🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <118.UUL1.3#666@vortex.COM> lauren@vortex.COM (Lauren Weinstein) writes:
>Greetings.  While going through some socket specs the other day, I noticed
>that the contacts were spec'd as "beryllium copper".  Unless memory
>fails me, I seem to recall that beryllium is a horribly toxic substance,
>and extremely carcinogenic.

	I don't think it's carcinogenic, but beryllium metal is 
(unlike many familiar metals) NOT ductile.  If you hammer it or
scrape it, it makes dust (not flat pieces or shavings), and 
beryllium dust is very toxic if inhaled.

	Beryllium copper is a high strength bronze (only a few
percent beryllium), and IS ductile.  A normal machine shop can
work beryllium copper, and the only essential precautions are
against getting a shaving in a cut (which is a common problem
for a LOT of metals).  Disposing of waste after machining is
the only problem I am aware of (we use beryllium copper for
a lot of low-temperature apparatus here).

	Normal handling of beryllium or beryllium copper does
not expose one to any toxic danger (unlike lead, for instance,
which is soft enough to rub off on one's skin).