That Aussie flint & steel

[Indoorsout]

I'd really like to try and make one of those little flint and steel jobs as carried by the explorer chap in RM's latest show - this one

Now I know I can do the brazing and suchlike for the slow match tube and no doubt I can find the flint, maybe even get the bit of cotton rope and soak it in saltpetre (assuming I can source it ) but the one thing I can't do is make the steel. I've never forged anything and wouldn't know where to start!

Is there an easy way to make it? Can I do it with my barbeque and a blowtube to heat it up a bit, something like that? Can I use an old file, that sort of thing?

 

[Warrigal]

G'day I have had a bit of a crack at Blacksmithing.
It isn't rocket science but it does take a lot of practise to get right.
I made a crook knife so I do the carve a spoon thing you blokes are so into.
I used a old file ( albeit a small one)
I haven't seen the show your refering to.
I used a butane burner that takes disposable gas canisters We sell them at work mainly for chefs to caramalise the top of Creme bruleis
But I found because the file was so small it lost heat very quickly so I was hiting it cold.
I anserwed that by making a fencing wire frame to hold the burner on an angle and aim it at the top of my small anvil on the bench so it is being heated as I work it I then quenched it in a enamal cup of engine oil.
That all worked, but because the wood I used to make my spoon is so hard I have broken the end off the knife three times but the beauty of smithing is I heat it up and ten minutes later I have extened the curve, quenched, resharpened and back into it.
You could use the back of a Vice as a anvil I have seen pics of guys using sledge hammers half buried in the soil as anvils. Because the piece your working is small you could do it in a gas or wood BBQ. but the trick will be it loosing heat between the heat source and your "anvil".
As for quenching I just got it bright red hot and shoved it in the oil. Don't do that inside ( just case you were thinking it, because the oil will smoke, lots.
Does any of that help?
Carl

 

[scanker]

Salt Petre is easy to source either on Ebay or from a sausage making / smoking / curing suppliers.

 

[Pignut]

Can someone explain what it is I am looking at?

Regards

 

[Celt_Ginger]

What does the salt Petre do exactly? I have made perfectly good slow matches from un-treated cotton rope and they burn absolutely fine without the Salt petre.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Can someone explain what it is I am looking at?

Regards

Hi Pignut,
It seems like you're looking at the latest "Must be good 'coz Ray uses one!" craze. It's a chartube with a holder for a small steel and attached flint shard. A lightweight fire kit to you and me.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[scanker]

It's basically a flint and steel, but the steel strikes onto a cotton rope that's impregnated with salt petre which is contained in the empty brass tube you can see. Once lit the rope glows away and when it's no longer needed you pull it back into the tube and put your finger over the end of the tube to extinguish the air supply and put out the rope.

 

[Pignut]

Hi Pignut,
It seems like you're looking at the latest "Must be good 'coz Ray uses one!" craze. It's a chartube with a holder for a small steel and attached flint shard. A lightweight fire kit to you and me.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Ahh!

Will keep mine in its pouch I think!

(Whay happens when the flint shard breaks or is used up)

Also wont the chain be restrictive when striking?

(Dont want this to turn into a ray bashing thread just my initial thoughts on something I have never seen in use)

Also going back to the origional thread if you have an old file and heat it as hot as possible (Past cherry red) you could possibly do this on a BBQ with a hair dryer or similar, and then quench in cold oil you should get good sparks

 

[John Fenna]

It is an Aussie version of a Dragons Breath kit!

 

[pothunter]

My grandfather had a rope and match arrangement very similar, his was from first world war where it was not advisable to use matches. No idea what happened to it after his death like so many other things.

Pothunter.

 

[andy_e]

I was just looking at Pablo's site last night on which he has a similar item ...

http://www.woodlife.co.uk/2008/05/14/flint-and-steel/

 

[fishy1]

It's basically a flint and steel, but the steel strikes onto a cotton rope that's impregnated with salt petre which is contained in the empty brass tube you can see. Once lit the rope glows away and when it's no longer needed you pull it back into the tube and put your finger over the end of the tube to extinguish the air supply and put out the rope.

How exactly do you put it out by putting your finger over the end? Saltpetre soaked things do not need air to burn. Indeed, touchpaper is virttually impossible to put out without water, and I'd imagine this is the same?

 

[scanker]

Don't know. Fairly sure that's what he said on the programme but I may be wrong.

 

[Indoorsout]

Hi Pignut,
It seems like you're looking at the latest "Must be good 'coz Ray uses one!" craze. It's a chartube with a holder for a small steel and attached flint shard. A lightweight fire kit to you and me.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Actually, no. I thought it looked good from a kit point of view. Its small size and the fact it is completely contained was what drew my attention to it. Big enough to do the job and small enough to be kept in a belt/possibles pouch without having to carry extra tinder/charcloth/polypore etc. Yes, I saw it on Ray Mears' program but so what? I don't own any RM branded kit, I just like the design and wanted to make one. Is that so bad?

 

[Pignut]

Indoorsout you have a pm re the steel part of your project

 

[Ogri the trog]

Actually, no. I thought it looked good from a kit point of view. Its small size and the fact it is completely contained was what drew my attention to it. Big enough to do the job and small enough to be kept in a belt/possibles pouch without having to carry extra tinder/charcloth/polypore etc. Yes, I saw it on Ray Mears' program but so what? I don't own any RM branded kit, I just like the design and wanted to make one. Is that so bad?

Indoorsout,
No, its not that bad, but I'm forever sceptical of those people who want to buy into the "Ray Mears" brand. As fire kits go, it strikes me that it was designed for use in an arid environment where tinder was relatively easy to come by (in the form of dried kangaroo dung). I'm not convinced that such a kit would be as usefull in Britain with its damp climate and questionable availability of suitable tinder unless backed up by two other means of fire making methods.
I agree that as a small, self contained kit, it is a nice item and the fact that you are prepared to make, rather than buy, elevates you in my esteem, I wish you luck.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Indoorsout]

Thanks Pignut

 

[scanker]

Roughly 24 mins in on iplayer, if you want to watch it again. He says the saltpetre "makes it glow like a slow match" and "starving it of oxygen makes it go out".

 

[Indoorsout]

Ogri, I understand what you're saying and I wouldn't rely on just one method of getting a fire lit anywhere! But for what it is, it is a neat little device. Backed up with a lighter and a bit of innertube or even a bbq firelighter...

A flint and steel is something I've been thinking of trying my hand at in any case though, the only problem being the forging. I figured this would be an easier start than a full-on c-shaped steel given my lack of tools and space.

 

[Pignut]

I say go for it!

and let us know how you get on!