[RobatTN]

In the US Nitromethane is now strictly controlled. I expect it would be very difficult if not impossible to buy a barrel of pure nitro now. What can be purchased with no issue is a mixture of 50% nitromethane & 50% methanol from VP Fuels. I bought pure nitro back in the late 80's and made my own fuel then went out of hobby but now back in and when I went to brew my own discovered the above. My understanding is that nitromethane was part of what was used in the bombing in Oklahoma City years ago!

[OLD PRAIRIE RED NECK]

Ether is the same way, a controlled substance. The druggies fixed that one for us back in the '70s! All you can get now is cans of spray starter fluid for diesel engines which may contain some ether.

[aspeed]

Originally Posted by RobatTN

In the US Nitromethane is now strictly controlled. I expect it would be very difficult if not impossible to buy a barrel of pure nitro now. What can be purchased with no issue is a mixture of 50% nitromethane & 50% methanol from VP Fuels. I bought pure nitro back in the late 80's and made my own fuel then went out of hobby but now back in and when I went to brew my own discovered the above. My understanding is that nitromethane was part of what was used in the bombing in Oklahoma City years ago!

I would not start rumours about the Okie bombing without verification. I think fertilizer was the main offending ingredient. There was a train accident that happened many years ago with nitromethane that made the 50% nitro/methanol mixture happen for shipping. According to old folklore one of the train cars was going to Sig. Of course all of my info is not verified, but I believe it to be true. I still have some straight nitro from the 1980s and the plastic in the jug got very brittle and started to leak. I think steel cans may be better in many ways, but rust would negate the positives. I went to a plastic one again. I am going to try a mix of 80 - 20 soon with crappy methanol and Canola oil. Heard it was used in the war to lube submarines because it sticks to metal when wet. The smoking and flame points are similar to castor. It is degummed for human consumption so I think it is worth a try. The cost is a bonus if you shop around. Wally mart has a 5 litre jug for $7 or whatever. It is a bit premature for me to say this without experimenting first and it is a bit cold to try things out right now. If it does not work well, I have hundreds of spare motors and can use the Canola oil for undercoating the cars. Apparently it works well and dries out to a film kind of like castor. Could be a rodent problem in that app. I heard peanut oil might work but it is much more expensive, and you may as well just use castor which is proven. I don't think Canola is the best for human consumption over time. Just putting in my 2 cents. Round that off to zero at the till.

[RobatTN]

Well you may have noticed I prefaced the statement with "my understanding" leaving room for it to be wrong. And yes I know the major part of the explosive was fertilizer and fuel oil.
I buy all my ingredients on the methanol and methanol/nitro from VP Fuels, not cheap but top quality product made for racing. I use Klotz synthetic oil KL-200 reliable also not cheap but neither were the engines!

[aspeed]

I like the Klotz too but it ends up being about $20 a quart here. Turns out that the Canola does not like to mix with the methanol. Maybe with some acetone or nitro it could help. I will give it a few days to dissolve, but not holding my breath.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by aspeed

I like the Klotz too but it ends up being about $20 a quart here.

I bought a case of 10 quarts of the Klotz last year and it cost me $30.00 a quart with taxes and shipping. Boy I'd love to here of another oil I could use other than Castor oil to cut my costs of mixing my own fuel. Cheers Floyd

[aspeed]

The Toledo show had the Klotz for a bit over $12 US the last time I asked. I guess those days are over. I would still like to try peanut oil and have heard some Europeans had used olive oil many years ago. I bet that would varnish up. Synthetic is more what I would like but seems much pricier than castor, even the air conditioning type seems expensive at least what I found on short notice.

[RobatTN]

The original Klotz KL-200 here in the U.S. is $15.00 US/quart before tax and shipping. Do you have additional tariff on this or is it shipping that runs the cost so high to you?

[OLD PRAIRIE RED NECK]

Yes I found that the canola oil doesn't mix with methanol. Too bad as I think it would work otherwise. Maybe combined with ether it would?

[Derek Hanna]

Getting back to the OP's return to the hobby....
$32.99/jug for 10% Omega or Cool Power at Great Hobbies; $37.99 for 15% Omega (fob store) per US gallon.
https://www.greathobbies.com/search/...rchButton=Find
If you order in bulk, discounts are available. This still looks reasonable IMO and I hope continues to be available, so long as we support fuel vendors.
Most all of my motors burn glow fuel and I buy fuel by the case (4 jugs). Converting to ignition can reduce fuel consumption while cleaning up the exhaust. This is my preference for motors 20 cc and larger. I usually buy 10% nitro fuel as its both economical and lends itself to lower fuel consumption rates.