Turning turnings into usable material

[stug161]

I work in a machine shop. We have lots of metal debris all around. I have been collecting cast turnings from the boring bar. Scooping sanded Al/Fe from the belt surfacer, and now I am collecting material thrown from the CBN surfacer. For example, today I cut .200 off of a Cavalier Hobby Stock head. I am not sure if it is pure aluminum(maybe someone can ring in) {GM 2.2 HEADS} I set up a collection system and now I have two coffee cans full of small to medium turnings of aluminum Mostly .005 thick, maybe 1/16 wide, and roughly 1/4 inch long. I think I can make some great Al tails/ glitter comps if I can get it small enough. Maybe a piece of all thread feeding the metal, pulling it into a tapered collar, that forces it to the bottom, and forces it through the threads at the point that the collar is smallest around the thread? Or maybe a simple ball mill(its just aluminum) Or is that not a good idea? How small would my pieces have to be to be practical?

 

Thanks, Robert

[TheEskimo]

It's not the safest thing to do, ball milling aluminium. It can become rather pyrophoric upon opening the mill, and it can take a while to get the Al down to your desired size.

[Mumbles]

The issue is that ball milling will produce a flake type of powder, which isn't ideal for most glitters. I've seen formulas for some utilizing it, but I've never really experimented with them much. Atomized is really ideal for glitters, at least the ones I'm experienced with.

 

The stuff you have might be ideal for firefly effects, or comets as it is. Breaking it up a bit could make some nice streamers.

 

Ball milling it somewhat could certainly break it down. Maybe an hour at a time. Stainless media is ideal. I wouldn't try to get it too fine. Fine flake Al and atomized is too cheap to really worry about it. What you have could be interesting in comets, fountains, and waterfalls..

[Arthur]

Fine Al is retail! don't bother tho make it, let someone else worry about milling pyrphoric metals. However the more interesting comps use slightly bigger metals for streamers, firefly glitters etc. SO investigate what you cqn do and what it looks like in a comp.

 

Unfortunately very fww "Ali" metals are pure as used in engineering, because pure aluminium is soft and very ductile. Al is a good conductor of electricity some wire is pure aluminium.

[peedee]

The head material is likely a silicon alloy (up to around 16% Si) to improve it's flowability when casting. Other materials can be present in small quantities for differing properties. At a guess a head would be something like LM24.

[Swede]

I'm faced with the same sort of issues... I have a personal small machine shop, and it kills me to be dumping all this swarf, so I've started to keep it.

 

I think it is possible (but perhaps not the greatest economy) to take a block of scrap Al, set up a face mill like this one:

 

http://www.5bears.com/cncm1/p3_06.jpg

 

And tweak the feeds and speeds to generate as small a chip as possible. Dry cut, avoid coolants, and the material might be usable as-is.

 

Aluminum, Titanium, iron, almost all metals might be a candidate.

 

If the chips need to be cleaned of oils or coolant, they'd probably have to be soaked in some sort of solvent. Probably the cheapest would be mineral spirits, maybe followed by a light, brief washing in acetone or MEK, but the cost can add up.

 

While ball milling can be dangerous, I think the duration of the milling can be adjusted to prevent creating pyrophoric Al powder... halt the milling at a coarse mesh suitable for pyrotechnics. It might be worth a shot. But I'd definitely get the Al squeaky clean before attempting any milling.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Swede

[Ventsi]

What about putting the turnings and curls into a heavy duty kitchen blender to chop them up into smaller pieces, like a firefly grade Al.

Or are you after a fine Al powder, cause thats are super cheap right now. $4/Lb is a unbeatable price!

Edited August 11, 2009 by Ventsi

[Swede]

^^^ that is what sort of halted my own experiments. It's not cost-effective. But I think it'd be nice to know how (and if) it can be done, again anticipating that hideous day when powdered metals go the way of pseudoephedrine and acetic anhydride.

[inonickname]

I collect any swarth from the lathe/drill press. I sort it into materials (aluminum, steel, hi carbon, tool steel (yes, I have 6' of 2" tool steel rod), chromium (any use? Don't have much, turned from plating), PVC, nylon, zinc (from turning the outside of galv. metal)) and then sizes, coarse and fine.

 

Haven't used much, I do collect Al dust from the sander, get rid of most impurities and use it though. Not quick, but over time I ended up with a large container which will probably take care of any flash I will ever need.