I have been trying to make some thermite for a while now, and I haven't had much success. I have tried using iron oxide and that didn't work. then I tried using manganese dioxide, also without success. I'm pretty sure I have the right proportions for each of the corresponding oxides, but it just isn't working. I am using magnesium ribbon to light it.The aluminum I am using is the byproduct of me trying to cut a block of aluminum with a hacksaw (best way I have available to cut it) and there is a lot of aluminum powder that is being made. But i'm not sure if it is fine enough to be effective. I don't have an etch-a -sketch so that's not an option. I know that it has to be fairly fine grained, but how small do the particles need to be?FOR EVERYONE WHO IS GOING TO TRY AND TELL ME THAT MAKING THERMITE IS DANGEROUS OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES......DONT!!!!!!!!.......... IM NOT GOING TO LISTEN SO SAVE YOURSELF THE TYPING AND ME THE READING
In 35+ years of demonstrating the thermite reaction, I have used fine aluminium powder to quite visible small bits. The proportions don't seem too critical, but try and keep near the amounts represented by the balanced eqtn. The difficult bit is getting the wretched stuff to ignite. With some mixes several strands of magnesium ribbon as fuse still wouldn't get it to ignite. I found a pile of 'ignition powder' at the base of the Mg often helped. There was a good commercial one available in the UK but I often made one up, main ingredients barium peroxide and magnesium powder, about 50/50. Needless to say, ignite with this mix where you won't breathe any nasty fumes. To get a good result, if I didn't use a proper crucible, I shaped one of Al foil about the capacity of 2-3 eggcups. This was put on sand in a big coffee tin, then more sand added to fill round the sides. This would give a good amount of iron. I once made the mistake of rushing in too quickly to get out the red hot iron.... and completely melted the ends of a large pair of Nickel tongs!
