Update:
WOW!
Holy crap! ifter two more attempts this evening i got a working mixture, and wow, i was so impressed, that was alot of fun
BUT i have an important point to raise;
The chemisty would dictate that for the optimum reaction the desired ratio would be 1:2.07 Iron to aluminium.
With this ratio, although id did burn, it was neither very fierce, nor did it produce much molten iron, it produced a very 'bubbly' slag interspersed with metal 'blobs' (i will post pictures of the results from the three tests if anyone is interested...).
So i tried another ratio, with more Iron, as i figured the aluminium didnt have enough iron to react with (an incorrect assumption it would seem, and looking back on it, that seems obvious now )
So the secont mix was 7:11 IronOxide to Aluminium. This was more successful than the first, but wasnt great, and produced a slag with bigger 'bubbles' Averaging 7mm instead of the previous 2mm.
At this point, i thought, 'What have i got to loose?' and decided to go the other way, so i mixed it up as 8:3 That being 8 parts IronOxide, to 3 parts aluminium.
The results were, needless to say, spectacular, and the reaction was many times brighter and more violent than the prvious attempts, even though i was using about 1/2 the amount of thermite.
Can anyone shed any light as to why this is? when all reason would suggest it should have been the other way around....
Like i said, if anyone is interestd i will post pics of the resulting 2 piles of slag and 1 wonderful ingot of pure iron
Next up, binders! Ive read that sulpher is a suitable binder, but that would involve heating it in the oven, and im not sure that would be a spectacular idea, i dont have access to a lab, so beleive me, this is very much basement science!
Still, onwards and upwards!
Ill keep updating this thread with my progress, its a good way of collecting my thoughts if nothing else, so even if you dont find this remotely interesting, it serves some useful purpose to me
bed time now, be back soon
James