There is currently an argument going on between the Naval Tankerman
Association and the Australian Navy over past use of Jason Pistols, used
for scouring paint and rust from ships. Apparently these tools used
vibrating rods coated with an alloy containing beryllium.

Here's a link. The article is about half way down the page.

http://www.rancba.org.au/QSO.htm

ignore the reference to beryllium being a heavy metal - they're only
reporters, after all. They've probably never even heard of 'light
metal', and anyway everyone knows that 'heavy metals' (eg lead, mercury
etc) are the baddies, don't they

rant OFF about reporters

Incidentally, from webelements.com

"Aquamarine and emerald are precious forms of the mineral beryl,
[Be3Al2(SiO3)6]."

Roger



Vaughn wrote:
"D Murphy" wrote in message
...

Ignoramus9970 wrote in news:d2joru$mmb
:


Someone is selling a few "beryllium copper rods".

BERYLIUM RODS (composition 1. 58 Bery; 0. 28 Cobalt; 0. 12 Nickel, and
other elements)7018, 7025(334), 7032(113), 7054, 7095. N658864267F302 55

ASTM, B196, C172 alloy (alloy 25)

Each bar is 24" long and approximately 2" thick (heavy stuff).

C172 alloy is described at

http://www.freedomalloysusa.com/be_co_f_r_p.shtml

Each rod should be approximately 30 lbs.

I am curious if these rods have any value at all, if so, what is their
use, and how much could they sell per lb.

i

BeCu is a fairly common alloy. You can be sure that there is some in your
house. I've machined loads of it, C172 cuts similar to 360 (half hard)
brass. It is used in RF connectors for the center contacts. It can be heat
treated and retains its "spring" so its ideal for making slotted and
crimped contacts. It's also used in fibre optic connectors, and as someone
else mentioned for non sparking hand tools. The amount of Beryllium in C172
is fairly low, and machining it is not especially hazardous.


Sorry, but that is old information. Low percentage beryllium alloys are
indeed dangerous. In the case of my wife, she was working with tiny castings, a
few of which contained beryllium up to a maximum of 3%. Her lungs are ruined
for life. There has been lost of misinformation on this in the past because:
1) There can be decades between exposure and symptoms. ("Been using the stuff
all my life and never a problem")
2) Most of the population is immune. (are you feeling lucky?)
3) Overoptimistic spin by the alloy manufacturers. (you can guess why)
4) Disinformation from the government (Lots of beryllium in nuclear weapons and
they needed workers during the cold war.)


To be on the
safe side it's best not to do any machining that creates dust such as
grinding and buffing.


Good advice, the amount of dust that is dangerous is invisible to the eye,
and it tends to hang in the air. It will go right through a paper filter mask.

Vaughn


A few years back there was a shortage of BeCu and

companies were paying big bucks for it. I'm not sure what the going rate is
for it today.

--

Dan