Glass lens for starting fires
- Thread starter ateallthepies
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I remember playing with magnifying glasses at school and we found the biggest diameter and the shortest focal length best to make fire. I've carried an old, chipped lens in my possibles bag for years and I know it works because I used to light my pipe with it when I lived in the tropics. Although whenever I've needed fire in a hurry it's usually wet, cold and overcast. I have a credit card sized fresnel lens in my wallet mainly in case I break my glasses, but even in ideal conditions I've never been able to make fire with it.
Biker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Hate to admit it but I carry a fresnal lens in my wallet the exact same reason, I swear they're making print smaller nowadays. Must admit I haven't tried lighting a fire with the fresnal lens though. Figured I use one of the other means I might have with me if I had to.
Jolly useful in the car, too, especially if you need to consult an A-to-Z at night.
If you ever get your hands on an old overhead projector they have enormous magnifiers in the base part of it. Got one stashed in a drawer in my work bench I salvaged about 9" across and 1½" thick. Convex on one side and flat on the other. So powerful it even works using the reflected light off a full moon... well sorta.
Ive several out of the head of the OHP approx 4" diameter but you dont see many in skips these days and a friend used to use one to burn house name signs on timber
ATB
Duncan
Any old lens worked for frying ants and burning holes in ties when I was at School, you don't need anything special really.
If you insist on quality I've got one with a black frame so its a tactical one I'll sell for £150. I've a 'Buscrafty Tactico' model which is also black framed but in a little leather pouch for £175 or you could get this for a couple of quid
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEDIUM-MA...quipment_SM&hash=item1e61231e2a#ht_778wt_1168 and just take the lens out.
If you insist on quality I've got one with a black frame so its a tactical one I'll sell for £150. I've a 'Buscrafty Tactico' model which is also black framed but in a little leather pouch for £175 or you could get this for a couple of quid
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEDIUM-MA...quipment_SM&hash=item1e61231e2a#ht_778wt_1168 and just take the lens out.
Can't help feeling the OP ought to get himself a couple of bits of thick flat glass and some jeweller's rouge.
Using equipment that's been made with CNC machinery somehow doesn't seem to me to sit well with wanting to be as traditional as possible.
Using equipment that's been made with CNC machinery somehow doesn't seem to me to sit well with wanting to be as traditional as possible.
Mine burnt a hole very nicely in a piece of paper, despite both being hand-held and with a bit of a breeze blowing!
That takes me back a few years, there was also the odd burning the back of someones neck when the teachers had us sat outside when it was sunny whilst he droned on about clouds and rain cycles or something (I wasn't really listening, too busy trying to focus my lense on the neck of the person in front of me)
Bet we could have done some real damage if we had spent a few quid on a 'proper' lenz lol
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