Apparently my google skills are weak. I need some help finding a supplier for some large magnesium rounds. I need at least 8" in diameter, and I can't seem to find anywhere that sells that. I know it exists, there's a little bit of a 12.5" round sitting in our machine shop, but we need more.
Anyone have any experience?
No experience, but here's a link to the international magnesium association - they have an tool to locate a supplier...
And here I am thinking that magnesium would be a horrible metal to make a bullet out of... 
ReverendDexter wrote: And here I am thinking that magnesium would be a horrible metal to make a bullet out of...
I was trying to figure out who would make a bullet that was 8" in diameter. 
Taiden wrote:ReverendDexter wrote: And here I am thinking that magnesium would be a horrible metal to make a bullet out of...I was trying to figure out who would make a bullet that was 8" in diameter.
Hello, US Navy, can I help you?
Yeah, we're making some wheel centers for this year's FSAE car out of magnesium. Magnesium would make a pretty terrible bullet. I found those online "databases" of suppliers, but they're not all that useful for what we need. I was hoping someone knew of a place online that sold what we needed.
Some quick Googling found this:
http://www.smw.com
According to their site:
"We specialize in the development, manufacture and supply of lightweight applications deploying proprietary and generic magnesium, aluminum-lithium and other aluminum-based specialized alloys and hybrid materials.
We are the global leader in forged magnesium wheel blanks, extruded bar, plate and similar fabrications."
And on the product catalog page it has this listed:
Mg extruded rod (round or flat) 0.5" - 12"
Maybe it helps?
I'd probably be starting from plate rather than rounds.
Also - the "corners" you cut off will burn just fine...
I'll check around I know a few people who may have answers..
Bumping this thread, this is back to being a priority.
I've contacted SMW for a quote, but I imagine getting a single 8"x18" piece of ZK60A from St. Petersburg won't be cheap.
Help, my wheels are on fire, and we can't put them out!
motomoron wrote: I'd probably be starting from plate rather than rounds. Also - the "corners" you cut off will burn just fine...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcWVL4B-4pI
motomoron wrote: I'd probably be starting from plate rather than rounds.
There's two issues with plate, and both of them involve material loss.
One, is the cost of the wasted material. A 12"x12"x2.5" piece of AZ31B costs $520.23. When we're machining one 8" wheel center out of that, we're wasting over half of that material. That's throwing out over $1,000 of materials for a set of 4 wheels.
Secondly, we're judged on our machining processes, and we do get a score penalty the more material is removed. Obviously starting with an 8-9" round will significantly reduce that.
We're right on the edge of feasibility with this. If we can't find a supplier for round Magnesium, I'm not sure we can make it work.
Based upon my experiences with magnesium in chemistry classes I've always wondered how you could machine magnesium and why if you had a broken wheel that scraped the ground (I've seen pics like that) with a Mag you didn't start a fire of monstrous proportions.
I too thought this was a thread on finding Magnesium bullets.
Will you be machining it yourself? I am an FSAE alumni. We finished machined our own magnesium wheels after we had the blanks cast at a local casting shop. Luckily the guy in charge of designing and machining them came from a family who owned a machine shop and practically grew up with a Bridgeport in his crib. He was taking care to remove the piles of chips to a safe location away from hot work areas and Bridgeport he was working at. He also knew that typical fire extinguishers are useless if it decides to ignite. He kept a bucket of sand nearby in case it ignited. Well it finally did ignite… The security camera footage showed it took only a few seconds for the light to nearly blind the camera. He reacted quickly and poured sand all over the fire and the mill he was using. He got lucky! But he was also prepared... be very careful machining this stuff! He ended up just taking the remaining wheel blanks to his fathers shop and machining them there. (He wasn’t allowed to machine magnesium in the school shop anymore.. )
ahaidet wrote: Will you be machining it yourself? I am an FSAE alumni. We finished machined our own magnesium wheels after we had the blanks cast at a local casting shop. Luckily the guy in charge of designing and machining them came from a family who owned a machine shop and practically grew up with a Bridgeport in his crib. He was taking care to remove the piles of chips to a safe location away from hot work areas and Bridgeport he was working at. He also knew that typical fire extinguishers are useless if it decides to ignite. He kept a bucket of sand nearby in case it ignited. Well it finally did ignite… The security camera footage showed it took only a few seconds for the light to nearly blind the camera. He reacted quickly and poured sand all over the fire and the mill he was using. He got lucky! But he was also prepared... be very careful machining this stuff! He ended up just taking the remaining wheel blanks to his fathers shop and machining them there. (He wasn’t allowed to machine magnesium in the school shop anymore.. )
Mmhmm. We've got a guy with some experience machining magnesium, and some of our teams have made them in the past in the school shops, so we've got the proper permissions. There are definitely some risks with the fabrication, but the weight is tempting.
do you think your schools machine shop would know where to find some?
Javelin wrote:Taiden wrote:Hello, US Navy, can I help you?ReverendDexter wrote: And here I am thinking that magnesium would be a horrible metal to make a bullet out of...I was trying to figure out who would make a bullet that was 8" in diameter.
But being as this is an 800 calibur, the most powerful gun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I ...
Unevolved,
Armando at Mark Metals (800-888-7766) just quoted me $3832.00 for a 10" round, 24" long piece of ZK60-T5. They can cut that to any other length from their 73" bar.
He said that ZK60 was the most expensive alloy of mag that he had; it might be worth going through the stress analysis to see if its strength is necessary for the weight savings we want.
charparral;
I want that round just sitting on my desk with the alloy written on the ends in sharpie.
In reply to Taiden:
It would weigh about 120#
Taiden wrote:ReverendDexter wrote: And here I am thinking that magnesium would be a horrible metal to make a bullet out of...I was trying to figure out who would make a bullet that was 8" in diameter.
Maybe he's really mad...
Mark Metals can get us a 7.95" round that's 17" long of AZ31B for $858 and have it here two days after we order. That's doable.
i have a friend with some magnesium BMW wheels. perhaps you could just machine the rims off and use the centers for your purpose?
Here's a picture of what we're making. I'm not sure that would work for us, although that's an interesting idea.
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