Gilded Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 1kg of Fe2O3:Al thermite, in an approximately 75:25 ratio in a steel pan, done on 31st of December. In this case, accompanied by a cheerful song known as DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames. Btw has anyone tried mixing barium nitrate with thermite to make "thermate"? I might try it if I ever get my hands on some Ba(NO3)2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj47 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Very nice, great choice of music aswell Dragonforce are awesome! Could you expand on the 'thermate', I have a fair amount of slightly impure barium nitrate from barium carbonate that I'm willing to experiment with. I've also been experimenting with copper thermites recently with varying success. As expected most are not as impressive as Fe2O3/Al with the exception of CuO/Al and CuO/Zn which burn unexpectedly fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 Hmm apparently many conspiracy theorists believe that thermate was used at WTC... Anyway, basically the only reference to the composition of the mixture itself I've found is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermate Judging by a few other sources, it seems like it was used quite a lot in WW2 in incendiary grenades so I guess it's rather potent but ignites more easily than plain thermite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguine Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 what would you use to ignite it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity517 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I believe the very popular method is magnesium strips, though there's not really an insanely good way to do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 How fine must my aluminium powder be and how do I get it so fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I too would like to know how fine the aluminum must be for it to work well. I'm thinking I might try some CuO +Al. We've got some random copper laying around... And I think some Al too. I'll have to check, But whats the best way of grinding the Al to an acceptable size? Would a ball mill(steel balls) work? or would that just take FOREVER? Thank you, -Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Anyone? Anyone have any ideas as to how to make the powder or fillings "easily" at home from steel or copper? Thanks, -Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane_alien Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 it violates forum policy(and probably some international laws) to tell you how to produce hazardous materials. and besides, it all depends on scale. if the scale is large enough the aluminium can be in solid chunks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Ok thanks insane_alien... never did think of that.. opps.haha It wasn't going to be big at all. So solid chunks will not work... that, I do know. I JUST found a file at home. Never knew we even had one. So I might try that. -Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imp Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Anyone? Anyone have any ideas as to how to make the powder or fillings "easily" at home from steel or copper? Thanks, -Randy Powdered metals, not turnings or filings, are typically made during very high temperature processes in kilns where the vaporized metal deposits out on the walls of the kiln and is scraped off when cooled. This fact can be found in many texts and informational directories. This process is darned near impossible to achieve by the home chemist. imp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Ok... I knew that powdered metals where often used but I had no idea how it could be made at home. I figured it would be possible for such a method as turning metal to vapour or gas and "freezing" it in air, however, impossible at home . And I didn't know if you could use filings or not. But thank you for your responds. -Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Skeptic Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 You can always file it or grind it with a wheel, but you would need an inert atmosphere if you didn't want it to oxidize. Maybe grind it in a box and fill the box with nitrogen (eg by pouring liquid nitrogen on the bottom and letting it evaporate). Huge amount of contamination, but if you're going to burn it anyhow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Well I was going to make copper thermite. Which I know I need Cu2O or CuO so the inert gas would be unnessary because I was just going to heat it up till it was CuO since I believe thats easier to make(just heat it till it turns black). However, the aluminum I don't know if it would need sheilding gas or not... Steel "sparks" as it is being ground down so I know oxidation is occuring, but with Aluminum, these sparks do not occur. Does this mean it is not being oxidized ? So are you saying that filings and grindings are acceptable? Thanks, -Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Skeptic Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Aluminum nearly instantly forms an airtight oxide coating. This will at the very least make it much harder to light, and consume some fuel. Filings should work, but will be harder to light than powder and might not burn as good. I've heard of using a strip of magnesium to light thermite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverspeed Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Magnesium is a good option because it lights as soon as its temperature goes up. And should light anything nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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