How Easily Can Thermite Actually Melt Steel? - NightHawkInLight

[@TheKingofRandom]

Have you tried elevating the thermite vessel about 1/2" above the plate so it can reach max temp before contact? The steel plate acts as a heat sink as the reaction warms up, and that could be one of the reasons it's not cutting through.

[@Parszafs]

Dude your awesome! :D keep up the amazing work!

[@aaqibalam4885]

+Grant Thompson - "The King of Random" OMG GRANT UR HERE

[@aaqibalam4885]

+Grant Thompson - "The King of Random" IM UR BIGGEST FAN

[@ArcaneFuror]

Continue the great work man :P

[@thebevilofbellskitchen]

The King of Random :)

[@mrgreenswelding2853]

most of the thermal heat is gone before it hits the plate. try starting the thermite from the bottom.

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

finally !

[@ThatSoddingGamer]

I've never experimented with such things myself, and I'm no chemist either, but that's what I thought was wrong too. Start at the target, and as the reaction proceeds, it would continue feeding it with the unused thermite above, instead of ending with the leftovers of the mostly finished reaction getting in the way at the bottom. I mean, it has its own oxidizer, right? So the limited access to air at the bottom shouldn't be a problem. I also see people recommending that the thermite be compressed as well.

[@jamesscarcelli8148]

thats what i just said,,,he is lighting it from the top,,,,figure out how to light it from the bottom, turn it over

[@xCmOn3yx777]

...or just accept thermite had nothing to do with 9/11

[@aliceakosota797]

hahahahaah

[@theCodyReeder]

Looks like I need to do some experiments of my own. ;)

[@bradleyhamilton4409]

Please!

[@imthetiedyeguy]

+Cody'sLab ye boi

[@MrOkokimhere]

+Cody'sLab I'll be waiting for them!

[@JKDstocks]

+Cody'sLab yes yes yes

[@ac11dc110]

+Cody'sLab yes!!! I've almost watched all your videos, do some more, and alot more about gold

[@electronicsNmore]

I made Thermite in the past and had very good results. I was surprised when you did not melt out the steel. I used 30 micron aluminum and made my own iron oxide using a cut masonry nail placed in water connected to a wall transformer overnight. You have to dry out all the iron oxide once completed. Great video.

[@detectivepayne3773]

"when you mix fuel,metal oxide and metal powder in just the right way... it burns at 2000 degrees Celsius, hot enough to cut through almost any barrier known to man, throw some c4 into the mix and you got yourself one deadly combination"-Jordan Tracer

[@miguelchacon2717]

It probably can't melt through tungsten or "starlite"

[@adamadam-ey6mv]

A man of culture

[@jamesnurgle6368]

"fuel" is a bit vague

[@RCROX]

Strong enough to aid in the twin tower collapse even

[@sashaenglish2755]

​@RCROX my thoughts exactly

[@VisualBasic6]

you should light it from the bottom. lighting from the top won't heatup the steel immediately .

[@colsoncustoms8994]

+givingtnt I had the exact same thought

[@btrswt35]

+Colson Customs me too. putting it in that tube, lighting it from the top, would cause it to burn from the top down. also, maybe the narrow diameter of the tube might also be a factor because of less surface area in contact with the steel.

[@JavDSilva]

+givingtnt indeed, thats why it failed

[@fossilworksprojects]

+David Mm agreed, I'd imagine a lot of the heat energy was lost before even coming into contact with the plate. Spreading the mixture lower and closer to the surface of the plate would probably yield better results than waiting for the cardboard tube to burn away.

[@dickobrazz]

+givingtnt ofcourse! its like a candle!

[@ninjaed13]

On a myth busters episode they burnt through a car's engine block with a plant pot of thermite. I think your thermite is just bad

[@Rikhardi]

also he used it diffrently

[@exotictoad]

+Debated Nothing it not always what its made out of and how its made, its mainly how its used. his thermite WILL cut threw that plate with ease if he did a bit of reserch into the use of thermite instead of just the composition.

[@jakemallett2239]

Yea but most car engine blocks are aluminium which melts at less than half the heat of steel so that doesn't mean his thermite is bad but then again I haven't seen that episode so they might have used a cast iron block.

[@TheOwenMajor]

Jake Mallett Most blocks are still cast iron, much cheeper.

[@ThumpertTheFascistCottontail]

+Debated Nothing I think that's because the plant pot concentrates the heat in a relatively small spot as the molten thermite flows out the drain hole in the bottom of the pot. The way it's done in this video, the heat is spread out over a larger area. Like a gas torch, use a broad flame for heating, but a narrow flame for cutting. Also there's a lot more thermite in the plant pot so the heat is applied to the metal for a longer period of time.

[@alphaadhito]

Military used military grade thermite not only to decomissioning weapons, but also in combat that its sometimes more effective than high explosive to destroy military object especially cannons because they are much more safe and quiet than high explosive. Simply put a thermite to a cannon breech and the breech is welded shut imposible to open, just like train tracks are welded. Thermite is more likely to weld rather than melt

[@bencunningham8216]

Yup I believe it’s called nano thermite, it’s a military grade version of thermite.

[@gilbet]

In the first part of the video, the thermite was touching the steel. But in a flat container placed upon a flat piece of steel, it won't be able to reach the steel as well. Maybe it also built up ashes at the bottom which insulated it.

[@wexy021]

+gilbet yep, try having the thermite touching directly to the plate, with more surface area. cant hurt to try!

[@pioneltapinessi947]

+FichDichInDemArsch hi

[@mwising]

+gilbet +NightHawkInLight Yes in my own experiments the trick is to let the molten iron gather and then letting it flow molten on to the object. If it just sits on top it will most likely end up building a hard layer of solid iron on top of the surface insulating. Also for a thermal lance effect, try packing it in to a steel pipe, raising the pressure just as if it was a black powder rocket engine will greatly increase cutting performance. I saw a rather interesting video somewhere about that.

[@pioneltapinessi947]

Hi

[@TheBackyardScientist]

You know how they weld train tracks with thermite? Ive watched videos where people actually try to weld with thermite and it seems almost impossible. Cody's lab did a good video on it. Have you tried it?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

+TheBackyardScientist I have. They must use a really good flux for railroad tracks, I'm not sure how they do it. Any thermite weld I've ever made is full of bubbles and ultra brittle. Maybe they just use the heat to melt the ends of the track together rather than the thermite contributing any extra metal to the joint.

[@jacobcrooks7855]

+NightHawkInLight Perhaps you might be able to better focus the heat output of your thermite mix by using some kind of conical applicator, similar to a shaped charge. I think the use something similar to deactivate i.e.d.s and land mines.

[@jacobcrooks7855]

+NightHawkInLight Perhaps you might be able to better focus the heat output of your thermite mix by using some kind of conical applicator, similar to a shaped charge. I think the use something similar to deactivate i.e.d.s and land mines.

[@jacobcrooks7855]

+NightHawkInLight Perhaps you might be able to better focus the heat output of your thermite mix by using some kind of conical applicator, similar to a shaped charge. I think the use something similar to deactivate i.e.d.s and land mines.

[@ivanstroganov5458]

from what I've seen in most videos, they don't use any flux. however, they preheat the tracks to about 1000 degr. C (+1800 degr. F)

[@ashlardarned2540]

I think you need to give this another shot and have the fuses at the bottom of the thermite pack so it burns bottom up, instead of burning top down. The thermite at the bottom will insulate the burning thermite from the cutting target until the reaction has end. That's likely why you failed to melt the metal.

[@D22-i3n]

Maui Lahaina 911 😢

[@jav5066]

This seems obvious I wonder why the experiment was donde burning the thermite on the wrong end far away from the steel plate

[@hiphopobenzema]

You should post more of these types of videos. I really enjoyed the scientific aspect of your often engineering based videos.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

+hiphopobenzema Thanks!

[@mrgartenzwerg]

+NightHawkInLight yep totally agree

[@bb3xhrhj]

+hiphopobenzema "scientific aspect"

[@exlipse3309]

yea

[@elevatedfilm]

I remember finding this channel many many years ago, when you made some shells but the video's did not even have your voice over. Nice to see how much this channel has grown, and the content still kicks ass.

[@Couscous_99]

Can it melt steel memes?

[@LFCooledWhip]

No. Dank memes can't melt steel beams.

[@mhanavan4]

+LFCooledWhip i brought you a gift: L

[@USWaterRockets]

+Couscous Only if you add Jet Fuel!

[@baconslayercm7033]

+Couscous I wonder how it will take people to realize the world trade center was made of aluminum not steel.

[@anthonyrutherford3920]

+Couscous only dank memes

[@Jesses001]

If you want to cut with thermite, here is something for you to try. Get a small section of black pipe with threads at each end. Just a few inches. Cut a slit all the way down the side. Fill with thermite (you can use paper to keep it from falling though the slit. Thread on an end cap on one end and a end cap with a hole in the other where you will put your fuse (magnum wire works well). Place the slit on what you want to cut and attach the pipe firmly. This will cut horizontally as well. Male sure you have a lot of room to do this and you are far back. It is not uncommon for this set-up to explode.

[@EeroSoralahti]

Do a video on the safety practices you apply when working on projects like this.

[@eriksstrautnieks9131]

i think it didnt melt steel cuz the flame direction was upwards

[@wilb0-]

NightHawkInLight did 9/11

[@origamigek]

He'd be the last person to suspect.

[@spikeypie5037]

+cheerdiver Wait a minute... DEW... Mountain Dew... DiMitri KhaLzov, Granite... MLG... Of course, it all makes sense now! It was the motherfukkin Quickscopers! Some scrub dropped the bass far too hard, and their skill created a singularity that melted all that was around! fkn rekt, scrublord

[@gabecirillo3131]

theories say they used thermate to melt the steel

[@xCmOn3yx777]

my theories say they used termites, to eat the steel

[@GiffysChannel]

He's the only one who doesn't have that new 911 banner

[@TheKillerGamingNinja]

NightHawk, I know you have a bunch of old subs that always are on your back saying you're amazing but in truth I gotta say dude you're fucking amazing. I subbed to you since I got bored and liked to see random ass firework videos but through out the time being you started to post amazing content, stuff that's actually fun and useful to watch. I'm an older sub in this case, but you've made enough good videos to keep me subscribed :D. (Make more outdoors videos please!)

[@Nighthawkinlight]

+Dunder Thanks! Glad to have you around

[@TheKillerGamingNinja]

NightHawkInLight Glad to have you posting :D

[@Cloud6112]

I saw your comment on bed banana channel

[@TheKillerGamingNinja]

Cloud 6112 ayyy lmao

[@drewbransby4600]

I watched a video a while back about how maybe thermite was used in the attacked on 9/11. The person in the video made a range of thermite compositions and put them into steal piping with a reducer as a nozzle. The thermite he made was quite fast burning and he put them into a variety of containers with nozzles or small slits to try and cut thick steel. Most of the time it was an explosion but did cut the steel. I will look for the video and I will get back to you.

[@Jacksonvillian904]

The video is called 9/11 experiments: The great thermite debate .. it’s still on KZbin. And clearly shows how a very small amount of thermite can cut cleanly through steel beams.

[@bitethebullet7010]

Your using thermite wrong hate to say. Thats why it doesnt work.

[@universalsustenence6915]

I was curious about how thermite burns. Your videos are insightful to say the least. I also have seen some of your other videos including; See-through cannon, Slow motion demolitions, copper being diamagnetic, and what intrigued me the most was working with the magnets and the bismuth. High quality vids bro!

[@RichCommander]

Idk man, there is plenty of footage of thermite cutting steel. Your thermite seems to burn very slow in comparison to the others I've seen on KZbin. They do use roughly a pound to two pounds of thermite however, rather than 300 grams. Try upping the amount of thermite you use, it's cutting power seems to grow exponentially with how much you use.

[@KowboyUSA]

+RichCommander You mean like when the Mythbusters tried to use over a thousand pounds of thermite to cut a mostly thin sheet metal mini SUV in half and it failed to do so?

[@superdau]

+RichCommander Where is this "plenty of footage"? Because most of the footage of thermite usages I saw shows filling gaps and welding, not cutting.

[@ThePelican12]

+RichCommander It comes down to how you direct the energy, from what i'm seeing, only the bottem 10% of the thermite was actually influencing the steel. The rest of the thermite reaction was directed up and outwards away from the steel. A better representation of this experiment would have been to have the steel put on top of the burning thermite if ignited from above, or find a way to ignite said thermite from below to cut downwards. The directing of energy is just as important as how much you decide to use.

[@ivanstroganov5458]

thermite doesn't cut anything. it might melt stuff on contact but it is not used for cutting

[@ScribeWolf]

+Ivan Stroganov cough thermal cutting rods used by the navy to cut metal underwater

[@cello1993]

NOOOO so interested it can't be over!! POST MORE OF THEEEESE!

[@soflokid954]

My favorite operator in Rainbow Six Siege

[@TheRandomVedioDudes123]

Lol

[@agoogleuser9025]

had to find this comment lol

[@brettlott570]

So was thermite placed inside of the World Trade Center buildings before 9/11? I just watched a 9/11 special and I saw footage of what looks to be thermite burning at/near the impact site of the north tower. Did anyone else notice this too?

[@MsSomeonenew]

It is all about direct heat application and containment, if you burn all the thermite in a large stack far above your target surface it can't do much good. And while thermite does turn into molten steel it can only share the heat with objects around it, meaning you need a great deal more thermite then the steel you want to melt, it is sadly no magic pixie dust.

[@wils35]

Molten Iron not Molten Steel.

[@Xendrius]

Thermite burns at 4000F, jet fuel burned at 600F. Yet fuel could weaken the steel but not thermite? Your mixture sucked, a guy already showed how thermite can melt through steel quickly.

[@baloog8]

I saw that video too. Can't find it anymore.

[@baloog8]

He focused the thermite stream at high velocity though.

[@MetroDET2011]

I think since the plate had time to heat up while the reaction was starting, it softened the metal and made it more pliable. (Less likely to penetrate.) same thing goes for your hand held rods. Try suspending a clay flower pot over the steel and having it pour onto the plate.

[@coreyshier7526]

I remember back in Army Basic Training, it was "Hand Grenade Training" and one that was demonstrated was the Incendiary Grenade. It was about the size of a tomato soup can with the fuse on top but it burned down thru the bottom. So when you load the tube w/the mixture, set the fuse to light the bottom and try to make a hole thru the mixture from top to bottom to allow extra air in to cause a venturi effect and turn it into a blow torch.

[@maxfuller7479]

its burning from the top down like a candle. most of the thermite is burnt out before it reaches the steel also.

[@Sharpless2]

Max Fuller you dont say

[@tobywenman4769]

Thank you for listening to my video request I really enjoyed it.

[@mahobgood30]

thermight was designed to weld steel together not go through it. thermate was designed to go into the barrel of a tank or heavy artillery and melt inside to gunk up the gun and fuse the metal can to the inner barrel. neither one was designed to melt through metal.

[@DrakeRiddle]

Ayyyy this is exactly the type of thing I was askin for a while back. Really cool, thanks!

[@Catani84]

Now I'm no chemist but I think something you're doing is wrong. I've seen lots of videos in which thermite melts steel like butter. You can watch Brainiacs videos or the episode in which Mythbusters use thermite to get into 4 inch thick steel safes. If you can't get past a 1/8th inch steel sheet then you're doing something wrong. Great videos by the way.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

+DjCatani Brainiacs is known to fake the results of their experiments to make for better entertainment. Mythbusters has used thermite quite a lot but as far as I know have failed to cut through anything very substantial. That isn't to say that thermite cannot cut through steel, but that it isn't as easy to make it do so as just setting it above the steel and hoping for the best. That was the purpose of the experiments I did in this video. Focusing the energy of a large quantity of thermite with specialized housings certainly can cut through significant thicknesses.

[@jonnydongle1588]

+NightHawkInLight nighthawk you have to put it in a container with one side open and facing on he steel that will cut right through that chunk of steel

[@iafozzac]

+NightHawkInLight Dude, you're just wasting 90% of that thermite by keeping it in that cilinder and lighting it from the top.

[@petegalvs]

+NightHawkInLight Yeah, the focusing is the crucial part. Just like with sunlight, if the energy is dispersed over a large area, it's harmless, but a large enough area concentrated into a small spot will melt rock.

[@uegvdczuVF]

+DjCatani Just like gunpowder won't explode if you just take a handful of powder an set it on fire, thermite will not melt iron if not used properly. I would like to see the same experiment with only difference being cylinders placed sideways. I'd be willing to bet that it would be enough to create different outcome.

[@MidwestMotoRider]

Wow that is something I would have guessed it would have cut right through it. This is good info, don't know why yet but one day it may come in handy!

[@wtrdawnlord]

From the setup, it seems to me most of the thermite is burning up at the top of the tube before it ever gets close to the plate. The amount that flows down to the plate and that amount burning relatively close to the plate isn't enough to do more than get it nice and hot. I would expect just thermite inside the retainer ring would do as well and possibly better. You might also consider adding magnesium, though iirc you may have had that in the list of ingredients briefly shown near the beginning. I have definitely seen thermite cut through iron and steel. I'm certain your method of application is the problem.

[@rightfulfuture4]

Some serious drywall work coming up!

[@sychosebi2000]

Hey if you dont mind me asking, What are the handheld container tubes you use made of?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

+PsychoSebi Paper

[@sychosebi2000]

NightHawkInLight oh, How thick is it that you can hold it safely?

[@someguyontheinternet2521]

+NightHawkInLight copper oxide works better than iron oxide

[@gmoddave]

+Defective Turret The problem with that, even tho it has a greater energy output, the reaction ends quicker, so it has no time to really melt the steel. most of the heat just escapes into the air.

[@someguyontheinternet2521]

gmoddave actually it more of explodes

[@Colaaah]

It's not your ingredients that are the problem. It's that you need to force your thermite reaction to be solely directed at what you are trying to cut. I've seen a KZbinr cut through an i beam. As you can see from your experiments, with it set as omnidirectional, it won't even burn 1/8 steel. Try wielding 2 angle irons together long ways, but only wield down one side and make about a 1/8th gab down the otherside. Cap the ends with steel end caps. Fill your thermite, then direct your 1/8th inch gap that you made tight along where you want to cut. *All of these sizes here aren't necessarily correct, but the process is. I hope this helps, it works. I've seen it 👍

[@greaterforce3981]

I came here from R6 . I wanted to find out how thermites ability worked.

[@kenscherf5561]

a couple of thoughts, 1) light from the bottom. by lighting from the top a lot of energy is lost burning through the material before the heat reaches the bottom. 2) have you ever tried adding magnesium chips and a filler to increase the temperature?

[@jjab99]

It's normally more effective to hold the thermite in a ceramic pot with a hole in the base so when it forms the liquid iron, it flows out of the bottom and can indeed cut through metal. Also thermite likes company, so try to use a larger amount to allow the heat to really build up and get a good flow of iron. Also ensure that you use the finest grade of chemicals with the highest mesh number and mix it really well before use. And as so many people have pointed out, there are lots of videos out there showing successful use of thermite to view and learn from.

[@filiplaskovski9993]

Next show suggestion, How easily can Jet fuel melt steel ☕️🐸

[@_Andrew2002]

Very effectively

[@Sharpless2]

Filip laskovski how easy can jet steel melt fuel beams

[@_Andrew2002]

***** Learn chemistry before getting a youtube account

[@_Andrew2002]

***** Make that simple 6 yr old logic, not chemistry

[@_Andrew2002]

***** Chemistry says just cause you have more of it doesn't mean it burns hotter. Do you have any proof of this? Cause according to your logic I could get 100 tons of Thermite and burn it for a day and it would reach if I calculated correctly, the temperature of the surface of a blue giant. And if I got all the hydrogen in the solar system and burnt it for a day I would reach the temperature reached at the big bang. Go learn some grade 8 chemistry son. Of maybe you could stop been a troll.

[@zerox3319]

+NightHawkInLight I'm a thermite welder on the railroad, we don't use thermite to cut rail we use it to fill in the gap to join two pieces of track (25mm, and up to 50mm),and we always preheat the ends of the track, period of time depends of what kind of track it is, I'm not sure how much thermite we use, but the portions we use comes in rather small buckets.

[@LordLares7]

you did it wrong. ignited thermite Has to fall on that surface. not just stand directly on it

[@zigastrmsek2]

If you light it from the top, the layers of thermite underneath it will insulate the heat, which means only the last bit of thermite will be in contact with steel. If you want to use it to cut, you need to light it at the bottom, and make way for it to trickle away, so it doesn't solidify and block the rest of it reaching the steel plate. Drill a small hole in the plate or make a channel in thermite's container.

[@ParaPanos]

Actually, nano-thermite can easily melt through steel.

[@Volaths]

Love the slow mo shots.

[@ryanpeters6216]

the Thermite needs to be contained more so has more of a direction

[@theraven9156]

I was a termite welder for the railway for 13 years.... I've seen it burn through the head of a rail.... gravity is what you need...it must drip onto the surface.

[@Rippertear]

Probably a bad idea putting the Thermite in a toilet paper tube. The toilet paper tube burns and makes gas (as smoke), and that releases a large amount of the heat up and away from the steel. The whole point in thermite is that it makes little to no gases, and so the reaction gets up absurdly high.

[@j69chevelle]

If I may make a suggestion, maybe try to create an ignition system that will burn the fuel from the bottom to maximize the concentration and heat at the point you wish you penetrate. Not sure if this is feasible but it seems plausible. It may end with fuel being scattered out of the top of the container.

[@ramunesoda73395]

compress the thermite

[@psukhopompos]

Couple things I'm wondering... First, if you lit it from the bottom (or rather, if the wick you used to light it ran all the way through), could you see better results? If you used a narrower tube (to focus the energy in a smaller area), could you see better results? Composition isn't everything, though it is a good focus.

[@GIJOERO]

poorly set up test bro

[@OspreyKnight]

At basic the Drill Sergeants put a thermite grenade on top of an ammo can. Made a hole, but only a small one. They did it again putting the grenade underneath and it melted the can in half. The problem probably isn't your thermite, it's where you're putting it. On top, the unburnt pile will actually insulate the plate until it begins reacting. Furthermore, anything on top of, or to the sides of will receive more radiant heat than anything below it because of convection. When thermite is used to disable or decommission equipment, it's placed in the center of the equipment.

[@arodlilman]

needs compression to use all that wasted energy

[@ShifuCareaga]

it's important to remember that the high 3500 F temps are reached at the interaction, not through somehow self-melting and dripping downwards onto the steel. The interaction has to occur immediately or near immediately proximal to the steel. The reason the plant pot works is that as the interaction gets going a constant source of chemical mixture is pouring down through a hole, controlling the burn rate. That way the heat increases until it finally goes through. You need both a length of burn (probably from a lot constantly burning over a longer period of time) AND proximity to the steel, or concrete as Grant Thomas has done. There are many ways to get high temps, what makes thermite useful is that it has cheap components that are not easily triggered and they can be modified a lot of ways for demolition applications. I don't think it is overhyped, respectfully. It is awesome stuff.

[@nickwoo2]

molten metal and snow should not touch. steam explosions are bad.

[@alexhutchins6161]

if you can direct the flow of the thermite with a little gap you can melt through inches of steel.

[@Tatusiek_1]

Thermite can't melt steel beams

[@jotawaplaysagame1949]

actually it can and is probably what was used.

[@jotawaplaysagame1949]

actually it can and is probably what was used.

[@teppo9585]

..but jet fuel can? There was also nanothermite found in the residue so you could be right though. Maybe thermite was there to weaken certain sections enough so as to facilitate the collapses, with nanothermate doing the main job.

[@Bizorke]

I lit off a batch of thermite in my back yard in a relatively thin dollarstore frying pan a few years ago and I was pretty disappointed and surprised to find that it didn't burn through as I expected. I guess you need a sustained reaction to heat up the container enough to melt it.

[@patrickmurphy3488]

Jet fuel cant melt steel Beams

[@Sharpless2]

Jet Beams cant melt Steel Fuel

[@bobwarren3898]

The thermite 'grenades' I am familiar with from the military have the igniter down the center of a compressed cylinder so the inner surface all ignites simultaneously. That seems to direct the heat both up and down, creating a directed jet of flame that definitely will ment through at least an inch of steel. I'm certain the design had to be tested to gain the most effective deployment.

[@theobystrom5279]

rainbow 6 siege anyone?

[@Cy_Raq]

hell yeah

[@Cy_Raq]

hell yeah

[@Cy_Raq]

hell yeh

[@Cy_Raq]

hell yeah

[@iPhone-mp1bo]

"throw some C4 into the mix and you got one hell of a combination."

[@lanceboyer9968]

When we used it, we made something similar to like an explosive shape charge. Best way I can describe it. Mounted it to a steel beam then lit it up and let it do the work. It wouldn't always cut the beam. Sometimes we would finish it with a chop saw. Then conduct the demo.

[@TheHarleyEvans]

try lighting the thermite from the bottom of the tube to allow the molten metal to drop down onto the plate directly rather than to potentially weld the iron/aluminium together under it as it's reacting, your thermite compound also seems to burn differently to other thermites, ask +theCodyReeder (cody's lab) for the recipe to his thermite? and/or ask for where he sources the components, if that fails try gunpowder/blackpowder in the mix to speed up the reaction?

[@mitchvaters1237]

If thermite is used to cut steel its most likely housed in a conduit with a directed output facing the steel being cut through. The conduit is usually a sealed container as well in order to pressurize the output

[@Jeo6oc]

Grats on the million

[@aaronslife4635]

I don't know if it makes any difference in real life. But, I was once told the best thermite is made using the unstable "blue" version of rust. Plus, I second the comment regarding lighting it from the bottom.

[@cameroneacret7111]

Wow that snow area with the trees is really nice

[@shiftplusc4439]

add some c4 in the mix you got one hell of a combination

[@marktgsxr]

I put 2kg of thermite on an engine block and it didnt touch it, heat dissipation is the problem. good work!

[@David-yn4cs]

Thermite does cut steel but you need to direct the energy towards the thing you are trying to cut. In your experiment most of the energy is escaping upwards, like a camp fire. You either need more thermite or you need to use it more efficiently by creating a thermite-loaded cutting device. This science is already well established.

[@danewhitmire1542]

If you could focus the flames of the thermite, then it might work better, as the heat seems to be dispersed mostly up into the air. Possibly using compressed air to blow a flame down (while fuel source is kept to the side).

[@rediempti]

I remember trying it for the first time, hyped up it will cut trough steel like a butter. I made ratios all good, put a container over 3mm steel plate, and all it did was melt over the plate to the asphalt in my street, cutting hole in it. So aftermath was not only cleaning, but cementing hole in my dead end street. Sweet teen times

[@benjaminsnyder8988]

I'm pretty sure the reason why the thermite didn't cut through the plate is because you ignited it from the top. The heat from the top layers of material ignited the material beneath it and transferred the reaction to the material in contact with the plate. But before the material close to the plate even started to heat up, most of the reaction had already occurred and the material had already been burned up above. If you had found a way to light the material from the side in contact with the plate, the heat would have been directed downwards towards the plate and at the same time, would ignite the material above it which would then come in contact with the plate as it falls down to replace the already-burnt substance. That way, almost all of the energy would be directed into the plate.

[@jonathanvanhyning3344]

If the thermite is placed directly on the steel plate, I believe the greater surface area, and more direct heat transfer would add up to more cutting power. Keep up the great Work! Your videos never fail to entertain me!

[@KynaruHelio]

The only use I know for thermite besides military use you mentioned is for welding rails together on railroads. I think Mythbusters even did an episode where they used it to get into a safe and they needed a heck of a lot to do it, and it wasn't practical since it would have burned all the money in the process. The issue is it leaves too much material that soaks the heat so the target metals never really get enough heat to melt, just enough to fuse with the metal in the thermite. I really enjoy your videos on it and hope you explore it more. Might be interesting to see you weld with one of those thermite sticks.

[@shadowcard6923]

It works better if it has a direction, just like explosives. If you think about it, you let the hottest part hit the plate last by using a top side ignition, but if you would put it into a container (such as a piece of black iron pipe capped on one side, so that the top points to the steel) it would direct the hot molten iron to the target metal, and the molten steel would fly away with the iron produced from the reaction. There was a video done where a guy was testing if 911 could have contained thermite and he was cutting through steel beams using a method like that. (Kinda like the model rockets, the propellants travel through a nozzle producing a faster velocity than if it was burned without the nozzle.)

[@elijahshepherd3374]

"Throw some c4 into rhe mix and u have one hell of a combination." -Thermite

[@michaelmorrison4201]

If you pay watch the reaction, you can see that most of the heat and energy are used up prior to even contacting the plate. The heat transfer to the plate was a small % of what the total burn is.

[@BhakJolicoeur]

I think what's happening is that the hot thermite at the top of the cylander is being insulated by the lower layers of thermite.

[@EugeneKhutoryansky]

Interesting experiment. Sorry it didn't work as you had hoped.

[@menkiboj]

you need to focus the thermite burn into the steel (ewample: if you put a lit candle on cardboard it probably won't light the cardboard , but if you put the cardboard over the candle it will start burning; i'm trying to say that the presence of the reaction is not everything that is needed ; orientation , and placement of the reaction has a lot to do with it ) ; [sorry for bad English if there was any]

[@sciencesucks123]

The tube is shooting up letting all the heat the opposite ditection on both tests turning the plate red when the bottom layer of thermite was lit. Remember the buildings didnt fall for 102 minutes so it had plenty of time for thermite to melt while the comotion was going after the panes hit.

[@shaynmckeon7779]

The thermite chips found in WTC dust was an intimately mixed composite of nano particles which greatly increases reaction time and energy output. Nano or super thermite is am explosive where as thermite is an incendiary

[@joaquin062502]

*Time to make a new door.*

[@MrImmortalBeing117]

The military has this thing called the TEC Torch or something like that, and what happens is that, its a steel tube, with two wire outputs for the electronic base, and it ignites from the inside when the electric match is triggered, and it shoots thermite out of the front due to the exothermic heat release, making a torch that can cut through half inch thick steel, or even steel door knobs or hinges... Found it: www.empi-inc.com/tec_torch.html EDIT: I also did a science fair project in 11th grade on thermite and a steel tube... It was a quarter inch thick, and my friend and I used 1 cup at first, then two as a backup in case in didnt go through the first time... And although it was red hot, thermite under standard conditions cannot cut steel unless you could get all the heat to focus on one single spot like a knife edge.

[@bradgregory4024]

Contain the reaction. Using a steel container, in which the reaction is directed torwards what you want to melt will do the trick

[@draizwrm]

my memory says thermite was mainly used for welding things like railroad tracks when making repairs your lance is a cutting tool if you want to burn thru something aka cut it, its a narrow hot spot, used to cut out a section not powder to burn a big hole

[@Yotanido]

Have you tried copper thermite? It doesn't burn nearly as long, but produces more heat, as far as I know. Might work, but probably won't...

[@choiboi1462]

Try putting the steel "inside" The thermite. That way the steel is absorbing more of the heat and doesn't have any exposed parts to cool down from. That's just an idea anyway.

[@RogueRunner85]

Yeah, I don't know. We've all seen more aggressive burns before. I learned that you need to sift it through a very fine steel mesh to break it up as much as possible.

[@TubeScience]

One problem I see is that you ignited it at the top. The metal isn't exposed to the heat until it has totally burned down to the bottom. Consider these modifications: 1) compress your composition with a binder (e.g., 3% PBAN or the like) so they are somewhat solid, 2) ignite from the bottom, 3) have an ceramic insulator (or the like) above them to contain/focus the heat. This should change your results dramatically.

[@42GELO42]

You should use really fine powders for higher temperature. By pressing the resultant mixture you can increase temperature even more. I request another video with new compositions!

[@indyjons321]

Have you tried pressurizing the termite mix? Example, using pressure via a pneumatic push rod to force the mix out the end?

[@TheGekkorider]

CONGRATS ON 1000000 SUBS

[@JoaoMPSilva13]

You need a conical cover that focuses the heat of the reaction. Something like clay would work temporarily. Its a basic concept when it comes to Fire and Explosion