Igniting magnesium strips without blowtorch?

If it's pure magnesium all you need is a BIC lighter.

Just out of curiosity manticor, what do you want to ignite magnesium strips for?

Err... nothing illegal.

you wouldnt be using it to ignite thermite would you?

This prolly wouldn't be a good thread on which to list out my private recipe for machine-shop waste backyard thermite, would it, fm?

Bingo.

Well then, be careful - homebrew thermite spits a bit.

Uhh... spits you say?

Yup - do it at night, and its kinda spectacular. Don't wanna be real close to it though - the spittin' is both energetic and randomly directed.

So got any ideas on what to do with that stuff? A nice idea would be a payphone, but I'm not into crimes however minor they may be. Right now I'm thinking just to make a hole in a tree and melt some useless junk.

Btw, I'm not sure I can get my hands on pure magnesium, but even if I could it still ignites at 450 C, could a BIC lighter actually do it?

Have you ever seen or heard about those trick birthday candles that you can't blow out? They're made by inserting a strand of magnesium into the wick.

...and trying to put it out with water just makes it more energetic and randomly directed. And concrete CAN burn if you use enough heat.......

Oh, you betchya .... even if ya half-way know whatchyer doin', OMIGAWD!!!-type surprises ain't at all uncommon when ya play with flash-bang stuff.


And of course, public safety types have no sense of humor when it comes to that sorta thing either, They get downright unpleasant, in fact.

I can read peoples minds. Spooky aint it.
Look at it this way, at least he aint makin C-4

C-4? Where do I get the stuff?

C-4 is not an open-stock shelf item at your local Ace Hardware, I'm afraid. On the other hand, the stuff of Sprenger explosives is readilly available at retail. They'll do just fine for kids intent on blowin' themselves up.

Actually, if the object is just to shake up the neighbors - well, seismically shake up the neighborhood, I guess - there's nothin' like Fuel-Air explosives.

Prolly a good idea to make sure a trustworthy freind not involved in the experiment is standin' by with bail money, though. A fairly sizeable fund also oughtta be set aside to cover the expense of replacin' the windows of irritated nearby homeowners, too, if you're gonna play in an urban or suburban settin'.

C-4 is easily made on the stove. The hard part is making PETN for the detonation. Ive heard that shell primers can be used . I better shut up or this thread will be closed down by HS

Good Grief, everyone is soooo hight tech these days. When I was a kid ,we were satisfied simply making gun powder in the basement.

No need to go all high-tech, really. You can have a lot of flash-bang fun with common bakin' flour, if ya wanna.