Over at Instructables, someone posted a guide on making thermite (no, not termite). Now if you are a fan of Mythbusters or Brainiac, I'm quite sure you should have seen the wonders of thermite demonstrated. However, for those unaware of the hot mixture that is thermite, the following video should bring you up to the right temperature.
With that knowledge in mind, I don't need to remind you that thermite is highly dangerous. And very very hot. Too hot to handle in fact (2500+ degrees Celcius), unless you crave the smell of your flesh melting.
The main problem in making thermite is acquiring the raw materials. It seems that aluminum powder is not easy to find. Some creative ways of producing it (from the comments) include inside of an etch-a-sketch, blending aluminum foil (are you that desperate?) and filing an aluminum block.
Aside from that small hiccup, the process of making thermite is fairly simple. Just get hold of the ingredients below and mix them up. If you want to make military grade thermite exotic ingredients are needed. For the exact ratios, refer to link below.
1. Iron oxide
2. Aluminum powder
3. Magnesium ribbon or thermite ignition mixture
For a more exotic mix you may also want to buy:
4. Barium Nitrate
5. Sulfur
6. Dextrin
And these are required to get the thermite going.
Magnesium ribbon, although unreliable, is still the most popular way to ignite thermite.
Sparklers
Thermite ignition formula sold on unitednuclear
A mixture of Potassium permanganate and glycerine will undergo a reaction that can provide enough heat to ignite thermite.
Of course, you need some container to hold the thermite (ceramic pot recommended by the guy who wrote it) and stay far far away from the actual ignition. Hopefully you'll live to tell the tale.
[Source: Instructables]