Small casting (alluminium) aty home.

[elcid]

Richard, It isn't the bikes that make one deaf, it is the wind noise in the helmets.... And usually it is only the "modern" riders who wear ear plugs. When the ear bones are worn with big gaps, it stops hurting. - What did you say? I can't hear over 8KHz... I can't hear soft sounds any more? - Sorry, I missed that?
And the constant whistle (like the TV used to make after midnight) is only there while I am awake... But at speed on the bike the wind noise drowns it out! Why is there a Government limit of 92dB at 70 mph for helmets? For a 6 hour ride it should be below 78dB! ear plugs may knock-off 1~3dB... And in the 70s, with very good helmets of that era, I could easily do 4 or more hours at the speed limit and not hear for 2 or 3 days afterwards...
Nuff sed.
K2

I road bikes for 50 years, started in a local farmers field aged 13 on a 350 matchless with no silencer, my last bike was a Yamaha 900 diversion, up until the late 70's all my bikes were unfaired, my triton was fast and noisy and ridden with no helmet, I can remember my work mate, Alan, coming in on Monday morning boasting that he had done the 'ton' flat out on his triumph up the M1. My Honda 4 would travel at 90-100mph down the autobahn for hours and still purr over like a new bike, my Norton Interstate Mk3 that was swapped for the new Honda would rattle like it needed something doing to it after the same journey.
I also served 6 years with a tank regiment, for fun, yep was fun. Standing up head out of the turret in the days before helmets the noise from a chieftain tank in full flight was deafening, we did wear ear defenders on the ranges though, today I wake up to birds singing and stand outside my back door in the evening listening to the birds singing, the resident Blackbird sings to his partner who is usually some way off and can hear her very clearly.
Only after retiring have i started to use 'ear muffs', a grinder seems really loud, my band saw cutting thin sheet is also too loud.
Some noises do annoy though, those toy radar guns and my neighbours radios during the day, are they all that deaf

I have in the past successfully stopped the noise from a fish farm that is two miles across the water from our house emitting a whine 24/7 and their lights shining across the water like search lights now have covers that prevent light spillage.

But there are other things that I notice, we have a small one way road below our house and on a calm day with the windows open I can smell a smoker walking down the road while paint and solvent fumes need a mask every time.


Melting metal reminds me of my younger days as an apprentice compositor, we had to melt the type and pour it into moulds easy and safe when shown the right way but you always get the smart guy, "watch this he said one day as he went to pour the molten metal into a cold damp mould!
I was out of the door before he even tipped the big ladle, needless to say the company was advertising for an apprentice the next week.

 

[SmithDoor]

Back in 1970's I purchased 1 ton of aluminum it true out to be Magnesium. I had over 200 pounds of Magnesium on fire.
You put out Magnesium fire with sand after a hour hunting no computer or internet in 1970's.

Dave

This is very interesting, I guess it is all due to a "fluxing effect" where the metals do not chemically join to form compounds but they dissolve to form alloys.

Whilst on this subject, another metal to be avoided is Magnesium. Alloys of Magnesium, often with a really high Magnesium content, are sometimes used in automotive parts and can be fairly easily confused with Aluminium alloys.

The effect of accidentally introducing Magnesium into your melt can be highly dangerous. Magnesium can burst into flames which are almost impossible to extinguish. and can even explode.

If in doubt test a small piece by heating it to melting with a blowtorch.

Best Regards Mark

 

[L98fiero]

Back in 1970's I purchased 1 ton of aluminum it true out to be Magnesium. I had over 200 pounds of Magnesium on fire.
You put out Magnesium fire with sand after a hour hunting no computer or internet in 1970's.

Dave

It has to be dry sand, when going through the orientation working underground the supervisor had a magnesium igniter wire that was used to clip into the fuse for the dynamite. When he was explaining how to not handle it because the heat generated could ignite it, he demonstrated that a magnesium fire is reactive enough to dissociate the oxygen from water by lighting the wire, dropping it in a ditch of water and drilling mud and stepping on it with his size 14 boots, the wire burned under his boot and out the other side. If the sand is even damp it won't work.

 

[SmithDoor]

It has to be dry sand, when going through the orientation working underground the supervisor had a magnesium igniter wire that was used to clip into the fuse for the dynamite. When he was explaining how to not handle it because the heat generated could ignite it, he demonstrated that a magnesium fire is reactive enough to dissociate the oxygen from water by lighting the wire, dropping it in a ditch of water and drilling mud and stepping on it with his size 14 boots, the wire burned under his boot and out the other side. If the sand is even damp it won't work.

It was summer and everything is dry and some luck.

Dave

 

[skyline1]

I had over 200 pounds of Magnesium on fire.

That sounds like a terrifying experience, 200 pounds of it is no minor fire It's a full blown Incendiary Bomb !

he demonstrated that a magnesium fire is reactive enough to dissociate the oxygen from water by lighting the wire, dropping it in a ditch of water and drilling mud and stepping on it with his size 14 boots, the wire burned under his boot and out the other side.

I believe it can do the same with Carbon Dioxide so CO2 Extinguishers won't work either.

Best Regards Mark

 

[SmithDoor]

Sand is the best to use or buy a Class D Fire Extinguishers .

Class D: Metal fires involving magnesium, sodium, potassium and sodium-potassium alloys

Dave

That sounds like a terrifying experience, 200 pounds of it is no minor fire It's a full blown Incendiary Bomb !



I believe it can do the same with Carbon Dioxide so CO2 Extinguishers won't work either.

Best Regards Mark

 

[master53yoda]

I have had a number of small mag fires in my processing furnace mostly "Audi" rocker arm covers. If it is during the initial melt I pull them out and dry sand them. if it is after I have a melt pool formed I pull out what I can and submerge the rest into the melt pool, It quickly forms an alloy with the aluminum and the fire extinguishes. I separate the pour and test it to see if it is to far out of spec for the metal I sell, if it is I use it for my own casting. I also have a customer that will take it if I have more then I can use. On my first fire it melted a hole down through the bottom of my furnace. after that I researched how to ID It. Now if an Item feels to light, I cut a bead off it and light it on some refractory if it ignites it is mag if it melts it is aluminum. There are other ways to test but that methods is fool proof.

The automotive parts that are mag that I now of are, Audi, rocker arm covers and oil pans, chain saw and weed eater motors, Some B&S connecting rods,
most GM transfer cases, and racing anything parts need to be tested. I have never found mag pistons. also VW air cooled engines.

Art b

 

[L98fiero]

The automotive parts that are mag that I now of are, Audi, rocker arm covers and oil pans, chain saw and weed eater motors, Some B&S connecting rods,
most GM transfer cases, and racing anything parts need to be tested. I have never found mag pistons. also VW air cooled engines.

And Pontiac Fiero engine cover vents, they won and award in 1984 for the best innovative use of Magnesium but they had some other engineering issues that kind of countered the value of the magnesium castings.

 

[IC-man]

Reminds me of quite a few yeas ago I had a car yard and during the colder days, we'd lit a fire in a large dustbin.
One day (just to see what would happen) I threw an air cooled VW crank case in. I didn't know about magnesium.
Anyway it sent us running as burning incendiary bits rained down. I learnt a good lesson that day.

 

[awake]

They tested hair of Beethoven and found that indeed, he had lead poisoning. They thimpfk he drank the water at one of the baths (bad or baden) in Deutchland.

Did you hear about the partially erased sheet music they found in the tomb with him when they did that testing? Apparently there was a lot of debate about exactly what it signified - whether a work that he found lacking, or the work of an enemy, or so on. But finally they settled on the answer.

It seems that Beethoven was de-composing.

(running for cover ...)