sepehr1 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) Hello I've recently wanted to use magnesium for stars and some other stuff, but couldn't find anything under 300 microns so I decided to buy that 300 micron powder and mill the powder. I know it's an unstable metal, and you shouldn't mill it, but I also don't know how to keep it safe from exploding while milling, any advice? Edited April 1 by sepehr1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Swede Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 The risk is not while milling, but when you open the lid and atmospheric oxygen comes in contact with ground metal powder without its usual oxide coating. An instant fire and even explosion can happen, and have happened several times, if the lid is just removed! Be sure to wear several ply cotton, leather gloves and a visor or at least protective goggles! Slightly open the lid, to only let in a small amount of air, close it again and wait for at least 20 min. Repeat a number of times, the larger mass of powder the more number of aerations is needed to slowly oxidise the fresh metal surfaces until the acute pyrophoricity is tamed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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