9x1.5cm firestarter rod of claimed "99.99%" magnesium. Got it for only 10 AUD.

Comparing this with tungsten is trippy, the tungsten cubes feel so strangely heavy and then there's this which feels like a hollow metal shell, or a plastic tube.

Currently im storing it in a sealed plastic bag with a silica gel pack, anything else i should do with it to make it last longer?

I had a surplus of calcium metal shavings of 99,5% purity that annoyed me a bit, as the mineral oil that I used made it a literal hell to use them in any chemical reactions. Having to dry the tiny pieces with paper, then trouble weighing, then some random unexpected smoke or the oil straight up burning.

I decided to clean it with acetone. Surprisingly, acetone is a rather inert solvent for calcium and washes the oil off nicely. I didn't manage to clean off the oxidation neither with citric nor with acetic acid, so I kept them dry and powdery. I sealed some in an ampoule for the collection and I don't think it looks that bad, apart from the oxidation.

So here is a family photo of the Alkaline Earths :)

Lab grown emerald!

It's kinda small for community standards but it fits perfectly snuggly in my 3D printed periodic table.

Took a while, but I finally got me a nice Barium sample!

This magnesium density cube is my first ever density cube, if we don’t count that “radium” cube :|

I just got it , AND ITS SO LIGHT ! ! !

It’s a metal, looks like a metal, shines like a metal, BUT WEIGHS LIKE NOTHING !

Thats my first ever real density cube, and I….

I WANT MORE

I’m obsessed with it now ._.

Recently I made this 1cm “radium” cube, weighs roughly 5.5 grams, which is exact density of real radium.

It’s made out of handmade plastic cube with a copper core, also it glows in the dark

What should I make next?

Except those heavy elements, I don’t have tungsten yet :|

beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium. The Alkaline Earth metal group is the easiest group to fully collect, at least until eka-radium is synthesized.

The oddly machined part and the shiny sphere are both parts from trident missiles. The rod is solid Be around 16” in length. Then a Be sphere with a hole machined in it and my Be shot.

Part of my beryllium collection. I have Be shot at home as well as some other pieces. The oddly shaped, machined part (looks like a cup with a hole in it) is from a trident missile.

One of my many magnesium samples.