DIY basic flint and steel.

[JonE]

Evening All,

Today's diy project has been a basic flint and steel kit made from a couple of old English files. I snapped a couple of bits of them, then ground one edge flat for the striking surface they are pretty rough but I will tidy then up if/when I master them.

I made the smaller one first but I wasn't happy with the amount of sparks it made so did the larger one this evening which seems better, I'm not sure if this is due to it being better steel for the job or just because it's slightly bigger/heavier.

I have tried to get some cotton wool to take a spark but have failed although it came close a few times, I'm not sure if this is due to bad technique or the steel not giving enough sparks, it seems that most people use charcloth with them but I don't have anyway/where to make any at the moment.

On the plus side I have filled one of the leather pouches I made.

Thanks

Jon

 

[bushwacker bob]

Anneal the steel and it will be softer and throw more sparks.

 

[JonE]

Thanks for the advice, I'll get the blow torch out when I get to work tomorrow and have a go.

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[uncleboob]

How do you anneal it? How do you know when it's done? Cheers Joab


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[Joonsy]

Anneal the steel and it will be softer and throw more sparks.

great stuff thats all i do as well just snap a bit off an old file, they make mine look even shabbier than i knew they were - bushwhacker bob, sorry to impose on thread but, annealing, does it matter how much you heat them for, the longer the better or just until red hot and then let them cool off naturally, thanks.

 

[atlatlman]

Nice work.

 

[Joonsy]

hope i didn't use a wrong turn of phrase there, i was meaning yours are really great, its mine that are shabby, oops sorry. :sad6:

 

[redneck]

Anneal the steel and it will be softer and throw more sparks.

Really? I never heard that before, I was always led to believe that the steel needed to be really hard to throw good sparks, that's very interesting!

 

[JonE]

Thanks all.

Joonsy, don't worry I knew what you meant.

Redneck, I too thought that it would be best not to lose the hardening so went steady when grinding, I will try making another from the same file when I get a chance but anneal it so I can compare the 2.

I reckon with some charcloth mine would work fine as is.

Cheers

Jon

 

[Joonsy]

cheers JonE , mine works okay on char cloth and it is not annealed, got me thinking now though if it can be improved, by the way i have got sparks using it on flint, granite, and quartz, flint was best quartz and granite threw much less and weaker sparks. ATB

 

[David Morningstar]

The sparks thrown by a flint and steel are far too weak to get cotton wool going. Only charcloth or very fine charred natural tinders such a punkwood (very light spongy rotted wood) will take the spark. The other key thing is the sharpness of your flint, it has to be very sharp to get good sparks.

Your file pieces should work as they are, I would not mess with the temper of them.

 

[Everything Mac]

I usually water quench my files for fire steels.... And I don't temper. :O

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Part of the reason modern files dont work for flint and steel is that they are too soft. Anneal ant your own risk. I dont and have never had a problem. Charcloth or charred cotton wool work great as does chagga

 

[JonE]

Cheers Paul that seems to be the general opinion both here and on the rest of the web, I'll give the annealing a miss. I've got some cotton wool with me so I'll try charring that later then have another go with the flint and steel.

Am I right in thinking that If i burn the cotton wool for a moment then stamp it out that will give me something that should work? Or does it need to be done in a tin on a fire the same as cloth?

Cheers

Jon

 

[JonE]

Success I just burnt a bit of cotton wool stamped it out and it took a spark first attempt.

 

[atlatlman]

Honing steels throw really good sparks.


https://www.google.co.uk/#q=steel+sharpening+rod&tbm=shop&spd=40767708701630161

 

[Rich D]

Nice tip, I've got an old one from some rubbish kitchen knife set - but it's probably stainless does it need to be carbon to work? Also has anyone got any good links to how to get the flint into the right shape? Got a couple of decent sized chunks from the kid's trip to the seaside a couple of weeks ago, but they're rounded from the sea and sand.

 

[JonE]

I put a piece of flint into an old work glove and beat it with a hammer then empty the glove out and choose the best bits.

I've got some old punches somewhere I might give one of them a try too.

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[John Fenna]

I make and sell flint and steel sets like these
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30865
You really need carbon steel - stainless does not work and nor do case hardened modern files - and I have found the harder the steel the better. I put my files in a vice and snap them roughly to shape and size as they snap near the lip of the vice ... mostly...
If the file is soft enough to bend it will not throw sparks.
Flint or obsidian are the best stones to use, giving the biggest and fattest sparks but others like quartz and jasper also work quite well.
The prime tinder is charcloth - I like using 100% cotton terry tea towels as the catch the spark well but linen or even denim work well too.
Avoid fabrics that have been washed too often - soap residue is a fire retardant!
It is good to see others using this method - it is my favourite way of starting a fire

 

[Rich D]

they look very good John, quite fancied having a go at making it myself. When I fail miserably over the next couple of weeks I'll probably order one.