Strange idea

[Xtramad]

I have two big bags of thermite which a workcrew on the railroad forgot to take with them after they'd been welding some tracks.
I've had them for years but I've never really had any use for it until I got this strange idea some weeks ago.
If you buried a large diameter carboard tube in the ground and filled the bottom of it with black powder or some other low explosive then filled the remainder of the tube with thermite and ignited the thermite it might make a very interesting sight as the melted down to the explosive. I havn't had any sucess with lighting thermite, is there any other way than magnesium strips which will work, I have magnesium alloy sheets but when I try to hammer it flat it just cracks.
Anyone want to try this or give me advice on how to light it?
Any high temperature combustible that will work maybe?

[DarkAngel]

If you do what you described above nothing special will happend.
You could have find it by using the search engine.
Anyway Thermite can be ignited with blackpowder if the partical size is small enough but a mix of KNO3/AL/Suger will definitely ignite your thermite.

<small>[ June 23, 2002, 06:26 AM: Message edited by: DarkAngel ]</small>

[Xtramad]

Nothing special you say?
A pool of molten iron coming in contact with a confined charge of black powder would be interesting to see.
Would make great fountain of sparks but could probably not be used for anything useful.

[SATANIC]

you say you are going to light the thermite first?

that would (when the blackpowder ignited) propel a large lump of molten iron into the air. while spectacular, i see no practical use for it. possibly try it anyway, as a pyrotechnical delight. keep in mind that if you get any molten iron on you, you'll know about it.

to light the thermite, just use a sparkler, or a wind / waterproof match (with the long heads) they burn plenty hot enough to ignite good thermite (which yours should be if it is commercial stuff. )

[mongo blongo]

I use crushed up sparkler powder with added Mg powder. I then cast it using acetone into cilinder shaped blocks. I then use match heads dissolved in water to put an "easy to light" blob on top of the blocks. These never fail to start the reaction. I'm still having problems to make the thermite burn completely. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

[Xtramad]

The chemicals I have at hand are saltpeter, smokeless powder, magnesium, aluminium, titanium and titanium hydride.
Any recipes come to mind that will produce high enough temperatures?

[mongo blongo]

Have a go at mixing your smokeless powder with your magnesium. Dissolve the SP in acetone and then mix in the Mg powder.

[kvitekrist]

I think sparklers wil do just fine! what about a redglowing pice of metall, would that ignite the thermite?

tell me more about those bags of thermite!

[Xtramad]

A red glowing peice of steel could probably do the trick but then I would need something to heat the steel like a oxy-acetylene flame which would in itself be enough.
The thermite is made by elektro thermit of Germany.

[MacCleod]

I always use strobes to ignite thermite (the kind used in the states to celebrate the 4th. of July).They work great,and cost next to nothing.

[xoo1246]

This has been discussed a million times and every time I say:
Mix some aluminum in ordinary BP and there you have your starter.

[kanbayat]

comercial thermite igniter is a mix of 2 parts barium peroxide and 1 part magnesium powder by weight.
as mentioned above clorate/sugar will do it as will flare igniter. tear apart a flare and get the black stuff out(clorate and antimony trisulphide).. this can be helped along by black powder if needed.
mix of P. permanganate,nitrate or sodium dichromate can be used to ignite it as well,but you need somthing to ignite those mixes.try using aluminum tubing for a thermite incendery. simply seperate the igniter from the thermite with tissue paper and seal the ends with water putty(durhams rockhard)..these make pretty spectacular thermite fire bombs ..especially if thrown in water after lighting the fuse. youre simply making a device that looks like a fat firecraker with a fuse in it..impressive ..indeed.

[Harry]

Not much for history, are we?

You're replicating the failed demonstration of Bessemer's steel process--hooked a blast furnace airpipe to the bottom of a steel melting crucible (several tons of molten steel), and blew air through. Oops, no one told the workmen to provide a slow airflow; the blast of air sent the whole load into the night sky, giving a spectacular fireworks show.

So, I concur with those who say you project will result in a pretty display, and little else.

Harry

[Xtramad]

Thanks for all the replies and suguestions, I'll get around to testing this idea soon.
I'm still busy designing and constructing submachine guns and hope to be finished soon with some DIY e-books on the topic. I have noticed that much of my postings on that subject have been lost, I'll update you all when I've made some more progress.

[Ron McDonald]

My thermite igniter is so simple it is funny, and they are ever legal to carry, road flares. For a quick and dirty igniter cut the top 2 inches off the top. Strontium nitrate is the base, and burns very hot. If that does not work try liquid oxygen, it will burn anything.

[kingspaz]

and how many people have tanks of liquid O2 lying around? use your brain.

[zaibatsu]

A welder would Kingspaz

[a_bab]

...BUT not liquid...

[Energy84]

But by the time it gets out of the tank, it's a gas...

[a_bab]

Let's make this clear:

There are LOTS of gases which are stored in gaseous form under presures like 150 atm or even more, like O2, H2, N2. These gases cannot be liquified by the means of presure because of theire critical temperature. This means that at a given critical temperature of lets say 20 degrees C, a gas cannot exist in liquid state over this temperature. If is liquified under this temperature and exposed to a higher temperature it will simply boil causing the explosion of the tank.

The phisical state of the substances which are around us including chemical elements is simply given by the temperature and the presure on this planet. Playing with these will cause the transition between these states. On Titan (a sattelite of the planet Saturn) there are nitrogen and methane oceans because of the very cold wheather <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

SO the oxygen stored in tanks is in a gaseous form even highly compressed. The liquified gases are some hidrocarbures (methane, ethane, ethene, etc), clorine (it liquifies at 6 atm), and others.
The liquid oxigen is very cold and is not used for welding !

[Energy84]

Aww crap. You're right. I was thinking of propane. I handle 100lb propane tanks all the time and I can tell you that there is definately some liquid in there.