What was the starting point for the titanium striker ... was it a rod ?
How did you treat it to ensure it sparks ?
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my current striker collection
- Thread starter Wave Man
- Start date
How did you treat it to ensure it sparks ?
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
yes a titanium rod 250mmx12mm, bought off eBay
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/312345520000?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
the rod was put in the forge and bought up to orange (and allowed a good heat soak about 10 minutes) and then bent into shape, simply put into a vice and using a pipe bending to the basic shape and then a reheat and then using a hardy and hammer refining the shape to how you see it as it is.
Then back into the forge and back to orange over the entire rod, then I simply took it out and left it to air harden next to the forge, I was not quenched.
Titanium work hardens and doesn't require quenching.
After forging I wire brushed all the scale off the striker and it sparked just as you saw in the video, really well, probably better than either of my bought titanium strikers.
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
the titanium striker (rod U type) is probably the best ti striker I own (I have three now) and is by far the easiest to strike and develop sparks with. It was also the cheapest of the three. Knowing what I know now I would never have bought a ti striker and just made one.
Titanium strikers have advantages over steel strikers, most notably being able to light flash tinders such as cattail fluff with sparks alone. They are almost ferro rod-like in their sparks heat.
Titanium strikers have advantages over steel strikers, most notably being able to light flash tinders such as cattail fluff with sparks alone. They are almost ferro rod-like in their sparks heat.
I might have to look into buying a rod !
Thanks
Thanks
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
three more forged today
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
my Beaverbushcraft Dragons
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
Good Forge (Hammer and Tongs) colonial style striker
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
Goodforge Midgard Serpent striker
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
two (will be three) more forged today, tried my hand at a Scottish B type and Viking bowtie
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
GoodForge double curl, sparks incredibly well, as do all of them. The last striker I am buying for a while.
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
Vladimir Zubkov (#2E) curly R striker
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
my last striker from GoodForge, Viking striker, as all GoodForge strikers it sparks well.
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
my Craftomatik striker collection
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
my work to date
Read most of your posts with interest but can you tell me if you have used those “flint sticks” which are always promoted on various outdoor sites?
I have found that they work well when using a serrated knife edge or piece of hacksaw blade onto cotton wool, but have never seen the Flint as a rock available.
Cheers
Pete
I have found that they work well when using a serrated knife edge or piece of hacksaw blade onto cotton wool, but have never seen the Flint as a rock available.
Cheers
Pete
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
hey Pete, are you referring to a ferro rod? They are often referred to as 'flint' mistakenly. If you are referring to a ferro rod, then yes I use a ferro rod regularly on my fatwood Friday videos.
Flint as a rock is very rare here in Australia, you can buy it from Rocky Instincts though
https://www.rockyinstincts.com.au/product-page/raw-south-australian-flint
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
Andrew Kirkham customized English double curl with twists, my 8th for Andy
Yes, Wave Man. I guess that is the little sucker but have no idea what they are made of. Just assumed they must be some magnesium type compound the way the sparks tend to burn. I actually bought two (amongst others) which consist of a rod on a spring inside a plastic tube which has a striker on the end. totally useless by my reckoning until you use the rod extended and attack it with the knife or bit of hacksaw ( which I have reduced in size to store alongside the retracted rod). It has taken me ages to actually light a fire with these things, but now I have worked it out, its certainly rewarding, just as using the proper flint must be for you. And flint rocks are not naturally occurring in Australia, or just hard to come by?
Cheers, Pete
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
flint does occur here in Australia, it's just very scarce and the only major deposits that we have are in South Australia (Mt Gambia region).
Flint isn't the only sparkable rock flint and steel users can use however and thankfully Australia does have a lot of other sparkable stones all over the place, quartzite/quartz, petrified wood and jasper are the main ones you'll be looking for, with quartzite being the most plentiful.
Flint isn't the only sparkable rock flint and steel users can use however and thankfully Australia does have a lot of other sparkable stones all over the place, quartzite/quartz, petrified wood and jasper are the main ones you'll be looking for, with quartzite being the most plentiful.
Wave Man
Pyromaniac
my Andrew Kirkham collection, these are among the best strikers in the world
