Artists conk char

[den]

Have just Carbonised some artists conk and gave it a go with my flint and steel.
I would say it is on par with char cloth . Catches a spark great. It does not become brittle as other fungus do when carbonised.
Chuffed to bits . Makes it all worth it when you find something new.
Also tried root fomes today but was too brittle to do anthing with.

 

[den]

just tried pyrite and chert with the steel which worked great too.

 

[storm]

great! have you tried pyrite and chert together for percussion-based firemaking? it's good to see you experimenting with fungi...

 

[den]

Was just having a go. i could not get the few sparks i produced anywhere near the tinder. sliced my finger trying.

I got the artists conk going with just charing the end first but it did not catch as easy as the whole carbonised chunk i tried this morning.

 

[match]

It can sometimes help to hold the tinder on top of the 'still' stone, near the edge being struck. If you use the 'harder' stone as the stationary stone, then the sparks travel upwards as the stone is struck by the softer one, igniting the tinder. This is the method I usually use for flint and steel (striking with the steel, holding the flint still).

 

[rich59]

Have just harvested an artist's conk.

Suggestions please on actions needed to make it able to take a spark from ordinary flint and steel.

 

[Buckshot]

Can it be used as a hearth for hand drill?
I'm carbonising some atm - much to SWMBO's delight!
How long did you cook it for Den?
Did you flatten it out at all or just use the thickness as it came off the tree?

Cheers

Mark

 

[rich59]

From what I can see there are about 4 parts of an artist's conk to consider
the outer shell
a fibrous layer - thicker at the link to the tree
long tubes down to the bottom surface
the bottom surface

I understand the fibrous layer may be used either charred or possibly in other ways. Any other parts useful? There is a picture on this forum by Storm of a fire started on the bottom surface. Will this surface take a spark - from flint and steel or from ferrocerium rod?

 

[den]

The part I used was the fibrous middle which has a velvet appearance.

I had best results with only giving it a light charring in my tin. Say if it was a cotton tea towel it would only turn to a light brown. With this I found it able to catch a spark really well and did not crumble in your hand when striking.
When I totally carbonised the artist conk on another occasion it became to brittle to work with.

As has been mentioned just charring the end works too but I found no where near as good as a semi char in your tin.
I didn’t hammer it out flat I just used it as it is. It can be a bit of a pain to put out once going though.

The thickness of the velvet layer does vary greatly between specimens from being a thing slice which you cant really work with, to a couple of inches thick which is not really reflected by the size of the fungus.

I have been able to get a few embers using a mullein stalk drilling into the whole fungus from the pore side. The problem I had on many attempts was that once you get a bit of heat up it would drill deep into the fungus before you could reach an ember.

Earlier in the year on a canoe trip in Poole harbour I found something which really closely resembled artist conk not 100% what it was for sure but I was able to slice a strip off the rim of the fungus with my knife then in my hands pull it open into a sheet which resembled velvet a small bit the size of a ciggy could be opened up to the size of a ciggy packet . I found it better at catching a spark than artist conk or horse hoof. Id love to know what it was ?I might make a special trip next year to collect some more.

Hope this helps

Den

 

[storm]

this polypore is one of my favorite non-wood friction fire materials. yes--one can use it (unaltered) as a hand drill hearthboard, just dry it first. i like the younger, thinner ones for this. i've had better success using 2-3 foot-long mullein spindles, rather than the 11-12" spindles i usually use on wooden hearthboards. i've had better success drilling them in their natural orientation (up side up, pore side down).

for use to catch percussion sparks, i've never altered the fungus--just dry it and throw the sparks onto the pore (underside) surface.

 

[rich59]

this polypore is one of my favorite non-wood friction fire materials. yes--one can use it (unaltered) as a hand drill hearthboard, just dry it first. i like the younger, thinner ones for this. i've had better success using 2-3 foot-long mullein spindles, rather than the 11-12" spindles i usually use on wooden hearthboards. i've had better success drilling them in their natural orientation (up side up, pore side down).

For use to catch percussion sparks, i've never altered the fungus--just dry it and throw the sparks onto the pore (underside) surface.

Thanks a lot for sharing this experience. Having left my specimen on the shed shelf for a couple of weeks it is still very damp. I did carefully try drying some slithers in the microwave (with a glass of water in there to prevent burning out the element) but found that after several minutes stopping and starting it was still moist. After Oops' experience of setting fire to drying fungus this way I backed off. So, change of tactic - stand it over the waste heat from my freezer and check it every couple of weeks I think.

The part I used was the fibrous middle which has a velvet appearance. I had best results with only giving it a light charring in my tin. Say if it was a cotton tea towel it would only turn to a light brown. With this I found it able to catch a spark really well and did not crumble in your hand when striking.

Thanks for that. I will try this.