Flint Striker made from a File?

[Forest fella]

Hi, I made a Flint Striker from a piece of a File,But after I quenched it,and tried to get sparks with flint,I didn't produce a good shower of them.
I'm wondering if I didn't get it hot enough before the quench,Does it have to be an Orange colour,or will a Dull Red colour do it.also is it better to quench it in oil or water.
Any help welcome
cheers

 

[John Fenna]

I get mine Bright red and water quench - loads of sparks!

 

[launditch1]

I quench mine at an orange heat,sometimes a bit hotter in water(the steel im using at the moment quenches better in water).It also depends on the type of steel the file is made from..you may have used a more modern case hardened file which are no good.Also as i forge mine i grind the striking edge back to bright steel when ive finished to remove any of the surface that i may have de-carburised.
Try and find some right old files bud..

 

[Forest fella]

Yeah I thought I had done it properly,but it didn't spark well at all,I had better shower's of spark's from the File I started out with.

 

[launditch1]

Maybe it just wasnt hard enough...

 

[robin wood]

The hotter you get it the better, what you are after is big crystals that are very hard and brittle. Get it as near white heat as you can, well a good bright orange anyway, and quench in water.

 

[Everything Mac]

did you temper it?

if may be that you made it too hard.

once you quench it - you should stick it in the oven at about 220 degrees for an hour then switch the oven off and leave it in there until its cold.

this should turn it a straw yellow colour - it is still hard but not brittle.


complete opposite to what robin was saying i suppose but that is how i do it and it works well for me.

andy