Hi guys can you educate me on the correct type of flint you need for the correct use of a fire steel please ?
I fancy making one up on the old forge
All the best , matt
I fancy making one up on the old forge
All the best , matt
What type of flint for fire making ?
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It needs to be the black stuff and have a sharp edge.
If the flint looks brown then it will be no good.
If the flint looks brown then it will be no good.
Any kind of flint is better than no flint, and any kind of rock with a high quarts content will work, but not as good as good flint.
IMO the quality of the firesteel is more important than the quality of the flint, and last but not least the quality of your tinder. Good, dry chaga or good tinder prepared from horse hoof fungus will catch the tiniest of sparks.
Heres a picture of my firesteel together with two crappy quality flint nodules found in the shoreline in Bohuslän in Sweden.
Sparks flew right away:
IMO the quality of the firesteel is more important than the quality of the flint, and last but not least the quality of your tinder. Good, dry chaga or good tinder prepared from horse hoof fungus will catch the tiniest of sparks.
Heres a picture of my firesteel together with two crappy quality flint nodules found in the shoreline in Bohuslän in Sweden.
Sparks flew right away:
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Hi Matt,
Brandon in Suffolk is supposed to produce some of the best sparking flint, Certainly was where the Brittish army got theirs for the flintlocks and still famous for exporting it 'round the world still. Type in Brandon Flint to Google and loads of places including Will Lord will come up as sellers.
ATB,
GB.
Brandon in Suffolk is supposed to produce some of the best sparking flint, Certainly was where the Brittish army got theirs for the flintlocks and still famous for exporting it 'round the world still. Type in Brandon Flint to Google and loads of places including Will Lord will come up as sellers.
ATB,
GB.
i've used quartz and some white rock (where i have NO idea what it is...) as well with success- i've been to a lot of places where flint does not exist @all.
my computer skills are not good enough to post pics; my striker is made from an old file with the tang bent for better grip- it's throwing sparks quite well!
my computer skills are not good enough to post pics; my striker is made from an old file with the tang bent for better grip- it's throwing sparks quite well!
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It doesn't have to be flint; rock crystal (quartz) and iron pyrite (the cubic fools gold form) also throw good sparks if you have a good steel. Flint is usually normally associated with a steel though.
Incidentally, flint works really well with a ferro rod if you like to cross over technologies.
Incidentally, flint works really well with a ferro rod if you like to cross over technologies.
Interestingly, brown flint is the best thing I can find round here. The grey flint also works all right, and I've also made fire with christals that I found on holiday in the alps when I was younger.
Funnily enough despite us using dark grey flint the French use a sort of toffee coloured flint traditionally in there flintlocks, must admit I don't know the structure and composition of flint well enough to say why some is better than others.
Not strictly true. Any flint will strike a spark.
The black stuff seems to strike particularly well but anything will do.
Vein quartz will also work.
Thank you fellas , now I know alot more
The comment about the metal type . Does it want to be carbon steel or iron ?
What about titanium , that stuff sparks like crazy !! ( not that I have any )
There are alot of gravel pits here where I live , and a village was found at the latest excavation site . Some Gold, swords, and 17 wells etc. it dates to neolithic, then on to roman fort town .
We found all sorts of cool stuff up there when the archioligists where working . Ancient animal bones, pottery, and flint tools , I might have a look over the weekend see if I can find the right flint there because there's very little or no natural flint in the ground . I assume its imported from else where ?
It's on the bank of the old river Trent so was known to a place of trading .
Thanks for the input .
All the best , matt
The comment about the metal type . Does it want to be carbon steel or iron ?
What about titanium , that stuff sparks like crazy !! ( not that I have any )
There are alot of gravel pits here where I live , and a village was found at the latest excavation site . Some Gold, swords, and 17 wells etc. it dates to neolithic, then on to roman fort town .
We found all sorts of cool stuff up there when the archioligists where working . Ancient animal bones, pottery, and flint tools , I might have a look over the weekend see if I can find the right flint there because there's very little or no natural flint in the ground . I assume its imported from else where ?
It's on the bank of the old river Trent so was known to a place of trading .
Thanks for the input .
All the best , matt
Any colour flint will throw good sparks, the colour is simply caused by different minerals present at the time of formation, as a matter of fact the 2 best stones I have ever found for throwing sparks are jasper and chert, flint (any colour) comes in behind these. Technique is much more important
Take a piece of high carbon steel. Take some rocks with sharp edges and start striking the steel against the rock. If it produces a spark, it is the right type of rock. What you get will change greatly depending on where you are.
Like has been hinted at above, so long as the stone is hard enough to shave a fine sliver off the ferrous part thats good enough. The chemistry doesn't depend on the stone really, just the rapid oxidation of the newly exposed metal on the surface of the tiddly bit that is knocked off. (The reason your ferrous bit in your hand doesn't light is just to do with the energy being absorbed into the body of the metal. That doesn't happen with the small bit struck off, so it carries on heating and starts to burn almost instantaneously).
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