Tarantula rims, Magnesium?

[dan@angband.org (STENDEC)]

On Tue, Apr 30, 2002 at 09:28:22AM -0700, Fenton, Shannon wrote:

> well as grinding a bunch of very large shavings form each rim. Putting
> the pieces on the shop floor resting in a nest of shavings we attempted
> to ignite them. Guess what. They don't burn. Why, because they are not
> magnesium. 
> 
> Don't think I tried hard enough? I got the torch out. No igniting. Still
> not trying hard enough? We soaked the piles in gasoline. Well the
> gasoline sure as hell burned but no bright white flames from the
> "magnesium".

You know, I've been reading this thread for a week now and biting my
tounge, but no more.  Most "magnesium" parts are not pure magnesium, they
are specifically alloyed to PREVENT combustion.  Think engineers are
stupid?  They don't want the rims to catch on fire if some moron
decides to drive around on blown-out tires. You want to know how hard it
is to get even a thin piece of mag alloy to ignite, read
http://www.simson.net/photos/hacks/cubefire.html

So anyway, even if the rims are mag alloy, I'm not surprised you
couldn't get it to burn.

Dan

-- 
Anyone who complains that they're getting laid too often for it to 
be cost-efficient really needs to have their head examined.

		-- Cameron Perkins