thedawnpatrol Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I fancy I little experiment......... I have a dug up German 1kg incendiary bomb, no fuse cap and empty inside, so just the magnesium cylinder and tail fin. I have several very good complete examples, so thought about experimenting with setting this one off ! It will of course be under controlled circumstances. Reading the 'manual' it says that the priming composition is aluminium oxide ? This has to burn at 2,500 centigrade in order to ignight the Magnesium.........which it self burns at 1,300 centigrade So what I want to do is to set up a scenario where once burning we distinguish it with a scoop and bucket of sand as in 1940 While filming it. Would make an interesting film Just need to find a way of heating it to 2,500c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Richard Farrant Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I recall at school, in the science lesson they had thin magnesium tape that would burn if you put it in a flame, probably Bunsen burner, it is too long ago to recollect details. Also I knew a guy once who worked for Dunlop during the war producing aircraft wheels made of magnesium. He told me you learnt your lesson when turning the wheels on a lathe, not to take too big a cut otherwise the heat produced caught the metal alight and the only way to but it out was with sand. The cleaning of a lathe of sand was not easy and production time was lost. Sorry for the deviation, but just to say, it might not take as much as you think to burn the magnesium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Chris Suslowicz Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I fancy I little experiment......... I have a dug up German 1kg incendiary bomb, no fuse cap and empty inside, so just the magnesium cylinder and tail fin. I have several very good complete examples, so thought about experimenting with setting this one off ! It will of course be under controlled circumstances. Reading the 'manual' it says that the priming composition is aluminium oxide ? This has to burn at 2,500 centigrade in order to ignight the Magnesium.........which it self burns at 1,300 centigrade So what I want to do is to set up a scenario where once burning we distinguish it with a scoop and bucket of sand as in 1940 While filming it. Would make an interesting film Just need to find a way of heating it to 2,500c Ah, the book says "e.g. aluminium/iron oxide" for the "priming composition" - i.e. a thermite mix. That in itself is fairly hard to ignite, and the combination could be quite unfriendly. Your book is probably being economical with the truth, and my copy of Davis(1) is currently boxed up for a move so I can't provide a definite answer. Also bear in mind that burning magnesium produces a lot of ultraviolet light, so goggles and gloves (+ sunblock) are advisable too. I think it's more trouble (and not inconsiderable risk) than it's worth, to be honest. Chris. (Channelling the Elves who drink Safe Tea again, I suspect.) (1) Tenney L. Davis: The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - an interesting book as long as you don't try any of it out, because the safety precautions and working practices are from the 1930/40s.(Actually, I may be thinking of Weingart's "Pyrotechnics" - both of these are of historical interest only and definitely not to be put into practice.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 secondshooter Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Lots of bad things can happen here ! what if actually have a 'special' that was filled with something else to try and surprise the bomb disposal guy ? I don't know too much about it but there is a reason your mum told you not to play with unexploded bombs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Starfire Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Magnesium is difficult to light, but not _that_ difficult. Thermite is a bit of overkill (you usually use a magnesium strip to light the thermite). A bunch of sparklers shoved in the end, with one sticking out as a fuse should do the trick and be reasonably safe to light. If you stand it up when you light it (bury the tail pretty well to hold it stable), it will produce a fair jet of flame shooting out the top. I wouldn't worry about putting it out with sand; as long as you have a reasonably large, clear area, I'd just let it burn out, which should be done within a few minutes. Cheers, Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 thedawnpatrol Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 Magnesium is difficult to light, but not _that_ difficult. Thermite is a bit of overkill (you usually use a magnesium strip to light the thermite). A bunch of sparklers shoved in the end, with one sticking out as a fuse should do the trick and be reasonably safe to light. If you stand it up when you light it (bury the tail pretty well to hold it stable), it will produce a fair jet of flame shooting out the top. I wouldn't worry about putting it out with sand; as long as you have a reasonably large, clear area, I'd just let it burn out, which should be done within a few minutes. Cheers, Terry Great, thanks for your positive attitude ! Sparklers, good idea................worth a try look out for the results, hopefully not on News at Ten ! Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Starfire Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 From the diagram, it looks like the magnesium housing ignites the thermite, and not the other way around; the thermite being the main weapon payload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Surveyor Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Lots of bad things can happen here ! what if actually have a 'special' that was filled with something else to try and surprise the bomb disposal guy ? I don't know too much about it but there is a reason your mum told you not to play with unexploded bombs.... My Grandfather was a warden in Birmingham and he used to drop bin lids over them to smoother the flames, the Germans found out we were putting them out that way. Family legend has it he walked down the path put a dustbin lid on one went to deal with another one and the explosive went off and the bin lid passed closely over his head. So I agree be careful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 GeePig Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Well, since you do not appear to be in Poland I _should_ be safe To be honest, I would not play around with a weapon like this without the assistance of an explosives expert and certainly not be close to it when it was lit. I hope you are considering a remote form of trigger, and somewhere to hide in case it is not just a plain vanilla type, or if it gets frisky, or if it simply decides not to remain where you put it. A drone might be useful to video the result (worst comes to worst, at least the news team will have some interesting material to show us trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 thedawnpatrol Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 From the diagram, it looks like the magnesium housing ignites the thermite, and not the other way around; the thermite being the main weapon payload. No, it's actually the thermite that burns first"........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bedford man Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Hi budy is this thedawnpatrol major with the mwc ?. I have a bowser and a gs amongst a few did u sell the old girl ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 thedawnpatrol Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 Hi budy is this thedawnpatrol major with the mwc ?. I have a bowser and a gs amongst a few did u sell the old girl ?. Hi, yes I did have an MWC a few years ago , but sold a while back, I have had an MW since then and enjoy driving it. Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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thedawnpatrol
I fancy I little experiment.........
I have a dug up German 1kg incendiary bomb, no fuse cap and empty inside, so just the magnesium cylinder and tail fin.
I have several very good complete examples, so thought about experimenting with setting this one off !
It will of course be under controlled circumstances.
Reading the 'manual' it says that the priming composition is aluminium oxide ?
This has to burn at 2,500 centigrade in order to ignight the Magnesium.........which it self burns at 1,300 centigrade
So what I want to do is to set up a scenario where once burning we distinguish it with a scoop and bucket of sand as in 1940
While filming it.
Would make an interesting film
Just need to find a way of heating it to 2,500c
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