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Was the steel used to make sparks soft or hard. I tried a couple of old steel punches and a large rifle flint and have almost beat my hand to death with no sparks. Any suggestions. Thanks
 
I may be misunderstanding but the steel used to start a fire with flint should be softer than tempered tool steel which is what I've been trying to use. Looks as if I'll order the correct components. Thanks Roger
 
it looks like you are using old discarded gun flints for your flints? am I rite? as that is what I do with them when I replace them with new ones in my weapon, you will still get many fires/ sparks out of them. just curious. today I see guys at shoots when there flint stops sparking they change them out and discard them on the ground and I pick them up and repurpose them.
I have used a variety of different rocks over the years toot, but yes, I have been carrying a gun flint for a long time now.
Keith.
 
Was the steel used to make sparks soft or hard. I tried a couple of old steel punches and a large rifle flint and have almost beat my hand to death with no sparks. Any suggestions. Thanks
A fire steel should be hard & made from a high carbon steel such as metal file steel. Many old steels were made from old files.
Keith.
 
I may be misunderstanding but the steel used to start a fire with flint should be softer than tempered tool steel which is what I've been trying to use. Looks as if I'll order the correct components. Thanks Roger
Your steel should be hard the more carbon the better. The older the file you can find the better, they are case hardened now days.

Jerry
 
In my Gun bag (steel I made from a file)
20181204_155000.jpg

Small Fire kit in greased leather bag:
Tin with charcloth (charcloth is for absolute emergencies such as when I can't feel my cold fingers)
Burning glass
Candle stubs
Tinder (Old tow, birchbark and inner bark)
Hemp cord for friction fires (I know they didn't make friction fires, but I carry it anyway)
20181204_155006.jpg

In my pack:
Waxed bag
Cottonwood inner bark
Pitchwood
Candle stubs
Tin with charred punk wood and tree fungus
20181204_155116.jpg
 
In my Gun bag (steel I made from a file)
View attachment 1567
Small Fire kit in greased leather bag:
Tin with charcloth (charcloth is for absolute emergencies such as when I can't feel my cold fingers)
Burning glass
Candle stubs
Tinder (Old tow, birchbark and inner bark)
Hemp cord for friction fires (I know they didn't make friction fires, but I carry it anyway)
View attachment 1569
In my pack:
Waxed bag
Cottonwood inner bark
Pitchwood
Candle stubs
Tin with charred punk wood and tree fungusView attachment 1570
Thanks. I'm looking for one of my larger files to make one of those now.
 
Thanks. I'm looking for one of my larger files to make one of those now.
Keep in mind that some of the files available in recent years don't make good strikers. My understanding is that some are cheap steel that is case-hardened on the surface. You may wish to do a spark test to see if they are high-carbon steel throughout.
 
Over the years I've come to favor a couple of fire starting methods which I suspect most people don't use much. First is a burning glass, second is the lock of whichever flintlock gun I happen to be carrying. On a clear day a burning glass is most excellent, quick, dependable and nearly hassle free. I probaby use it most. The lock works well, too, and I like to use it. I simple put charcloth or tinder tube in the pan and fire the lock, most times one attempt gets a spark. I do it with a loaded gun and have never blocked the touchhole, have never had the gun to fire. One of my favorite colonial sources, Daniel Trabue, describes using his lock, although he blocked it. On a rainy day in 1779-80, during a hunt, he and companions took shelter under a rockhouse and built a fire to get warm and dry.

"There was Dry leaves and sticks under our shelter. I stoped the tuch hole of my gun with tallow and then did ketch fire and we made up a fire and Dryed our selves."

I have also used a method described by Hidatsa Indians using puffball mushroom. The puffball is sliced thinly and dried, then painted with wet black powder and dried again. It catches a spark from flint and steel easily, and I have used it successfully in the lock of my gun.

Spence
 
The puffball is sliced thinly and dried, then painted with wet black powder and dried again.
You could also try Potassium nitrate - similar to the way slow-match is made. Potassium nitrate is used as stump remover, but you must research which brands use it, as not all do.

I'm a big fan of the burning glass, though I don't get to use it often due to the terrain and tree-cover (and I forget and use my flint & steel).
 
I also have a waxed bag with candle stubs, bear manure fungus, tow ,char, and what I find along the trail. I use a fire glass mostly myself, weather permitting and have used my lock at times.

If on a extended stay using a large camp I also use a tinder lighter. I got this one in the late 60's from Dixie.

Also in the pic is a fire glass that I found in a wooden box,in the crawl space of an old abandon cabin in 71 in the UP of Michigan. Also in the box was a pen knife, (Which I since lost.) Some lead balls, two musket flints, and a feather.
GEDC0137.JPG
 
We had a wonderful member here who passed a few years ago -- Mike Ameling -- and he was a genius with hot metal. He made some wonderful strikers in patterns going back to the Romans. I keep some old Nicholson files in my stash and will start with one of those for the carbon.
Here is Mike’s web site that is still up.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/firefromsteel/
Mike was a great smith and historian.
Tim
 
KEITH, used gun flints are great be cause they don't take up any room at all, and using files to make strikers be careful that when you buy them at yard sales flea markets, WALLY WORLD, JOB LOT, etc.that a lot of them were brought in from CHINA and ain't worth a hoot!
 
BLACK HAND, you have great fire making kits both of them, each for a different purpose with the continence that they have. thanks for sharing with us.
 
BLACK HAND, you have great fire making kits both of them, each for a different purpose with the continence that they have. thanks for sharing with us.
I carry both, but can make do with just the flint & steel. The rest of the materials just make life easier. The leather bag kit travels in my pack but is transferred to my person if I leave camp. The gun bag, horn and gun leave with me too...
 
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jackley, how do you grind down the hump on flints, what do you use to do
 
jackley, it seems that my question didn't print all of mt question, the last part was, what do you use to do it with? thanks, toot.
 
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