SpudFiles

i am building a thermite rocket ( yes i know the dangers, blah blah blah don't post anything like that ) and have already built myself a ball mill out of an electric motar a soup can, marbles and a coffe lid. The only thing i am having troubles with is geting iron oxide ( AKA- iron rust ) i don't know wherei can get this in large quantities. any ideas for making it within a week aside from electrolices (s.p.?) and just salt water with a battery and thousands of cups with nails?!

also...i can't buy it, and wana make it.

plz help only if you are familiar with any of this. no dumb "whts this?" posts.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=thermite if u wana know here is a link.

<a href="http://www.bcvids.com/store/product_inf ... d=71">Link Finder saves the day again!</a>

OMG GOD THIS IS SOOOO DANGEROUS!

lol, jk.

anyway, your question. i think your best bet is to use electrolosis. it also occurs naturally, but that would be hard to find.

OMG....thanks for trying to help...but neighther of you did.....

1-i gota make it

2- i don't wana sit around and wait for nails to rust then wait for enough of them to do it to even use it.

plz....read the whole thing before you post...thanks for tryin tho

Ok, well you can get it from united nuclear. Do you really not want to have to buy it, or do you just really want to make it yourself?

You can find it here

It is about mid-page. It seems to cost a lot though.

You can also get a whole bunch here

http://www.skylighter.com/mall/chemicals.asp?Sort=I

I you are an adult and stuff, you should have no problem ordering from them. Just never, ever order m-80 parts or lots of flashpowder making stuff from them unless you have a BATF explosives liscence, and you have shown it to them. Look at their ordering policy.

Have fun

you can buy iron oxide from unitednuclear.com

would thermite really be powerfull enough to power a rocket? Wouldn't the nozzle melt from the high heat?

Ok, if you want to make it, you can use electolysis in a glass, then pour it out over a cotton rag or t-shirt. Even better, would probably one of those stretchy book covers. Let it dry, then scrape it off into a container.

I've not actually heard of thermite being used as a propellant... You've gotta admit, a rocket blasting into the sky raining down molten steel from it's exhaust is not really ideal...

Read here.

http://www.skylighter.com/mall/chemicals.asp?Sort=I

It is used as a catalyst for rocket compostions and stuff.

Do you have a grinder? Just get yourself some iron (old pipe from a scrap dealer will do just fine) and grind away.
Catch the grindings in a bucket of salt water and wait a day or so.
Stir occasionally. You may want to use a fish tank aerator to keep the O2 content of the water high.
Let the rust settle to the bottom and drain off the salt water. The orange sludge at the bottom is your iron oxide.
You'll probably want to rinse it with some fresh water and let it settle again. Do this a couple of times to get rid of the salt.

Once you're satisfied that the rust is clean, drain off the fresh water. Keep the sludge in a warm place to dry it out, then put it in your ball mill to break up any clumps.

There's your iron oxide in fine powder form.

Iron oxide as a catalyst is one thing but this is about packing a rocket with thermite as the fuel.

I have no idea if it produces enough gas to provide the thrust but I do know that I'd hate to be underneath something like that.

Oh woops, that is what I intended to say, not that thermite was use as a catalyst!!!

Good luck fining a casing strong enough to withstand the heeat produced my thermite, yet light enough to actually get off the ground. Thermite is not a good fuel mainly because, like hotwired said, molten iron will be spraying from the nozzle. And, on top of that, thermite is pretty heavy... don't use it.

make sure to get a launch pad that wont melt. also post when your done

you can buy red iron oxide from bcarms in the pyrotecnic section