Burning 50lbs of Thermite Made From 400 Soda Cans

[@pnadk]

Only on Cody's Lab: Just a cosy bonfire in my back yard... It seems my shovel is on fire...

[@roberson644]

Only cody: Owns property way out in the desert away from people and structures. Lights off 50 pounds of thermite in back yard in the city anyway. LOL

[@Akkbar21]

@@roberson644desert? High altitude maybe. Dude lives in Utah right?

[@Bossnium]

And it probably lost its temper. **Understands metal tempering never thought shovels were heat treated till now.

[@thekraden04]

​@Akkbar21 don't forget that desert refers to rainfall, not sand. Most of Utah is in the Great Basin Desert.

[@thekraden04]

​@@Akkbar21don't forget that desert refers to rainfall, not sand. Most of Utah is in the Great Basin Desert.

[@dhawthorne1634]

Basically, you have a big chunk of pig iron. This is the end product of the iron smelteries along the Susquehanna River. Coal, iron sands and the wood for charcoal was brought down by train and barge from around Centralia and Halifax, smelted and poured into buildings with floors covered in a thick layer of sand (that would turn green from the iron contamination, similar to that used in the stems of Alsatian wine glasses). The slabs would be broken up and sold to blacksmiths, iron-wrights and steel mills, often finding it's way up to Pittsburgh. Pig iron is rather useless on as is, it takes another melt or a lot of really hot, folding and forge welding to become something strong enough to be used as anything other than a paper weight. The reason you take this intermediate step is because transporting it in this form removes a lot of weight and volume. The Susquehana Valley was the logical place to set up these foundries because it was the shortest distance, near a lot of water from the sources of all the materials needed and you can let gravity do most of the transportation for you.

[@pokekick4185]

Wouldn't this be wrought iron. Iron very low in carbon? Pig iron is high carbon iron from blast furnaces that hasn't been processed yet in a steel mill into steel. Wrought iron and pig iron would be forge welded and folded to create high carbon steel tools.

[@dhawthorne1634]

@@pokekick4185 Wrought irons are forged. This is a cast iron. Either type can vary in composition based on source location and firing methods. Pig iron is characterized more by the large grains, voids caused by dissolved gasses and many contaminates such as scale, dross, sand and chunks of carbon. The common method of continuously dumping new fuel and iron alternatively into the top of a furnace stack does increase the carbon content, but the intent was to have a strong draft like a rocket stove instead of having to use a billows system. At least initially, the "near steel" levels of carbon was happenstance.

[@TheNewSchmoo]

"I've got pig iron, all pig iron"

[@vinnycordeiro]

Maybe Cody could lend all this iron to a smith to try and turn it into something like a dagger. It looks pretty nice, but I believe it'll rust over time if left as is.

[@ke9tv]

In earlier videos, Cody set up a bloomery and a finery forge for refining bog iron. I don't think he ever rigged a trip hammer, which you'd really need if your working stuff this big. Why the Susquehanna Valley, and later Pittsburgh? Because they had the coal! Iron ore was eventually arriving from as far away as Minnesota - but it takes a LOT more coke than ore to make a heat of iron!

[@ralphralpherson9441]

(70 year old Cody lays in the Hospital) Doctor: Well, it could be heavy metal poisoning, an environmental allergy, or radiation... have you spent any time around metal dust, radioactives, chemicals, mercury, or heavy metals? Cody: Oooooooh boy... well, how long you got?

[@An_Attempt]

Reason for the lip lifting off the sand: The thin aluminum rim cooled faster than the thicker Iron center material. As such the rim material contracted first and then solidified. After that, the thick center material solidified and contracted pulling the rim material up off the ground. This is a problem that you need to consider when 3D-printing large metal parts, so much so that the print novel needs to have a live physics simulation running to compensate for thermal contraction. At the end of the day, it comes down to thermal contraction and geometry.

[@entityunknown2]

this can also be seen in plastic 3d printing. Especial when you print with high temperature filaments that's why expensive printers are a sealed box

[@eldinmuller7698]

also aluminium expands and contracts more during the same temperature change than iron

[@LinkinPark4Ever1996]

I think the ground dried out completely and shrunk

[@ke9tv]

Metal 3d pronts need geometry correction, too, because you're likely to do vacuum stress relief and then HIP the heck out of the part to relieve porosity. Those will warp the part even further.

[@jamesmnguyen]

Yeah, I assumed it was thermal contraction but I never even considered the different rates of the metals also contributing.

[@nazamroth8427]

Imagine walking along the street and you just see a guy giggling around a pool of molten, violently exothermic "lava", occasionally stirring it with a flaming shovel.

[@Trump2024asw]

Like you wouldn't slowly creep over until your existing is acknowledged.

[@FainTMako]

Eating little burnt mini marshmallows lmaooo

[@lasaylem2622]

I'd figure he's probably a witch

[@adrian5b]

they're lucky he's not wearing the copper chain mail armor

[@Jairion]

reminds me of the picture of a beach where the hole dug out by one guy attracted all the other males to it to dig as well. I'd totally get attracted to someone melting metal on the street, I'm sure we'd have a great time.

[@integza]

Seeing you crush those cans was the most satisfying thing I've seen all week

[@Kaljumees]

YO ITS INTEGZA

[@CameronBrown-ph9do]

Let's face it you were hoping you'd think of some way to make a jet engine out of this weren't you

[@linecraftman3907]

​@@CameronBrown-ph9dothermite jet engine duh

[@CockerelOfficial]

Same, brother.

[@Channel.hohoho]

.

[@NewVegasMPx]

Working in a fabrication shop, I love how easily accessible the materials are for thermite. Literally just laying on the floor.

[@LoveShaysloco]

Our safety guy said we don't have flammable metal during a safety meeting. I said yeah we do. We have rust we have aluminum. So we have thermite waiting to be mixed. He said no we don't. So my logic choice I made thermite and said really and lit it up in the parking lot. He was not happy I proved him wrong lol

[@bl4cksp1d3r]

​@@LoveShaysloco i wouldn't trust my safety with this safety guy xD

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@LoveShaysloco “oh really?” (flick) love it

[@hamishfox]

@@LoveShaysloco Well I'm glad you did prove him wrong. I know from experience that ignorance about this kind of thing can and will lead to accidents. Not just thermite, but poisons, dust, gas... even not tying your boots up properly can lead to losing a foot if you pour the wrong thing down your leg. My dad knew a guy that lost a hand to a drill press because he couldn't be bothered to take his gloves off. It all seems unlikely until it happens.

[@heroslippy6666]

@@LoveShaysloco haha

[@henrique7612]

18:30 it is amazing that at this point you could just keep throwing more cans to keep a really warm fire.

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

or you could make it big enough for a demon to crawl through

[@RichardASalisbury1]

When I was a kid (70 years ago), my dad (1903-1999), a physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor, taught me how to safely make and use some simple explosives. We lived in Lafayette, CA (east of Berkeley and Oakland) in a house on a 3/4-acre lot. In our big back yard I did many experiments. Back then, you could buy powdered aluminum at hardware stores, presumably to make silver-colored paint. But I used it in some greatt experiments. Mixed in the right proportions with easily obtained sulfur, and potassium chlorate (better than potassium nitrate), it could be ignited to make spectacular fireballs. Powdered zinc, and powdered magnesium (which I surreptitiously filed off an unignited incendiary bomb, a souvenir of Dad's from wartime trips to England, worked almost as well. A kid part of me is still nostalgic for those days.

[@iang1650]

Lafayette’s a lovely place, thank you for sharing that sounds awesome

[@Vikingwerk]

Classic CodysLab; questionably safe science experiments in the back yard!

[@leifvejby8023]

Most likely no HOA in his area!

[@nunyabisnass1141]

I love his child like laugh. The dude really will never grow up and I love it.

[@acrazydurian]

hes got a sunny on, thats already better than the time tested method of safety squints at at least the safety of one arms length.

[@toolittletoolate]

Dude made enoguh thermite to take out a fucking military complex

[@tssteelx]

Yeah... he makes explosions and fire seem like an osha rep.

[@PeakOfHumor]

Since no one is talking about the intro, I appreciate your effort on it.

[@kinghenry7058]

So true!!

[@quistador7]

If only he spent like 20% more effort on the rest of the stuff he does. His attention to detail is AWFUL. If only he spent a tiny amount of time and money his channel would be HUGE. Just look at how clean Nile Red is. Meanwhile literally everything Cody does is gross and dirty. His scale was disgusting a dirty... he can't be bothered to take a wet rag and wipe it down before filming it for 250,000 people? He does everything one handed when a cell phone tripod is TEN FUCKIN DOLLARS. He doesn't bother editing his footage, so instead he switches from his back to his front camera and everyone gets a nice second pause where they think youtube is broken.... It's just fucking amatuer hour for him when it comes to actually making videos. He's obviously a smart guy and knows his science stuff.... but his ability to be a youtuber after ALL THESE YEARS OF DOING IT... just amazes me

[@sinopulence]

​@quistador7 Nile is a different kind of youtuber. Cody's lab has always been raw and authentic, backyard science guy. Don't like it, move on and watch others. People have lives and difficulties that you're unaware of. Do better.

[@brianwill5929]

​@quistador7 I've always preferred Cody's Lab for that exact reason. It makes science feel more accessible. When I was in my teens, I never could have reasonably recreated any on Nile Red's stuff. I have with Cody's stuff though. Get outta here with your bullshit complaining. Cody works hard on his videos and they are enjoyed by many. You can't say the same for yourself.

[@Blake22022]

​@@quistador7 Yeah but Cody is way cooler than any of those nerds

[@TheEcoHome]

Love your enthusiasm for these projects! I'm starting an education to become a biology teacher and I have a book on chemistry laying around that I really need to read beforehand to refresh my memory of the subject because the last time I had it was in 2015.. Your channel has taught me so much over the years though and I really appreciate you and your channel! Can't wait to try out chemistry experiments with my kids and teach them about beekeeping and the lot. Hope you're having a lovely day!!

[@turninonthescrew7394]

Me at the halfway mark: "Yeah, that was a pretty cool video. Nice one, Cody." Cody: *(pulls out 50lb bucket of thermite)* Me: 😳

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

alexa play "It's gettin' hot in here"

[@smoothwalrus9354]

Cody originally got demonetised because he made gunpowder out of his own urine. Now that he has been monetised again, he's teaching us how to make thermite 😂 Never change, Cody. You're the best.

[@arstulex]

To be fair, thermite isn't the crazy substance hollywood makes it out to be. While some types of thermite CAN be explosive, it mostly just burns at an incredibly high temperature. It's good for welding/melting through stuff due to it being able to deliver massive amounts of heat to a concentrated area. It's not so good for making bombs though. The 'mystery powder' he's using is probably much more dangerous. I'm guessing it's something like red phosphor (mixed with something else of course), but I'm not a chemist of any sort.

[@Abdega]

I want to say he made thermite a long time ago from etch-a-sketches

[@Surprise_Inspection]

The peasantry SHOULD NOT have the means to effect meaningful change into society. They always want justice and a redistribution of wealth. Ridiculous.

[@marcanthony9963]

Magnesium ​@@arstulex

[@adamgoodfriend]

@@arstulex you clearly never saw what cody did with the copper thermite and a pipe.

[@Timalick41]

This video was a BANGER!!! Definitely got me nostalgic to the good old days of KZbin and CodysLab. Thank you!

[@mikeblair2594]

I'm a blacksmith and I've been watching you since you started this channel. In smithing we use slow cooling out of the wind and weather to create a smaller grain structure. This is called normalizing. If you make a work-piece too hot you create large grain structures and brittle steel. So that's when you normalize it. You heat it to the critical point ( so hot that its non-magnetic). Then you heat it a bit more. Then you normalize it. You do this several more times until you're heating it to magnetic. The more you do this the smaller the grain structure size will be. I theorize that it was the overnight temperature and snowfall that cooled the iron quickly. Cast iron will always have a larger grain structure than steel, but I think that the fast cooling and possibly other minerals created conditions for the much larger grains/crystals. I would give somebody else's left eye to do a smelt to make wrought iron with you. I might just give my own left eye to run a smelt, but sadly I already lost my left eye when I was 21, so someone else's it is. Any takers in the comments? Thanx for the video. They're never boring.

[@dimitar4y]

We're in the cyber age, a camera's basically an eye, so throw one of those in mount doom to complete the sacrifice :p

[@superfluousscience2960]

@@dimitar4y I thought at first you were gonna tell him to replace his lost eye with a camera, cyberpunk style 😆

[@feliciapate7926]

Wasn’t it Odin who sacrificed an eye for knowledge? Weird association, I know. You just reminded me of that story. Anyways, thanks for the interesting insight. I’m not a metalworker, but I watch some on KZbin and I’ve long suspected something like what you said was the case.

[@MattH-wg7ou]

Youre basically a wizard to me. I am always amazed at metalworkers and how you can control all those variables to get all the output variables that you desire. It makes no sense to me. But I am a pocket knife enthusiast so Ive tried to learn a little about different steel types here and there, but it gets over my head very quickly!

[@dimitar4y]

@@MattH-wg7ou grab a piece of metal, heat it up, hammer it; If you survive to tell the tale and do this about 20 times, your muscles will whisper secrets to you..

[@pop_ulation]

i can't believe i've lived 40 whole years of my life without ever seeing someone crush an aluminum can with a tamper.

[@DrGreerIsRight]

I know right haha my thoughts exactly

[@wiltse0]

I discovered this tool and used it exclusively as a child for crushing the recycling, I had no other worldly use for it and if you would have asked me it's purpose as a child I would have stated can crusher

[@Henners]

As a kid my dad handed me and my siblings either a tamper or a huge sledgehammer to hold in the same manner to crush all our cans. As far as I knew as a kid; we had a can crusher tool and that’s what it was for lol

[@livingart2576]

I’ve lived 42 years of Americans pronouncing aluminium wrong! 😀

[@zysis]

This Aussie has NO CLUE what that thing was for. Figured it was purpose-built for crushing cans. I was like... that's kind of cool, but pros stand on the can with one foot then tap the side with the other and it crushes lol.

[@Gandhi_Physique]

I just love that you don't use super high end lab equipment for a lot of things you do (maybe all, idk). These random things are so cool. I bet you've learned so much from doing all this random stuff.

[@darylcheshire1618]

the railways use thermite reactions to weld rail, it is done in a funnel or conical vessel which conducts the iron to the rail joint. Presumbably the iron is pure enough to join rails, over the last hundred years the mixture probably contains fluxes and other substances as well.

[@The_Keeper]

Yup. I've seen it in real life. Just fill the cone, set it off, and wait. Then grind it. Job done. Pretty cool and efficient way to repair tracks.

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

I used to do this in molds for ground grids in substations also

[@christopherleubner6633]

​@JAMESWUERTELE ah Cadwelds, the best and most fun way to join copper wire to ground rods ❤

[@darylcheshire1618]

The electric welder looks good, about the size of a locomotive, has this clamp arrangement which can pull two rails together, it applies 7 volts to the rail and 20K Amperes.

[@warrenharrison9490]

Would that be the cause of the slag piles I've found near railway tracks?

[@MoonberryJam93]

2:12 Crazy to think this stuff used to be more expensive than gold, but now one can cast multi-pound ingots of it from casually discarded drink containers

[@mduckernz]

Yeah. Royalty would serve food on aluminium plates if they really wanted to show off. Now they’re like a really low budget option haha

[@jamesmnguyen]

I honestly think of this every time i see large quantities or common usage of AL. People back then would have their minds blown at the thought of whole airplanes built with it.

[@humanser]

The same will happen with gold if people learn how to extract it from the core of the earth 😂

[@MoonberryJam93]

@@humanser I feel like mining from space would be easier than mining from the core

[@KainYusanagi]

All because a way to cheaply and easily refine aluminum was discovered. Bauxite, the common ore for aluminum, is readily available, and aluminum makes up the largest portion of all metals and third most of ALL elements in the crust (behind only oxygen and silicon), at 8.23%.

[@Eristotle222]

I've been watching you for the better part of a decade and I love that you are still doing stuff like this.

[@lonnywilcox445]

If you insulate the hole with dry wood ash it will insulate far better than just the sand. Also throwing wood ash on top once the reaction is going will allow the heat to increase and allow more of the iron to precipitate from the slag. The cold air exposure is causing the mixture to cool and become sticky which is why some of the iron remains in the slag. Dry wood ash is an insane insulator, I have put cast iron pieces into a wood fire and let the fire burn out, come back a day later and pulled the iron from the bed and it is still red hot. It has taken up to a week for it to cool down to handle when it is left in the ash pile.

[@mzaite]

Next video, Cody makes Tamahagane Steel. Then, Cody forged a sword!

[@carpediemarts705]

Or perlite

[@-danR]

"Dry wood ash is an insane insulator" SpaceX' Starship division: "Interesting..."

[@Metal_Master_YT]

its actually capable of melting and dissolving wood ash...

[@jamesg1367]

I think @Metal_Master_YT is correct that the ash would melt at the super high temp of the thermite reaction. So would practically anything else. But the ash might help anyway, as would a generous cover-up of sand immediately following the reaction.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Pretty excellent result! I like the idea of only using a small amount of highly processed material. I wonder if you could get away with only a couple lbs of thermite to get a big flowerpot of crushed cans going. Also you should make another iron ingot like that and cut it down the middle. Give it a polish and boom: art.

[@Tony-op6xf]

Cody and his IRL Minecraft episodes.. lol

[@brendo7363]

It wouldn't show up the rainbow effect if you did that.

[@orthoplex64]

@@brendo7363 the colors are throughout the volume; otherwise they wouldn't be on the surfaces revealed where he happened to split it apart

[@brendo7363]

@@orthoplex64 do you think the iron has been turned purple? It's just a thin film on the outside of the iron crystals, you polish it, or even rub it hard and it comes off.

[@orthoplex64]

@@brendo7363 It could be something like a foam of oxide. Seems more likely to me than the revealed surfaces _instantly_ oxidizing to the exact thickness required for that purple when exposed to air.

[@doragonsureia7288]

19:02 I recognise that big smile from a mile away. The smile of a kid who startet a big fire and is in awe of it's flames! I love making fire

[@christopherj3367]

when it was glowing in the hole, it looked like a meteorite had landed. I would have thought the aluminium would have been silvery coloured like the iron. Thanks for sharing Cody.

[@SpaghettiEnterprises]

The metallic aluminum in the cans becomes aluminum oxide during the reaction, which is why it is no longer shiny afterwards.

[@ItsQualitycontent]

Been watching you for about a decade now. Something about ur videos are so entertaining with a mix of American country ingunity and science. Ur a mad lad in the best way possible.

[@bedjoints]

i love how unique cody's style has gotten over the years. nothing else like it

[@spookisghostly4619]

He does what makes him happy and honestly that makes the content better

[@cwtrain]

There is plenty exactly like it. You're just not watching it.

[@thecrowcook]

It's like he never stopped being a beginner youtuber, he never changed to fancy setups or high end editing and production. Just a dude doing things he likes

[@okayreche]

⁠​⁠@@thecrowcookI was thinking of how his style has remained reminiscent of earlier yt. It’s beautiful. Always fun little things, or surprisingly complex things. He definitely has fun doing what he does. :)

[@ballsack4581]

hes consistently been one of the best youtubers for such a long time. i remember when he was new to youtube

[@Ultracity6060]

"If you wish to make thermite from scratch, you must first bake a pizza."

[@lesliefranklin1870]

The pizza is actually a yummy byproduct of the reaction.

[@RogueShadowTCN]

Efficiency. Let nothing go to waste.

[@agenthambo]

"First rule of Project Mayhem is you don't talk about Project Mayhem!" - Unknown

[@mzaite]

That's just good advice any time.

[@randygoolsby4893]

Carl Sagan 🙂

[@theendtimes369]

I wonder if its posible to polish the iron with those amazing colors and what the result would look like. Interesting experiment and your enthusiasm is outstanding.

[@Ms.Pronounced_Name]

18:40 I was 100% expecting you to toss a few additional prepared cans in, like adding logs to a fire

[@lordpastrythief]

I work for a company that makes CNC laser equipment for cutting and marking metals, and I always advise customers that if they don’t clean their slag wagons etc out between material changes, one of the hazards is essentially thermite build up between steel and aluminum laser dust/slag. Just last week a coworker was on site for a metal fire that wrecked a machine pretty good

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

I use to operate a laser cutter. Aluminum would be cut using nitrogen as the purge gas, so the dust would still be mostly aluminum. Steel, on the other hand was cut with oxygen as the gas, which burned the steel, resulting in rust (iron oxide). All of that would be vacuumed up and collect in a large bin, that needed to be emptied, about once a week. That was always a messy chore, as the powder was very fine. Didn't realize that we were dumping about 50 lbs of thermite every time we did that. Good thing the trash bin never caught fire ! Good thing the trash bin was outside, at the far end of the parking lot.

[@cedricbillingsley3960]

That would have been a very impressive dumpster 🔥 fire 🔥 😅

[@davidrush4908]

​@@cedricbillingsley3960What dumpster?

[@gelliohumberto5858]

@@davidrush4908the one at the end of the parking lot.😮

[@dmacpher]

@@davidrush4908the laser cutting equipment after the fire 😂

[@erickruiz9960]

Cody is the adult that decided to do the things every engineer wanted to do as kids.

[@FranciscoSilva-km1dg]

He made a pool of molten metal in his backyard with sand and cans Take a moment to apreciate how cool is that

[@TheTubejunky]

And a ball mill and a furnace and a lathe and a budget for time and other materials.

[@onradioactivewaves]

​@@TheTubejunkydon't forget about the mystery powder.

[@TheTubejunky]

@@onradioactivewaves Yes Red phosphorus I do believe.

[@onradioactivewaves]

@@TheTubejunky sounds like something he'd rather avoid naming.

[@nousernamejoshua1556]

​@@TheTubejunkyI thought that was the pizza? Anyway.. to soda cans.

[@MonkeyWithAWrench]

HA! Thats clever as heck! I never considered that you could just start a large reaction that's big enough to just consume the raw cans! and considering all you needed to do to get the materials was save cans and use a magnet in the dirt, that makes a super cheap way of getting a LARGE thermite reaction! Nice job, Cody!

[@blakemeding7917]

That's what I was thinking! A cheap, easy way of accessing a supply of Thermite, and iron. I was also thinking you could run the aluminum oxide (Sapphire) slag through the ball mill and make sand blasting media. Cody is so damn innovative.

[@dave7038]

This works with magnesium too! If you ever find yourself with a spare old magnesium Volkswagen engine block you can build a nice big campfire and put the block in, and in a little while you'll have a nice magnesium fire going!

[@rkimberly985]

When I was a fie fighter years ago, if a "Stolen" car was set on fire, and it had a cast aluminum engine, It would take Purple "K" to put it out, or push it in a lake or river. Wasn't much you could do once the aluminum caught fire. Especially if it had Magnesium in the Aluminum alloy casting!. Termite grenades, and sheets were very effective in destroying equipment, and sensitive data machines, like Crypto, and radios.

[@deltab9768]

It’s surreal that it sometimes didn’t look like it was burning. It was like the material just decided to melt without really flaming or spattering. I crunched the numbers 3 Fe3O4 + 8Al-> 4 Al2O3 + 9Fe. ~912 AMU total, ~504 of iron. *~72% yield of iron was in the bottom of that pit.* Pretty good IMO considering the impure starting materials, unorthodox mixing technique, heat loss to the environment, and bits of iron that got trapped in the slag. Thanks for an amazing video!

[@mozzyquodo5532]

Cody uploaded.... Stop everything I'm doing... Await explosion.... Perfect evening.

[@kylehawk9055]

Bumpity bump bump this 🎉🎉🎉

[@BigParadox]

Sounds like a haiku.

[@mozzyquodo5532]

😆@@BigParadox

[@gotdragon]

My handcannon video... Boom!

[@kloogyB33]

Remember myth busters? That was pretty much the last 4 seasons.

[@Manmaker110]

I love how you are just having fun with yourself and appreciating little funny things like eating a marshmallow from a kinda cooled off molten aluminum hole lol

[@asdfasdfadfasdf2979]

"Ooh, that's hot." -man digging lava with a shovel

[@Entroper]

The most controlled thermite reaction I've ever seen (and I've watched a lot of videos about thermite). I love that instead of just throwing melted slag everywhere, it was able to react more slowly and incorporate all of the aluminum cans and magnetite sand into the final products. When you pulled out that big lump of iron from the bottom was a huge "whoaaaaaaaaaaa" moment.

[@runninggag]

Its probably because it isnt mixed as much as usual, just like in Gunpowder. The more contact between the ingredients the faster it goes

[@faroutman23]

You should watch some videos on aluminothermic rail welding very controlled and precise

[@kenycharles8600]

See if you can find videos of the cad welding process. I have cad welded #14 rebar to splice columns together on hi-rise buildings.

[@ESpeak704]

Dude just casually posted a video on how to make thermite.

[@parkerbenz]

When I was younger I made my own furnace out of a bucket lined with cement, and a hair dryer blowing air into charcoal briquettes with a steel fire extinguisher as the crucible. I was melting aluminum cans down, and about halfway through, the steel crucible started to melt. I was left with interesting mixture of steel, aluminum, and charcoal. It was fascinating, porous charcoal mixed with little round balls of magnetic steel, and smaller round balls of aluminum. To this day I cant fully understand why it turned out the way it did, but seeing videos like this are always interesting. Thanks Cody.

[@xhappybunnyx]

vented fires like that are no joke!

[@jerry3790]

It’s amazing how those huge chunks illustrate just how light aluminium is compared to other metals. No way could you hold a chunk of steel that size in one hand with such ease

[@matthewfurlani8647]

structural steel is 41lbs per sqft per inch. a food can which is probably 5 inches by 2.5. so maybe it's 10-15lbs?

[@niekpauwels9569]

Also it's aluminium oxide and he showed how many bubbles were inside. There's examples of rocks floating in water because of trapped bubbles, so this would be similar.

[@S.ASmith]

it's quite doable to hold 50kg or 110lb in one hand. Cody is relatively strong, having grown up on a farm.

[@crackedemerald4930]

​@@S.ASmithbro that's most of my weight, don't tell me a man can hold my own stupid ass one handed 😭😭😭

[@Morganational]

... speak for yourself..

[@MiishaKorvian]

Watching Cody toss aside slag containing small bits of iron has me thinking, "There's a shirtless man in Australia that could use that slag as ore!" Mr. John Plant of "Primitive Technology" is a proper legend, often imitated, never replicated.

[@larsbecker2003]

Please never stop uploading cody. I really enjoy your videos. When i started watching you i was 10, now i get 21 and still enjoy your videos and you as a person. I am studying electrical engineering right now and you contributed to my development in interest in science. Just that you know that from an unimportent viewer from germany.

[@ElDJReturn]

Cody is the literal definition of "Science Is Cool".

[@erinmac4750]

Truth! 🔥🪨✊

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Yes! Well put.

[@jpjpJPJPG]

Thanks Cody! I'd bet the gap along the sides is from uneven cooling. It likely cooled more quickly and contracted on top while still pliable on the underside allowing it to pull in and leave the gap behind. I know that's a consideration in molded and casted parts because of the warpage that comes with uneven cooling

[@b.w.22]

This is somehow the purest “Cody’s Lab” distillation and a wonderful throwback to some of the long-lost greats that boring old “YouToob” and the “Federal Government” had opinions on - that single-cylinder diesel clacking away, Dad’s ball mill, Cody measuring things, paper plates, “probably won’ts” and all. Loved this, man. Blew my mind to see that reaction consume the whole cans and boiling away like some open portal to the Earth’s core. Bravo.

[@christopherleubner6633]

The turnings and chips work fine as is for large thermite fires. Ball milling works great for making pyro grade powders though. One fun thing to do is to make a battery with the aluminum, use the turnings for the negative side and some baking soda plus lye for the electrolyte, then a mix of graphite and rust for the positive side. Makes about 1.7V per serving.😂

[@Legit2570]

God i love Cody's Lab. One of the best YT channels out there and goes to show you dont need any fancy set ups or ideas. Just a man with a camera and science (plus a fantastic personality)

[@victorcercasin]

Cody is my most favorite person on KZbin. This video made me happy in a way other youtubers just can't anymore

[@lifes2short4aname]

Are you a pyromaniac ? Xd

[@victorcercasin]

@@lifes2short4aname apparently...

[@rutherford2580]

Oh those colors in the iron are amazing. They are aligned like a temperature scale due to the temperature gradient. Never would I have thought about to make Thermite like this.

[@deepspacewanderer9897]

19:20 does the red-purple glow look the same to the human eye, or just an artifact of the camara sensor being able to detect near-IR/the way monitors display colour/both?

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

It's the camera unfortunately

[@viola_case]

bro just goes outside and gets the iron himself

[@kylehawk9055]

He can also just go live like mars

[@noob19087]

That's what's so cool about geology. People think stuff like gemstones and metals are rare. But if you just go look for them you're bound to find it. For example you can find garnet, quartz and topaz almost anywhere on the planet.

[@petevenuti7355]

A magnet helps, beats separating all the sand grains by hand.

[@LinkinPark4Ever1996]

Minecraft IRL

[@edschaller3727]

@@LinkinPark4Ever1996 without the need for punching wood

[@heyarno]

I like how neatly the iron and slag separated in the last batch.

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

Kinda wish some post apocalyptic survival games would integrate smelting in these sort of backyard chemist ways but unfortunately most of them lack creativity

[@JustHear4DaPopkorn]

​@@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn I'D PAY GOOD MONEY 2 SEE DAT

[@TheOtherSteel]

Thermite roasting by an open fire Cody's laughter nipping at your nose

[@matthewellisor5835]

Anyone else enjoy that crystal lattice defect sliding across in the intro?

[@archibaldthearcher]

They used to make lead shot by pouring molten lead through sieve and letting it fall from height, the bigger the diameter the longer distance was needed so high towers were constructed for that very purpose (Look into 'shot towers' to get more details). Pretty sure you used to have access to vertical mining shaft (recall it from mushroom growing series) maybe it would be worth trying playing with this method to get aluminium shot in reasonable size that can be then thrown into ball mill for finer pulverizing. There were alternative methods developed since so there's space for some tweaking. Seems like potentially much easier and faster method than melting everything into big chunk and then spinning it all on lathe just to get chips

[@archibaldthearcher]

On separate note, there has been some progress with iron nitride as potential alternative to neodymium magnets. Quite promising technology considering how dependent we currently are on rare earth metals. Biggest challenge was producing nitride in bulk. There are few processes, but one seems fairly straight forward and simple. Iron oxide can be thrown into ball mill with ammonium nitrate, apparently over days of spinning nitrogen will diffuse into iron particles. Making magnets seems like a potentially interesting video series, especially exploring potential of making them using iron nitride. It's a good exercise in chemistry and metallurgy with fairly accessible materials, they sure as hell are accessible to Cody and he worked with them already on previous projects Just an idea

[@erinmac4750]

​@@archibaldthearcher That sounds like an amazing Cody project! I've always been fascinated by magnets. Making one yourself this way seems like alchemy. I hope he does this! 🍀✌️😎

[@dave7038]

For aluminum you can pour directly into water to get individual lumps. If you pour from a foot or two you get round bits about 0.5 to 1 inch in diameter, often as hollow beads (occasionally a sealed bead with water inside). I'd suppose that if you pour from high enough, maybe with a splash plate, you could get cooled bits small enough to pulverize effectively in the ball mill. Probably would take longer to mill than the chips, but skips the lathe, so less hands-on time.

[@internetbodhi1009]

​@@archibaldthearcher While I like the enthusiasm, there are so many things wrong with that idea from a legal and safety standpoint.... Legally ammonium nitrate is rather heavily regulated. Of course, Cody may have access as a farm owner(?). Still, hurdle #1. However, it is regulated because it can be explosive. (Recently in Beirut, for example) Now, ordinarily, its safe. It is a fertilizer after all, but chucking a bunch of ammonium nitrate in a truck's steel rim ball mill, with a bunch of steel balls, and adding iron powder, all of which are famous for sparking, is such a bad idea I hope this explanation is enough.

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

yeah just gimme a sec as I harvest my nitrides from my haber bosch machine@@archibaldthearcher

[@aalevie]

Cody, it’s good to see you so happy man. Thanks for the fun video.

[@DasIllu]

That mystery igniter looks a lot like powdered copper and sulfur to me. Classic demonstration in chemistry classes.

[@TechNextLetsGo]

When I made the ignition powder we just added like 30% Sulphur to the termite mixture.

[@techtinkerin]

Crushed up safety matches

[@matthewcox7985]

Quite a few other examples used a firework sparkler as an igniter (and fuse).

[@tissuepaper9962]

It's too bad that the feds keep crawling up Cody's ass about his energetic experiments, otherwise I'm sure he would have been quite happy to explain exactly what the "mystery powder" was.

[@bryanroberts]

"Fire tower 1 to Fire tower 2" .... "Ummm, it looks like there is weird colored smoke and flames coming from Cody's again!"...."yah it's ok he's just making a video!"

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

I wonder if they even check in on him if they hear any explosions or if it is just another day near codys lab xD

[@tterryshenanigans1820]

Gondor?

[@Genderspren]

I love that this implies he's on a first name basis with the fire department

[@dandahermitseals5582]

Well that's interesting but what practical application ( other;than explosives)what is ur reason to make it??😮

[@arrrghr]

"Ignition mixture." "Mystery powder." AKA, "Please don't send the bomb squad to my house kthx."

[@techtinkerin]

Aka crushed safety matches

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

i mean a sparkler would work just as well

[@Flederratte]

I used to melt aluminium in a furnace which had a bottom made from plaster of paris and used charcoal and blown in air as fuel. At one point my crucible burned through and the hot alumium came in contact with the plaster of paris (CaSO4). I figured it would collect at the bottom and added more aluminium cans on top and left the air blower running. Suddenly the plaster reacted with the aluminium in a reaction similar to this. It was very bright and quite fun to watch although also a bit scary. The whole alumium was used up and also a big portion of the plaster was missing afterwards.

[@daneh6240]

I rarely watch a video start to finish, Great work Cody!

[@ericv738]

15:00 "gas coming off the cans probably the paint burning off" It could also be the interior lining of the cans. Soda cans have a plastic liner, or teflon, to prevent the aluminum from rusting too fast.

[@codenamenel]

Aluminium doesn't rust

[@ericv738]

@@codenamenel soda is very acidic

[@honthirty_]

@@codenamenel True, it oxidizes. Nice to hear more precise language. Aluminum bronze, phhft! That is a pet peeve.

[@blueredbrick]

​@@codenamenelyes it does. Only when in the pure state and not contact with other metal and metal oxides an indoors with low humidity and no electrolytes. Aluminium is a wonderful material but it really is a great 3 electron donator. Just have a look at alu parts bolted down with iron bolt washers and nuts. Use the to hing a few times outdoors in badmeester, by chance some salty stuff gets to it in the winter when driving the roads or just live 20 miles from the seashore. Aluminum is great, but reactive and rusty as heck

[@codenamenel]

@@blueredbrick rust is iron oxide (fe2o3) how does aluminium turn into iron oxide ? it corrodes but does not rust

[@LucasRipetta]

Leave it to Cody to take a violent exothermic reaction and tame it into peaceful Bonfire mode. This are the content creators that makes KZbin still enjoyable. Great intro by the way

[@Matt-gr9sw]

This was captivating! I wish I knew about thermite when I was a teenager living out in the country. That the slug was still warm to the touch a half day later is just crazy. Fun watch all the way through.

[@AdmiralSenn]

Glad you left out the secret igniting sauce details - hopefully that keeps the video up!

[@jerry3790]

I think it’s some sort of perchlorate-based mix

[@WEO57]

​@jerry3790 I was guessing it's just a powdered magnesium mix. I always use powdered mag to light off my thermite. But I wouldn't be surprised if Cody made something cooler and more on par for his style haha!

[@LukSter18998]

@@WEO57glowies on ma block

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Aluminum and sulfur, KMnO4 and glycerine, magnesium, lots of things work, Cody used to use aluminum and sulfur, probably still does.

[@solaries3]

Wouldn't want the gov't to show up at his door. Again.

[@noob19087]

15:01 Fun fact: Did you know that cameras are actually capable of capturing light in the infrared range? That pink glow around the fire is IR radiation. You can tell that the fire here is really hot because of how much pink there is (IR radiation is also known as heat radiation.)

[@JamesChurchill3]

You can tell that fire is hot because of the way it is. That's pretty neat!

[@noob19087]

@@JamesChurchill3 You misunderstand. IR is invisible to the eyes, you can't see it. But it's close to the visible part of the spectrum, so a camera that can see a bit into IR just lumps it in as pink light instead. If you were there the fire wouldn't look pink at all, but instead you could feel the IR on your skin.

[@themanhimself3]

You're telling me that fire is hot? No way!!

[@JuniorJunison]

Normal color cameras can only see near IR. The wavelength of IR light that is associated with heat radiation is much longer. Thus the camera is not seeing heat, it is only seeing IR light. The thing to remember is that molten metal itself emits light in various wavelengths, not just the usual heat, and so the metal itself is emitting near IR light in addition to the IR energy that is associated with heat. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@JamesChurchill3]

@@noob19087 How neat is that?

[@JSTKSK]

That quantity and size of steel balls must have cost a fortune!

[@KuradiKylmdingdong]

Dude so casually made a less angry Elephant's Foot in his yard

[@acrazydurian]

AND he poked it with a stick with the flat pointy end! AND the flat pointy end caught on fire within seconds! im giggling like a little girl right now

[@albummutation2278]

you truly are one of my favorite content creators on this whole platform, please never stop making content (unless you need to for external reasons, of course; your mental health is more important than my entertainment lol)

[@killkarl8198]

So great to see you back online. The last video was great, but I've been missing the chemistry vids.

[@kylehawk9055]

His video on cleaning the highway made me sad thinking of when I was told to throw away the extremely heavy dust from the edges of an RV repair shop. Had last been sealed a little over 10 years prior.

[@Science-Vlog]

yes but dont killkarl

[@anonymoususer8967]

This is exactly the metal bubbling cauldron of liquid fire I never knew I needed in my life

[@BHSAHFAD]

Such a good video, so satisfying to watch... I caught myself saying "whoa" when you opened the iron to reveal those pretty colors. Cody you are a treasure of youtube. Keep these videos coming!!

[@derchromebacher4366]

Get you a man that takes out the good shovel to stir the thermite

[@JSTKSK]

I am not saying this as a negative thing, I thoroughly enjoyed this video, but its funny that you took one of the only recyclable materials that actually gets recycled rather than burned and burned it lol.

[@PepperGizmo42]

This takes me back to classic old Cody’sLab. Love it

[@WhichDoctor1]

this would make such a good scene for a sci-fi book/film. Some people crash on a barren planet where there's no organic resources and its going to get lethally cold when night comes, but they have no source of heat. So they process a little bit of the aluminium from their crashed spaceship into dust and gather up a bunch of magnetite sand then make a small amount of thermite to get a reaction going and then spend the night huddled round a pit of molten iron throwing in chunks of their spaceship and handfuls of the sand to keep the reaction going until dawn

[@StephanAhonen]

Anthony Weir is kicking himself for not making this a subplot of The Martian... Martian soil gets its red color from iron oxide

[@TobiasWeg]

Are you an Author, very nice story idea, nicely described would love to read it.

[@32Rats]

Not to mention it can burn perfectly fine in low oxygen environments since its oxygen comes form the iron oxide

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

pretty sure the spaceship aluminium alloy wouldnt be pure enough for that. But scientific accuracy hasn't stopped any science fiction writer yet otherwise the martian wouldnt have beena success.

[@gustavofiora5393]

Excellent experiment, undoubtedly due to the grain and fragility it is a type of ferroaluminum, ferroaluminum is a ferroalloy with approximately 35% Al and the rest Fe and was used for the final deoxidation of molten steel before casting.

[@hanbill]

4:08 don't wanna inhale that pixie dust

[@dimitar4y]

heavy(?) metal poisoning at its finest

[@itsKurashi]

This vid seems like a fun one! Thanks for all of the content over the years, I have been watching your vids for soooooo long. Keep it up :)

[@ignatiusreilly8280]

38 of your best aluminum turnings, please sir.

[@michaelfixedsys7463]

Interesting that my two favorite mad science channels made thermite videos within a few days of each other.

[@enward_hardar]

They talk back stage.

[@cherryfruit5492]

one of the coolest videos on thermite imo

[@Merojewelleryworkshop]

This was amazing to see , good job 👏

[@shopwood99]

Might be interesting to repeat but after igniting cover it with an insulating layer to encourage the growth of large crystals.

[@Convolutedtubules]

That could be really cool! Especially if you manage to Insulate on all sides, perhaps using sand and ceramic wool.

[@Heffling1]

Your magnet didn't attract the glowing lump of iron from the small scale test because it was over 723°C, so the iron would be austenitic (FCC) structure instead of ferritic (BCC). The larger piece lifted up due to thermal contraction as it cooled. The coloration in the large piece was caused by the cooling rates at that spot. It's the same reason motorcycle exhausts get that colored pattern to them. The brittleness in the iron is also due to residual thermal stresses and porosity due to all of that off gassing. You probably also added a lot of carbon to the iron due to the paint and linings of the cans.

[@Anothermachine]

Would this be considered a high carbon steel? Basically crucible steel?

[@Heffling1]

High carbon steel is usually 0.8% to 2.0% carbon, although most of the grades I've worked with are in the 0.8-1.2% range. I agree with @sarahwidhalm4300 that it's probably more along the lines of a cast iron, which is greater than 2.0%. Given that there was no mechanical or other agitation, I suspect that most of the carbon from the paint and linings of the cans exists as thin graphite plates, which is what made the material brittle. A few definitions - Ferrite is pure iron (fe) in a BCC structure, Cementite is Fe3C which is a hexagonal structure. In irons, these naturally form a laminate called pearlite, which is 7 Fe to 1 Fe3C (if I remember correctly). If you look at the iron-carbon phase diagram, you'll see there is a eutectic point at 0.83% weight carbon. This is where the 7:1 ratio comes from. A steel at 0.83% carbon content would have a pure pearlite structure. Steels with lower carbon would have grains of ferrite and grains of pearlite. Steels with higher carbon content (up to 2.06%) would have grains of cementite and pearlite. At 2.06% carbon, you have pure cementite. @@Anothermachine

[@FrostiesTanks]

Material science is so fascinating

[@Peckerwood-502]

I’m pretty sure a large percent of viewers have no idea how much work was done here. I’m certain it took a good bit of time. I think it was worth it. It’s just fun to experiment with things like this as the end results are usually satisfying. I like making smoke. Especially when the neighbor and their friends decide to take their drunken selves and a loud karaoke machine out on the back porch at 2 am.

[@etiketi]

12:18 I was thinking for most of the video "What if you made these in the cans themselves and started the mixture within the can" and you were already a step ahead, love it.

[@EdgewiseChairman32]

Cody, your channel and videos always makes me feel so warm and welcome, its comforting somehow. Please keep doing what you do! Regards from Sweden

[@reignedaze]

Cody, move the material around when youre cooling it. Same principal as quenching, if its stationary the steam jacket will protect it, need to move it around to constantly break the seal so the water can do its job!

[@lemonke8132]

"well" *moves box full of thermite can bombs into view* "only one way to find out"

[@3v068]

gosh darn I absolutely love this channel. Been a long time fan and seeing you keep going and having fun just doing random stuff is a nice break from a lot of the content on here.

[@benanddadmechanical6573]

Super cool. Next step is making a way to have the iron pour out the bottom into a mold.

[@nosidenoside2458]

It's crazy how easy it is to make thermite

[@mzaite]

No, what's crazy is how often people (ie. teens) DON'T make termite!

[@Mrgoraist]

@@mzaiteif I had to guess, it’s the level of effort and commitment you have to put into it first that stops them. It’s what stopped me.

[@MinecrafterPiano]

Here before there's a... "disagreement" from KZbin. Really enjoyed the video and your process!

[@calebdeming5515]

Most genuinely happy KZbinr. Love everything cody

[@bluecowairsoft8154]

cody opens an actual portal to hell and isnt sure if it can roast a mini mallow on a toothpick lmao

[@huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn]

mmmm tasty aluminium can fumes

[@julioscholz]

can someone elaborate on the mystery powder used for ignition?

[@theCodyReeder]

KZbin doesn't like when I give out all the details.

[@cowbones6864]

Looked like a magnesium based thermite.