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peach
Bon Vivant
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Why are pencil sharpners magnesium?
When everything of a similar nature is aluminium?
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plante1999
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honestly i want to know , like you, why.
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psychokinetic
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Mine is made of Al.
I feel left out.
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found
the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.”
-Tesla
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condennnsa
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strong and superlight?
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Random
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Actually, I know only one company that makes magnesium pencil sharpeners. It is KUM from germany. I saw a lot more metal pencil sharpeners and those
are made from aluminium. I think it's not the problem in metal, they mostly use aluminium, but KUM uses magnesium because their pencil sharpeners are
worldwide known by that, even on them it's written magnesium. People think then it's something special, mostly those who don't even know what is Mg,
kids who sharpen their pencils think "Oh yeah, I have MAGNESIUM pencil sharpener, I'm cool!" Now I understand why they have bigger price though..
If you want to test pencil sharpener if it's made of Mg, just drop a little vinegar on it, it will start bubbling if it's Mg.
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a_bab
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The Mg pencil sharpener feels unbelievably light. Although originally covered in some protective (Ni?) layer, in time corrosion becomes obvious, the
sharpener slowly gaining the Mg color (blueish grey).
The first time I realised (some) sharpeners are made of Mg it was quite a revelation to me. It was like "hey, this surely looks like being made of Mg.
(scratch scratch). Let's do a vinegar test. EVRIKA!"
I have later discovered Mg to be used in especially in laptops, and some old mobile phones. It used to be for me a really scarce thing, but nowadays
it can be found everywhere. The chances are that anyone has at least a bit of magnesium in the house, and a lot in the car (kilos).
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Arthur Dent
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Quote: Originally posted by a_bab  | | The chances are that anyone has at least a bit of magnesium in the house, and a lot in the car (kilos). |
Interesting. Aside from the "mag-wheels"which are really a magnesium/aluminium alloy, where would one find Mg in a motor vehicle?
I'm starting to wonder where I could find magnesium in my own house. If anyone knows of unsuspected sources of magnesium in your house, please share
your info!
Robert (wildly scurrying around the house with an eyedropper-full of vinegar) 
--- Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. - Frank Zappa ---
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a_bab
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There are countless applications for Mg.
I dunno; there is a high possibility that your water heater has a Mg sacrificial anode.
The car can have many parts made of Mg. It's a Mg alloy, with 5% Al in general, but it will still do most of the tricks pure Mg does.
I'm uploading some books with pics concerning Mg use for everyday objects.
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cyanureeves
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i googled magnesium producers and guess who makes it cheaper and is biggest producer? china! u.s. has plenty of oil but the middle east can crank it
out cheaper. but honestly i thought it was just a europe thing.
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peach
Bon Vivant
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I thought it might be something to do with tradition with the pencil sharpeners. I can see the advert in my mind "Tired of having lumpy steel
sharpeners in your in your pocket? Ours weigh nothing!"
I know Ferraris have magnesium engine blocks, but I don't know what else in a normal car is.
[Edited on 19-2-2011 by peach]
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blogfast25
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Peach: when I first heard of magnesium pencil sharpeners I thought it was an old wives tale; it seems such overkill when Al would work just as well.
Yet it really true: quite a few of them are made from magnesium.
Perhaps someone made a silly mistake writing up a specification and the metal then just got stuck in that market somehow?
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a_bab
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OK; just uploaded 3 books on the ftp (UPLOADS folder). All the file names start with "Magnesium". They are the bible of Mg use in consumer objects.
Smash your TV and open your mind
Ferrari does not have Mg engine blocks, but VW Beetle (old models) does.
Audi A6, VW Passat, Fiat Lupo all have kilos of Mg in them. The parts are usually the gearbox and airfold intake. VW beetle has the engine block made
of 95% Mg, and it weights some 9 kilos.
http://www.google.com/images?q=magnesium+scrap
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peach
Bon Vivant
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You're right, it doesn't. I'm not much of a car guy. I had a read of the wiki's and it says some of the components are magnesium, but not the entire
block.
The Beetle's is? Also a made in Germany product. Smash your VW and have magnesium (or an angry VW fan*).
There's a video of a ferrari engine block being cast and finished here. Looks cleaner than my kitchen in there. The sand cores alone look amazing.
*A German friend of mine has a really old, very original and shiny Beetle, which he used as his ride when getting married. I don't think it even has
electronic indicators, just the paddles.
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condennnsa
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that video is beautiful, peach
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The WiZard is In
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| Quote: Originally posted by a_bab | | I have later discovered Mg to be used in especially in laptops, and some old mobile phones. It used to be for me a really scarce thing, but nowadays
it can be found everywhere. The chances are that anyone has at least a bit of magnesium in the house, and a lot in the car (kilos).
|
Years ago the local power company was replacing gas pipes
leading into the houses on my block w/ plastic covered pipe.
The pipe was welded to a wire coming from a large bag labeled
Magnesium ground electrode.
WOW Christmas has come early this year.
Wrong.
The Magnesium was magnesium sulphate epson salts.
Sigh.
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kmno4
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You reminded me that I have something freak : 1kg piece of cast Mg.
Price was not very big, about 25 euros/kg.......
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blogfast25
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Magnesium car parts date back to at least 1955: the fatal Le Mans crash in 1955 and resulting fire was exacerbated by the Mercedes containing high Mg
alloys which catch fire ‘easily’…
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psychokinetic
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If so called 'mags' are Mg with 5% Al, then are your wheels shat if you drive through a vinegar spill, acid rain, or other acid that may be on the
roads?
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found
the object of his search.
I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.”
-Tesla
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astroturf
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| Quote: Originally posted by psychokinetic | | If so called 'mags' are Mg with 5% Al, then are your wheels shat if you drive through a vinegar spill, acid rain, or other acid that may be on the
roads? |
Alloy wheels are not Mg, they are Al. I don't think any factory alloy wheels that are real mags.
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Arthur Dent
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I was under the impression that mags were made out of the "magnalium" alloy, but after few searches, I see that very few manufacturers still use that
alloy, having switched a long time ago to solid aluminium instead.
I stand corrected.  
Robert
--- Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. - Frank Zappa ---
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Magpie
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For about 25 years I had a Lawnboy lawnmower, which had a magnesium (or Mg alloy) deck. It was 2-cycle and very light, a pleasure to use. It looked
similar to this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56202158@N00/42886250/
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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peach
Bon Vivant
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The pedals on my bike are magnesium. But I'm not sawing them up. I also have a Raliegh Burner from the 80's, I'm sure some of you must remember them.
That one is presnapped after I took a shortcut down some stairs. Unfortunately, it's all steel.
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dann2
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Did I read somewhere (on this board) that a bold boy once set his friends pencil sharpener on fire!
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a_bab
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Higly unlikely. A large part of the sharpener must be melted first before having a chance to take fire.
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peach
Bon Vivant
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I tried that, with a blowtorch and roasting the corner of a pencil sharpener (well, the remains of one) for about a minute solid.
I wasn't expecting it had a good chance of going, but it did nothing bar melt a bit.
I think the large mass of metal is heatsinking too well to actually ignite. The same pencil sharpener cut up into chips will burn however.
[Edited on 20-2-2011 by peach]
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