MadMat Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 I was recently in the middle of making some metal fueled stars when I realized I didn't have enough magnalium. I replaced it with a 50/50 mixture of 40 mesh magnesium flakes and fine flitter aluminum. It actually created a rather nice effect. I was just wondering if anyone else has ever done something similar.
MadMat Posted November 26, 2015 Author Posted November 26, 2015 I'll try to get a video up (if it ever stops raining )
schroedinger Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 Sounds interesting. I expect that you got a long tail? Never had that problem, always search all chems before mixing and if I'm short of one either scale down or use an other formula.
taiwanluthiers Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 I thought the only reason to use magnalium is because it has the reactivity of magnesium but none of its precautions. If you used a 50:50 mix of the powder I think the usual precaution for magnesium still applies (dichromate coating and all)
Arthur Posted November 26, 2015 Posted November 26, 2015 Aluminium forms a stable oxide film over each particle, Magnesium does not any layer of passivating oxide is transient and always exposes fresh metal surfaces. Magnalium is much more than a mixture.
MadMat Posted December 7, 2015 Author Posted December 7, 2015 I'm not doing anything particularly dangerous. The magnesium I used for this substitution is -40/+60 so it doesn't contain any real fine particles. I don't think magnesium is some evil demon; sure its reactivity commands respect, but when used with decent chemical knowledge and common sense it isn't any more dangerous than the other chemicals we use in this hobby.
dusty56 Posted December 7, 2015 Posted December 7, 2015 You made a mixture. Magnalium is an alloy. They behave quite differently. How did you bind these stars? Did you coat the magnesium with dichromate? Were they parlon bound with acetone? I've found that the times I knew what I was doing is when I burned my ass. You may have made a wonderful star but I would like to know the rest of the ingredients.
MadMat Posted December 7, 2015 Author Posted December 7, 2015 The stars I tried this with were parlon bound (acetone). Being red stars, I used strontium nitrate (no perc in this formula). I didn't coat the magnesium with dichromate as it had already been coated with linseed oil for storage. I know that I replaced an alloy with two separate metals, but the result was rather nice. When I get video capability back, I will post a vid of it.
memo Posted December 7, 2015 Posted December 7, 2015 I have about 4 pounds of magnesium turnings and chips , trying to find a good use for them. does magnesium react to bp or other chems ? I will not use any water and the mag is stored in minerial oil. memo
dusty56 Posted December 7, 2015 Posted December 7, 2015 I look forward to seeing the video. Should be very interesting tails.
MadMat Posted December 7, 2015 Author Posted December 7, 2015 Hey Memo, here is a website with some useful information about chemicals in the pyro hobby. http://www.wnypa.50g.com/wepsk2.htmI feel finding out which chemicals are incompatible should be the FIRST thing a budding pyro should know. (maybe this should have been posted on the safety forum).Now as far as treating magnesium with dichromate, I would only use it if it is absolutely necessary. This is because dichromate is not a simple coating, but actually reacts with the surface of the magnesium creating a conversion coating. From a pyro point of view the converted magnesium is ruined. Granted it is a very small percentage of the total magnesium but if you are working with a finer mesh powder that percentage does become significant.
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