Strange molten metal found on Columbia

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mountainmanny
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mountainmanny »

i am not pointing to the Mix n Match Pyro. Answer (nor ruling it out)....simply.. this could have been been accomplished in a multitude of fashions and with an array of materials. corrugated roofing from an old shack... a canteen.... ski pole....Jiffy Pop.....lightning...a fire...coleman lantern....lots of things are made out of it and many sources to produce the heat to molten it down.
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highpilgrim
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by highpilgrim »

Oldskool70 wrote:What I've read on these aluminum mixtures is you don't want to have a lot of friction or large amount of the mixture in general without having a MAJOR safety issue.
Not necessarily true. It depends on what the mixture is. An oxidizer by itself is not unstable even when combined with something else...it's the something else that makes it more or less dangerous. It's a little simplistic, but essentially we're talking about a version of rocket fuel. The intense heat created when it burns melts the metal fragments and metal casing, easily if it's aluminum or magnesium. Although with magnesium there would be less residue because the magnesium itself burns fiercely.

This isn't really as complicated as it sounds and you can do it in your garage. Unless you pic something stupid to mix in, like black powder, it's quite safe. Black powder, not so much :shock:
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MrFrumpylane
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by MrFrumpylane »

See this guy up there? You might have just missed something pretty epic.

Image
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mtnfiend
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by mtnfiend »

mountainmanny wrote:if it was iron.... being exposed on the mountain would have not allowed it to look like this.

I have mineral specimens in museums across the country that i personally have collected and I own a copper mine.

This is not a Native Mineral of any fashion.

There is No Formation, yes some mineral are botroidal, this is not one of them....

This is Slag! http://www.anagrammer.com/common/images ... l.slag.jpg
http://www.instructables.com/image/FMS9 ... e-slag.jpg
http://www.the-vug.com/vug/aluminum02.JPG

ALL ALUMINUM SLAG!

Here is $100. on it!
Sorry manny, you are correct, not all slags are pretty colored glass phases. I seem to have temporarily forgotten the experience and time I spent in a foundry melting and pouring aluminum can stock, cast irons, steels, and brasses. My bad. #-o

You own a copper mine at 23, huh?? Good for you. How do you go from that to web design?? Hiring any metallurgists?? :wink:
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PKelley
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by PKelley »

I am a forensic metallurgical engineer (weird job huh?). Send me the piece with what appears to be a steel threaded stud imbedded in it and I will tell you what it is and what likely happened to it. I will return the piece to you after I'm done.
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Waggs
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Waggs »

Oldskool70 wrote:It's actually heavier than it looks. It's now 15 years old without discoloration. Except for the machined part. which is brown now from oxidation. It is in this photo.

http://www.14ers.com/images/userpics/20 ... 5845_l.jpg

It's in the middle, a brown circler item, towards the top.
I took a knife to the glob and could not "shave it".

What I should have done was take a picture of the site before I picked them up. Oh well, lessoned learned in that aspect.
That "machined part" looks like an impression of (or embedded?) one of these:

Image

Also googled as: Malleable iron square socket pipe plug, but plugs in other materials exist (e.g. brass). So my unfounded speculation is that it was a fluid reservoir with a drain hole.

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Oldskool70
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Oldskool70 »

PKelley wrote:I am a forensic metallurgical engineer (weird job huh?). Send me the piece with what appears to be a steel threaded stud imbedded in it and I will tell you what it is and what likely happened to it. I will return the piece to you after I'm done.
PKelley- I plan on bagging some 14er's in your area of Lake City in September. Maybe I'll bring it down and take it to the Packer bar there for my pre-hiking dinner/beer & show ya' :-s
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PKelley
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by PKelley »

That sounds good. Shoot me a message when you know when you are going to be here.

PK
The Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity:
“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
happyhappyjoyjoy
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by happyhappyjoyjoy »

This is still baffling to me- I have seen something like this.....and it was an oxygen tank that had exploded. Does anyone use bottled oxygen on CO 14ers? Maybe someone had built a campfire, and set an oxygen tank in it until it blew up. That would be quite dangerous and stupid! That's my theory........
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caveman_ug
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by caveman_ug »

Matter of fact some people do use oxygen apparently. I found a cylinder abandoned at the base of dead dog couloir a few years ago. So an idiot and a litterbug.
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Matt
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by Matt »

caveman_ug wrote:Matter of fact some people do use oxygen apparently. I found a cylinder abandoned at the base of dead dog couloir a few years ago. So an idiot and a litterbug.
You seem to assume a lot in making a pretty unkind-sounding statement.
Are you advertising for this? http://www.dh.id.au/InfTest1.htm

Some really basic questions:
What if the person fell and were injured, thus unable to get this tank?
What if someone with COPD and stuck carrying an oxygen tank around had the day of his/her life just getting to the base of Dead Dog, but something you haven't thought of happened to prevent removal of the tank?
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larkinrx2
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Re: Strange molten metal found on Columbia

Post by larkinrx2 »

Matt wrote:
caveman_ug wrote:Matter of fact some people do use oxygen apparently. I found a cylinder abandoned at the base of dead dog couloir a few years ago. So an idiot and a litterbug.
You seem to assume a lot in making a pretty unkind-sounding statement.
Some really basic questions:
What if the person fell and were injured, thus unable to get this tank?
What if someone with COPD and stuck carrying an oxygen tank around had the day of his/her life just getting to the base of Dead Dog, but something you haven't thought of happened to prevent removal of the tank?


Matt,
I couldnt agree more.
Maybe we can jump to better conclusions like a crazy dentist backcountry skier who likes to huff nitrous while doing insane stunts. (disclaimer: went with dentist because, well you know statistics right)
What do you think I'm some kind of a jerk or something! - That's all I need the ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, and this magazine, and the chair and I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
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I don't need my dog.
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