5 replies to this topic

[D2K]

I set about making thermite a couple of weeks ago, i wanted to make the whole thing from scratch, just to see if i can.

Im fine with the chemistry, its as basic as it gets i guess... its more the practicality im having trouble with.

I started making the iron oxide, an a salt solution, hooked up to a dc powerpack (i found 2-6V works best... any more and it started to over heat, and at 12 it blew a fuse

any way, so i dissolved a few nails, and got what i beleive to be Fe204, that i then reduced to Fe2O3 (in a sauce pan heh heh). just incase u were wandering, 2 4 inch nails make rouchly half a film canister of iron oxide.... not the quickest of methods, ill grant u that... but it was fun.

i bought the magnesium from the net, ebay as it happens, i couldnt see any way around that.

Its when i got the the aluminium powder that i have the problem...

i have plenty of aluminium... but no way to get it fine enough... i dont thing that just filing it down will be any where near as fine as i need....

i will buy it if i have too... but id rather not... lol...

can anyone tell me how fine it needs to be?

and if u have any methods ... how to make my aluminium fine enough..

Any way, thats enough of that.

As u may have guessed, this is my first real attempt at ne thing like this... so cut me some slack lol, n00b terms only please



cheers

D2K

[dfk]

'D2K'...origional,..name has a ring to it, not quite sure why?

Try some sand paper.. ya just sand down your favorite soda can, its thin wall makes for an easy source of high grade Al, the darker the can the darker the AL.
So much cheaper than buying it.

Marcus

[Stuart]

Search the forum as well. Cant see this topic lasting long once one of the mods or admins gets their hands on it, been discussed before.

Stuart

[adamw]

http://www.ukrocketr...ghlite=thermite

[thewildething]

Hey D2K,
I make quite a lot of thermite and have found that you really do need a bit of fine Al to kick-start the reaction, I normally fill a flowerpot with 'coarse' thermite, (very fine rust but 10-30 mesh Al flakes), then scrape a hole in the middle and fill this with fine thermite, 200-400 mesh Al and rust with the consistency of flour. Stick a sparkler or Magnesium in it and cover the fine thermite with more coarse thermite and it lights well 9 times out of ten.
I get 10-30 mesh Al for free from a local factory who just throw it out anyway, mill a bit of it up to about 200-400 mesh to use as a 'kick-start' and use the rest 'raw' (sometimes with mixed crap like wood and PVC from the factory floor, gives a good plume of white smoke ).
I like the coarse stuff better because its easier to make and is slow burning, produces a long reaction.
Do you have a ball mill??, if so then metal milling media will pummel down aluminium to dust in around 24-48 hours (depending on the mill and the size of the aluminium pieces before milling), then aluminium filings (sort of sand sized) will work as long as you create enough heat with the fine Al to begin with. Its like lighting a fire, you try lighting logs straight off and it aint gonna work is it? but start with small sticks and tinder and its easy, then from that you can light the bigger logs. Spend a bit of time getting some very fine aluminium, the rest does not have to be so fine, it gives a slower burn but thats fine by me .
Rust is really easy to get and mill down really fine so you shouldn't have any problems with that. So yes, filed aluminium is fine enough to react, but not fine enough to light straigh off, you will need fine aluminium some way or the other and then you are away!

Marcus.

p.s. if you are milling aluminum, only mill a few hours at a time then open the drum for a few minutes, dont mill for 2 days solid, a nasty suprise may await you when you do open it. Safety is paramount.

[BigG]

Members! please search before starting new thread with same subject names as one that was opened before!!!

Richard? Any chance for a merge on this one?