Can a $25 Torch Make Synthetic Ruby? - ElementalMaker

Using a cheap Oxy-Propane torch to make synthetic Ruby!
-Link to the torch used in this video: amzn.to/31CcuDy
-Please save this link as your amazon homepage, so when you shop its supports the channel: goo.gl/x1ehvA
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The above contains amazon affiliate links which earn the channel a small commission and help me to produce the videos.

[@psychosk8er]

Ah, yes. Hand agitation. I’m quite familiar with that.

[@cutestshorts101]

Insatiable stepdad?

[@kathipaw]

I have to say, without wanting to be offensive, but I love how your style of video resembles the one AvE used to have when I still liked to watch him. It's so nostalgic to me.

[@simonstergaard]

agree, AvE is boring now

[@jchoneandonly]

I still watch him on occasion

[@gvii]

Yeah, I used to like him a lot too, but a few years back, he said some things that left a really bad taste in my mouth. It was his opinion, and I respect that, but it really didn't sit well with me. I think a lot of people felt the same way, his videos seemed to change a bit after that. I still watch his stuff, but it's not quite the same, to be honest.

[@kathipaw]

@@gvii Could you elaborate what he said? Like, a rough summary of topic? I was wondering why his videos changed. I noticed them change.

[@jchoneandonly]

@@gvii what bird said. I don't know what he said (I'm curious) and I also didn't notice the change your referring to although I can kinda almost see what you're getting at

[@detijno4]

I'm a gemologist and we studied synthetic ruby's, the key I think is the cooling down. If you somehow could make the fresh ruby cool down very slowly, the crystaline structure would grow bigger and clearer. I think the ruby's could increase in quality with that.

[@ElementalMaker]

I definitely agree!

[@animusreptorcrafting]

the oxy-propane torch may be introducing impurities that are getting trapped in the surface layer, you might try smashing one of the oxy-propane rubies and see if the inside fluoresces closer to what the HHO rubies do.

[@ElementalMaker]

That's definitely a possibility and very good idea to crack one in half!

[@kreynolds1123]

@@ElementalMaker I was thinking carbons black was the impurities. Maybe remelting it with an oxygen rich flame could help burn off the carbon.

[@Mr.Donahue]

Could be the brick too. If some is melting into the mix.

[@AKAtheA]

HHO will most likely spew sodium or potassium into the flame from the cell, unless rigorously filtered.

[@kreynolds1123]

@@AKAtheA Yup. Hydroxide mist from bubbles popping in the electrolizer can contaminate the gas streem. And while often it's not really very much, it isnt something you want to feed into an aluminum engine. 🧐 Most often a bubbler removes the vast majority of hydroxide mist from the gas streem, and can supress flash backs into a larger chamber where a flashback could be more dangerous. 🌋

[@jamieknight7366]

My man sounds like the chad from bee movie

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

When I saw the video title I thought "wait didn't he already do this or was it AvE?" I had completely forgotten about this project until then.

[@DuelPorpoise]

You keep calling it a ruby, but it looks sort of like a reddish sapphire, proving which one will be quite the corundum.

[@MinorLG]

Rubies and sapphires are for all practical purposes, the same gem. The only difference is the inclusions, and what color they make it. Rubies, are just red sapphires

[@DuelPorpoise]

​@@MinorLG whoosh, you missed the meaning of corundum.

[@MinorLG]

@@DuelPorpoise did I really? Or was I just explaining for others.

[@bigbeardoingthangs]

I hope you're ashamed of yourself

[@garethbaus5471]

@@MinorLG it was a joke.

[@ElementalMaker]

Thanks for watching! If you would like to support this channel but cant swing Patreon you can save this link as your amazon homepage, so when you shop the channel gets a small kickback: goo.gl/x1ehvA Please consider helping to keep these videos coming Here's the Torch Used in the video: amzn.to/31CcuDy

[@darksentinel9304]

You're a little late there bud

[@SDesigns2023]

HAPPY NEW YEARRRRRR!

[@ElementalMaker]

@@darksentinel9304 LOL it transferred from my last video. I need to update that a bit I guess

[@ElementalMaker]

@@darksentinel9304 Updated!

[@markwilliams5654]

Printing with ruby would be amazing

[@edgeeffect]

I like how you're slowly forming a crucible on that firebrick.

[@thatguynameddan2136]

You have me very excited with the idea of 3d printing synthetic rubies. That would make some beautiful projects once you get the technique down!

[@mystamo]

Man. The rubes are getting nice! Another beaut.

[@poofpoof9940]

Been hoping you'd do this again, thanks for the great work

[@dcallan812]

Great demo. I collect gems and rough stones it really brings it home just what you might be buying a natural.

[@imhigh0013]

Alchemy!! It lives!! Thanks for the fun with science video. Very relaxing.

[@Convolutedtubules]

You can make a small arc furnace by using carbon rods from batteries and carving out a fire brick! RIP Grant Thompson, you have left a big hole in all our hearts. Sincere condolences to the Thompsons.

[@AtlasReburdened]

Aye, RIP Grant "King Of Random" Thompson. A true inspiration to millions.

[@quizarorobzaqu8558]

It's been a year but yepers

[@kodyfrost]

I made hat set up by grant, microwave transformer and all. It works great

[@tomnekuda3818]

"Ruby, don't take your love to town.....Ruby, Ruby, Ruby will you be mine?" I did something like this in grad school except I used a platinum crucible to contain the flame and keep the product pure....Pt crucibles are a little on the pricey side, however..... .Pt will not react at the temperature you are using....it succeeded. On another topic, the demo with the Al can....just get it white hot(melting) and turn off the propane to let oxygen sustain the burn. I used to clean diesel ports or 2-stroke dirt bike pipes by heating the carbon red-hot and then just shut the acetylene off and pushing oxygen thru the port/pipe.....the carbon will burn out like magic!

[@noahpaulette1490]

Cake reference

[@tomnekuda3818]

@@noahpaulette1490 No, pi.......actually, it is actually burning the "coke" out of the ports/pipe. Old diesel guys been using it for years.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I'd take a chunk of graphite and connect a welder electrode to it, then take a graphite rod and drill a hole through the center to send your feedstock through. Use that as your other electrode and strike an arc between them. Might clog up your feed hole I suppose, but I bet it works great until then.

[@ElementalMaker]

Whoa a comment from one of my favorite KZbinrs! I'm a huge fan of your videos! Thanks for dropping a comment it's truly an honor! Definitely will give it a try, just got an old arc welder working today.

[@ahmdabdallah5811]

What Is Islam? Islam is not just another religion. It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. Islam literally means ‘submission to God’ and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine. The concept of God is summarized in the Quran as: { “Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.”} (Quran 112:1-4) Becoming a Muslim is not turning your back to Jesus. Rather it’s going back to the original teachings of Jesus and obeying him

[@j_freeman3230]

If one could "pelletize" the raw material, make a feed rod to be sent through the tube...

[@j_freeman3230]

Fine borosilicate rod rolled in the powder. The ruby would be slightly less pure, but more clear.

[@pearsonhaines8038]

Glad to see another video like this

[@garygenerous8982]

So basically you want to make a ruby spray welder... awesome!

[@sargetester99]

Run a tattoo needle down through the tube that is dispensing the powder, and vibrate it up and down, the powder will come out reliably

[@MrKclo42112]

man I need to get my hydrigen water generater cleaned up and working . thats a nice litle torch kit thanks for the link

[@steveyoung3303]

I have done this about 25 years ago, and found that adding a small amount of water to the mixed aluminum oxide / chromium oxide mix will hold it together long enough to melt it before it blows away.

[@garethbaus5471]

Nice tip.

[@adrongarretson6195]

Really nice teen videos from you on KZbin I don't know if you do a lot cuz KZbin doesn't let me see them all the time probably. So thanks for the video. Good job.

[@PigMine6]

@13:02 you gave away a top trade secret! Use graphite molds as well, a good ruby- shaped mold!

[@aronbraswell1589]

you need a rig to hold the torch at a precise location over your block and maybe sculpt a micro forge out of two fire bricks and your torch as it's burner. Love your vids

[@AlbiesProductsOnline]

It would be cool to see if you could upgrade the setup to get a large enough Ruby to get it cut and if maybe one of your subscribers are set up to cut the gem maybe a collaboration sort of deal

[@m3sca1]

When you try arc furnace....pack the whole cavity around the rods with the feedstock so that it has to burn its way to a cavity and gravity should pool it on the bottom....maybe

[@SteveSiegelin]

A heads up, I had my best results when the powder was in a Pile.the only problem I had with that was certain rubies would get too hot and explode into micro Ruby's before they could coalesce. And for those at home you can actually use the dirt in your yard as your hot plate, what I did was scrape the top surface off and then cooked the surface that I planned on synthesizing on with a mapp torch for a few minutes. Also MAPP gas will get the powder pile glowing red hot, when it looks like it is cooled it is not! The powder retains heat very well and can seriously burn you!

[@kodyfrost]

Great idea with the feed stock wrapping around the nossle of the torch. I how you are focusing on that. If it is successful I would like to see you be the first to 3d print with ruby

[@kodyfrost]

Also have a larger feed like the ones used for loading bullets and the weight distribution used in the bullet feed to prevent clogging

[@another1commenter770]

Two things that may help. You could use a bit of tugnsten like a glass blowers rod and dip it into the powder and then melt powder in the flame to form a globule on the end of the rod. And also I think a less oxygenising flame more toward carbonizing flame, one with a very slight orange lining to the tail may produce more ruby to slag ratio.

[@Taluvian]

Should try this on graphite slab rather than that fire brick.

[@gavendb]

do they make small tectic torches that could be used for these purposes?

[@jchoneandonly]

Could you use a bowl made if tungsten carbide or something to make these?

[@Mrjrich37055]

Love your videos, did you have to get adaptors for your torch leads, I got one just like that one but they would screw onto my tank

[@the_golden_ingot]

Good job!

[@Draakdarkmaster6]

if you go back to using HHO flame to do this, do you think it would be possible to take your mini ruby boules and melt them together? theoretically the flame should be more than hot enough and the boules should be large enough to at least "weld" them together, i hear thats a hazard when heat purifying natural rubies

[@glennirwin2457]

I gotta come spend some crazy groovy science guy type of fun making cool shit from other cool shit. Not fat chick crazy ..lol. But old school crazy creating crap. You are having way to much fun . I like fun. You got my support... Love it... Keep on keeping on man...

[@icebluscorpion]

How do you get optical great rubys? How long can you make them?

[@Pro_Vs_Con]

You should do it on thick steel plate with better heat distribution, or some material like that so the brick wont melt in and contaminate the ruby! I think that's why it's having a hard time fluoresce! I don't know if your torch is hot enough to melt into a thick piece of steel before it distributes the heat, so that might not work either. But it's worth a shot! Thanks for the fascinating video as always! Have a great day! -Nicholas

[@christopherconkright1317]

Do you polish them to see what they look like?

[@michaeljaniszewski4819]

Would a forge be able to get hot enough to do this?

[@jealexander]

Is it possible you've got a layer of carbon/soot as a result of using propane? Or even introducing carbon throughout the ruby. It sounds like the temperature you mentioned for the flame is sufficient, but all the references I'm seeing relating to commercial production exclusively describe using hydrogen as the fuel which avoids possible carbon contamination.

[@imhigh0013]

What would happen if you melted over traditonal brick? Or a slate stone?

[@6983dragonfly]

Where do you find the tanks for those

[@jtlackner]

would cooking it in a furnace or smelter work?

[@BackYardScience2000]

Now this is what I was talking about! I know a lot of us would LOVE to have an elemental maker synthetic ruby! Sell that shit man!

[@Thingsthatgopew22]

Compress some of the powder to a decent sized puck and use that as your firebrick. I would also make small prills of the powder and start with one of those. Mix the powders better somehow, mortar and pestel possibly?

[@loveymurr8880]

sooo roughly how much do these homemade rubies sell for? asking for a friend

[@chrispza]

Super! That is an impressive little torch, and your idea of modding the nozzle raises some exciting possibilities. I was thinking, to produce product with introducing fewer contaminants, how about using resistance-heating? If you formed a short strip of Inconel or tungsten into a U, you should have a pretty good container-cum-heating-element. Also for the mixture of oxides-would mixing enough water to make a slurry make any difference? If it does not, you could use pressure to force it out of the nozzle; perhaps an ordinary syringe if the heat doesn't travel that far up. As always, thanks for the stellar content, and _you_ have a good one!

[@nirvana2117]

What do you need that toothbrush thing for?

[@eidolor]

Seemed like a good bit of scatter but material loss looked like less of an issue than in the other one. Hoping an arc will have even less movement. You think maybe the torch was just a bit too hot and burning the ruby? Would annealing them be any use? Also hoping an arc will give more precise temperature control and let you walk it down to cool easily

[@theevilovenmit]

How about melting the blend in a small tungsten v shaped crucible, with a hole in the bottom for liquid ruby to drip out. Not sure if tungsten contamination would be a problem or not.

[@mnshp7548]

if you have a look at what water jet cutting systems use, you might get some ideas on what you can make to dispense the powder

[@j_freeman3230]

3d printed ruby sculpture. Cool!

[@SomeAustrianGuy]

You should try to use an arc welder. I managed to produce rubys with a diameter of 3-4cm, because you can keep a lot more alumina molten with an arc.

[@johnpossum556]

Can you do a video talking about why we might want synthetic ruby? Good video, I used to have one of those little torches and wish I never got rid of it. The torch I put on the cannisters sucked up way too much fuel way too fast.

[@SteveSiegelin]

I know I put a lot of comments on this video but I'm wondering if the darker color on the propane Stone might be due to carbon buildup. Propane is clean-burning but it still puts out heavy carbon, hydrogen Burns clean so I think it gives you a cleaner Stone. It's too windy right now but I am wondering if I will get the same results using mapp and oxygen.

[@jakesmith8982]

You are supposed to roll them like leaves when you do a leaf clean up. Try to see if you can roll it across your plate after pooring some on the plate. I think you're flame is to close too.

[@gintown-woodworks5376]

Awesome stones mate, mail them to me and ill sett those red nuggets in a beautyfull handmade piece of wooden juwelry. Of course returned to you on my cost. Consider it a thanks for all the great vids you made for us. Thumbs up

[@Thrustmaster64]

Maybe you could inject the powder in to the torch nozzle? Just have a hole in the nozzle a cm or two from the fire end, and have the powderador hooked to it, so that the gas flow would carry it out. That way the powder would be inside the flame from the beginning. Would have to seal the powderator though as it would be pressurised (with a potentially explosive gas mixture). Or have the butanO flow through the powderator, with the powder nozzle replaced with a torch nozzle. That would probably carry out too much powder, though, assuming the gas flow could actually keep it from being clogged. Just seems to me the cad design would leave the powder hanging on the outskirt of the flame.

[@joelwiens9153]

Try adding the oxypropane straight into the flashback arrester of the HHO generator and then use the old torch with a mixture of both gasses. I would think that this would boost the burn temperature while benefiting from the larger flame volume. Also the added pressure could help prevent the steel needle from burning itself.

[@rob7566]

Maybe try a softer flame with the oxy so it's not blasting it so hard I noticed a lot of material being ejected.

[@varengrey7221]

Have you considered trying to use a small natural ruby as a seed and growing more on top of that? I'm sure you could find cheap, tiny rubies online.

[@slayerzombie5693]

I use that torch everyday at work brazing copper pipe together. Works great.

[@bobafruti]

That torch is so cute 🤣

[@mikesbasement6954]

Have you thought about trying to put the Al/Cr mixture in a graphite crucible? These crucibles are good up to about 5000F for the highest grade. Not sure if the carbon would interfere with the flame fusion though.

[@1kreature]

Can you do this the other way, like done in semiconductor industry? Using a dish of molten powder and a seed on a rotating auger pulling a formed crystal up of the dish?

[@QlueDuPlessis]

With enough effort, trial & error you probably could. If I'm not mistaken I think the process you're referring to needs a vacuum chamber though.

[@lonxonyoutubemessyyoutube2254]

Can get all the name of the products you use for making ruby please

[@5in1killa]

Could the propane be introducing carbon into the ruby?

[@danielmcgee813]

I will start with by saying no I don't knows if this will work but you could try using a graphite plate instead of insulator brick that or anyting that has a high thermal Mass / melting point

[@NerdlabsSci]

i'm trying to make some rubies with a slightly larger version of the torch shown in the video. My first attempt worked about as well as the ones in this video and i'm trying to make some rubies i can bring to a jeweler and get polished. any ideas on how to get it tho work?

[@ElementalMaker]

Check out my other ruby making videos. From my experiments, and oxy hydrogen torch works much better to make larger rubies. My best results were with a small arc furnace using a couple graphite gouging rods and an old arc welder. That being said I don't know if you'll ever be able to produce jewelry grade rubies without a vacuum furnace, I tried polishing a couple of my larger ones and they are littered with air bubbles.

[@NerdlabsSci]

@@ElementalMaker Unfortunately, my parents are way too obsessed with the environment and have a house that runs on solar panels and thus can't run a welder. I could try to make an hho generator tho.

[@AccidentalScience]

So purity and temperature of the flame seem the key points to achieve something resembling a ruby.

[@ElementalMaker]

I also think my 5% Chromium Oxide is too high, I'm going to try 1% and 0.5% tonight and see how it goes.

[@dELTA13579111315]

@@ElementalMaker I would recommend 0.69% also, just to cover all your bases

[@AccidentalScience]

@@ElementalMaker also HHO does not contain carbon at all. I have a question. Why pouring the mixture while heating? What happen if the AlO3+Cr oxide is already poured in a little heap and then heated it up?

[@Draakdarkmaster6]

@@AccidentalScience the pressure from the flame tends to agitate the small particles and keeps them from absorbing enough heat to melting into a monocrystal form, subjecting them to gravity gives them a greater force to resist agitation, allowing them to collide on the platform and essentially melt together.

[@rdizzy1]

@Tony Samson Can be as high as 1%.

[@lukerimkus2009]

I love your vids

[@elementone5282]

Is it possible to make a wet compound before it goes to heat? Seems like most of the material blows away🤔 love your channel. Please show us more

[@ElementalMaker]

Check out my more recent videos on making ruby. Much more success!

[@BrokenGlytch]

Just a thought for future ruby fabricating experiments; it might be interesting to try and make an assembly that can withstand the heat so you can just put the powder mix in a form and melt it with indirect heating. I'm thinking something alone the lines of a titanium lab stand with a tungsten 'crucible' (really just a couple flat pieces with a divot for the powder to sit in to act as a thermal block). If the stand holds up to being in close proximity to the flame, the tungsten should withstand the direct heating with its crazy high melting point. The only question would be how difficult it is to get the powder mix hot enough to all come together and whether it reacts with the mixture. I think something along these lines might reduce powder blowing away, having inclusions and impurities from the flame, etc. Might be able to get closer to gem results.

[@laharl2k]

If you need precision try a CO2 laser. The only problem is whether those things absorb infrared, but otherwise you could try the sintered powder method but instead with ruby powder.

[@scarakus]

try and polish a piece to see if it's transparent inside?

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Lol! I have a pair of the exact same goggles! Great video, idea, and execution, thank you! Your venturi idea seems like it would work just fine. Sorry I can't help much with money, but if there is something else I could do, let me know.

[@seannot-telling9806]

The only down side with the old goggles is the elastic strap always seems to give out when they get older.

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Yep, my strap has been replaced probably a dozen times now.

[@Nuovoswiss]

Interesting to see you burn aluminum there are the end. Have you tried using an oxygen feed to make a thermic lance with aluminum tubing? That would be a source of molten (and gaseous) Al2O3 which might help in this process.

[@dannyd02]

I've actually tried this and was successful myself at only making a small insignificant amount. I was thinking that if there was a good way to contain the ingredients better, empty in the ingredients from the side instead of from the top and set up the torch flame to come in from the top, you could grow bigger rubies.

[@drrrrockzo]

This has been an interesting series of videos...i never would have thought you could actually make a synthetic ruby (regardless of purity) in open atmosphere with a torch. I've seen those cheap micro torches on amazon before, but having seen things go wrong with "name brand" big torches, the fear of it going off like a grenade in my hand scared me off...i might have to pick on up for small brazing jobs. You mentioned that you were running oxy/propane. Would you trust it on acetylene, or your opinion could it braze fine on the milder propane?

[@ElementalMaker]

I treat any torch like a grenade regardless of brand or gasses, so I always use check valves and flashback arrestors just in case. Given the tiny volume of gas actually within the torch body, even a flashback in the torch wouldn't be a big deal. I'd trust it to run acetylene.

[@phil5506]

How you build this lance? 😮

[@nonchip]

by the general darkness and lack of fluorescence i'd guess you have lots of the unreacted green powder mixture just mixed/molten in between the crystal.

[@jasonsummit1885]

Wondering if you can make CZ by melting down zirconium oxide?🤔

[@CaptnApathy]

Any chance you'd be willing to increase your hho production and try making Ruby with that again? Maybe make a dry cell, so it will have less gas at any given time, but produce it faster.

[@poptartmcjelly7054]

Propane flame is very dirty, i remember when i used to play around with glasswork the propane flame would turn the glass dark unless you held the glass at the very tip of the flame.

[@mixolydian2010]

Very cool,cheers

[@srkendal]

I think you may need to adjust your torch for a neutral flame. When you lit the aluminum, it demonstrated that your flame was an oxidizing one. (Free oxygen left over after the propane burned) That way your powder will melt without oxidizing. Be careful not to go to a reducing flame, that will introduce a ton of carbon. The propane is a much dirtier flame than hydrogen. Glassblowers can't use it. They generally use natural gas and oxygen which might be another option for you if contamination is the problem, and if natural gas is hot enough.

[@connecticutaggie]

What if you used MAP gas rather than propane? It burns hotter and is readily available - it is used by plumbers as hotter propane replacement.

[@sethmorton8539]

Element maker can you show a great vid to copper plate aluminum best way with best results

[@ebenking3567]

As others have said, it's probably carbon from the propane that's making the propane-produced ruby look darker and less fluorescent. You may be able to alleviate this by using a leaner flame to encourage burning of the carbon. As a bonus, the aluminum flame may be self-sustaining with added oxygen. IOW, start it with a propane-oxygen flame then turn down the propane to zero while keeping the torch aimed at the flame.

[@Torta--is--PLUR]

wouldn't an induction coil be better suited for this?

[@maciekm7953]

Great video and awesome result 👍 how about making something to hold the torch and toothbrush so you can set it on a spot turn it on and just watch 😁 I love idea of 3d printing with rubies, I have no use for it but I love it😂

[@planetengineeringofficial8545]

Why dont you use a graphite slab?

[@JakHart]

So, what would our have to do differently, to create a sapphire?

[@ElementalMaker]

I think sapphire is just iron and titanium impurity, instead of chromium.

[@jaratt85]

The coolest part about those little torches is the super fine gauge steel you can weld with them when outfitted for oxy-acetylene. We actually welded blue steel with them in college. I want to get one sometime because I think the control with it would allow me to gas weld aluminum easier than with a standard welding tip... plus you can use it to burn really intricate flame patterns in wood or even to put smoke onto paint jobs to ghost in flames.. not that I have my own booth or anything... damn it. You can tell I miss welding, doing autobody and paint work. Fuckin scoliosis. You need to get a little graphite mold or something to do that into.. something that can take the heat and not melt. BTW you might need to go over to pure fine aluminum powder to get a more pure stone, like the stuff they used to make thermite on Mythbusters. Also you idea for the nozzle on the outside of the torch probably won't work.. I think it will just melt the powder up against the tip and either clog the tip or fuse it right at the edge instead of blowing it through.

[@haidafella8651]

Have you ever cut any of these?

[@sumdumbmick]

poking around the internet a few things came up that might help you out making finer quality rubies. for one, using one of your premade rubies as a seed crystal should help it start growing a little easier and faster. another is that backing off on the quantity of chromium oxide to something closer to 1-3% might help.

[@jordangipson1125]

Only idea I have is maybe putting a small pile of your mix on the brick to act as a seed? Also getting that mix finer & more homogeneous seems like it couldn’t hurt.