Mucking up a fire piston

[rich59]

I was experimenting with my new fire piston recently. (Thanks Jeff.) I thought of all the materials that seem to ignite to an ember easily that I had to hand. I listed chaga, char cloth and char string, mullein pith (reputedly), cramp ball fungus, and punk from hand or bow drilling.

The last of these was my downfall. I put some of the charred powder in the little cup on the end of the piston. I then used the fire piston inverted (upside down) so that at least gravity would not empty the dust into the bottom of the cylinder. Result - dust scattered throughout the workings. In particular it got thoroughly into the vaseline of the gasket so that I had a mucky, gritty, black gunge over my gasket that would no longer seal completely. Adding more vaseline was a temporary fix but I have lost the nice clean look and get black gunge over things easily now.

Suggestions please as to whether I can clean it in situ or commit myself to replacing the gasket after only my first day of experimenting.

 

[Jeff Wagner]

Rich,

Try running hot tap water over the gasket, using your fingers to clean away the debris. The water may cause the cotton fibers to swell, so grease it right away and insert it into the cylinder to re-size the gasket. After it dries give a good application of vaseline and work it several times, forcing the grease into the fibers. Also clean out any gunk than may still be inside the cylinder. If all else fails, you can always send it back to me for a rewind.