The claviform BaFe12O19 crystals were synthesized by the precipitation-toptactic reaction method using α-FeOOH and γ-FeOOH as raw materials respectively.The synthesis processes of BaFe12O19,studied by XRD,SEM,EDS,FT-IR,and TG-DTA techniques,included preparations of precursor γ and precursor α,formations of α-Fe2O3 and BaFe2O4,and production of rod-like BaFe12O19 through dehydroxylation of pod-like FeOOH,followed by reactions of α-Fe2O3 with BaCO3 and BaFe2O4.The crystallinity of α-Fe2O3 and BaCO3 from precursor α was better than from precursor γ due to the direct dehydroxylation of α-FeOOH,resulting in a lower nucleation rate and better crystallinity of BaFe2O4.BaFe12O19 prepared from precursor α showed lower crystallinity and purity with a higher length-diameter ratio than from precursor γ.The VSM results proved that the appearance of final products had an important influence on magnetic properties.