Strikers
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Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
They certainly do look well mate!!.
After trying out someones striker at a meet (I think it could have been Waylands), I got it into my head that I was going to make one as I have an aquaintance with a small forge.
So got an old file and worked it into a reasonable striker shape,but in use to say it's crap is an understatement.I know it's not my flint or my technique as I can get good sparks from a friends bought striker.
Needless to say I consigned it to the scrap bin,so if you want to do a commission job mate I'm more than interested.
Mike B...
After trying out someones striker at a meet (I think it could have been Waylands), I got it into my head that I was going to make one as I have an aquaintance with a small forge.
So got an old file and worked it into a reasonable striker shape,but in use to say it's crap is an understatement.I know it's not my flint or my technique as I can get good sparks from a friends bought striker.
Needless to say I consigned it to the scrap bin,so if you want to do a commission job mate I'm more than interested.
Mike B...
Did you cool it down fast or let it slow down gradually? As they are best when cooled very fast, e.g dipping into cold oil.
As I said a number of times before, you have to be careful with this blacksmithing stuff.
IT IS ADDICTIVE!!!
But few took heed of the warnings.
Made from old files? There might be a problem there. In recent years, a number of files have been made from soft iron that has had the surface "case hardened" instead of from all good steel. That case hardened layer only adds carbon into the iron a small fraction of an inch of the outside surface area - mostly just the teeth. Inside that is then just junker soft iron with little carbon in it.
Good files are still made from high carbon steel all the way through them. Nicholson is one brand still made that way. But others, especially cheap imports from china tend to be junker iron inside with just that thin outside layer having a high carbon content. It's the internal carbon content in the steel that allows you to heat treat it to use as a flint striker, or to have a good cutting edge on a knife or axe.
So the type of metal inside that old file does have a impact on what you make from it. Really old files tend to be all good high-carbon steel throughout them. But some of the newer ones don't. You can check "spark test" the file with a grinder, but you would have to grind in far enough to get past any possilble surface case-hardening to really tell. And then look for sparks that only fly a short distance, are bright white, and "twinkle" Low carbon soft iron would have long duller red sparks with little "twinkle" in it.
A quick way to check if an old file (that has not been through a fire) to see if it will work to make a flint striker is to carefully grind the teeth off of a section of the thin edge - but cooling it down a lot. If it is getting too hot to hold in your fingers, then cool it right away. You don't want the steel to start turning blue where you are grinding it. Once you have ground down the teeth to full bare metal, then try to strike sparks with your flint. The original heat-treat in the file will still be in the file, and you should be able to get good sparks fairly easily. If not, then the file might not have good high-carbon steel inside it.
When you make your striker, it needs to be heat-treated HARD to then work as a flint striker. What you are doing when you try to strike sparks is to use a sharp edge of your flint to chip/dig out tiny bits of steel from the surface of your striker. The energy you put in to chipping/digging out those tiny bits of steel heats them up enough that the carbon in them burns - those are the sparks you see. The harder you heat-treat your striker, the easier it is to chip/dig out those tiny bits of steel. It needs to be heat-treated just about as hard as you can possibly get it - far harder than a knife blade (those are too soft to spark well). But heat-treating steel that hard also makes it much more brittle and subject to possibly breaking in use. So you can "temper" it back a bit to make it less brittle, but still leave it harder than a knife blade. (And there some other steps you can also take.)
So, was your "old file" good high carbon steel all the way through? And was it heat-treated hard enough? And after you finished making your striker, did you grind down the striking surface of it to clean off any forge scale, and get down to clean bare metal? That "forge scale" gets in the way of striking sparks. Just a couple reasons that it won't spark for you.
I have a description of how I heat-treat my flint strikers on my web site for flint strikers.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/firefromsteel
To help "inspire" your next forging session, here's a couple pics of a number of strikers I made up a few weeks ago while ... tinkering ... one Friday. They are all based on original strikers from a number of time periods - from early Roman times through middle ages and Viking era on up into the 1700's and 1800's.
Hope these humble ramblings help. And remember ...
Blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE!
You have been warned!
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
IT IS ADDICTIVE!!!
But few took heed of the warnings.
Made from old files? There might be a problem there. In recent years, a number of files have been made from soft iron that has had the surface "case hardened" instead of from all good steel. That case hardened layer only adds carbon into the iron a small fraction of an inch of the outside surface area - mostly just the teeth. Inside that is then just junker soft iron with little carbon in it.
Good files are still made from high carbon steel all the way through them. Nicholson is one brand still made that way. But others, especially cheap imports from china tend to be junker iron inside with just that thin outside layer having a high carbon content. It's the internal carbon content in the steel that allows you to heat treat it to use as a flint striker, or to have a good cutting edge on a knife or axe.
So the type of metal inside that old file does have a impact on what you make from it. Really old files tend to be all good high-carbon steel throughout them. But some of the newer ones don't. You can check "spark test" the file with a grinder, but you would have to grind in far enough to get past any possilble surface case-hardening to really tell. And then look for sparks that only fly a short distance, are bright white, and "twinkle" Low carbon soft iron would have long duller red sparks with little "twinkle" in it.
A quick way to check if an old file (that has not been through a fire) to see if it will work to make a flint striker is to carefully grind the teeth off of a section of the thin edge - but cooling it down a lot. If it is getting too hot to hold in your fingers, then cool it right away. You don't want the steel to start turning blue where you are grinding it. Once you have ground down the teeth to full bare metal, then try to strike sparks with your flint. The original heat-treat in the file will still be in the file, and you should be able to get good sparks fairly easily. If not, then the file might not have good high-carbon steel inside it.
When you make your striker, it needs to be heat-treated HARD to then work as a flint striker. What you are doing when you try to strike sparks is to use a sharp edge of your flint to chip/dig out tiny bits of steel from the surface of your striker. The energy you put in to chipping/digging out those tiny bits of steel heats them up enough that the carbon in them burns - those are the sparks you see. The harder you heat-treat your striker, the easier it is to chip/dig out those tiny bits of steel. It needs to be heat-treated just about as hard as you can possibly get it - far harder than a knife blade (those are too soft to spark well). But heat-treating steel that hard also makes it much more brittle and subject to possibly breaking in use. So you can "temper" it back a bit to make it less brittle, but still leave it harder than a knife blade. (And there some other steps you can also take.)
So, was your "old file" good high carbon steel all the way through? And was it heat-treated hard enough? And after you finished making your striker, did you grind down the striking surface of it to clean off any forge scale, and get down to clean bare metal? That "forge scale" gets in the way of striking sparks. Just a couple reasons that it won't spark for you.
I have a description of how I heat-treat my flint strikers on my web site for flint strikers.
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/firefromsteel
To help "inspire" your next forging session, here's a couple pics of a number of strikers I made up a few weeks ago while ... tinkering ... one Friday. They are all based on original strikers from a number of time periods - from early Roman times through middle ages and Viking era on up into the 1700's and 1800's.
Hope these humble ramblings help. And remember ...
Blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE!
You have been warned!
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Nice work again there mike, especialy the whale one ,can i ask if they will be for sale, (will be putting anouther order with you again if they are)
Wow, they look fabulous! Both lots 
I wish I had acces to any sort of forge. I hope to be able to get a decent workshop set up this summer, I'll have to try and do this then. Do you know of any tutorials on how to do this?
I wish I had acces to any sort of forge. I hope to be able to get a decent workshop set up this summer, I'll have to try and do this then. Do you know of any tutorials on how to do this?
Hi. I've already been talked out of all of the strikers pictured. They go fast - especially the Whale strikers. They are a fun project, but do take a bit more work to forge up. Those whale strikers date to the age of the great whaling ships - very late 1700's to early 1800's. And there are two variations. The shape/style shown with the tail flukes properly orientated to the body, and with the tail flukes flat in line with the body. This allows the striker to set flat in a pouch or tinderbox. With the flukes properly orientated, they stick out to the sides pretty wide, so you need a deeper pouch or tinderbox to put them in. Here's a pic of both styles.
Yes, I need to make more up. In the past year or so, I've probably made 1 1/2 dozen. Kids love them - just for the shape. And then get really enthused when you show them how to use them as a flint striker to start a fire. I like them also. But I keep getting ... talked out of them. And a buddy of mine has a unique version. I messed up punching in the eye on one side of one. So I "plugged" the extra hole with a piece of wire, and then layed that twisted strip of wire down along the body. This made it look like the whale was trailing a harpoon from its side. My buddy does 1800 British Sailor living history stuff, and he just HAD TO HAVE IT. Hmmm ... I can't remember if he ever "traded" me something for it. I might have to remind him of this.
So, yes I will be making more of them. (But I will have to ask $25 usd for them - plus 4 shipping "across the pond".)
I had another blacksmith "borrow" the shape/design for a project for a class he was teaching some artists. But they just used soft iron/steel - since they only wanted to create the sculpture/object. They didn't want to make them into flint strikers - it's harder to forge high-carbon steel and then to properly heat-treat them. The students had a lot of fun trying to "... move the metal where you need it ..." as one master blacksmith told a student of his. Such a simple instruction from your teacher, but far harder to implement.
There is something of a tutorial on forging up a flint striker on the AnvileFire web site - under their I-Forge How-To link. They have 166 different interactive/web demo's on the site, covering a pretty wide range of projects - such ase forging a rose, spike axe, troll figure, Ram's head poker, various hooks, hinge, candle holders, etc. #51 is forging up a dragon striker, with description and pictures - all the way through final heat-treating. And a Q&A session at the end.
This is the main web site:
http://www.anvilfire.com/
Then click on the I-Forge How-To link about half way down on the left side of the page.
Some of the demo's have better pictures and/or drawings of the work being done as you proceed, some have more descriptions and fewer pictures. They actually host these demo's once a week live on-line - but it does help to have a high-speed connection and a compter less than a decade old.
Hope this helps. Check through the I-Forge demo's. Some great stuff.
Mikey - yee ol' groumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Wow, they look fabulous! Both lots
A "decent workshop"?
I always chuckle to myself when I hear somebody talk about getting/building a decent workshop. I don't know how I would react to having and using a decent workshop.
My great/grand/glorious workshop is made up from 5 old used sheets of roofing tin nailed to several half-rotted 2x6's being held up by a couple 2x4's and old tipi poles, and sort of "anchored" to an old boxelder tree at one corner. The sides have beater plastic tarps hanging down to somewhere between 2 and 3 feet from the ground. Dirt floor of course. That's my "shop" - barely enough to stop the howling blizzards in winter, and not insulated enough to tone down the "oven" effect under the summer sun. A couple electrical drop-cords supply the power for a couple lights, the radio, and the assorted grinders, wire brush wheels, and hand drills/grinders I use. It looks more like a pile of junk somebody threw a tarp over than a "workshop". And always looks like it could colapse into a pile of rubble and scrap iron at any moment.
So worry less about getting/building a "decent workshop". Make do with what you have. Drape a tarp awning off of the side of a shed, or just work out in the open. I did that for several years. Yeah, it's a pain in the rear to have to pack everything away when you are done, or to sit out some bad weather, but you can get stuff done. And the more you do stuff, the more you will work to ... improve ... what shop area you have. It's not the area you have or the tools, but what you do with them that counts. Some of the best work I have seen has come out of some of the worst looking shops. So just get out and DO IT.
Yeah, I still occasionally think about getting/building a better shop. But all I really worry about is having a "roof" over my head to mostly keep the rain off.
Have fun working with what you have available.
Ooops -- standard warning time. Blacksmithing is ADDICTIVE! There, you have been warned. Proceed at your own mental risk!
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
I have to echo Mike blacksmithing is addictive ! as you have seen i have made a few strikers and i have made a few knives over the past few years ! one of them i use on a daily basis! all made with very few tools and a home made forge and a lump of old train track for an anvil !!!
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