whats the quickest way to gind up a bar of Mg. and whats the average time to grind enuff to make a decent amount of flash powder?

I always use a bench grinder, one of those tools that has either a long strip of sand paper going in circles, or I use on that has one of those metal wheels. I can grind down a whole block(firestarter) in about 20 minutes. Be very careful not to breath in the dust. Always wear a mask, or at least tie some tissue paper around you mouth and nose. Also, be sure to lay pieces of paper all around your work area becuase a lot of the dust is shot off, and you do not want to waste it.

What type of oxidizer are you using?

im using kno3 rite now it all i can get and i think i have some sodium nitrate or amounium nitrate i dont know. it was in a stump remover i bouht but it didnt say what was in it.so can u guys plz tell me how to tell the diffrence bewteen the 2 and what they are used in. also i use a belt sander its the clostest thing i can get. should i wait when the bar gets hot to let it cool or just keep grinding. aslo could i cut chunks of the flint to use in a fountain as sparks maybe i wouldent know...

It would be pretty stupid holding in your hand while grinding, becuase it usually get really hot. I wouldnt get it too hot, becuase it may ignite.

The difference between sodium and potassium nitrate is just that sodium nitrate is a little more hygroscopic, and sodium nitrate gives off a yellow/orange color when it burns.

Nick will sodium nitrate work for flash, i had a small amount on Aluminium foil and the haet from it melted the foil into a pool of molten Al, and also if it is hot enought to melt Al does this mean it can light thermite?

CTR

Al/S can light CuO/Al thermite, and HMTD can initiate CuO/Al thermite.

Wouldnt the HMTD just blow all the thermite away? Sodium nitrate is only good for flash if you are using magnesium. Make sure to have a thick tube, about 1/8 inch and thick end caps. Do not store the sodium nitrate/ sodium nitrate flash powder in an open container because sodium nitrate is very hygroscopic. If you do, than the flash will not be that good.

Thanx for the info......

CTR

he asked how to tell the difference between ammonium nitrate and sodium nitrate, in which case the ammonium nitrate would be much more hygroscopic.

And most of the time, ammonium nitrate is in little round balls instead of a powder.

CuO/Al is shock sensitive.