Blacksmith's Match

[Bishop]

Here's a traditional Japanese technique for lighting a forge that may be of interest.
[video=youtube_share;gxwWf-MfZVk]https://youtu.be/gxwWf-MfZVk?t=4m45s[/video]
skip to 4m45s for the magic

I wonder if it could be done using the back of axe as a hammer and birch bark instead of paper?

 

[Leshy]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks for sharing , what a find👍

Bookmarked , will watch later .

 

[Dave Budd]

haha, you can try

You need something to hit it on too, so you could use a smooth rock and your axe if the rock doesn't move. Any movement or miss placed blows will lose you heat build up in the metal.

In my experience it's a lot harder than you would expect. if you don't turn the metal bang on 90 degrees each hit and the hammer/anvil aren't coming together parallel, then the metal turns into a trapezoid and then twists. That twisting etc loses heat because the heat is generated by internal friction. You can make it easier on yourself by just working on one side and forging it flat (ie no turning), but you have less potential heat build up.

Dunno if birch bark will work, but it's worth a go. That smith was able to get that piece of nice dry (special?) paper lit from a black heat (no more than maybe 600C), which is easy to attain through hammering. I've managed to get it from room temp to a mid orange (maybe 900C) and that extra couple of hundred degr