Magnesium anode

[mykel m]

Thanks for the tip on the source.I had no idea magnesium could be found in a water heater.(gonna keep my eyes peeled for a junker now.)

I found this type wood rasp was a great way to get shavings fast.
I tried one of the 4 way half round type rasps & it was way slower going.
I got the pile shown in just a few minutes.

 

[hiwa]

What an awesome idea , Upnorth !
They would make great fobs also for keychains, zippers, etc.

A cool trick I came up with regarding magnesium.
You know when your shaving it outside to make a pile , and the slightest breeze blows your shavings away?
Just shave them onto a piece of duct tape ,or smear some vaseline or other grease ( bacon! lol,) onto a piece of wood and put your tinder near it. Mostly all the shavings stick around. Works pretty good.

I Google - fued these bars here in Ed , and yup...around $25 for 32" Great idea man.

 

[upnorth]

Thanks for the tip on the source.I had no idea magnesium could be found in a water heater.(gonna keep my eyes peeled for a junker now.)

I found this type wood rasp was a great way to get shavings fast.
I tried one of the 4 way half round type rasps & it was way slower going.
I got the pile shown in just a few minutes.

Cool. I grabbed a hand rasp from a hardware store and it does the job, but it is a lot of work. This looks like a better method. :thumbup: I have way more metal than I need for kits so I'm shaving some down and filling those plastic match safes.

 

[upnorth]

What an awesome idea , Upnorth !
They would make great fobs also for keychains, zippers, etc.

A cool trick I came up with regarding magnesium.
You know when your shaving it outside to make a pile , and the slightest breeze blows your shavings away?
Just shave them onto a piece of duct tape ,or smear some vaseline or other grease ( bacon! lol,) onto a piece of wood and put your tinder near it. Mostly all the shavings stick around. Works pretty good.

I Google - fued these bars here in Ed , and yup...around $25 for 32" Great idea man.

Thanks but I read about the basic idea here. It was Normark that was finding old home water heaters and pulling the anodes out. Some were good, some were junk. It just figured that for the price and how much you get, new was worth it. Thanks for the heads up on the duct tape etc. I saw that before but forgot about it, as I tend to do. I have never actually done this so if she works for you, it sounds good to me.
:thumbup:

 

[upnorth]

What an awesome idea , Upnorth !
They would make great fobs also for keychains, zippers, etc.

A cool trick I came up with regarding magnesium.
You know when your shaving it outside to make a pile , and the slightest breeze blows your shavings away?
Just shave them onto a piece of duct tape ,or smear some vaseline or other grease ( bacon! lol,) onto a piece of wood and put your tinder near it. Mostly all the shavings stick around. Works pretty good.

I Google - fued these bars here in Ed , and yup...around $25 for 32" Great idea man.

Send me an address via email and I will send you a chunk if you don't want to buy the entire rod. I can send it general delivery or whatever if you wish to keep your privacy, not an issue for me.

 

[hiwa]

Thanks for the offer amigo.
I went and bought one after reading this post. Works great just like you showed.
One of them carbide sharpener/scrapers is a good tool to have with it.

 

[SweptEdge]

This is a great idea. I had experimented with one of the emergency mag bars that have the striker on them, and when I would make small shavings I couldn't get them to light, but when I did a little bit of knife abuse and cut larger shavings, that stuff would light easy.

 

[upnorth]

This is a great idea. I had experimented with one of the emergency mag bars that have the striker on them, and when I would make small shavings I couldn't get them to light, but when I did a little bit of knife abuse and cut larger shavings, that stuff would light easy.

I found that I needed at least a dime, better a nickle or quarter sized pile. I also had to have it concentrated and not spread out. It is easy to light then and it burns viciously. I hadn't messed with magnesium much, but I'm a true believer now. A quarter sized pile will burn extremely hot and keep burning for an impressive period. It doesn't just go poof and it's over. The pile will burn for a 7-10 second count, or somewhere in there.

 

[SweptEdge]

I found that I needed at least a dime, better a nickle or quarter sized pile. I also had to have it concentrated and not spread out. It is easy to light then and it burns viciously. I hadn't messed with magnesium much, but I'm a true believer now. A quarter sized pile will burn extremely hot and keep burning for an impressive period. It doesn't just go poof and it's over. The pile will burn for a 7-10 second count, or somewhere in there.

Wow, that's interesting. I think I'll look into getting some

 

[foxyrick]

Here's a trick:

Use magnesium ribbon (available on ebay if you can't find a real supplier) along with some shavings. The ribbon will not light from a spark, but can be lit from a pile of shavings. Cut a piece of ribbon about 1" to 1.5" long at an acute angle with scissors; you need to get a thin enough end to be lit easily. Poke the thin end into the shavings and light them up.

 

[--J]

Sorry, I would have to do some google fu as I don't know. I was wondering myself and will take precautions. Can you imagine if I set this entire rod on fire ? I'd be sleeping in a card board box after that.

Thanks Up North, that's a great idea and I think I'll try it myself. I've never cut this stuff but will try using bolt cutters for that task.
And we all know what happens when you throw water onto burning magnesium right? BOOM! So careful folks...

 

[hiwa]

The mag rod is 3/4" thick , so I even doubt bolt cutters would work , plus even if it did the end would have a sharp crimp on it. I cut through with even a dull hacksaw in about a minute. No danger at all. I sanded the ends smooth. 2" pieces seem to be a handy size. These are going to go in all my firekits , along with a LMF rod.

Just make sure the rod you do buy is magnesium , as the aluminum and zinc ones look alike , or they are packaged in a cardbord tube.

 

[upnorth]

The mag rod is 3/4" thick , so I even doubt bolt cutters would work , plus even if it did the end would have a sharp crimp on it. I cut through with even a dull hacksaw in about a minute. No danger at all. I sanded the ends smooth. 2" pieces seem to be a handy size. These are going to go in all my firekits , along with a LMF rod.

Just make sure the rod you do buy is magnesium , as the aluminum and zinc ones look alike , or they are packaged in a cardbord tube.

The aluminum rods are easily bent across a leg, whereas the magnesium, less so. A plumber (customer) showed this to me in the aisle as I stood in surprise, then quickly looked around.