Understanding Ferrocerium 

Ferrocerium Rod`s or ferro rods are referred to or associated with a myriad of other terms: Fire Steel, Metal Match, Magnesium Rod, Mischmetal, Auer metal, Flint or Artificial/man-made Flint.

The substance now called ferrocerium was invented in 1903 by an Austrian scientist Baron Car Auer Von Welsbach. Welsbach was experimenting with types of mischmetal that is, combinations of rare earth elements, such as cerium, lanthanum, & neodymium. Cerium was especially notable for its low ignition temperature. Cerium is a rare metal that is essential element of ferrocerium. When Mr. Welsbach mixed a combination of 70% cerium & 30% iron, he noticed the resulting alloy gave off sparks when scratched. When ferrocerium is struck by a hard & sharp object, such as or like a carbon steel blade, tiny shavings are oxidized & ignited by friction of a striker & burn @ 3,000 degrees Celsius or 5,430 degrees Fahrenheit. I remember is chemistry class that iron compounds use the prefix ferro due to irons Latin name ferrum. Therefore, this new iron-cerium alloy was called ferrocerium. A modern ferrocerium typically appears as a dark color metal rod. Later in time Mr., Welsbach added other metals to ferrocerium in order to fine-tune its properties. Lanthanum created brighter sparks, & other materials made the alloy harder & more durable. Sence then, material scientists have continued to modify the recipe, producing a substance with the approximate make-up. 30% Iron & 35-50% Cerium & 25% Lanthanum and small amounts of neodymium, praseodymium, magnesium. It`s also technically inaccurate to call ferrocerium " Flint " because it contains no chemical relationship with the rock/mineral of the same name. However, since both ferro rods & flint rocks spark when struck against steel, ferrocerium is often called flint or artificial flint. A flint insert in a zippo lighter, for example, is just a tiny piece of ferrocerium. Flint,chert,quartz,& other hard materials can be used creates sparks, but are unrelated to ferrocerium. Not even the name " fire steel " is technically accurate, since ferrocerium contains no carbon steel, only iron or iron oxide, "Fire Iron" would be more appropriate name, but it doesn't have the proper ring to it.