Razor spark scooter: what is that sparker?

Question

My brother-in-law gave one of my kids a Razor brand sparking scooter last month. I've looked at the sparker thing and it appears to be a solid block of some soft metal. It isn't as brittle as sparker flints. It works really well at giving large trails of sparks along the sidewalk. I'm curious what the sparker is and if it could be used for simple home-made pyrotechnics (like sparkers from lighters can be: pull out the "flint" heat it in a flame until glowing, the spring from the lighter is good for holding the flint in a flame, then dash against a hard flame-proof surface: explosion of sparks).

Elijah

------ presumed metal content

Spehro Pefhany · Accepted Answer

You sure it isn't a rod of flint encased in a plastic molding?

David Billington · Answer

Possibly something containing this springs to mind

Stanley Schaefer · Answer

Just a guess, titanium, maybe?  Grind that and you'll get a lot of sparks. Stan

Steve W. · Answer

Probably pot metal with ferrocerium mixed through it.

Stormin Mormon · Answer

Means your kid needs to lose 300 pounds, the scooter is bottoming out?

Probably something with Ronsonol flints that touch the asphalt.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Probably pot metal with ferrocerium mixed through it.

Larry Jaques · Answer

From the writeup on  selling them: "Spark Cartridge containing 5 flint pads for 20% more sparks than other brands on the market."

Eli the Bearded · Answer

Reading the article on ferrocerium at wikipedia was enlightening. Seems like cerium (a rare earth metal) is really good at making sparks, and mixing other metals helps change the brightness, brittleness, etc.

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Elijah

------ wondering how likely these scooters are to start fires

Razor spark scooter: what is that sparker?

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