Getting Hands-On with Magnesium for a Little Car Project
So, things got kinda slow a while back. You know how it is, stuck looking for the next thing, too much time on my hands. Started fiddling around in the garage more. Always liked building stuff, small things mostly. Got this idea stuck in my head about making a really lightweight little remote-controlled car chassis. Not buying one, you know, actually making it.
First thought was aluminum, obviously. Everyone uses aluminum. But then I remembered reading somewhere about magnesium. Lighter than aluminum, they said. Sounded interesting, maybe a bit exotic for a garage project. Honestly, I didn’t know much about it, other than it burns bright, like in those old camera flashes or fire starters. Figured I’d give it a look anyway. What else was I gonna do?
Finding the stuff wasn’t like popping down to the hardware store. Had to look online, found some small blocks and sheets meant for machining or something. Wasn’t cheap, mind you, but I wasn’t building a spaceship, just needed enough for a small frame. Ordered a couple of pieces, waited for them to show up.
When the package arrived, the magnesium felt weirdly light. Like, surprisingly light for metal. Okay, step one, check. Now, working with it. I’d heard you gotta be careful, the dust can be flammable. So, I took it easy.
- Cutting: Used a slow speed on my bandsaw, kept things cool, vacuumed up the dust right away. No sparks, thankfully. It cut pretty easily, softer than I expected.
- Shaping: Filing and sanding were straightforward too. Again, kept the dust situation under control. Didn’t want any surprises.
- Joining: This was the tricky bit. Welding magnesium? No way, not in my garage. Decided to go old school with small machine screws and tapping the magnesium itself. Drilled the holes slowly, tapped them carefully. Seemed to hold okay.
Managed to piece together a basic chassis. Just a flat base with some uprights for the motor and axles. Bolted on some standard RC wheels, a small electric motor, battery holder, the receiver. Nothing fancy. Compared it to a similar sized aluminum frame I had lying around – yeah, it was definitely lighter. Noticeably so.
Took it out to the driveway for a test run. It zipped around pretty quick! The lightness definitely made a difference in acceleration. Seemed a bit more fragile maybe, but it held together. Ran it for maybe 15-20 minutes, crashed it into the curb a couple of times (oops). Bent one corner slightly, but managed to bend it back.
So, the magnesium car thing? Yeah, I did it. It worked. Was it revolutionary? Nah. Just a different material. Kind of a pain to get and gotta be mindful of the fire risk when working it. But it was light, and it was something different to mess with when I needed a distraction. Probably won’t build another one outta magnesium anytime soon, too much hassle for a little toy car. But hey, I tried it. Now I know.
