Advise for Galvanized Steel

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by yash101

I will have to agree with that. It scared me when I read, "you will get zinc poisoning by welding galvanized steel" because this is a type of steel. Many times, you will find steel welded, like in cars. I will have to agree with MrBasse that aluminum is much better on FRC robots. Unless the part is a very important structural part, like a climber hook, make it out of Aluminum. Not only is Aluminum less dense, but it has a greater corrosion resistance, because it is already aluminum oxide, at least on the outside. As long as space isn't an issue, aluminum will help you work through the metal and strengthen where needed and weaken where needed, because you need three times the amount of steel!

I am just wondering: would machining any of these materials cause any problems? Will there be any fine and dangerous dust in the air that could harm you? This is one of the reason why I am scared of machining (other than zombie machines coming to life and attacking us).

This discussion is not about steel in general, it is about steel that has been specifically Galvanized. Though I would not recommend inhaling any kind of metal (or wood or plastic for that matter). You are obviously not going to die while being in the same room as a metal being machined, as all of us are still living (though only by satisfying our addiction to robots). Also, steel is heavy (EDIT: dense) it does not form dust very well.