crazywhiteguy
April 30th, 2008, 08:56 PM
My father and I have been experimenting with chemistry for a few years and have had quite a few successes. I'd like to add my most recent experiment to the list.
Materials used:
I used the electrolysis of a piece of scrap iron plate stock to get about 500 grams of Iron Oxide. I used a home-made crusher that I have not yet found a name for, to bring it to an extremely fine powder. The aluminum was made from filings from a piece of aluminum rod I had from a failed rocket attempt. At first the aluminum shavings I got was very coarse. I managed to solve this problem by moving to a finer toothed file and using an improvised mortar and pestle to bring it to an acceptable quality.
Tools used:
A mortar and pestle made from a shot glass given to me by an ex girlfriend and a handle of my father's old drill press. I also used the crusher mentioned above that I made out of a plastic melatonin container that had been emptied the day before and a string of heavy steel beads that I bought for another project that had an excess of materials. Some other tools used include a wide variety of files, a 2ampere cordless drill charger, and the usual disposable margarine containers.
Procedure:
The materials were created then mixed in several batches that varied in proportions (1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 2:1, and 4:1.) I gave them another run through the mortar and pestle to get the substance a bit finer before ignition. Each pile was ignited.
Results:
The 1:1 pile reacted quite well. 70% of it burned and the rest was covered in slag afterwards. The 1:2 iron oxide/aluminum was the best looking. It shot sparks and lit up my whole backyard. The others didn't react quite as well as these two.
Problems faced:
The first problem I found was making the aluminum powder. I couldn't get the shavings fine enough. I solved this by moving on to a smaller and finer toothed file. This did provide finer powder but not to the quality that I hoped for. Another problem was that I had trouble igniting the powder. At first I thought that the flame of a propane torch would be hot enough to light it. I was sadly mistaken. In the end I used a mixture of smokeless powder and a crushed sparkler mix that could be lit by a cigarette lighter (or even the cigarette) to get the reaction started.
Future improvements:
If I ever feel the need to once again conduct this experiment, I would most likely buy a commercially available product even though the point of this was to prove that I could do it with only basic and readily available tools and materials. I would also light the substance with an oxyacetylene torch to assure proper and efficient ignition
Questions to the community
What’s a good DIY way to make aluminum/magnesium powder in a very fine mesh in the area of 800-1000? Was there anything I should have done that I missed?
Look forward to my write up on my bolt action rifle made from Ramset cartridges and home-treated/tempered steel.
Materials used:
I used the electrolysis of a piece of scrap iron plate stock to get about 500 grams of Iron Oxide. I used a home-made crusher that I have not yet found a name for, to bring it to an extremely fine powder. The aluminum was made from filings from a piece of aluminum rod I had from a failed rocket attempt. At first the aluminum shavings I got was very coarse. I managed to solve this problem by moving to a finer toothed file and using an improvised mortar and pestle to bring it to an acceptable quality.
Tools used:
A mortar and pestle made from a shot glass given to me by an ex girlfriend and a handle of my father's old drill press. I also used the crusher mentioned above that I made out of a plastic melatonin container that had been emptied the day before and a string of heavy steel beads that I bought for another project that had an excess of materials. Some other tools used include a wide variety of files, a 2ampere cordless drill charger, and the usual disposable margarine containers.
Procedure:
The materials were created then mixed in several batches that varied in proportions (1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 2:1, and 4:1.) I gave them another run through the mortar and pestle to get the substance a bit finer before ignition. Each pile was ignited.
Results:
The 1:1 pile reacted quite well. 70% of it burned and the rest was covered in slag afterwards. The 1:2 iron oxide/aluminum was the best looking. It shot sparks and lit up my whole backyard. The others didn't react quite as well as these two.
Problems faced:
The first problem I found was making the aluminum powder. I couldn't get the shavings fine enough. I solved this by moving on to a smaller and finer toothed file. This did provide finer powder but not to the quality that I hoped for. Another problem was that I had trouble igniting the powder. At first I thought that the flame of a propane torch would be hot enough to light it. I was sadly mistaken. In the end I used a mixture of smokeless powder and a crushed sparkler mix that could be lit by a cigarette lighter (or even the cigarette) to get the reaction started.
Future improvements:
If I ever feel the need to once again conduct this experiment, I would most likely buy a commercially available product even though the point of this was to prove that I could do it with only basic and readily available tools and materials. I would also light the substance with an oxyacetylene torch to assure proper and efficient ignition
Questions to the community
What’s a good DIY way to make aluminum/magnesium powder in a very fine mesh in the area of 800-1000? Was there anything I should have done that I missed?
Look forward to my write up on my bolt action rifle made from Ramset cartridges and home-treated/tempered steel.