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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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REALLLL far out post this evening...
So me and a friend were chatting online about thermite.
I don't mean just any thermite. Apparently he has a bucket of rust lying in wait. A *five gallon* bucket. The kind of weighty bucket that your health insurance shudders to see you lifting with anything but your legs. We were talking about pouring something nice and weighty, like a small anvil. Which, ironically, is a rather *large* thermite pour. That's only half (well, three quarters) the problem, but assuming the requisite 25% aluminum can be found in a suitable form (powder, filings, swarf, maybe even bulk?), that just leaves the question of the metal. Well I know from experience that thermite metal sucks. It always seems to be brittle, I would guess from sulfur. A desulfurizing agent would be handy. Then assuming the rust itself is pure iron oxide, that leaves carbon and whatever the hell else it needs to make a happy chunk of metal. Now this is where it gets creative... we were thinking, to start, roast the rust up to about red heat, in open air, to drive off as much sulfur as possible. Then, at the bottom of the ignition crucible, a dash of magnesium, or since that'll make a horrible mess of flying molten iron, something saner like calcium silicide maybe. Any idea where to get that? It'll add silicon too, though that isn't a concern since I already have a few pounds of 75% ferrosilicon. Then there's carbon. Carbon doesn't dissolve quickly, AFAIK. I've heard of successful iron melts in *SiC* crucibles. Can't be too happy for the crucible, but apparently the iron goes through the ordeal indifferent. I could run the molten steel through a pack of coarse charcoal, but that doesn't guarantee *anything* about how much is going in and how much charcoal stays behind! Some manganese would be nice, but I have some MnO2 on hand that can be folded into the thermite charge to cover that dash of salt. To get an actually useful anvil, some other metals would be welcome additions, maybe some chromium, vanadium or molybdenum? From what? (I'm working on seperating chromium metal from stainless, but until that's done, I have some green Cr2O3 that can also be added to the charge.) Then 'cuz thermite is half slag, half metal, I thought a skimmer gate would be a good idea. But then, add some limestone gravel to it, think loose ceramic foam filter. The lime will be fired to remove that ever-so-evil sulfur, which will also make the lime soft and weak, but it should hold up, assuming it doesn't get swept into the mold anyways! Then because the charge will yield metal at about 4000°F, I was thinking, for the skimmer gate, have it open to air so it can radiate a bit before sloshing into the mold. And put ground charcoal, or ferrosilicon, or something in and/or on the mold to keep it from oxidizing too badly in the process. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, oh wait, no I'm not, I'm looking for comments! Tim P.S. Yes, video will be in supply if it comes to fruition! -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms |
#2
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Tim Williams wrote:
So me and a friend were chatting online about thermite. I don't mean just any thermite. Apparently he has a bucket of rust lying in wait. A *five gallon* bucket. The kind of weighty bucket that your health insurance shudders to see you lifting with anything but your legs. We were talking about pouring something nice and weighty, like a small anvil. Which, ironically, is a rather *large* thermite pour. That's only half (well, three quarters) the problem, but assuming the requisite 25% aluminum can be found in a suitable form (powder, filings, swarf, maybe even bulk?), that just leaves the question of the metal. Well I know from experience that thermite metal sucks. It always seems to be brittle, I would guess from sulfur. A desulfurizing agent would be handy. Then assuming the rust itself is pure iron oxide, that leaves carbon and whatever the hell else it needs to make a happy chunk of metal. Now this is where it gets creative... we were thinking, to start, roast the rust up to about red heat, in open air, to drive off as much sulfur as possible. Then, at the bottom of the ignition crucible, a dash of magnesium, or since that'll make a horrible mess of flying molten iron, something saner like calcium silicide maybe. Any idea where to get that? It'll add silicon too, though that isn't a concern since I already have a few pounds of 75% ferrosilicon. Then there's carbon. Carbon doesn't dissolve quickly, AFAIK. I've heard of successful iron melts in *SiC* crucibles. Can't be too happy for the crucible, but apparently the iron goes through the ordeal indifferent. I could run the molten steel through a pack of coarse charcoal, but that doesn't guarantee *anything* about how much is going in and how much charcoal stays behind! Some manganese would be nice, but I have some MnO2 on hand that can be folded into the thermite charge to cover that dash of salt. To get an actually useful anvil, some other metals would be welcome additions, maybe some chromium, vanadium or molybdenum? From what? (I'm working on seperating chromium metal from stainless, but until that's done, I have some green Cr2O3 that can also be added to the charge.) Then 'cuz thermite is half slag, half metal, I thought a skimmer gate would be a good idea. But then, add some limestone gravel to it, think loose ceramic foam filter. The lime will be fired to remove that ever-so-evil sulfur, which will also make the lime soft and weak, but it should hold up, assuming it doesn't get swept into the mold anyways! Then because the charge will yield metal at about 4000°F, I was thinking, for the skimmer gate, have it open to air so it can radiate a bit before sloshing into the mold. And put ground charcoal, or ferrosilicon, or something in and/or on the mold to keep it from oxidizing too badly in the process. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, oh wait, no I'm not, I'm looking for comments! Tim P.S. Yes, video will be in supply if it comes to fruition! -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms Well, I sure want to see the video.. sounds impressive. Wear your goggles.. John |
#3
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On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 04:56:34 -0400, JohnM wrote:
Tim Williams wrote: So me and a friend were chatting online about thermite. I don't mean just any thermite. Apparently he has a bucket of rust lying in wait. A *five gallon* bucket. The kind of weighty bucket that your health insurance shudders to see you lifting with anything but your legs. snip Tim P.S. Yes, video will be in supply if it comes to fruition! -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms Well, I sure want to see the video.. sounds impressive. Wear your goggles.. John Wear your aluminized quilted Nomex suit with the full hood and gold foil face shield, metarsal guard boots, and stand back. I've been in the same room with a graphite rod 2" dia. and 3' long at 2000 deg C, and the radiant heat load was surprising. I was 10-12' away. The guy pulling the broken rod from the furnace was wearing the above. Pete Keillor |
#4
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I'll watch for it in the 2005 Darwin Awards... /mark
Pete Keillor wrote: On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 04:56:34 -0400, JohnM wrote: Tim Williams wrote: So me and a friend were chatting online about thermite. I don't mean just any thermite. Apparently he has a bucket of rust lying in wait. A *five gallon* bucket. The kind of weighty bucket that your health insurance shudders to see you lifting with anything but your legs. snip Tim P.S. Yes, video will be in supply if it comes to fruition! -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms Well, I sure want to see the video.. sounds impressive. Wear your goggles.. John Wear your aluminized quilted Nomex suit with the full hood and gold foil face shield, metarsal guard boots, and stand back. I've been in the same room with a graphite rod 2" dia. and 3' long at 2000 deg C, and the radiant heat load was surprising. I was 10-12' away. The guy pulling the broken rod from the furnace was wearing the above. Pete Keillor |
#5
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Try a very small test batch. Work up to it. Thermite is pretty exciting.
Steve Tim Williams wrote: So me and a friend were chatting online about thermite. I don't mean just any thermite. Apparently he has a bucket of rust lying in wait. A *five gallon* bucket. The kind of weighty bucket that your health insurance shudders to see you lifting with anything but your legs. We were talking about pouring something nice and weighty, like a small anvil. Which, ironically, is a rather *large* thermite pour. That's only half (well, three quarters) the problem, but assuming the requisite 25% aluminum can be found in a suitable form (powder, filings, swarf, maybe even bulk?), that just leaves the question of the metal. Well I know from experience that thermite metal sucks. It always seems to be brittle, I would guess from sulfur. A desulfurizing agent would be handy. Then assuming the rust itself is pure iron oxide, that leaves carbon and whatever the hell else it needs to make a happy chunk of metal. Now this is where it gets creative... we were thinking, to start, roast the rust up to about red heat, in open air, to drive off as much sulfur as possible. Then, at the bottom of the ignition crucible, a dash of magnesium, or since that'll make a horrible mess of flying molten iron, something saner like calcium silicide maybe. Any idea where to get that? It'll add silicon too, though that isn't a concern since I already have a few pounds of 75% ferrosilicon. Then there's carbon. Carbon doesn't dissolve quickly, AFAIK. I've heard of successful iron melts in *SiC* crucibles. Can't be too happy for the crucible, but apparently the iron goes through the ordeal indifferent. I could run the molten steel through a pack of coarse charcoal, but that doesn't guarantee *anything* about how much is going in and how much charcoal stays behind! Some manganese would be nice, but I have some MnO2 on hand that can be folded into the thermite charge to cover that dash of salt. To get an actually useful anvil, some other metals would be welcome additions, maybe some chromium, vanadium or molybdenum? From what? (I'm working on seperating chromium metal from stainless, but until that's done, I have some green Cr2O3 that can also be added to the charge.) Then 'cuz thermite is half slag, half metal, I thought a skimmer gate would be a good idea. But then, add some limestone gravel to it, think loose ceramic foam filter. The lime will be fired to remove that ever-so-evil sulfur, which will also make the lime soft and weak, but it should hold up, assuming it doesn't get swept into the mold anyways! Then because the charge will yield metal at about 4000°F, I was thinking, for the skimmer gate, have it open to air so it can radiate a bit before sloshing into the mold. And put ground charcoal, or ferrosilicon, or something in and/or on the mold to keep it from oxidizing too badly in the process. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, oh wait, no I'm not, I'm looking for comments! Tim P.S. Yes, video will be in supply if it comes to fruition! -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms |
#6
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"Steve Smith" wrote in message
... Try a very small test batch. Work up to it. Thermite is pretty exciting. Yep, fun stuff: http://www.abymc.com/Video/Thermite.avi (That was with magnesium, about 70 grams total IIRC.) So, so far I have an extra vote for video (no problem there, I'd jump into the charge myself if I didn't have a camera on hand for this!), an extra cautionary note, and one vote for all out madness: but Mark, it can't eligible for a Darwin award if it's set off in the middle of a field, duh! ;-) I'm hoping I can save on fine aluminum and use wire and plate at the bottom. The ignited charge should burn through the plate and rust layers, melting them together as it goes and keeping it going just fine. For sure a 10 pound test will be done. Oh, any ideas where to get fluorospar? I'm thinking 10% to the charge will help it a lot. Tim -- Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms |
#7
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"Tim Williams" wrote in message ... "Steve Smith" wrote in message ... Try a very small test batch. Work up to it. Thermite is pretty exciting. Yep, fun stuff: http://www.abymc.com/Video/Thermite.avi (That was with magnesium, about 70 grams total IIRC.) So, so far I have an extra vote for video (no problem there, I'd jump into the charge myself if I didn't have a camera on hand for this!), an extra cautionary note, and one vote for all out madness: but Mark, it can't eligible for a Darwin award if it's set off in the middle of a field, duh! ;-) I'm hoping I can save on fine aluminum and use wire and plate at the bottom. The ignited charge should burn through the plate and rust layers, melting them together as it goes and keeping it going just fine. For sure a 10 pound test will be done. Oh, any ideas where to get fluorospar? I'm thinking 10% to the charge will help it a lot. Tim Chemical supply houses can get if for you if they don't stock it. It was a part of the flux I used to use to reduce high grade precious metal wastes. Makes a huge difference in the viscosity of your flux. Harold |
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