finding magnetite

[rthmjohn]

Making thermite using magnetite produces a more intense reaction, so I'm told. I've been using hematite, which is a pain in the buttocks to make in large quantities, but I've heard that magnetite can be found in beach sand and is easy to extract with a large magnet. Can magnetite be found in the desert sand as well? If not, then why does it occur in beach sand?

[akcapr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetite :might help you

[H2SO4]

Yes i heard you can get it from sand using a magnet. I dont have anysand, so i just use purchased iron oxide.

[akcapr]

go to a beach and drag a megnet on a string across it. Try using one of those neodymium magnets =))

[Molotov]

try ebay

[jowrose]

yeah i just bought 4 neodymium magnets off ebay (holy crap, crazy powerful!) i went to a beach to test them out. in about 20 minutes i found over 2 pounds of magnetite. given, it's pretty impure so i'll have to refine it using the magnets again, but i'm pretty sure it will work in a thermite reaction.

[ffsjoe]

what size are your magnets? and how did you get the magnetite off the magnet? I tried it by having the magnet in a ziplock bag so the magnetite collects around magnet then I put it over another bag and took the magnet out of the bag so the magnetite fell off. Do you have a better method?

[jowrose]

They aren't that big; 2 x 1 x .25 inches. But i have 4 of them so i can combine them to make a more powerful magnet (given it is VERY hard to pull them apart afterwards...) Yes i tried using the bag idea but it didn't work very well. I had a weak ziploc bag and it just ripped when i would try and pull the magnetite from it. I'm sure it would be the most efficient way if i could find a strong enough bag. After the bag broke i just took two of the magnets and put a piece of string between them so they would hold it in place. then i just dragged the magnets accross the sand (no bag or anything) and when i had a sufficient amount i would peel it off into a bag. Not very efficient, and a pain to clean off the magnets at the end, but it worked.

[ffsjoe]

Yeah that what happend to me too. If one was determined enough they could build a strong electromagnet.

[latentheat]

I'm going to the beach in a few weeks, and I'm bringing my magnets, which ironically are magnetite magnets. I'm gonna collect tons of magnetite. It's great to get things for free.

[jowrose]

Yeah, i'm heading out to Michigan in a coupla weeks also; i'll bring the magnets and hopefully get at least 20 pounds of the stuff. I'm still working on refining the sand/magnetite i collected earlier. Anyone have any suggestions? I know that the magnetite particles are very small, so would mechanical separation do any good? with thin mesh or something? or should i only refine it magnetically?

[ffsjoe]

I was looking through united nuclear and saw that they had a neodymium magnet section and was reading down the page then I saw an insanely huge magnet. If you managed to get to a beach with that the magnetite would jump out of the sand very easily! http://www.unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm

[danny8522003]

What sort of things could you do with this Magnetite?

[Kermit]

I guess you make magnets. And besides, it's black and metallic. Of course it's going to look cool no matter where you use it.

[jowrose]

One can use magnetite in ferrofluids (do some research on internet- very cool mixtures) or in thermite. These are the only 2 applications i am aware of. Practical applications at least. Oh yeah, it's also the stuff used in etch-a-sketches i think.

 

holy crap ffsjoe, that's one hell of a magnet.

[ThermiteMan]

Aluminum is what is in Etch a Sketches. its VERY FINE aluminum powder combined with these small plastic balls.

[jowrose]

ahhh. yeah, my mistake. i'm confusing etch-a-sketches with those old toys where you use a magnet to draw stuff on a guy's face. his face is below a layer of clear plastic and there is a small amount of magnetite under the plastic. one would "drag and drop" the magetite using the magnet to make mustaches or beards or whatnot.

 

thanks for the clarification