[TheForge] Fun with thermite anyone?

[marilyn traber 011221]

> Could we let this thread die before somebody goes out
> and tries some of this stuff????? Thermite is very
> dangerous, somewhere on the net from Australia is a
> video about a couple of young guys playing with
> Thermite. Want to see a car burn to nothing, this
> video has it. The fire departments have to let this
> stuff burn out, then try to save what ever is near it.
> 
> Nasty stuff, a little goes a long way, a 5 gallon
> bucket could burn your neighborhood down literally.
> 
> Next some one will want to try blast fusion of unlike
> metals with nitric acid and glycerin, and they don't
> understand the process of blending the stuff.
> 
> Jerry

Well, Jerry, personally I believe in knowing about potential hazards, rather 
than trying to hide the information. Many household materials can be mixed 
without a problem, or with only making a mess, as in vinegar and baking soda. 
But, if I'm housecleaning, I'd really like to know that mixing bleach and 
ammonia gives off a deadly gas. I mean, they're both common cleaning 
supplies, right? Who'd have thunk it? Or, if I'm cleaning out my garage, it's 
be nice to know that pouring my old, leftover brake fluid into my almost 
empty dry laundry bleach might cause my trash can to explode into flames. 
And, around the shop, considering what we do, I consider it very useful to 
know that it's not a good idea to throw aluminum grindings in with steel 
grindings, next to my forge, just as I'm happy to know that it's not a good 
idea to leave oily rags in a pile.

Ignorance CAN kill you, or at least burn your shop down. Ignorance, 
particularly in what we do, is NOT bliss.

Phlip