During WWII, Fisher Body became Eastern Aircraft. My dad had to move from Baltimore to Memphis as his work duties were different. Fisher Body constructed wings for the B-25 and the B-29 at this plant, plus some other sub assemblies. My dad told me they had a large band saw bolted to the floor that was dedicated to magnesium and it had a sign "For Magnesium Only" posted on it. I was told that daily there would be a small pile of the dust built up from being used throughout the day. The labor force was hard pressed for people and the company hired any able bodied person and taught them their job and many were illiterate. Some new employees had never wore shoes and Fisher Body purchased large tennis shoes for them to wear at work. One day, someone cut some steel on the band saw. The pile of magnesium dust ignited and the fire could not be extinguished. My dad told me that it was big, bright white and hot. It was so hot that when it burnt out, only the bolts holding the saw to the floor were distinguishable, everything else had melted. No business, home shop or DIYer is prepared to put out a fire, much less a magnesium fire. The Air Force taught me that dry iron filings will extinguish it Who has enough dry iron filings kept around for such a purpose? They cannot be oily or rusted. Water only makes it worse due to hydrogen and oxygen. Best you know before striking that arc so thank you for the vinegar tip.
Interesting topic, thank you. I'm going to strongly agree with ss boot, the canned and repetitive music is a distraction at best and makes it harder to listen to the narration.
No one seems to talk about tungsten or filler rod or machine set up. I dont need to watch videos of people laying beads im looking for info on welding magnesium.
Information about welding magnesium is hard to come by. Here is what I have learned. Welding set up is similar to aluminum but does not require as much amperage. I use an E3 electrode either 1/16" or 3/32" diameter. On really thin Mg and outside corners, I will use an 0.040" E3 electrode. Most sheet products are AZ31B. Castings will likely be similar. There are three basic different filler rods AZ61, AZ92 and ZK31. There is also AZ101. AZ61 is the most common one to use. ZK31 is used on high Zn content castings. The electrode is held extremely close to the weld puddle. Don't worry about dipping the electrode into the weld puddle. It doesn't act the same way as aluminum. Miller has a TIG welding calculator on their website that will give you the welder settings for different thicknesses and weld configurations. Using chill blocks is helpful as backing for the welds. Be careful with dust and shavings. Vacuuming your weld/cutting area afterwards is a good idea. When welding Magnesium, if the electrode is held too far away it will tend to etch the parent metal on either side of the weld bead. Clean Magnesium the same way that Aluminum is cleaned prior to welding. Magnesium filler rod is quite expensive although if you are doing enough you can buy in larger quantities and save on the per lb price. Fillet welds use smaller filler rods than butt welds do. Good luck with it and hope this helps.
During WWII, Fisher Body became Eastern Aircraft. My dad had to move from Baltimore to Memphis as his work duties were different. Fisher Body constructed wings for the B-25 and the B-29 at this plant, plus some other sub assemblies. My dad told me they had a large band saw bolted to the floor that was dedicated to magnesium and it had a sign "For Magnesium Only" posted on it. I was told that daily there would be a small pile of the dust built up from being used throughout the day. The labor force was hard pressed for people and the company hired any able bodied person and taught them their job and many were illiterate. Some new employees had never wore shoes and Fisher Body purchased large tennis shoes for them to wear at work. One day, someone cut some steel on the band saw. The pile of magnesium dust ignited and the fire could not be extinguished. My dad told me that it was big, bright white and hot. It was so hot that when it burnt out, only the bolts holding the saw to the floor were distinguishable, everything else had melted. No business, home shop or DIYer is prepared to put out a fire, much less a magnesium fire. The Air Force taught me that dry iron filings will extinguish it Who has enough dry iron filings kept around for such a purpose? They cannot be oily or rusted. Water only makes it worse due to hydrogen and oxygen. Best you know before striking that arc so thank you for the vinegar tip.
Fascinating... I didn't think you could weld magnesium. Great info 👍
Good video, but the music is annoying as heck.
Interesting topic, thank you. I'm going to strongly agree with ss boot, the canned and repetitive music is a distraction at best and makes it harder to listen to the narration.
Can Mg be DC tig'd?
Where did you get the meachine torch holder?
Which everlast machine did the guy weld it with?
This was done with the Typhoon230
It can be weld of aluminum filler rod?
No.
Maybe I missed it, but is this done with AC or DC?
Hey i read ac was better.
If you tried welding, how did it go for you?
Im almost wasnt here because of magnesium rims lighting up in a car fire. Back in the olden day before volunteer fire department issued bunker pants.
No one seems to talk about tungsten or filler rod or machine set up. I dont need to watch videos of people laying beads im looking for info on welding magnesium.
Information about welding magnesium is hard to come by. Here is what I have learned. Welding set up is similar to aluminum but does not require as much amperage. I use an E3 electrode either 1/16" or 3/32" diameter. On really thin Mg and outside corners, I will use an 0.040" E3 electrode. Most sheet products are AZ31B. Castings will likely be similar. There are three basic different filler rods AZ61, AZ92 and ZK31. There is also AZ101. AZ61 is the most common one to use. ZK31 is used on high Zn content castings. The electrode is held extremely close to the weld puddle. Don't worry about dipping the electrode into the weld puddle. It doesn't act the same way as aluminum. Miller has a TIG welding calculator on their website that will give you the welder settings for different thicknesses and weld configurations. Using chill blocks is helpful as backing for the welds. Be careful with dust and shavings. Vacuuming your weld/cutting area afterwards is a good idea.
When welding Magnesium, if the electrode is held too far away it will tend to etch the parent metal on either side of the weld bead.
Clean Magnesium the same way that Aluminum is cleaned prior to welding.
Magnesium filler rod is quite expensive although if you are doing enough you can buy in larger quantities and save on the per lb price.
Fillet welds use smaller filler rods than butt welds do.
Good luck with it and hope this helps.
Dump the music. Please