On 02.09.13 21:25, Daniel Cross wrote:
I should actually add a disclaimer to the above.
Don't actually do this unless you are sure and safe in what you are doing! :P
Ahem, yes. The pyrotechnics of thermite were used in WW2 in small stick-like incendiary bombs, one of which incinerated a stook of half a dozen rain-sodden sheaves in a field on our family farm in Denmark, leaving only a few blackened straw ends in a rough circle. (Very tame compared to the morning of the invasion, I must admit, but still not an indoor activity.) The reaction reduces the ferric oxide to _molten_ iron (i.e. > 1500°C), and is used in the in-situ welding of railway lines. (Just not on total fire ban days.) This one is second-hand: I have a clipping from a woodworking magazine; the author had very finely divided aluminium powder on one of those narrow file-like belt sanders, then attacked some rusty iron. The sparks were enough to ignite the finely divided freshly produce Al powder and rust mix, creating an incandescent fireball enveloping his forearms, causing flash burns to his face, and leaving the skin on hands and lower forearms hanging loosely, in a well cooked state. It is a reaction to be treated with some caution.
Incidentally, a discussion with a friend this evening lead us to the decision that a good way (although involved) to erase a drive would be:
<pedantry> OK, it's in front of my nose now. Forgive me please. I can't resist, especially since it was used on the "disincorporation" thread as well. What ever happened to "led" as the past tense of "lead"? Almost wherever one turns, leading turns to a heavy metal once it's past tense. Are LEDs to blame? </pedantry>
I might try this in coming months and report my results ;)
Before summer, please, away from flammables, with a good visor, leather welding gloves, and cold water for plunging scalded body parts into, just in case. Have fun! =8-) Erik (Who once fed pure oxygen through a steel pipe into his operating crucible furnace, causing the steel pipe to burn back reasonably rapidly toward him, leaving a trail of molten steel. (Don't tell Daniel.)) -- "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." -Wernher Von Braun