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FireSteel questions
- Thread starter TAH
- Start date
, any comments on the scout model? I can get it local and not have to pay shipping.
RokJok
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,095
Hi Eric, I dug out the repaired Firesteel and tested it a little. It had resided in a sheath pocket inside a Grab 'N Go bag in the backseat of an ungaraged vehicle for close to two years or more. I live in western Washington state, so winters are very rainy & soggy with the occasional rare freezing spells and summers can get into the 90's Farenheit with enough humidity to make it uncomfortable, though late summer is usually hot and dry.Normark said:
When I took the Firesteel out of the sheath pocket it had a very thin film of powdery grey corrosion covering most of the rod. The powder felt sort of slippery or greasy like talcum powder does. The powder easily wiped off with a single swipe of the hand, leaving the surface of the rod looking as it does in the pics below.
The good news is that the Firesteel sparked as well as a new one. This firesteel is still very much functional. Considering that they rate the Army model (which this one is) as having 12,000 strikes capacity, my repaired firesteel has probably 11,857 or so strikes in it yet.
The epoxy at the repaired rod/handle junction:
Side of the rod after wiping off the powdery corrosion and before testing its spark-producing ability.
Side of the rod after testing its spark-producing ability showing a stripe of freshly-exposed ferro material.
The grey powdery corrosion that rubbed off on the piece of fatwood that was in the sheath pocket with the Firesteel.
A picture showing the old & newer style sparkers that came on the Swedish Light-My-Fire firesteels. The one I repaired has the older straighter sparker. Note that these two firesteels have a coating of Dollar Store greenish nail polish on the rod, hence the funny color of them.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 6,651
Hey RoK...
Great pics...
Yaa that should be fine Eh....
It's interesting though that it snapped off at the handle..
did it actually snap off or only come out of the handle ??
I've never seen one in that good of shape, yet have enough corrosion that it would lead to breaking off...
I've had several of mine come apart at the handle,, so now each time I get a new one I Mod it...
I wiggle or generally force the handle off the Ferro Rod, and on the rod itself I grind 4 flats where it goes into the handle and rough up everything else...
On the handle using a dremel tool or simply something sharp I rough up the inside of the handle, and even create pockets with a burr on the dremel for the epoxy to sit..
Then Expoxy the entire thing together and pinch it in a vise for 12-24 hours..
The ferro rod is now solid and have very little fear of it coming off
This works pretty good, however is still not bomb proof..
Corrosion of the rod inside the cap can seperate the expoxy from the rod.
Anyway,, thanks for the write up..
ttyle
Eric
O/ST
Great pics...
Yaa that should be fine Eh....
It's interesting though that it snapped off at the handle..
did it actually snap off or only come out of the handle ??
I've never seen one in that good of shape, yet have enough corrosion that it would lead to breaking off...
I've had several of mine come apart at the handle,, so now each time I get a new one I Mod it...
I wiggle or generally force the handle off the Ferro Rod, and on the rod itself I grind 4 flats where it goes into the handle and rough up everything else...
On the handle using a dremel tool or simply something sharp I rough up the inside of the handle, and even create pockets with a burr on the dremel for the epoxy to sit..
Then Expoxy the entire thing together and pinch it in a vise for 12-24 hours..
The ferro rod is now solid and have very little fear of it coming off
This works pretty good, however is still not bomb proof..
Corrosion of the rod inside the cap can seperate the expoxy from the rod.
Anyway,, thanks for the write up..
ttyle
Eric
O/ST
RokJok
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,095
The rod snapped off, as opposed to pulling out of the handle. When it snapped off, it left a shallow cup-like depression with a very rough bottom on it in the rod stub inside the handle hole. I filled that depression with epoxy when I fixed it, then jammed, twisted & wiggled the rod around until I felt it lock into alignment.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 6,651
Hey TAH...
Anytime !
As for a firesteel shattering on a rock if dropped..
Yes I would say it can happen, depending on the fall and how it hits...
Sure it is possible, however not something I would be overly worried about...
I've only snapped one ferro rod, actually happened a couple of weeks ago...
Keep in mind the Ferro rod was somewhere in the diameter of a kindergarten pencil lead...
That was from me applying far too much force on it...
I think you'll be ok...
ttyle
Eric
O/ST
Anytime !
As for a firesteel shattering on a rock if dropped..
Yes I would say it can happen, depending on the fall and how it hits...
Sure it is possible, however not something I would be overly worried about...
I've only snapped one ferro rod, actually happened a couple of weeks ago...
Keep in mind the Ferro rod was somewhere in the diameter of a kindergarten pencil lead...
That was from me applying far too much force on it...
I think you'll be ok...
ttyle
Eric
O/ST