Fire Steels all equal

[shocks]

Hi Just got a fire steel. Part of a custom knife and I'm really struggling with getting sufficient sparks off it. Are all fire steels equal, I have used a "light my fire" swedish army fire steel and I never seemed to have the problem Im having now. There are less sparks and they dissipate faster.

Any thoughts?

 

[leon-1]

Hi Just got a fire steel. Part of a custom knife and I'm really struggling with getting sufficient sparks off it. Are all fire steels equal, I have used a "light my fire" swedish army fire steel and I never seemed to have the problem Im having now. There are less sparks and they dissipate faster.

Any thoughts?

Sorry to say it, but no not all firesteels are equal. There are more compounds in some and less in others and they either work to make the firesteel more efficient (supposedly) or they make it less efficient.

 

[Bernie Garland]

A lot depends on the back of the knife,if its polished you struggle for a bit,as you need a square back on the knife,hope it helps

Bernie

 

[hedgepig]

Tis, true - not all firesteels are equal. The swedish jobbies seem to be harder and to cast more sparks while some of the others appear to be softer and cast fewer (but larger) sparks.

 

[crazyclimber]

Light My Fire ones are the best I've found - the others I've tried all seem to have fewer and smaller sparks.
As Bernie said though, the knife seems to be important. I'm sure I heard some theory that high carbon knives make better sparks, but personally I can't see any difference between my high carbon and stainless steel knives as long as the backs are rough / square. A quick file does wonders... though I'm not sure how you'd feel about that with a new custom knife

 

[RobertRogers]

I sell firesteels - you do not need a high carbon blade, or even an iron/steel blade to make the sparks. Got nothing to do with it.

Don't believe me? Try using a sharp piece of ordinary glass as a scraper. Sparks very well.

What you do need is something that is tough enough to keep a good edge while scraping against the firesteel. This produces tiny pieces of firesteel that spontaneously ignite upon contact with oxygen in the air. This is exactly the same thing as happens with the steel in "flint and steel" though firesteel metals spark exceedingly well.

Firesteels may vary in hardness, which is why they spark differently as the ease of scraping off tiny bits is harder/easier depending upon this.

See Flint and Steel - What causes the Sparks though the materials are different the principle remains the same.