Talk:Ferrocerium

animated GIF?
It would be nice if the animation would stop after a few iterations. If find it very difficult to read when there's something constantly moving.

Thx, Wikiak (talk) 20:09, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Temperature
It's 3000C, not F, it's 5500F. Get a source! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.254.62.229 (talk) 13:39, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Component Percentages
It seems to be very unclear as to which mischmetal is being referred to in the percentages listed at the end of the article;

"Iron: 19% Cerium: 38% Lanthanum: 22% Neodymium: 4% Praseodymium: 4% Magnesium: 4%"

Could this be clarified please? Directly above it we have stated the percentage constituents of a modern form of ferrocerium, and this part is relatively clear. For the list I've quoted, it's relevance and meaning seems ambiguous. I'm no expert so I was hoping somebody who is could tidy this up a little.

Thanks 86.8.144.23 (talk) 02:40, 27 May 2011 (UTC)


 * True that chart has no description, it that your complaint? I understand that most of those rare earths are not exactly added, they are closely related ore impurities not cheaply removed. I'm guessing the precise formula is not critical, so perhaps it varies wildly?  Rumors abound regarding it's manufacture, one says that there is only one maker (or nationality) of commercial ferrorods in the world.  --68.127.90.135 (talk) 05:54, 25 July 2012 (UTC)Doug Bashford


 * But OTOH, there is a youtube video demonstration purportedly showing that one brand of survival-type ferrorod makes a far larger and longer lasting shower of sparks when scraped with a blade. This could in part account for the difficulty that most people have starting fires with these. Most will NOT start a fire using only dry leaves etc, as advertised. —Will any? (I've tried about six brands and find cotton balls or a similar prepared tinder to be necessary.) --108.252.225.238 (talk) 23:12, 16 July 2014 (UTC)Doug Bashford

Reference Link
If you follow the link at Reference you will learn about that rare earth material known as misc -- Cerium flint rod product description "Specifications

Ferrocerium rod is made from Iron, Magnesium and mostly of an alloy of rare earth metals called misc " The link goes to a sales site in China. I think we could find a better one. MisterHOP (talk) 07:23, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

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=Alternatives for the Same Application/Method=
 * I was wondering if there were compositions that don't use the Rare Earth Metals?
 * Granted i don't know if they could be used/safely handled, but in the Pyrophoricity page, under the Solids Subsection, these seemed of interest:
 * Potassium graphite (Seems [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2020.00432/full Sodium May Be Possible Too?)
 * Sodium hydride
 * Granted i tend to be too frugal with these things (Probably plenty of materials, despite it being "rare", also the whole "iS iT eCoNomIcaLLy ViAble?!?" aspect), but i think something using hydrogen, sodium or potassium, and maybe iron/magnesium would be pretty neat, since all of those can be found in seawater (short of the iron)/easily made
 * Just my take and i thought i would write this down here for future me and/or anyone who finds it interesting/inspiring as well!

Eric Lotze (talk) 13:46, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Don't know about potassium graphite but sodium hydride readily reacts with water. Obviously, this can be a problem in real-world use. 92.184.106.233 (talk) 11:52, 24 March 2023 (UTC)