For the last few weeks I have been finding the odd moment to explore how I could create a tinder that has a chance of catching the weakest of sparks such as with "bamboo and china" or "flint on flint".
I have come to the thought that very fine charcoal powder/ dust - appropriately aerated might just fit the bill. There is literature to support these thoughts.
This leaves a number of practical challenges:-
1) Getting the finest charcoal dust.
I have had a few goes at this. I have taken some charcoals and ground them in a glass jar with the end of a 1 inch diameter stick. I tried 3 sources so far:- a) lumpwood charcoal bought commercially b) small bits of charcoal left over from a bonfire c) charred dead deciduous leaves. In all cases some ends up as fine dust that can air float, then there are larger grades that make up the majority.
Any suggestions/ advice on getting a significant quantity of the finest dust, and without the bigger bits?
Then the actual dust varied hugely in its ability to light from a heat source. Initially using a flame the samples from commercial lumpwood would not combust hardly at all! The leaf and the bonfire chars were much better. The leaf char seemed the best. I might try charring toilet roll as it is already quite aerated and should give a pretty finely divided char.
I wondered if "activated charcoal" was what I really needed - charcoal that has a huge surface area by being very irregular down to microscopic scale. I think citric acid from fruit and then reheating the char would possibly do this.
Any advice on the best sources and the best forms of charcoal dust?
2) Getting air gaps between the char dust particles.
My original vision was to make a sponge/ cake/ bread with high content of char dust - cooked and dried. I have come across "charcoal cake" but that is to eat.
I learned that I might distribute char dust in fluff. I thought I might get the char dust to stick to downy feathers.
I haven't yet tried the cakes/ bread. I found the fluff and the feather ideas interesting. Once lit they grew the glow nicely, but they so far won't light from a flint and steel spark. I need much better than that to get lucky with much weaker sparks.
Comment
I could play with this all winter but I might not get time, so I thought I would share the ideas and perhaps find others want to have a go at some of the ideas here.
I have come to the thought that very fine charcoal powder/ dust - appropriately aerated might just fit the bill. There is literature to support these thoughts.
This leaves a number of practical challenges:-
1) Getting the finest charcoal dust.
I have had a few goes at this. I have taken some charcoals and ground them in a glass jar with the end of a 1 inch diameter stick. I tried 3 sources so far:- a) lumpwood charcoal bought commercially b) small bits of charcoal left over from a bonfire c) charred dead deciduous leaves. In all cases some ends up as fine dust that can air float, then there are larger grades that make up the majority.
Any suggestions/ advice on getting a significant quantity of the finest dust, and without the bigger bits?
Then the actual dust varied hugely in its ability to light from a heat source. Initially using a flame the samples from commercial lumpwood would not combust hardly at all! The leaf and the bonfire chars were much better. The leaf char seemed the best. I might try charring toilet roll as it is already quite aerated and should give a pretty finely divided char.
I wondered if "activated charcoal" was what I really needed - charcoal that has a huge surface area by being very irregular down to microscopic scale. I think citric acid from fruit and then reheating the char would possibly do this.
Any advice on the best sources and the best forms of charcoal dust?
2) Getting air gaps between the char dust particles.
My original vision was to make a sponge/ cake/ bread with high content of char dust - cooked and dried. I have come across "charcoal cake" but that is to eat.
I learned that I might distribute char dust in fluff. I thought I might get the char dust to stick to downy feathers.
I haven't yet tried the cakes/ bread. I found the fluff and the feather ideas interesting. Once lit they grew the glow nicely, but they so far won't light from a flint and steel spark. I need much better than that to get lucky with much weaker sparks.
Comment
I could play with this all winter but I might not get time, so I thought I would share the ideas and perhaps find others want to have a go at some of the ideas here.
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But they'll do so in such a loose way that there's loads of suitable air for combustion around them 
