Nick Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Just what it says ;) One dozen fire strikers, all different. Forged from a harrow tine, wire brushed and wax finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Is this from that commission request a few weeks ago? Some of them look kind of challenging to hold, but as always they all look great and are very well made :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have no idea what a fire striker is so I consulted Wikipedia:A fire striker (or fire steel) is a piece of high carbon or alloyed steel from which sparks are struck by the sharp edge of chert or similar rock.I've seen fires started by the bow and stick method but never by using sparks from steel. Are these just decorative or do they actually work? I would think you would need extreme hardness on the striking edge.Interesting post. Ya learn something every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 Chinobi, thanks, they are indeed. It was a fun project, some of these are styles I've been wanting to try but hadn't gotten around to until now. Holding isn't a problem once you get used to them not being C-type, they are pinched with the fingers and thumb instead of looped around the fingers. Ausfire, flint and steel is one of my favorite ways to start a fire. We used to have competitions at Scout camp to see who could light a fire the fastest. These are all functional, I have a piece of flint in the forge just for testing. They are oil quenched without tempering, but I've found that the harrow steel hardens well without becoming too brittle from the quench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Ausfire, I'm sure there's a joke here about you all in Oz being stuck back in the stone age... :P Now that you've learned to make fire with flint and steel, you can go more modern and learn to do it with batteries and steel wool. or even this magical thing called "matches" LOL :lol:. Some one needs to send you the basic Boy Scout manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I've never seen one either, but I like 'em! Though I have to side with DSW on this, gimme a match or a lighter! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 One interesting thing about fire steels is that some of the basic shapes were in use for over 1000 years! Some Viking era ones could be mistaken for fur trade era ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have never made one myself, but it's on the long list of need- to's! I'd need to study a bit more to see if i could actually use one. Nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Flint-n-Steel fire-making is my all time favorite way to go. I've got a super cool bow drill set up that I like, but nothing beats striking a spark into some charcloth. The interesting thing about making fire with a steel is that it really opens your eyes to how wrong 99% of the old books on camping were. I can't count the number of times that I've seen an illustration showing someone striking a shower of sparks with the back of a folding knife, with the sparks just raining down on the tinder bundle. Anyone that's ever even tried it knows that doesn't happen! I've never been able to get a decent spark from tempered steel. Hardened as hard as you can get and temper only those parts that don't actually strike the flint. Harrow tines? I really need to get some of those to try out. Lately, I've been using pieces of car leaf spring to make them, but it's a bugger of a job because there's so much metal to move. That's excellent work, Nick. When I saw that RFI post, I immediately thought you were the man for the job. You really should set up a tutorial so we can see how you're laying out the steps to make the odd shapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 They look great. Gotta ask though, at least two of those are inspired by the handlebar mustache, right? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 If hardening and tempering are giving you trouble---forge one out of CP 1 or 2 Ti! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have a pile of large springs I scavenged from the dumpster of a garage door company, someone said they would work for fire starters. I've heard of spark testing, but what would i look for, the color of the sparks or the quantity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Happy to see that you picked that job up and it looks like the customer should be well satisfied :) Jim I believe you would want a large quantity of sparks, and the presence of the secondary starbursts after a brief travel time that is customarily indicative of high carbon. the other thing you can do is just straighten a piece out, harden it, and start striking on it with a flint and see how readily it sparks once you get down through the scale and de-carb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 "Burstyness" of the sparks and lots of them Fireworks rather than tracers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have a pile of large springs I scavenged from the dumpster of a garage door company, someone said they would work for fire starters. A friend of mine only uses garage springs for fire steels. They are good for longer or narrower strikers, like some of the above, but for the ones that require a larger central mass I prefer flat stock. Harrow tines? I really need to get some of those to try out. Lately, I've been using pieces of car leaf spring to make them, but it's a bugger of a job because there's so much metal to move. The tines are about 1.5" wide and .25" thick, for most strikers I cut off a .5"-.75" piece. It's fairly short work to flatten it and draw out the arms on the horn. I can put a tutorial together sometime for a couple of the types. They look great. Gotta ask though, at least two of those are inspired by the handlebar mustache, right? :D Yeah, I get that a lot ;) The Iron Moustache. But the designs are historical, copied from specs supplied by the client. Like Thomas Powers said, some of these designs lasted for centuries. One tip I'd suggest for actually using flint and steel is to make charcloth from thick terry towel. It lasts longer and burns hotter in the tinder than thinner cotton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hmm around these parts most of the old harrows were spike harrows made from about 1/2" sq stock; however quite high carbon to withstand abrasive wear. Most folks I know try the old arc'd rod hay rake tines. (or heavy old files) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hmm around these parts most of the old harrows were spike harrows made from about 1/2" sq stock; however quite high carbon to withstand abrasive wear. Most folks I know try the old arc'd rod hay rake tines. (or heavy old files) All my spring harrow tines were salvaged from abandoned farm equipment within 50' of my workshop (it's on a former potato farm). There was a spike harrow, too, that I took the spikes from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 One tip I'd suggest for actually using flint and steel is to make charcloth from thick terry towel. It lasts longer and burns hotter in the tinder than thinner cotton. Make sure you add the how to on this part in your tutorial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hmm I have access to raw cotton---in the boll I may have to try that out both plain and charred. My church is called "St Lukes in the Cotton Patch" though the cotton fields are switching to Pecan trees now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have heard of old files being used, and you dont want the edge too hard, the spark is a tiny piece of metal being scraped off the striker by the harder flint. way I have been told is make em hard and try them, then temper a little and try again and so on till you get good sparks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Char cloth or even charcoal dust lights really easily. However there is easier yet. I recall reading a piece about the Voyagures (sp?) French Canadian explorers freighters, etc. who used to collect salt peter (potassium nitrate) from out houses or barns and dissolve it in water to soak paper or cloth. Dried they used clip of salt peter cloth for tinder. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I have heard of old files being used, and you dont want the edge too hard, the spark is a tiny piece of metal being scraped off the striker by the harder flint. way I have been told is make em hard and try them, then temper a little and try again and so on till you get good sparks. I've never been able to get a striker to work once it's been tempered. Files are a great source for high-carbon stock if they're old enough to not be case-hardened, but every striker I've ever made has failed to work when tempered. You're right that the spark is actually a super-heated sliver of steel being scraped off by the stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashelle Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Garage door springs have already been mentioned a few times. I use them quite a bit. Potassium nitrate can be used in the creation of flash paper. Which will flash and burn you if you don't have a safe section to hold onto. So if you are going to play with adding chemicals into the mix be very careful and store in safe fireproof containers, etc. Monks cloth is a good type of thick untreated cotton cloth that some people prefer to use for their charcloth. I'd like to try some of Thomas's raw cotton. I now prefer using some old bleached cotton rope I had picked up at a farm supply and had extra floating around. You can get good thick fibery sections of char cloth that way. Break off what you want before striking though, As the ember will rapidly travel up the rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYBOY Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 We make a lot of strikers, those are nice..I see a lot of Mike Ameling influence there.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Thanks. Yes, Mr. Ameling's work was some of my earliest inspiration when I started blacksmithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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