magnesium fire starter

Normark said:
I have a 3 foot rod of magnesium that I use a wood rasp on and catch the shaving in a tray...
I've found that these shaving, are a little harder to ignite,, but burn better than curls or magnesium dust...

BTW..
you can buy magnesium rods at any decent RV store..
They are used a sacrificial anodes in RV water heaters..
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Good information, Eric. Using a rasp would give you some great shavings, very quickly. Do you have any idea of the cost of those anodes?

Doc
 
Buy some cheap Chinese carbon steel hack saw blades and snap them to the length of the bar. Use Duct tape to fasten it to the mag bar. In use take off the hack saw and use it to cut into the bar...lots of flakes quickly and use the back of the hack saw blade to make sparks too.

The hack saw makes flakes quicker than the knife blade and is much better on the hard Coglhans version than the knife blade.

As a bonus the duct tape can be placed sticky side up as a place to concentrate the magnesium flakes in a wind.

Use your knife for slicing softer stuff.
 
North61 said:
Buy some cheap Chinese carbon steel hack saw blades and snap them to the length of the bar. Use Duct tape to fasten it to the mag bar. In use take off the hack saw and use it to cut into the bar...lots of flakes quickly and use the back of the hack saw blade to make sparks too.

The hack saw makes flakes quicker than the knife blade and is much better on the hard Coglhans version than the knife blade.
Click to expand...

All good ideas.

As a bonus the duct tape can be placed sticky side up as a place to concentrate the magnesium flakes in a wind.
Click to expand...

I'll have to try this.

Doc
 
Hmm...Just out of curiosity, why would you practice something like this? You try it once, see exactly how it works and you're done. When you actually need to do this, you just do it and don't worry, that one time will not affect your blade enough to feel even slightly concerned. This isn't your bow drill or a hand drill, it is a magnesium fire starter:)

P.S. I had to use an axe on mine when I actually HAD to start fire with it b/c I didn't have a knife with me that would create a spark. Guess what? It worked just fine.
 
Stepa said:
P.S. I had to use an axe on mine when I actually HAD to start fire with it b/c I didn't have a knife with me that would create a spark. Guess what? It worked just fine.
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You don't even need an axe. A sharp stone will work.

Doc
 
Hey Doc...

The anodes I think are around $20 for about an 8" rod..
a little expensive,,but when you can't find any magnesium anywhere,, it's gotta do...

You may also check out and become friendly with someone who installs water heaters..
They usually have a pile of these kicking around until they collect enough to scrap them...
Sometimes they will have a good chuck of magnesium anode left,, and they'll usually let you have them...
Bring tools when you go..
A ratchet set, WD40 adjustable wrench and a hacksaw.

There is a plug ontop which you unscrew and the rod is attached to the plug...The rod has a titanium wire core which is unaffected by the water. Titanium will burn along with the Magnesium...

If you do end up getting a chunk of this,, try igniting it with a torch..It burns like a flare and will light up the entire back yard..Pretty cool...

Stepa...

you practice with it under different conditions.. Cold, wet, windy are times where I would go out and fool around with fire...

Try it when your fingers are cold, it's raining and windy... It's not as easy as it looks on a warm sunny day...

I started a fire with magnesium under a ponch under these conditions..Interesting outcome if you don't know Exactly what you are doing...
Most people fail with them, because they don't scrape enough material off the bar....

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Normark]Hey Doc...

The anodes I think are around $20 for about an 8" rod..
a little expensive,,but when you can't find any magnesium anywhere,, it's gotta do...

You may also check out and become friendly with someone who installs water heaters..
They usually have a pile of these kicking around until they collect enough to scrap them...
Sometimes they will have a good chuck of magnesium anode left,, and they'll usually let you have them...
Bring tools when you go..
A ratchet set, WD40 adjustable wrench and a hacksaw.

There is a plug ontop which you unscrew and the rod is attached to the plug...The rod has a titanium wire core which is unaffected by the water. Titanium will burn along with the Magnesium...

If you do end up getting a chunk of this,, try igniting it with a torch..It burns like a flare and will light up the entire back yard..Pretty cool...
Click to expand...



Old VW blocks are made of Mag. too and are easy to find. Millions were made and one block makes several life times of Mag chunks.

DO NOT LIGHT ONE OF THESE WITH A TORCH!! It can be seen from space!and you can't put it out.
 
I attach an old piece of a hacksaw blade. I cut is near the end wear it hooks into the tool itself (about 3 inches worth), this way you do not have to drill a hole. Do it on the other end and you have to strikers with predrilled holes. I've heard of people who ground the teeth completely off but I just dull them a bit, the serrations give you a huge shower of sparks with minimal effort.
 
I tested the small file idea, using the standard magnesium block. It works great! Especially in the spark department. I had a broken round file (like used for sharpenig chainsaw blades).

Filed off a wee bit of mag shavings, more like dust. No more than enough to cover Lincoln's head on a penny.
The round file made huge amounts of sparks! Lit the little bit of magnesium which burned for a second or two. Of course, we all know it would take a little more than that, and some tinder right there at the ready.
The mag dust burns faster, but more intensely, also.

If you stroke the file in the same motion you would while sharening a blade on a crock stick you make major sparks, plenty enough to light dry tinder on it's own. of course, more pressure and quicker than what you'd do while sharpening, but the same sawing motion. the little cutting edges on the file do a great job making spark.
I was impressed at the "sparkage" , err, or is it "sparkitude" ? :rolleyes:

And did I mention the amount of sparks acheived using the file? :D
 
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