Using the back of a knife on ferrocerium rod

[chris_irwin]

I see a lot of people using the back of their knife on their Ferrocerium rod or firesteel and getting good sparks, but mine just doesn't seem to work. It gives a small shower of sparks but nothing compared to what I can get with the supplied striker. I'd rather not have to carry the striker if I can help it, is there any way that I can get better sparks with my knife?

I'm using a Mora 780, I think the problem is that the back of the knife is obviously a flat surface therefore I it won't spark as well. Has anyone sharpened/ground the back of their knife for this purpose?

 

[Opal]

I put my Moras across a belt grinder, lightly, works perfect, great sparks.

 

[JonathanD]

You need to file a sharp 90 degree angle onto the back of your knife. Moras don't have these sharp angles straight out of the box.

 

[chris_irwin]

should I file/grind this angle just on one section of the knife?

 

[Ph34r]

Does a higher carbon content affect the quality of the sparks?

 

[JonathanD]

should I file/grind this angle just on one section of the knife?

It's upto you and your technique. The whole of my blade except the thumb ramp has sharp edges as it is useful for stripping bark and scraping too. You average Woodlore style bushcraft knife has the whole spine ground like this.

 

[JonathanD]

Does a higher carbosn content affect the quality of the sparks?

No, not at all. You can get the same results using broken glass on a ferro rod.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Nothing to do with carbon content dude just a sharp edge and the scraping steel being harder than the rod. Simples.

 

[bmartin1uk]

Simples.

That has just made it into the English Dictionary.

 

[chris_irwin]

Thread Hijack ... Cheers for the info guys, I'll give it a go.

 

[Matt.S]

should I file/grind this angle just on one section of the knife?

I tend to just take a fine file whack the knife in a vice, and drawfile the spine square. Looks neater than factory condition and is more functional.

 

[Dave]

Try using the very tip, grind side.

 

[telwebb]

Interesting....my first ever fire steel 'striker' broke the instant I tried to use it - my Clipper (straight from the packet) created a very usable shower of sparks

 

[superc0ntra]

If the edges are rounded or the blade coated I go over them with a file, has never failed so far.

 

[MSkiba]

Does it actually damage the blade in any way? If I use the back of my F1 a good few times, will it show on the blade?

 

[Retired Member southey]

You may get a few scratches, but thats about it, unless you constantly spark for a few hours and heat the blade enough to ruin the temper, but i should think it would take some real effort mate,

 

[superc0ntra]

I've gotten darker burn-spots around where I scrape but it's just cosmetic