Building a collection

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:lmao:

Are you on Photobucket? Sign up and you'll upload your pictures there from your computer. It is quite simple to do. Once you have done that, there will be a little version of your picture/s, you simply click on the "Img" tag below and it will say Copied. Come back to BcUK and paste the link by either pressing Ctrl+V or by right clicking and hitting Paste. It will look like a bunch of gobbledygook until you post the reply, then your picture will be shown in all its' glory!

There are tutorials on the site, I hope you manage it as you have me intrigued!
 
garyminiss


At last. This is it, so far. steels by Daryl Aune, Mike Ameling, Wayland and even an old file by John Fenna. I hope to add more over time by a few different makers and probably some from some makers I have used before.
 
Almost there. For some reason, your link went and did that http// thingy but did it twice in a row. Also, you don't have Img tags. Did you click the IMG link below your picture? That way everybody will be able to see your picture without hitting a link. The link works though, and it is a fine collection. I particularly like the dragon one bottom centre.
 
Once you've got it, you'll wonder how you couldn't do it before! It took me ages to figure it out, I'm not much cop with these things! Once you're done, you can grab a few pictures from your 'puter at a time and then get the post done in a few minutes. It's putting the pictures in the right order then that can take a bit of getting used to!
 
One thing Celt is you need to edit the photos to fit the forum webpage. Select edit and and resize the photo.
Nice fire steels by the way!
 
the dragon one is by Daryl Aune. He sells them in a kit (google Primal connections) and it's a good steel. casts loads of good hot sparks, though not as good a sparker as the ones by Mike Amiling. You just have to show them a piece of flint and the sparks jump off the steal in anticipation (well, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean, lol)
 
Quite a collection you've got there C_G.

I bought my first firesteel from Dave Budd at this years 'moot - I'd used snapped pieces of an old file up till now - and it's a good'un.
Dunno about getting a collection going like yours, but I can definately see why you like them. I'll second (third?) the comments about the dragon one, that's nice :D
 
Nice start on a good ... collection. But it's a bit different when you make them.

Hey, you guys want to see a ... collection ... of flint strikers. Well, step right this way. Do I have a pic for you. oh ... wait a minute ... um ... I kind of don't really have a personal collection as such. I haven't been able to hang onto any I make for myself - for more than a few weeks. I always get talked out of them.

The only "collection" of flint strikers I have ends up being a pile of about a dozen on the shelf by this "infernal machine". But they are junkers. They don't spark. When I forged them up, I mistakenly grabbed a chunk of simple iron instead of high carbon steel. So they forged up GREAT, but won't heat treat. So there's around a dozen or so up there. I kind of thought I'd mount them up on a display board along with the history/documentation for that specific style, and use it for demonstrations/talks, and as examples for selling at events/gatherings. But so far that "collection" is just gather rust on the shelf. And it's the only real "collection" that I have.

But if I dug around, I could probably scrounge up 6 or 8 dozen regular strikers - in a couple dozen different styles/shapes/histories. There's a couple boxes/bags that keep getting added to and subtracted from all the time.

Now, if photobucket would get their "new" sh*t program straightened out so somebody that doesn't have a high speed connection and an new gee-wizz hand-held ear jewelry type of toy could use it, I'd post a pic or three of some recent work. I just have a regular dial-up connection with an "infernal machine" almost old enough to vote. So photobucket's new program can't even get loaded up on my machine before it times itself out and starts to renew/refresh/reload. It takes sooooooo long to load their "dancing baloney" add about how great/wonderful there new options are that it can't even get to my albums/photos before timing out. And then throw in another paid add for some hokey new money-pit phone with a VIDEO clip constantly running, and everything on my "infernal machine" locks up ... waiting ... for their cr*p to download first. But they also seem to have an internal timer that tells itself to "refresh/reload" everything if they haven't received anything from my overwhelmed "infernal machine" in 20 or 30 seconds or so. I've hated that "dancing baloney" cr*p since it first started showing up all those years ago --- back when Al Gore "invented" the internet --- and before. It serves little purpose other than to ... entertain. And if I want to be entertained, I'll just turn on the TV.

I guess I'll just have to look for some new place to stash photos for posting on the web.

Rah rah. Must be time to go to sleep.

Mikey - that VERY GRUMPY ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. The new work is based on a couple documented flint strikers collected in Ireland. The museums tend to just give them that generic "British" or "English" label. But this one was labeled as from Ireland --- Irish! Ditto that one from Scotland --- Scottish.
 
Now, if photobucket would get their "new" sh*t program straightened out so somebody that doesn't have a high speed connection and an new gee-wizz hand-held ear jewelry type of toy could use it, I'd post a pic or three of some recent work. I just have a regular dial-up connection with an "infernal machine" almost old enough to vote. So photobucket's new program can't even get loaded up on my machine before it times itself out and starts to renew/refresh/reload. It takes sooooooo long to load their "dancing baloney" add about how great/wonderful there new options are that it can't even get to my albums/photos before timing out. And then throw in another paid add for some hokey new money-pit phone with a VIDEO clip constantly running, and everything on my "infernal machine" locks up ... waiting ... for their cr*p to download first. But they also seem to have an internal timer that tells itself to "refresh/reload" everything if they haven't received anything from my overwhelmed "infernal machine" in 20 or 30 seconds or so. I've hated that "dancing baloney" cr*p since it first started showing up all those years ago --- back when Al Gore "invented" the internet --- and before. It serves little purpose other than to ... entertain. And if I want to be entertained, I'll just turn on the TV.

I guess I'll just have to look for some new place to stash photos for posting on the web.

Rah rah. Must be time to go to sleep.

Mikey - that VERY GRUMPY ol' German blacksmith out in the
Hinterlands


:rant: :rant: Now, that's what I call a good rant!:rant: :rant: :D

Nice collection, Celt.
 
Yeah, I had to ... rant ... a bit. Way too many companies (and people) forget that everybody else in the whole world isn't rushing out to get a high-speed satelite connection - and new expensive toys to utilize it.

But photobucket finally changed their "bandwidth hog" ad, and I actually got it to load on my poor little machine. And my one little photo loaded in less than a half minute - instead of several minutes. You don't suppose somebody heard me?

Anyway, here's a pic of several new strikers.

IrishBurgundian.jpg


The top one is based on originals from Burgundy. It was in use from the mid 1400's on up through the 1600's, and even into the 1700's a bit. The "style/shape" shows up in a lot of Family Crests.

The bottom two are those IRISH strikers. The original was collected in Ireland, and actually labeled as such - instead of getting that generic "British" or "English" label. And this was even a British museum - the Bryant and May Museum of Fire-Making Appliances. I picked up a copy of their Catalogue of the Exhibits published in 1926. It lists/describes all the exhibits, but only shows b/w pictures of some of them.

Note the similarities between the two styles. The only real difference is that the Irish version doesn't have a little peak in the center, but is straight across. Why? Who knows.

There. Now I feel better.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
 

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