Powered Aluminum and other kinds of powered metals are often used by
movie studios for fire effects in some movies.I once worked at Metal
Trims Industries (a Division of Enryco in Ohio) here in Jackson for
about a year and a half back in the 1970's untill myself and some other
folks got laid off,I went and found me another job after I got laid
off,a better job too.The Company,Metal Trims Industries in Jackson went
out of business not long after that.I worked in the press department at
Metal Trims Industries.There were long round ingots of aluminium and we
used a metal cutting bandsaw to cut off whatever length of ingots as
were required for whichever paticular die was being used/placed into the
press at the time,many,many different dies we used there.There was an
electric heater built into the big horizontal press I worked at and a
hydraulic ram that pushed the heated up aluminum ingot through the
die.The aluminum ingots were extruded/pushed through the die and the
shape of the aluminum extrusions depended on whichever part number of
the dies we used in the press.It didn't take me long to learn how to use
a micrometer and jewelers files to keep the specifications of the dies
in proper shape/condition,sometimes I would have to use a ball peen
hammer and beat around on the face of the dies and file and file some
more untill I got those old worn out dies back into specifications,they
were a pain the ass sometimes,it was all part of the job.We always kept
a lot of sawdust scattered around on the floor area of the press because
sometimes the hot hydraulic fluid from the press would leak on the floor
and start a small fire and we used the sawdust to soak up the oil.You
couldn't be walking around on that crappy old concrete floor if it had
hydraulic fluid on there.I never actually saw any aluminum dust on fire
and burning when I worked there.
cuhulin