[xichanceix]

Not sure if anyone can help me out. I'm looking for some Be parts. Made from stock, if you can find it. Simple milling job with .dxf file provided. Need 2 disks made. If you can find a round of Be (I can't seem to lay my hands on any), I can work with any size. Will need to be cut and cleaned (for a lid application) then milled out with structure, so CNC is preffered. Can anyone help me?

In the Tampa FL area if your local. Will provide phone contact for more personal dealings. Thanks!

Ross

[dgapilot]

Beryllium is highly carcinagenic. Be very carefull when machining this stuff!

[ImanCarrot]

Yep, the old guys who used to machine it at our old place had strange eyes- like blueish cataracts- one sure sign of Berylicosis (sp?). And that was WITH face masks and extraction.

[xichanceix]

Yep, the old guys who used to machine it at our old place had strange eyes- like blueish cataracts- one sure sign of Berylicosis (sp?). And that was WITH face masks and extraction.

Thanks for the warnings. Beryllium gets a pretty bad rap for this quality. Unfortunately, it's other unique properties lead experimental science to it everyday. I wouldn't want to turn it or mill it by hand, hence my desire for someone with a CNC machine to do while they are safely out of the room.

ImanCarrot: your avatar is a hoot, I love it.

[ImanCarrot]

Cheers mate

hmmm... how about sub- conning it to China?

The quality of the material may not be the best *coughs* (read as "crap"), but they dun care about health and safety.

Why has it gotta be Beryllium? I'm assuming 'cos of the strength to weight ratio? An alterantive could be Duarluminium (Duraluminum for our Amercian friends), which is an aluminium alloy heat treated and aged over a few days to be stronger than it should be.

Unless the Beryllium is being used as a neutron reflector which, erm, is not a particularly nice thing... as in big explosions... *shakes her head and peers intently at the monitor*.

[der_fisherman]

Berylium is highly poisonous when worked, even more so than Titanium I am told!!
I think that you should use something else light and strong if at all possible.
Also Berylium is hard to source and very expensive I believe.....
Regards
Andy

[xichanceix]

Cheers mate

hmmm... how about sub- conning it to China?

The quality of the material may not be the best *coughs* (read as "crap"), but they dun care about health and safety.

Why has it gotta be Beryllium? I'm assuming 'cos of the strength to weight ratio? An alterantive could be Duarluminium (Duraluminum for our Amercian friends), which is an aluminium alloy heat treated and aged over a few days to be stronger than it should be.

Unless the Beryllium is being used as a neutron reflector which, erm, is not a particularly nice thing... as in big explosions... *shakes her head and peers intently at the monitor*.

Well, I really didn't want to have deal over seas for just one part, and a pretty simple one at that. Be is pretty dangerous if your doing it every day, but this is a very simple single application. The largest wall I appear to be hitting is sourcing the stuff in the first place. I'm not doing anything nuclear with it *shakes head and laughs*. I just need the lightest possible metal. When I say light, I mean minor mass and atomic structure. Be is rather unique that way. Hence the lock down I suppose.

I'll do some research on Duraluminum and see if it'll work for a trial application. Do you have a ready source of Duraluminum? I may be able to do initial testing with just a tube of it, assuming the walls can be pretty thin. Thanks.

[ImanCarrot]

And, various Security Forces would probably be more than just a little interested in any company machining Beryllium.

Not to put a to fine a point on it... it can lower the fissionable mass needed to make nuclear explosions (Disclaimer: this is all on the public domain).

Here, isn't November the 5th just round the corner?


[Edit] Here's some stuff if you dun beleive me. Straight from the UK's Governmental "Control of Susbstances Hazardous to Health" site (COSH).


How can it get into your body?

The most important problem is breathing it in. But,it can also get into your body by:

-Skin or eye contact with soluable salts of beryllium or as swarf from metal or alloy.

-Repeated exposure to Beryllium and its compounds can cause long term lung disease. This develops gradually after a period, which can be anything from a few weeks to many years.

etc, etc, fatal lung disease, cancer etc, etc, .. you better be getting paid flipping well if you're machining this stuff!

[bmartin]

Ross,

I think we can help you out. I'll send you a PM with the contact info.

Bernie

[jptech]

Try calling Brush-Wellman in Cleveland, Ohio. They supply Be. Also, check on Mold Max Be. It's not as bad to work with as the "old" stuff welds nicer too! Mold Shops use it all the time because of it's heating and cooling properties. It's not hard to get, try a local mold shop.-------------jp

[spock]

By "be" do you men "BECU" as in berr. copper? I have 5 inch bar ends laying around from mold work I do, it is mold max high hard. about an inch thick. This stuff is pricey per pound and milling it can be a little tough, but I might be interested if the size is what you need.

[jetski]

The trade name of the stuff now is called Mold max. DME and Crucible Steel will sell it. It is supose to be a kinder genteler BeCu. Hope this helps, Oh and we will cut it for you if needed in a cnc. The guy above me stole my thunder. So me Mr Obvious will go back to sleep.

[ImanCarrot]

Ah, I thought he meant machining pure Be, not BeCu. I've machined BeCu and monitored the emmisisions, it seemed ok.

The Copper Development Agency (CDA) will provide you with more accurate Health and Safety info on BeCu.

[cdlenterprises]

Pure berylium is extremely rare. Don't confuse it with Berylium copper like most people do. I've machined both and they are completely different materials. In the US, it is considered a strategic material due to its "unique" properties and is closely monitored by the Pentagon. To my knowledge, there aren't many shops in the US that are certified to machine it. Brush-Wellman is the only US source for pure berylium and the lead time is pretty lengthy - to the tune of several months vs weeks. It's also not cheap. We purchased a piece once that was 22"x 13" x1.25 thk and it cost $42,000.

The material itself, as it sits on a workbench, is harmless. What causes the beryliosis(spelling?) is years, and years, and years of breathing in the dust caused by machining it. We used a vacumm close to the tool to capture the berylium dust. I've heard that if you use coolant, it will also capture the dust but now the coolant becomes hazardous waste and becomes extremely expensive to dispose of.

After saying all that...I would look for another material

:cheers:

[der_fisherman]

Most of your reply fits in completely with my knowledge gained when working for a large US computer company, that used Berylium for certain light weight items on Tape drives.
But on one point I beg to differ, that is about exposure - the breathing in of ANY of this metal as a a dust for example, will seriously affect your health, maybe many years later.......
No exposure to this metal when turning, boring or screwing or forming of any type is best. As it is very difficult to know what is too much, or when or why.....its therefore simply better to have nothing to do with it in the first place.....