I bought some 3 x 1/4" ferrocerium rods on ebay, and I wanted to use them to make my own fire sparkers. I needed to make some kind of handle for them, so I purchased some 6 gauge galvanized copper ring terminals from the electric aisle at a hardware store. I removed the plastic insulation (and a small amount of skin) with my knife. The now-exposed barrel of the terminal is slightly too small for the rod, so after I lightly beveled the leading edge of the rod, I placed the ring portion of the terminal all the way down in a vise and heated the barrel with a propane torch to expand it. While hot, I tapped the cold rod into place with a small hammer. When the ring cooled, I bent it with a pliers to make it hang straight. I can now put these on a keyring, and also fit them with a two inch lanyard to hook around a finger to make the rod easier to hold with cold fingers or with gloves. If you find a typo in this post it's not my fault; I have a bandaid on my typing finger.

Total cost each: $1.55


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The man got the powr but the byrd got the wyng