OK, so I needed to make a light, large hammer this weekend (maul for the
"High-striker" used at our firemans' picnic). We went through the
thought process of what kind of wood to use that wouldn't split like the
old one had, and finally ended up with aluminum as our material of
choice.

I had a chunk of cast aluminum just about the right size, but the only
marking on it was stamped in, with "G072" (that's a G, clearly stamped
into the casting). It was about 4.5" diameter, rough casting.

It turned _beautifully_, made it into a maul head 4.040" diameter by 7"
long, mounted that to a ring made from 4.040" I.D. pipe with a length of
tubing for a handle. Works great. But:

What the heck does "G072" mean in the context of cast aluminum? I
didn't want to use it for something where it's characteristics were
critical, so this was a perfect use for it. But, have I just wasted a
really nice chunk of something exotic, or does that number mean nothing
to anyone else also? For what it's worth, it turned beautifully and
didn't have any porosities that I found.

....and it makes a hell of a hammer...

Dave Hinz