Exotic Thermite Series Ep. 1: Iron, Chromium, Stainless Steel
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- (Intro clips from Cody'sLab, NurdRage, and NileRed [obviously])
Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this video! This feels so great to finally get out online after 8 months of filming/editing (not all that time was spent working on this, obviously :) )...
Next up is Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese, and Tin! Maybe some alloys as well like Ferromanganese and NiChrome. After that I plan on having a "boosted and high temperature" third episode, but I'll leave it at that for now ;)
First off special thanks to Cognitive Thought for being the initial spark that lead to the creation of this series. I wouldn't be doing this without you, man, and its been a lot of fun so far. It only gets more fun from here!
Second, if anyone has any constructive criticisms for me on this video or corrections that would be much appreciated! It's been almost ten years since I've done any filming, scripting, and editing like this so let's just say the next episode will hopefully be smoother.
If anyone has any questions by all means feel free to ask! Please oh please don't try this at home. This stuff can go wrong oh so quickly and the worst kind of problem is one that's preheated to 4000 degrees Fahrenheit.
lmfao the codys lab intro got me
I thought I'd clicked on a Cody video and he'd been hacked and had his channel name changed 😂
That intro destroyed me. Like the kids say, "im ded"
rx323bug same 😂
This got suggested me after a Codyslab video. I saw the username and thought Codys account got hacked.
As S AsS AsS
I like all of the youtube chemistry inside jokes. The dougslab theory really got me!
Thanks for the recipe! My grandma didn't stand a chance.
Howdy doodee, hope you are doing well... just found your channel and 5 minutes in, I'm excited to see what occurs next... till next time. 🎉
I clicked on this video because why not. Then I looked at the username of the person and stayed because of it. Now I am glad I did because this channel is a gem.
do I have to say the youtube algorithm works if it took 6 years to show me this video?
I know, like what the hell? How?
Just watched the whole series, really awesome, haven’t seen really anyone doing this before or doing such a great job doing it, filming it and showing their work, I can’t wait for things you’ll do in the future. Also good job on the editing, I know it isn’t easy and you’ve done a really great job with it
Nate Parfitt thanks! Much appreciated :)
Come back please we need you.
I agree entirely.
All Hail Blue Whale!
Videos like these are the reason I still exist
This video is great! I was looking for a video describing how the termite reaction could be applied to other metals but I wasn't expecting something as comprehensive as this. This will save me a lot of time and money that I otherwise would have had to devote to basic experimentation. It's really extremely appreciated. Love the spoof intros too. This video is definitely of their caliber. You would think more people would find metal chem interesting but I guess that since you can't use it to make drugs it appeals to a smaller audience. 😁
Michael Thank you! Getting feedback is really appreciated as I’m just over halfway done with my list of oxides and they’re only getting more expensive each time haha
Glad you can use the info - that was my main reason for making the series. (obviously be careful and all that formality, some of these are surprisingly energetic)
Personally I love inorganic chem as I’m a little kid at heart and love colored solutions and powders even if they are significantly more toxic to deal with on average.
Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas by the way!
The Gayest Person on UA-cam I can imagine so! Thanks again for putting all the time and money into making these. I for one really appreciate it. I've learned a lot watching them. Who knew slag could be so beautiful? 😀
Honestly the cobalt/nickel slag is what eventually drove me to record these. It's just so unexpected for something so violent and energetic to end up producing a pigment.
That intro is gold
actually it's as s ass ass
"Grant I know you're watching"
Shout out to King of random on his charges?
Sarch Lalaith RIP Grant 😞
Have some respect for the guy you were fanboying, he had kids, and a wife. Jesus.
@@jessepinkman1471 That was 2 yrs ago when he was still alive man no one had any idea at that time he was going to pass away
@@ElwoodEmmons Still seems a bit harsh on the man. Regardless I suppose you have a point. But I am surprised that you didn't think he was gonna pass away considering the things he did. Take care and stay safe, let's hope we make it to 2021.
@@jessepinkman1471 You too be safe its good when people can talk and be nice so many people go straight to rude thanks again have a good day
Don't try this at home. Try at your friends home.
Good idea
This is a great series, your videos are not only great scientific content, but you've got a lot more professionalism and humour than most of the other youtube science channels.
Great video loved your captions that little "reeee" in the top right had me in stitches keep up your videos and the humour you will go far subbed
Came for the name of the Channel - stayed to watch the video and learned something ;-) - great stuff! 10/10 Content
I really hope that you're not looking at that reaction because it does create UV light as well and can burn your eyeballs.😊 Im curious, where did the carbon come from for the steel? And how did you stop it from reacting?
Good info....I learned my limitations .....good look'n DOG !!!
a fun video for me to watch -- I was a track welder on the railroad for 32 years and part of my work was thermite welding of rail - we used a prepackaged charge weighing about 30-40 pounds -- our crucible had fairly thick walls and designed to drain molten steel from the bottom of the crucible into the mold for the welded joint - - part of your issue with a porous mass of metal might be related to the geometry of the reacting mass -- the ideal shape for the charge would be a sphere, the next best practical would be a right circular cylinder - your reacting mass was a fairly flat or very shallow conic section -- the mass I used would react completely in 20 to 30 seconds, from ignition to completion -- the mass would be allowed to sit in the crucible for a few seconds before tapping and pouring into the mold, the steel being quite heavy would flow into the mold and then the slag would pour, floating atop the steel and overflowing into a catch basin. Part of the deal is to contain the heat and keep things fluid long enough for the metal to separate completely from the slag. We would preheat the crucible to well over 200 deg.F to cmpletely dry it and also keep the molten mass from chilling against cold crucible walls. I think what you are doing is great, and hope you may try some experimenting with a differently shaped crucible, perhaps experimenting with casting your own crucibles from some readily available refractory -- good luck to you! btw, we also used a cone-shaped lid over the top of the crucible, with a hole in the top for venting the fumes and hot gases. hole was about 1/3 or 1/4 the diameter of the crucible itself
Thomas Koehler thanks for the post! Interesting info, I’ll have to give it a closer look for the next video.
Side question, was the extra metal/slag hand ground off or did you use one of those grinding machines that ride the track?
TGPoYT, part of the casting is a pair of massive risers at the base of the rail, providing makeup metal for the casting as it cools before "freezing". Those were simply snapped off after the metal was under about 900 degrees. The excess metal at the top was cut off while still at an orange heat, using an old school hot cut chisel and 10 pound sledge wielded by a striker (a worker whose job was skill with a sledge, striking either a flatter or a chisel in track welding). Later, hydraulic shears were developed which would be clamped to the rail and then engaged to neatly shear off the mass of excess metal on the top and faces of the rail in a few seconds. After the metal had gone "black" about 900 degrees or less, a grinder was used to smooth off the top and faces of the rail head. The grinder was man-portable, guided by wheels at either end of a frame which carried the actual grinder head. Manually running this grinder back and forth over the target area, the surface was ground to the desired shape and degree of flatness. There is a wide variety of these profile grinders in use, all easily carried by two people. Some have a gasoline engine mounted on the grinder, others are driven by a flexible shaft powered by a separate gasoline engine, while others are driven by a hydraulic motor powered by a separate pumping unit. The monstrous huge track-traveling grinders are used for surfacing and profiling miles of track in a single day, and not employed just for grinding welds. It may be the case that some roads might use a single self-propelled grinder if they are going to be grinding many welds in a day in a relatively small area. The slag was collected in an overflow pan as part of the casting process, and after it was cool enough to handle, we buried it. It was a flat block, about 6 x 10 inches, more or less and maybe a couple of inches thick.
Thomas Koehler damn, thanks for all of that! Very insightful
7:09 Got that "Will it blend?" reference right away lmao, that was the golden age of youtube
Excited to see your plutonium video!
The subject and handle of video maker: subscribed! Just know this guy will be worth watching.
EDIT: Just dm me on twitter if you want to chat @gaygay_gay_gay because I use it regularly unlike my email.
If you don’t use it then continue reading 😀
VVVV
I accidentally deleted the comment trying to reply on mobile (I’ll try to restore it if possible) but to the guy that sent me an email to “coolguy@cyberdude.com” and didn’t receive a reply, first, that was a genuine email address, not a dickish joke as some took it to be.
Unfortunately because I use it as a throwaway email I get a shitload of spam- it must have been caught up in it because I was genuinely interested in doing that. I don’t check it religiously and because of that and the crap server it was on I don’t have access to it anymore aka I don’t have the password/can’t get it.
This is I’m sure way too late but if you pass by this video again you can email me at catpuncher@catlover.com (this is a real email as well)
I don’t check it constantly but the spam is minimal as it’s newer. If the email is from outside the US it may mark it spam so I’ll check there too.
(Mail.com lets you choose your own email so I take advantage of it for comedy purposes, see for yourself)
The Gayest Person on UA-cam these emails oml what amazing names
Your science is bad and you should feel bad
Nice domains.
Brett Harding I know that’s a reference, but where from? I can’t remember, but it’s very familiar
That "no nilered parody" was genius. Lol'd good and proper.
Best science tutorial, informative and fun to watch. Subed
Thermites are so much fun, I love watching them. Great work on the video, informative and entertaining. Magnetite/Al is my most frequently used mixture. It's fast but not explosive, it gets even hotter than red iron oxide thermite and gives a good yield of iron.
I subbed just at the intros lol
tryAGAIN 1987 same
@@Palisade5810 Me too :-)
The fact you live next to a racetrack AND can do stuff like this in your yard makes me incredibly jealous.
The Codyslab, nurdrage and nilered killed me 😂😂
This has all the ingredients of good chemistry;flames, smoke, the potential for explosions and toxic fumes, I can't tell via video if it smells bad.
ohh, thankyou so much. Ive wanted to learn more aoubt the types of thermite, or anything thats clear to me, and you have provided!
Too cool that last one was kind of scary and was waiting for something to jump out of it
Your videos are fantastic one of a kind lol and I have not caught my self on fire yet keep up the good work
great video man, looking forward to more!
Took me a while to get to watching this but well worth it i thought it was just going to be another youtube thermite video but i was wrong. Thank you for doing this so i don't have to on my channel and i would do it much more ghetto. Great video thank you again.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Very nice demos. My science teacher did the ammonium dichromate volcano in 1964. She mixed in chopped up toy gun red paper rolled caps(remember those?) and ground up 4th of July sparklers for added effect. No way they would permit that sort of demo in a school now, with the carcinogenicity of the chromium compounds. It amazing that we survived childhood!
Great vid mate.! these flux Crystals look kinda nice, maybe some sculpting and polishing would make some jewlery... I hear no accent in your voice, yet I'm not an American and the only Apallachian I heard were those bushwacking moonshiners on a reallity show.! I'm glad I came across your chan, and thermite get's my attention every time. Keep up the vids mate, be safe.!
My right ear loved this video!
im 38 seconds in and u already got me to sub, i already know this gonna be great
You're the Whole Foods of Cody's Lab
What
@@jessepinkman1471 bro you responding to a comment I made 6 years ago (likely while drunk) and I don’t even know what I meant by that.
My best guess is that is that I meant “higher quality and more variety” but having seen the state of Whole Foods I would disagree with that interpretation now.
@@TheNopyu i don't care how old your comment is, I'm gonna bother you anyways
@@jessepinkman1471 bask in the irrelevancy
@@TheNopyu that's exactly what i've been doing. glad someone gets it
Your channel name is hilarious🤣 The Cody's lab intro too🤣. Also great video. You just got yourself another sub my friend
I think you nailed the outro. Loosely relevant comment followed by "I'm still working on the outro"
A gram of aqueous Cr is enough to poison one ton of groundwater. So uh I would consider using more aluminum foil next time
Awesome dog!
Those series will fuel my amateur explosives fascination. Time to blow some shit up
I was a little skeptical when I saw your user name, but I kept seeing your vids in the recommended videos when I watch my normal content. I'm certainly glad I decided to give you a chance. You now have a new sub!
Joseph Gauthier lol, thanks!
The Gayest Person on UA-cam so about when do you expect to have the next video up? Obviously you can't give a very precise number, especially if you have things going on in your life, I'm just hoping for a very rough estimate.
Best outro advice ever.
15:57 Is that the ghost of an emission spectrum on the left there? Iron? Aluminium? Both? Something in the camera lens? Doesn't particularly look like either... Also at 19:50
Mush V. Peets probably everything but mostly overtaken by the brightness of the sodium if I was to guess. Like a thermite lens flare
Yeah. Proper lab conditions and equipment required. Awesome to easily make metal though. I would assume a slower reaction is better. Safer and yield more usable metal. Looks like the mix that came out of the crucible burned below the surface and expanded throwing the top out.
I think I found my new favourite channel
The chrome plated lawn at the end!😅 But thanks for the educational content, never knew thermite had more uses than burning stuff and welding railroads.
That chromium crap must have been fun to cleanup.
HV Lab not as bad as you may have thought but it was still a pain in the ass haha. Thank god I don’t have to clean up after every time the video plays
All you have to do is shape it as a mountain and light up the peak. the decomposition will work it's way down and it will look like a volcano 🌋
isn't chromate like super bad if it gets into a water supply
Well, Sir, It was still an awesome video, and awesome volcano!
Shit, how haven't I found your channel already
Rhodanide I said the same thing when I found your channel a week or two ago haha 😆
The Gayest Person on UA-cam 🙃
Rhodanide glad you like the videos and thanks for the sub :)
I hate intros almost as much as I hate outros !
Cool stuff .
What do the use to weld railroad rails with ?
flippen awesome!
Glad I found this channel
I know it's been years, but I'm still curious if you were ever able to find out if you made stainless steel.
Wow! That last one was a violent reaction, cool!
I hope you are wearing a high grade breathing apperatas?! With filter cartridges...
I hope to see in your next part/s how thermite is used to cut/melt iron, like what's done for building demonstrations 😉👍
Thanks for the vids!
Came for the name, stayed for the science
Never begin at the beginning, begin in the middle and do the beginning as a flash back.
That yellow iron oxide reaction is compelling!
Welcome to the Science division of UA-cam !
Bull Shyte awesome! I’m no chemist but I can mop the floors if that helps
Hey, it's me again. Nice work here. I like the flames and fire. Kool.
But, why do you need to know this? I'm not a science Guy but I'm leaning something here,tho. Pretty Kool 👌 stuff here.
Keep'em videos coming.very educational videos.
ah, seeing the dichromate volcano was something i was curious about since i was knee high to a grasshopper, so thanks for displaying your interesting erudition and skills. I also was interested in the stainless steel that you were making. Some of it even looked forgeable.
I need to watch you walk through those delicious looking fumes at least ten more times. I really dig that metal oxide patina your tripod has acquired.
maybe put the tripod upwind?
Love what youre doing here, keep up the amazing work!
i laughed so hard at the intro, also excited to watch this series
subed!
22:45 An appalachian man turns his backyard into a superfund site.
Effectively because that green fluffy stuff isn't only chromium 3 it's still got 6 in it. If you were to add that material to water you'd get an orange liquid which is the remainder of the ammonium dichromate.
Incredible video, honestly
At 14:20, that black one was neat, and clean.... Not that my statement means anything, just beat to see!!!
nothing has ever been started anywhere other than its beginning ya silly ol broccoli
the red iron oxide from hardware stores is a concrete colouring agent, super fine, doesn't just burn, it jets
got me subbed with nilered parody :D top tier, also you sound kind of cute
edit: i recommend getting a second camera on a tripod and just keep it on if you can, that way you can have some b-roll in case you forget to film a reaction
Awesome job, I legit thoought this was Cody lol
i love the intro slide with all the weighing boats. are those just oxides?
Damn those were some quality roasts at the beginning
Grant I know you're watching xD You're so entertaining man I subscribed
N
@@nickulvatten1039 i
How well does the Borax work as a flux for Iron/steel? I am trying to produce a workable amount of steel to cast an axe head. Im also adding about 10% by volume of steel shot, like the railroad welding compound. I think there is flux in that compound as well by Im not sure what it is. I have easy access to borax.
CL johnson it’s...eh...It works but many times it’s a pain in the ass to remove the slag as it’s very glass-like. If that’s all you have access to it will work but I’ve never had trouble with my 2:1 fluorspar:cryolite mix so I avoid it altogether.
I guess if you’re cleaning the piece up anyway to cast it won’t be as big of a deal removing the slag on second thought. Ymmv!
When the neighbors come out and ask why you're vacuuming the lawn
Chromium thermite
Really hot cancer.
Hope you gots a resperator for all of these my dude
**CAUTION** Grant is watching!! LoL!!
Not anymore... 👀
Love that nile red parody
Pretty Colors!
cool vid, good job
I have no idea how I arrived here, but this was great nonetheless! (when google knows you better than yourself...)
I just watched the new Veritasium video and the company he was working with had these ready-made cans of thermite mixtures for casting... and I really wish I could (or people could) find cans like that, already made with the correct mixtures and with the correct "tap time". I think that would be a really good way for home casters to save a lot of time and money. It is not easy or cheap to make different kinds of thermite... and it's especially time consuming. It's also perfectly safe for shipping also, because it will never ignite from any normal heat or flames... and I highly doubt there are everyday common chemicals in the mail that could ignite a thermate reaction.
BOO THIS "MAN"
Why it’s just playing with thermite what more could you ask for
This is amazing. Keep going!
This channel is brilliant. Like seriously From the name and intro I expected this to not be serious at all just some kid screwing around. NOPE its a trap to learn!!!!
For years I thought I was the gayest scientist in the land. But no, I pass the mantle to you, you are more colorful by far.
Dude you are super funny. You have the best UA-cam channel name ever!!!!!
Had to sub because of the first 20 seconds.
After watching the full video, I'm very glad I did.
I miss you I need more exotic thermite
this is exothermically exciting :D
Plaster or plaster of Paris any good for the pot-filling layer? Might contaminate the metal less as it won't move once set.
William Chamberlain maybe, but it may start to decompose/cause steam to boil off and let bubbles to rise up through the slag. Otherwise it’s not a bad idea.
Why does that sound like Wiscasset Raceway? Listening to the engine revving as they go around the track, and timing it, that sounds like the superstocks running on the track. It's probably not, but damn it sounds like it.
Fucking lol the intros. I had to double back and rewind after that Cody's lab intro
Really love the name😂
So how do you determine the amount of flux to use? Is it just by experimentation, or is there some kind of formula according to the starting ingredients and their ratio? I'd love to know! Thanks for really informative and educational videos!
I use a K chlorate reaction ignited by a length of safety fuse, I find it works most effectively while giving me time to back off