what is most efficient and safest?

I am working with a butane torch. I was thinking about going with the mag strips but I also know there are other ways to ignite thermite.

thanks.

A composition that is made of KNO3, Al and S and is fuse sensitive.

That's what I use.

My favorite way to ignite thermite is with KMnO4/Glycerin. Because it just looks cool having thermite ignite without any fuse or anything.

Sparklers wrapped in tissue work pretty well, or you can use just about any priming mixture.


My favorite way to ignite thermite is with KMnO4/Glycerin. Because it just looks cool having thermite ignite without any fuse or anything.

Best if you put a piece of paper in between the Permanganate and the thermite, but yeah, that works pretty well.

The only time I ever got magnesium ribbon to work was when I put a giant pile of magnesium powder right underneath the ribbon, and stuck the Mg ribbon up in the air.

I have more consistent results with a blowtorch or a pile of KNO3/Al/S & a fuse.

I made that comp and no one bothered to say how bright it is...if you make that and use large amounts......DO NOT LOOK AT IT!

I use Mg ribbon. It works well for me - stick it vericall up, light the top and it sort of falls into the thermite, giving you about 10 seconds for a shortish length, although the time is not proportional to the length because the burning Mg falls into the mixture.

Potassium Chlorate, and Sulfuric Acid.
Just another method, not that you'd want to use it.

I use a length of visco and at the end of it I have a blend of potassium perchlorate and icing sugar in masking tape. By encasing the perchlorate/sugar mix you can push it down into the thermite a bit for better ignition.

This is also the safest way to light high speed thermite (CuO and Al 3:1).

If you are doing something truly epic (for example 1kg of high speed thermite or if you are sticking lumps of thermite on gas canisters) you can also stick an e match in the centre of the perchlorate/sugar lump.

This will also light the plaster of paris thermite.

pee on it.(aluminium can spontaneously combust, but i dunno if it'd work)

those metal sparklers with the magniesum in em they have a real thin handle there liek 2 bucks u just stick it in where its lit and generally it should work

kno3/magnesium or kno3/aluminum works great

or aluminum/sulfur or magnesium sulfur, or kno3/sugar

Magnesium ribbon by far, You can light it and get away. If you hit that shit with a torch straight up and your standing there you better either have A. Super fast reflexes, or B. Some clothes that your willing to toss out after they burn up.

Perhaps you could use something like magnesium powder with a nichrome wire filament inside it? If not I'd probably try the potassium permanganate and glycerin method.

Sparklers ftw. As a rule the sparks arent hot enough to light the thermite, but if you're worried just wrap it in some tissue and stick it in the pile. They also burn fairly slow so you have enough time to get away safely.

^I have to disagree. Sparklers are OK if they are all you can get but for absolute safety you can't beat visco ending in a lump of paper wrapped perchlorate/sugar mix. If the sparkler falls over it will ignite the thermite, if the visco falls over it will carry on burning until it reaches the ignition powder. Wrapping a sparkler in paper won't do dick if if falls over.

Sparklers come with a nice length of metal wire that can be bent and hot glued to a piece of card.
Put your thermite on top of the card and the contraption won't tip over.

KMnO4/Ethylene glycol works pretty well too.

That and worry about your propane/Mapp tank getting hit with molten iron spatter

Visco can ignite thermite mixes where the oxide and fuel are very fine powders easily. Then you can step up in increments up to your normal mesh oxide and fuel.

Another methode i've used to ignite thermite is to just place a length of visco in a small pile of Mg powder sitting on top of the thermite mix. The visco can easily light the Mg powder, and that will definitly ignite the thermite. And by doing it this way you can use a long length of fuse when you want a real delay, and not waste a whole bunch of Mg ribbon.