Mag shavings that won't burn

This has a very white burn to it, and I'll try a comparison test as well. I still haven't had a chance to try Skunkwerx paper test yet...maybe tomorrow...

Chuck
 
xanax said:
dryer lint soaked in vaseline? has anyone tried to do this and what was the result? I am thinking of trying this one out.
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Be advised that pure cotton balls work the best. Some materials used in clothing have some fire retardant properties, and depending on what was dried, that lint may not burn too well.
 
OK, so it burns? White hot?
It may be magnesium, just too chunky to take a flame right off.

When using magnesium, as tinder, you are looking for nearly dust.
I have seen these crinkles, shavings, and splinters of magn. for sale, but, I bought a pound of solid magnesium.

Hint: my shavings light very easily, but, it's due to the cutting oil I use on my metal cutting bandsaw.

So, besides the newsprint paper test, try adding some oil, vegetable, canola, or whatever. Even kerosene or lamp oil.
Don't use gasoline, safety issue.

If you don't have kerosene, try WD40.

Goodluck.
 
Thanks Skunkwerx...I'll give 'em all a go, but it is raining here until Monday :( I'll update then!

Chuck
 
Magnesium (if reasonably pure) will slowly bubble in hot water. Aluminium (and alloy) won't. I have tubs of the stuff as I used to be a chemistry teacher! So, if it doesn't bubble in hot water, it probably won't light easily either.

BTW, the 'shavings' sold from chemical suppliers are often too thick to easily light from a spark; they absorb the heat and don't get a hot enough hot-spot. When making your own shavings off a block with a knife, they are much thinner and so can't carry the spark's energy away, causing a hot-spot. That's why they are easy to ignite.

Rick.
 
foxyrick said:
BTW, the 'shavings' sold from chemical suppliers are often too thick to easily light from a spark; they absorb the heat and don't get a hot enough hot-spot.
Rick.
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Yep, agreed. I have seen chips, shaving, and "curls" of magnesium for sale.

the ones that come off of my metal cutting bandsaw (picture teeth slightly bigger than a hacksaw) are at the larger side of being able to combust.
If they didn't have any of the cutting oil on them, they may not take spark at all. Dust is the stuff that takes spark the best.

Try rubbing some "shavings" between two pieces of aluminum oxide wet-dry paper to make some finer stuff.

OH OH OH.... get a cotton ball.
Put some petroleum jelly on it. then sprinkle with the Mag shavings.
If they don't ignite/burn after lighting the cotton ball, under those conditions, then there is a problem.
 
Guys, there is a difference between not being small enough to be lit by a spark and being nearly impervious to a steady flame!!! The shavings I made with a power drill did not have cutting oil on them and were substantially bigger than the little flakes I get by scraping a mag bar. Nonetheless, they readily took a spark from a ferro rod.

Assuming that the filings here are larger still does not explain why they did not light and sustain combustion from a direct flame. I still suspect they are not magnesium.

-- FLIX
 
Many mag wheels and other items touted as "magnesium" are in fact an alloy with varying amounts of magnesium. Perhaps the metal in question was from such a source. Regardless, it should not take an acetelyne cutting torch to ignite it for it to be useful as a firestarter.
 
If you try the vaseline trick with cotton balls or dryer lint, don't soak the fibers, just get a light coating. If it's soaked, they won't light very well. I dried a load of 100% cotton towels and used the lint from the trap to good effect. I mixed mine together inside a ziplock bag so I wouldn't have a lot of cleanup to do. I also learned a trick on here...

Take a drinking straw, cut it into 3" (or so) pieces.
Crimp one end with a pair of pliers, so a little bit (1/8" or so) is sticking out from the other side, then melt the protruding bit together with a lighter.
Use a wooden skewer or small stick to shove the cotton/vaseline mix down into the straw.
Seal open end as above.

You now have small waterproof, leakproof tubes full of fire starter. When you need to use one, just cut it open (scraping it repeatedly on a rock will work if you don't have a knife), then use your spark source to light it. You can pull some tinder out of the tube, or just light the whole thing. The plastic just adds to the flame. I imagine you could buy a jumbo-sized "Pixy Stick" candy tube and make bigger ones, but drinking straws are a good size for a small survival kit.

Also remember that many antibiotic ointments are basically vaseline with a little medicine added... they burn just as well.

Edited to add: There's someone selling an 87lb block of magnesium on eBay right now. FYI :D
 
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