistant as aluminum and it is more reactive, so it doesn't maintain a silvery mirror finish as well.

I would take great care grinding it because the fines are very flammable and burn with a lot of heat. Most fire extinguishers (and water) don't do much for a magnesium fire.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Magnesium behaves as if it were fluffy aluminum. It is a little lighter, a little softer, and a little more flexible. It is not as strong or scratch resistant as aluminum and it is more reactive, so it doesn't maintain a silvery mirror finish as well.

I would take great care grinding it because the fines are very flammable and burn with a lot of heat. Most fire extinguishers (and water) don't do much for a magnesium fire.
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I'm actually thinking about being able to use the magnesium handles to start a fire in emergency situations.

Thanks for the reply. I will think very carefully about using magnesium handles.
 
I wouldn't touch the stuff to a belt in my shop, but that's just me. Magnesium burns at 2500F and is very hard to put out. Given, you're not going to be able to just set your handle on fire, but the grinding dust produced will be VERY combustible. It's used in fireworks and was once used in flash photography. Even regular steel dust when collected will burn, but not nearly as intensely as magnesium.

I have a magnesium fire starter rod with a fire steel embedded. It works really well, and when you shave a little pile of fine shavings and flecks, it will readily ignite with just a strike or two of the steel. And it burns very bright and very hot igniting whatever it's on. It does work great as a fire starter in camping or emergency situations.

If you do end up grinding it, put a large water+soap steel catch can under your grinder to catch most of the dust and clean around the grinder often to prevent any build up that can catch a spark.

--nathan
 
There are special handling procedures for magnesium chips , for the most part mixing with sand. Special fire extinguishers are available though sand or salt [NaCl] are sometimes used. A magnesium fire is VERY exciting !! Incendiary bombs are made from magnesium.
 
The special fire extinguishers for magnesium fires are Class D type. They are filled with finely powdered salt[NaCl].
 
another thing that might help if you choose to grind it is to attach a sponge to an arm of some sort so that it is constantly touching the belt and run it slow.....it will keep it damp and help to prevent spark....i do this on micarta to keep it from burning when using a dull belt...a tip handed down from Ken Coats...works great and is an ultra fun mess!
 
I didn't know that D type was just salt ! Salt melts and forms a coating that seals out air.
When I was a kid in Brooklyn there was a fire bucket in the basement .It was painted red and had a round bottom so it had to be hung up and so it couldn't be used for anything else. This was a WWII thing , filled with sand it was there to put out fires from incendiary bombs !! BTW trying to put out magnesium fires with water is a big mistake !
 
is it true that VW made the Beetle engine blocks out of magnesium? I heard that from a VW bug guy I used to work with.
 
I repair aircraft and quite a few parts are made from this, it corrodes quickly, I do save any bits to play with, burns nicly.
Richard
 
Lapp_Dance said:
is it true that VW made the Beetle engine blocks out of magnesium? I heard that from a VW bug guy I used to work with.
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My wife years ago had a VW Rabbit and it had a magnesium engine head. In two years she blew three of them and even back then they cost $600.:eek:
 
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