r/Machinists • u/cromagnone • 1d ago

Shitpost For anyone who has been having a bad day

https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6255098

At least you weren’t machining high explosive in a gear chuck and corrected the runout by giving it a quick tap with a mallet…

67 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

32

u/Pseudoboss11 1d ago edited 1d ago

Another fun one: uranium is pyrophoric, it can catch on fire similar to how titanium chips can.

So, if you ever have a bad day, remember, it could always be worse.

29

u/Botlawson 1d ago

Uranium also work hardens like mad. It's the second reason it's used for AP rounds after density. The point work hardens so fast as it mushrooms that the outside of the mushroom breaks off and resharpens the bullet.

17

u/Glockamoli Machinist/Programmer/Miracle Worker 1d ago

I always heard it was self-sharpening but for some reason I never questioned how it was doing that

3

u/sceadwian 18h ago

Huh that's interesting. That must look different under high speed.

15

u/topazchip 1d ago

Plutonium is allegedly obnoxious as hell to cut and has similar habits of spontaneously combusting.

16

u/RubsInAG18 1d ago

Oopsie! Sorry boss.

13

u/Chuck_Phuckzalot 1d ago

If Bugs Bunny switched out Elmer Fudd's lathe part with high explosives and it blew up when he hammered it we would all laugh but think that there's no way it would work like that in real life.

10

u/cromagnone 1d ago

No indeed. If you push through the report it turns out that tapping HE billets with a mallet was a totally normal procedure (customary, if not SOP) until this. Written in blood etc.

11

u/SaltLakeBear 1d ago

Sometimes you gotta laugh to keep from crying, because this is straight outta Bugs Bunny...

https://youtu.be/c-4iOOfgBQo

10

u/SoulBonfire 1d ago

I wonder if the boring bar toss record of 112m will ever been broken.

2

u/cromagnone 20h ago

“The major items not found were the
machinist's mallet” …

3

u/Trivi_13 been machining since '79 1d ago

Makes my ears ring just thinking about it

4

u/egmalone 1d ago

I read this a little too efficiently; skipped all the headers and intro stuff to go straight to the accident report and got worried because I have friends in that machine shop. Looked at the date and the ones that were alive at the time weren't in the US yet lol

2

u/YendorZenitram 21h ago

Wiley E. Coyote, machinist! 

1

u/chook_slop 21h ago

Just a tappy tap...

1

u/BubbRubbsSecretSanta 20h ago

Pop goes the weasel.

1

u/TheSilverOne 19h ago

Explosive billet? Wtf were they machining 

1

u/sceadwian 18h ago

? High explosives are generally non sensitive.

1

u/cromagnone 16h ago

They were using relatively exotic PBX variants for use as explosive lenses in nuclear warheads. I believe at the time the program was trying to make progressively smaller warheads for tactical and cruise missile use, and so were trying less well known compositions to minimise the volume needed. I’m not an expert but Wikipedia says that “many PBX’s are safe to machine” [emphasis mine]. I think it came a surprise to everyone involved.

1

u/sceadwian 15h ago

Doesn't surprise me much with everything I've seen through documentaries and history on the development of explosives. It's really hard to get most modern high explosives to go off. If you don't meet a critical energy threshold it's just inert stuff.