Fire steel; Why do some knives, and some knives don't?

D

DocGP

Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
586
OK, got a nice order in from Firesteel.com and had to go play. Had my trusty Leatherman Wave in my pocket and began to grind on the fire steel. Well, it would peel off 2mm X 2" strips off the steel, but no sparks :eek: Man, must be faulty fire steel. Got my BHK Bushbaby out and one quick stroke resulted in a hole in my nylon boots!!! (Also did the fire-in-the-boot dance, but that is another thread).

SO, why would the Leatherman not spark? I must have run off 5 paper thin ribbons with it, but not one spark. It has a good corner to drag on the firesteel. The Bushbaby was a dang flamethrower.

Just thinking out loud.

Doc
 
Try sparking the firesteel with the back of the saw blade on your Leatherman- I'd be willing to bet you'll get better results. I think your problem is the type of shavings you're getting. It sounds like the shavings you were making with your Leatherman were waaayy too big. You need teeny little shavings- with lots of surface area- so they spontaneously ignite on contact with the oxygen in the atmosphere. You don't want to carve off great chunks of the material! That will only ruin your firesteel.
 
I've noticed this also. The absolute champ is my Fallkniven F1. I've noticed this same issue, but haven't had time to really test it out. Some firesteels throw a lot of fast burning sparks, some throw a few globs of molten metal, and it varies greatly from knife to knife...
 
Some of it has to do with the type of edge. If its at all rounded over it wont work.

For example, many people will take the spine of their Mora knife and grind it flat. it makes 2 90 degree angles that tend to work better with a firesteel.

A more out of the box will throw a few sparks, grind the spine flat and it will throw 3-5 times more.

(not sure if this makes sense... LOL) but i tried it... its true!
 
I think carbon steels tend to work better and Never, NEVER use the edge of your knife to scrape your fire steel.
 
sodak said:
I've noticed this also. The absolute champ is my Fallkniven F1. I've noticed this same issue, but haven't had time to really test it out. Some firesteels throw a lot of fast burning sparks, some throw a few globs of molten metal, and it varies greatly from knife to knife...
Click to expand...

That would be rod types rather then which knife you're using to scrape. Ferro verses misch metal.

knifenut1013 said:
I think carbon steels tend to work better and Never, NEVER use the edge of your knife to scrape your fire steel.
Click to expand...

In a survival situation, dulling a small portion would be acceptable to create a life saving fire. :D (That's from the RAT Cutlery site)

I have a Landi PSK with the spine squared off. Throws some amazing sparks with that thing. :thumbup:
 
If you must then you must, don't let yourself die in the wood because of me :p but to those that do it all the time and don't think they are damaging their edge might want to get their eyes checked.
 
Use the back of a small piece of hacksaw blade. Break it off the end and you have a hole to put a lanyard through and attach to your steel.--KV
 
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