rthmjohn Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Making thermite using magnetite produces a more intense reaction, so I'm told. I've been using hematite, which is a pain in the buttocks to make in large quantities, but I've heard that magnetite can be found in beach sand and is easy to extract with a large magnet. Can magnetite be found in the desert sand as well? If not, then why does it occur in beach sand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akcapr Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetite :might help you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2SO4 Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 Yes i heard you can get it from sand using a magnet. I dont have anysand, so i just use purchased iron oxide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akcapr Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 go to a beach and drag a megnet on a string across it. Try using one of those neodymium magnets =)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 try ebay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowrose Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 yeah i just bought 4 neodymium magnets off ebay (holy crap, crazy powerful!) i went to a beach to test them out. in about 20 minutes i found over 2 pounds of magnetite. given, it's pretty impure so i'll have to refine it using the magnets again, but i'm pretty sure it will work in a thermite reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffsjoe Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 what size are your magnets? and how did you get the magnetite off the magnet? I tried it by having the magnet in a ziplock bag so the magnetite collects around magnet then I put it over another bag and took the magnet out of the bag so the magnetite fell off. Do you have a better method? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowrose Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 They aren't that big; 2 x 1 x .25 inches. But i have 4 of them so i can combine them to make a more powerful magnet (given it is VERY hard to pull them apart afterwards...) Yes i tried using the bag idea but it didn't work very well. I had a weak ziploc bag and it just ripped when i would try and pull the magnetite from it. I'm sure it would be the most efficient way if i could find a strong enough bag. After the bag broke i just took two of the magnets and put a piece of string between them so they would hold it in place. then i just dragged the magnets accross the sand (no bag or anything) and when i had a sufficient amount i would peel it off into a bag. Not very efficient, and a pain to clean off the magnets at the end, but it worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffsjoe Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Yeah that what happend to me too. If one was determined enough they could build a strong electromagnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latentheat Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I'm going to the beach in a few weeks, and I'm bringing my magnets, which ironically are magnetite magnets. I'm gonna collect tons of magnetite. It's great to get things for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowrose Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Yeah, i'm heading out to Michigan in a coupla weeks also; i'll bring the magnets and hopefully get at least 20 pounds of the stuff. I'm still working on refining the sand/magnetite i collected earlier. Anyone have any suggestions? I know that the magnetite particles are very small, so would mechanical separation do any good? with thin mesh or something? or should i only refine it magnetically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffsjoe Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 I was looking through united nuclear and saw that they had a neodymium magnet section and was reading down the page then I saw an insanely huge magnet. If you managed to get to a beach with that the magnetite would jump out of the sand very easily! http://www.unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny8522003 Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 What sort of things could you do with this Magnetite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 I guess you make magnets. And besides, it's black and metallic. Of course it's going to look cool no matter where you use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowrose Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 One can use magnetite in ferrofluids (do some research on internet- very cool mixtures) or in thermite. These are the only 2 applications i am aware of. Practical applications at least. Oh yeah, it's also the stuff used in etch-a-sketches i think. holy crap ffsjoe, that's one hell of a magnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThermiteMan Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Aluminum is what is in Etch a Sketches. its VERY FINE aluminum powder combined with these small plastic balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowrose Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 ahhh. yeah, my mistake. i'm confusing etch-a-sketches with those old toys where you use a magnet to draw stuff on a guy's face. his face is below a layer of clear plastic and there is a small amount of magnetite under the plastic. one would "drag and drop" the magetite using the magnet to make mustaches or beards or whatnot. thanks for the clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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