zenen1 Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 hey everybody! Im having a bit of trouble finding some magnesium. I live in vancouver (canada) so if there are any canadians out there who know of a place please tell!im trying to refrain from ordering stuf on the internet but if its the only way... i gotta do what i gotta do i guess. everyones input is apreciated!
oldguy Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 If you are looking for scrap Mg (to make Mg/Al), best bet is auto wrecking & scrap metal yards. If you want any sort of pyro spec grade Mg. I’m sure other Canadians can point you in that direction. Because I have no idea about the reg’s controlling pyro grade Mg sales & transport in Canada. In the US its easy to come by.
zenen1 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for the reply. im actually looking for powdered mg. i know in the u.s its very easily obtained but in canada its a whole different story. if there are any candians who know where to get powdered mg please post!
ausgoty Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for the reply. im actually looking for powdered mg. i know in the u.s its very easily obtained but in canada its a whole different story. if there are any candians who know where to get powdered mg please post! You should go for a long drive!
NightHawkInLight Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Powdered Mg isn't easy to get in the states either. It is extremely expensive to ship, so nobody sells it by mail anymore that I know of. I get mine via a personal contact. Come on down to an MPAG shoot and you can get more than you'll ever use.
DasSchaben Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Powdered? Aw, and here I was ready to talk to you about sacrificial anodes. You can buy it from within Canada, but it's kind of expensive.
Bonny Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Powdered? Aw, and here I was ready to talk to you about sacrificial anodes. You can buy it from within Canada, but it's kind of expensive. So are sacrificial anodes.As for powder, I've never used any, but it can be found.zenen,if you plan on pursuing pyro, you're going to have to learn to look harder and be resourceful.
zenen1 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 i am indeed planing on pursuing pyro. thanks for the words of wisdom. i have already been filing down a magnesium firestarter. but i must admitt it seems like a good idea at first, but it becomes extremly labour intensive. Thanks for all the help guys!
Ralph Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 mabey start with something other than magnesium work on bp first (in your other threads you state that you havent even got KNO3 )
Bonny Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 i am indeed planing on pursuing pyro. thanks for the words of wisdom. i have already been filing down a magnesium firestarter. but i must admitt it seems like a good idea at first, but it becomes extremly labour intensive. Thanks for all the help guys! The filings will not be fine enough for most uses, and yes, very labour intensive. mabey start with something other than magnesium work on bp first (in your other threads you state that you havent even got KNO3 ) Good advice. zenen, KNO3 is like the first building block, you can't get very far without it. Keep searching...it can be made too if absolutely needed.
DasSchaben Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 So are sacrificial anodes. Scrap sacrificial anodes (big blocks of Mg) are very inexpensive if you know where to look, but the OP doesn't need to worry about that right now.
NightHawkInLight Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Scrap sacrificial anodes (big blocks of Mg) are very inexpensive if you know where to look, but the OP doesn't need to worry about that right now.I'd like to talk more about this, though maybe it should be carried over to another thread. What other metals/materials may be used as a sacrificial anode? Graphite and lead if I remember correctly, how about aluminum/titanium? Or would that be avoided due to the insolubility of the Al2O3/TiO2, which would contaminate the chlorate? I would be willing destroy a block of inexpensive Mg depending on how much chlorate can be produced in the process. The same goes for Ti, of which I have 30lbs in the form of sheet metal. The Ti is much more valuable to me than Mg, but whether or not I would use it all depends on how much chlorate it could be exchanged for. I apologize if all of this has already been discussed in the (per)chlorate thread. It's such a pain to dig through a mega thread to find what specific subject matter you're looking for.
Mumbles Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 I think you're getting confused on what a sacraficial anode is. It has nothing to do with electrolysis in this case. They're attached to boats and in water heaters. They are more reactive than the metal you want to protect, so they get oxidized preferentially, keeping the more valuable pipes/boat hull/walls from being corroded. Generally zinc and magnesium are the only two things I've seen used in most cases.
NightHawkInLight Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 I think you're getting confused on what a sacraficial anode is. It has nothing to do with electrolysis in this case. They're attached to boats and in water heaters. They are more reactive than the metal you want to protect, so they get oxidized preferentially, keeping the more valuable pipes/boat hull/walls from being corroded. Generally zinc and magnesium are the only two things I've seen used in most cases.Haha, ah just ignore me.
Bonny Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) Scrap sacrificial anodes (big blocks of Mg) are very inexpensive if you know where to look, but the OP doesn't need to worry about that right now. In this case I don't know where to look. I've never heard of big blocks of Mg as sacrificial anodes and if they are indeed big, why would they be scrap, as obviously the have a lot of "life" left in them. Edited February 6, 2011 by Bonny
dagabu Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 Bonny, "big blocks" he is referencing are ones made for big boats. They weigh 20# or so. And they are certainly not cheap.
Ralph Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 large magnesium sacrificial anodes are not very common as Mg is only utalised in fresh water in salt water or brackish water zinc ones are used and there arnt that many very large freshwater vessels bigest Ive seen would weigh about 2.5kg and cost about $50
dagabu Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 Ralph, we have lots of 1000' plus vessels that visit us in Minnesota every year. They do indeed use Mg while in fresh water.
Ralph Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 I stand corrected if your in Australia you cant get much more than a model boat into fresh water
NightHawkInLight Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 large magnesium sacrificial anodes are not very common as Mg is only utalised in fresh water in salt water or brackish water zinc ones are used and there arnt that many very large freshwater vessels bigest Ive seen would weigh about 2.5kg and cost about $50Over in Australia I suppose you wouldn't have very large fresh water vessels. In the US however, we have the largest freighters in the world in the freshwater great lakes. They are larger than what can be used on the ocean because ships of that length couldn't handle ocean waves.
DasSchaben Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 Well, "big" in comparison with magnesium rod or turnings. I don't know about 20lb blocks. There's a photo at the bottom of this page: http://members.shaw....er/grinder.html Old zinc anodes are easier to find in the metalworking community. I'm waiting to hear back from various scrap metal resellers, but I'm planning to ask around at the scrap yards on Monday. I live in an industrial city on the lake. I'll be disappointed if I can't find cheap scrap or surplus metal in some form.
Bonny Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 Well, "big" in comparison with magnesium rod or turnings. I don't know about 20lb blocks. There's a photo at the bottom of this page: http://members.shaw....er/grinder.html Old zinc anodes are easier to find in the metalworking community. I'm waiting to hear back from various scrap metal resellers, but I'm planning to ask around at the scrap yards on Monday. I live in an industrial city on the lake. I'll be disappointed if I can't find cheap scrap or surplus metal in some form. I haven't seen that page in awhile... hopefully you can find a good supply og Mg. Many scrap dealers lump the Mg in with the Al. You might have to go down on site and have a look.
zenen1 Posted February 9, 2011 Author Posted February 9, 2011 Thanks for the advice. i have already aquired KNO3 and have fast bp. so i have bassicly made only things with bp based compisitions. But i wanted too look into some mg.
Peret Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Powdering up the magnesium is quite difficult. I read somewhere, can't remember where now, that in WW2 they had rooms full of men filing away on blocks to get powdered Mg for flares and incendiaries - very labor intensive. Then a machine was developed that used flailing wire brushes like file cards to abrade the blocks, and this produced much finer powders. I don't recall whether the article said this had to be done in an inert atmosphere.
oldguy Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 This is why I prefer 50/50 Mg/Al, simply because it is so brittle & easy to crush fine.Plus, it is easy & inexpensive to make yourself, so long as you are carefull about doing it.After a very short learning curve, I can make 15 or 20 lbs in a day, with ease now. Usually, I multi-task & make Mg/Al outside the same day I BBQ ribs, beer can chicken, a little pig or smoke a couple turkeys.That way I can tend to both, as I am outside anyway. My little 100 gallon size BBQ I built.
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