71 replies to this topic

[paul]

Magnesium ribbon isn?t that good for that purpose! I would use magnesiumpowder/thermite and a fuse. It is safer and less expensive! A long piece of blackmatch (20cm or something like this) works fine and you have time enough to get away....

Drying it in a pan is ok! It won?t ignite or do something else!

Edited by paul, 23 April 2004 - 12:33 PM.

[Demented Ferret]

You sure magnesium ribbon may be my problem? If so I'll invest in some other bits.

[Demented Ferret]

Ok, I've got hold of some more magnesium ribbon - but on ignition it will travel about 1-3cm and then go out...How can I prevent this, because I can't really get 10 meters away in 1 second .

[Stuart]

Use a longer bit? Attach some fuse to the end, light that which then lights the Mg Ribbon

[paul]

Fuse won?t ignite mg ribbon! It needs a much higher and constant ignitiontemperature.

[Demented Ferret]

It is long, about a foot long - but when it reaches the correct temperature it only travels 3cm then goes out. Do I want the flame travelling down or something?

[Creepin_pyro]

Magnesium ribbon tends to starve itself of oxygen - not sure why, but this causes it to go out. If you have a great leangth of it sticking vertically from a pile of thermite, you're just going to end up re-lighting and re-lighting. The one time I tried this reaction, I simply used a short bit, lit it with a blowtorch, and walked away. Unless you've got a giant pile o' thermite, you don't need too much delay. Oh, and you're gonna have a hard time trying to light ribbon with fuse. Try splitting your ribbon vertically, or placing it at a different angle.

[Demented Ferret]

Nice tip, so if I make it thinner, it won't use as much oxygen an should burn further, yeah?

[Stuart]

When I said fuse I didn't just mean Black Match. Make some Thermalite fuse and then use Black Match to light that.

[Demented Ferret]

Bah, it's driving me insane, the ribbon lights but goes out about 3mm from the thermite, how annoying :-/.

[thewildething]

A simple way over this, get some sparklers.
1, they never go out. 2, they are just as good as magnesium ribbon. 3, they have a reliable burn time and good delay, just cut them to length and you are away. 4, they burn just as hot.

They are readily available all year through and I would choose them over Magnesium ribbon every time seeing they contain a lot of magnesium anyway.

Give it a bash, i think you will find them better.


Marcus.

[Demented Ferret]

Alright, if someone can find a UK based website that sells 'em I'll be very happy...(Are the indoor ones ok?)

[thewildething]

Hi Demented Ferret,
Im in the UK too and there are 2 shops near me that sell fireworks/sparklers all year through, you may have some near you that sell sparklers. I use kimbolton 10 inch sparklers and cut them in 3 pieces and as long as the thermite is fine enough it will light every time. The kimbolton website sells them, but in minimum quantities of 720 which cost ?69 here: http://www.kimbolton...s/buyonline.htm
(which is quite cheap). Unless you have a thing for sparklers then this is really too many to get at once so go somewhere like http://www.chinesefi...etc.html#sparks where you can get 100 10 inchers for only ?8.50 which is really cheap, and also http://www.galaxy.sa...k/sparklers.htm where you can get 5 10 inch sparklers for 59p (not so cheap). Just put sparlkers into www.yahoo.co.uk and there are plenty of retailers. There is no point buying coloured ones either, plain ones are just as good.
Im gonna have to order some soon

cheers, Marcus.

p.s. indoor ones should work but the thicker outdoor ones give off more heat and I think suit the purpose better.

Edited by thewildething, 04 May 2004 - 11:47 AM.

[Demented Ferret]

I live 3 miles from Kimbolton...Hmmmmmm....

The shipping prices are very steep, I don't wanna pay ?20 shipping for ?5 of sparklers!

[thewildething]

I didnt even look at the postage prices, they are really steep. Sod that, id rather walk to get them , have you tried Mg bar or rod, and can you get such a thing? this may work unless it starves itself again.....

Marcus