Machining Magnesium - sources?

I need to find a place that can source & machine a piece of Magnesium. Any Grm'ers work at a trick fab shop? Before I google, would like to support a board member.

Otherwise, recommendations? Mag is tricky to machine, but in todays age of coolant machining centers it may not be as tricky as it was.

thanks KJ

No help, but I used to machine it all the time in college. We'd save the shavings for...um...air cannons/bonfires/general pyromaniac fun. I think i still see spots at times :)

I watched that stuff burn right through the bed of a lathe one time years ago.

Good luck

What, nobody's asking what he's machining?

Kendall, what are you making?

Dan

So long as you keep coolant on it, and keep your chips cleaned-up, it's no different than aluminum. We used to cut 1/4" strips with a table saw, sans coolent.

It machines very easily. It cuts just like aluminum. Just about any job shop should be able to do it for you.

914Driver wrote: What, nobody's asking what he's machining? Kendall, what are you making? Dan

Vibration fixtures

14" ^ 3 cube with 3/8-16 inserts on each side. 1st shop quoted almost $10K to do one(!), I need 3. Mag is what $4 / pound, fixture is under 200 pounds? Thats a lot of overhead.

I remember my very 1st trip to the runoffs when they were down at road atlanta. One guy trucked in enough sand to make a sand volleyball court in the infield; another camp built a bonfire with pallets & put a magnesium porsche transaxle case in the middle. Very surreal :)

Kendall

Kendall_Jones wrote:

914Driver wrote: What, nobody's asking what he's machining? Kendall, what are you making? Dan

Vibration fixtures 14" ^ 3 cube with 3/8-16 inserts on each side. 1st shop quoted almost $10K to do one(!), I need 3. Mag is what $4 / pound, fixture is under 200 pounds? Thats a lot of overhead. I remember my very 1st trip to the runoffs when they were down at road atlanta. One guy trucked in enough sand to make a sand volleyball court in the infield; another camp built a bonfire with pallets & put a magnesium porsche transaxle case in the middle. Very surreal :) Kendall

Why mag? Every vib fixture that I've used or designed was made of aluminum.

Mag requires a second guy sitting there with a class D fire extinguisher. At least in our shop it does.

Technically its lighter (14" cube is 100# lighter than aluminum), which means more more available energy (force lb) into the product.

And yes, 99% of the vibe fixtures I've used are aluminum as well.

KJ

Kendall_Jones wrote: Technically its lighter (14" cube is 100# lighter than aluminum), which means more more available energy (force lb) into the product. And yes, 99% of the vibe fixtures I've used are aluminum as well. KJ

Get a bigger shaker table. Seriously. There are other features that aluminum has that other metals don't that make it a good choice for vibration fixtures rather than just weight.

tuna55 wrote:

Kendall_Jones wrote: Technically its lighter (14" cube is 100# lighter than aluminum), which means more more available energy (force lb) into the product. And yes, 99% of the vibe fixtures I've used are aluminum as well. KJ

Get a bigger shaker table. Seriously. There are other features that aluminum has that other metals don't that make it a good choice for vibration fixtures rather than just weight.

Hah! You must be an engineer :) I've got 3 shakers already purchased for the new lab; used ones are $500K (3" stroke is the new black) down to a used up 15K force pound for ~$50K.

Its a solid chunk of mag; what bonus features would a solid chunk of aluminum offer? 1:1 transmissability? Its 2000 Hz, not super HF. Actually, strike that. Dont care, not getting drawn into this.

I'm looking for shops that can machine mag fixtures, not a pissing match.

thanks Kendall

Kendall_Jones wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

Kendall_Jones wrote: Technically its lighter (14" cube is 100# lighter than aluminum), which means more more available energy (force lb) into the product. And yes, 99% of the vibe fixtures I've used are aluminum as well. KJ

Get a bigger shaker table. Seriously. There are other features that aluminum has that other metals don't that make it a good choice for vibration fixtures rather than just weight.

Hah! You must be an engineer :) I've got 3 shakers already purchased for the new lab; used ones are $500K (3" stroke is the new black) down to a used up 15K force pound for ~$50K. Its a solid chunk of mag; what bonus features would a solid chunk of aluminum offer? 1:1 transmissability? Its 2000 Hz, not super HF. Actually, strike that. Dont care, not getting drawn into this. I'm looking for shops that can machine mag fixtures, not a pissing match. thanks Kendall

From an insurance standpoint some shops won't take on Mag work... Good Luck.

CGLockRacer wrote: No help, but I used to machine it all the time in college. We'd save the shavings for...um...air cannons/bonfires/general pyromaniac fun. I think i still see spots at times :)

I was going to say we used to do the same thing in our college shop, until I realized it was the same one. Won't get into the stories here.

Don't let the mag or Ti build up on the ways or floor around where you are working. Seeing someone running from what looks like a firework going off while entertaining is not a viable method to produce parts.