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High-Performance Blades Sharing ideas for getting the most out of our steel. |
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#1
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Tougher to get aluminum powder now
I was going to post the supplier I use to buy aluminum powder. They had the best prices for it. Before posting the website I wanted t double check the prices. It was no longer listed so I emailed them.
This is their reply: material-resource.com Brent. Thanks for the email. Unfortunately, we no longer stock aluminum powder. We have had a number of issues with selling the product due to increased governmental pressure to watchdog those who are purchasing it. If you are using aluminum powder for applications other than pyrotechnics etc, I would be happy to suggest other products that may work as an alternative. Thanks. William You can use other powdered metals for thermite but the prices are extremely high. High enough that it negates any savings that you would get by using thermite in the process. The bigger problem is that these metals can also be used for making explosives and if the pyro's can't get aluminum powder they will just switch to the other metal powders. then before you know it those will impossible to get also. Several months ago I tried to warn everyone that this was going to happen but so few people use thermite to smelt that nobody seemed to care. You can always make your own aluminum powder but it is very tedious. the above company sold it for $7 a lbs if you bought a 25 Lbs bucket. That is very cheap compared to making your own. |
#2
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__________________ Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade. "Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall But steel - cold steel is master of them all. Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936) |
#3
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It is still available but the Consumer Product Saftey Comission is threatening alot of suppliers with civil action if they continue to sell it. One by one they will stop and don't be surprised if Ebay stops allowing it to be sold to. They have a habit of caving into any type of threat from anyone.
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#4
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is it actually powder or just fine slivers like saw dust, if its saw dust maybe you could talk to an aluminium window maker. My dad has about a square metre(9sq Ft ish) sitting under his saw, so i assume others do too. i know my dad would gie it away free if any one were to offer to clean it up for him.
brett __________________ Brett Holmes. Australian knife maker extraordinaire |
#5
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I have used aluminum bandsaw cuttings for thermite and it has worked but it is not the optimal size. It will always be available just like cocaine but it will cost alot more then it should.
I don't know about the rest of you but I get pretty tired of the government always trying to protect me. Here is a list of the restricted oxidizers and "fuels". http://www.unitednuclear.com/regulations.htm Last edited by B.Finnigan; 11-13-2006 at 05:47 PM. |
#6
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Brent,
I wish I had known about this site earlier- this is great! I've read your posts on other forums with great interest. Anyway, regarding the aluminum supply problem, for those that can get ahold of some magnesium, magnalium could be a solution. If you aren't familiar with that term, it's a magnesium/ aluminum alloy (50/50) that works for thermite and is not too difficult to make at home (I did it anyway) and the best part is that it is very brittle and can be broken up and ground very fine in a mortar and pestle. Another benefit is that it will ignite easier than straight aluminum. I haven't used it for thermite yet but I know that it works. Of course, the mixing ratio would be different, I'll see if I can resurect some chemistry skill and try to figure it out and post it here if I haven't lost that ability. Here are some links to making magnalium: http://www.mbrocketry.com/info/docs/...0Magnalium.doc http://www.vk2zay.net/article.php/85 |
#7
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What's surprising is not that powdered aluminum has come under restriction, but that it's taken so long. My wife was trying to buy some citric acid last year for a home-recipe for bubbling bath salts and was told by several vendors that they didn't handle it because it was being monitored. The fact is that thermite bombs were used for many years by the military and it's going to be a target for restriction.
At some point honest users have to stand up to the paranoia and demonstrate that they have legitimate uses for the materials like aluminum. Looking for substitutes or grinding your own is likely to make you a target for investigation. It's sad, but the government boys completely miss the point. These things are just tools. Remove them and bad guys will just use other tools. It's the bad guys you need to go after. Likewise, its the basic freedoms of this country that limit the growth of enemy organizations. That was pretty well understood 200 years ago, but it seems to be fading rapidly. Too many people are willing to turn over their rights to the government in order to receive their "protection". OK, it's a useless rant on my part. Just have to vent a little __________________ God bless Texas! Now let's secede!! |
#8
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This is being done by the Consumer Product Saftey Commision threatening to sue in civil court any company that sells these oxidizers and fuels. These guys are not elected and can do this under the guise of "saftey" and be answerable to no one. I call it drive by regulation. In two more years they will mostly be gone and a new guard will be in. They will continue the movement.
We can email our disgust with them and make sure they hear from us. It is going to be difficult for knifemakers that use HTing salts to be able to get them real soon. One pound per person per year is not enough for your salt tanks. |
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