Keeping busy

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
3,930
Missed you guys, felt pretty sure that the cantina going down was a pre-emptive first strike by invading hordes of zombies. Then I remembered zombies ain't real technically inclined. :rolleyes: :D

Been keeping busy, going hiking and fiddling around with projects. Knocked out an 8.6 mile hike with a light pack the other day in 2 hrs. 20 min. Not a blister, sore muscle, or any other complaint, so my PT regimen must be pretty well on target. Doubt I'll be "Ranger shuffling" a 12 miler with a 45 lb. ruck like the good old days, but, I'm content to know retired life hasn't turned me into a pudding pop.

Got to reading an article in my favorite magazine, "Backwoodsman" http://www.backwoodsmanmag.com/ , about fishing on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Interesting read, got me fired up to try my hand at some real "old school" fishing. So, I made myself some nifty fish hooks out of the tang ends of old chainsaw files. Haven't had a chance to try 'em out, but here's a pic along with some firesteels, a patch knife, and a spoon I'm carving out of some well figured curly maple. Yup, keeping busy. ;)

2179.jpg


Sarge
 
When the Revolution comes Sarge, you'll be alive and well in the hills while others pound on broken Walmart doors in the suburbs.

Good hooks, spoon, knife.



munk
 
Good to see you too Sarge. Good looking firesteels. I've been looking into buying a firesteel and a piece of flint. A set is not cheap though. If I make one, where do I get the flint? Are the steels hardened? I'm guessing you used old files...:D . Then there is the char cloth. I gotta make some of that too. Regular linen work? Can you do that on a gas grill? Anyway, my internet reading has left me wanting for more knowledge on it. Pre-assembled kits are expensive, and I tend to not trust them. Ragnar has steels, but not a very good selection in stock right now. Doh.
 
aproy1101 said:
Good to see you too Sarge. Good looking firesteels. I've been looking into buying a firesteel and a piece of flint. A set is not cheap though. If I make one, where do I get the flint? Are the steels hardened? I'm guessing you used old files...:D . Then there is the char cloth. I gotta make some of that too. Regular linen work? Can you do that on a gas grill? Anyway, my internet reading has left me wanting for more knowledge on it. Pre-assembled kits are expensive, and I tend to not trust them. Ragnar has steels, but not a very good selection in stock right now. Doh.
Click to expand...

At ease there pardner, let's kill one snake at a time;

If I make one, where do I get the flint?
Don't go buying rocks Andy. Any hard, fine grained stone, that when broken forms a clean sharp edge, can be used. That includes chert, quartz, jasper, obsidian, and a bunch others not to mention flint, which itself is in the quartz family. Wander around outdoors in the country a bit, and you can easily find a whole sackful of suitable stones. How to know if they'll work or not? How do you think? ;)

Are the steels hardened? I'm guessing you used old files
Yes to both. You can make a fully functional, if somewhat homely, firesteel from a hunk of old file in minutes. Take a file that hasn't been annealed (full hard), stick it in a vise and snap you off a piece about 3 inches long. Pick an edge and grind off all the teeth, rounding the edge and thinning it a bit until it looks like a really blunt knife edge. Strike that a glancing blow against the sharp edge of a flint, and it will throw a shower of sparks. My firesteels are forged and shaped, then rehardened full brittle hard. Handles, curly cues, etc., get carefully tempered with a judicious bit of propane torch work so they won't snap off in use.

Then there is the char cloth
Best bet here is 100% cotton (old T-shirts are perfect). I cook up small batches in nothing more sophisticated than an Altoids tin with a nail hole punched in the lid, and I do it over the same little propane stove I use for everything else. IMPORTANT: Do it outdoors or else you'll fill your house with smoke (sometimes I cheat and use the fireplace). It takes trial and error to get the hang of cooking your char just right. Overcooked, it crumbles, undercooked, it won't catch a spark well. Good news is, it's just old rags, so it doesn't cost a lot to experiment until you hit a formula that's right for you.
Want to make useable char in a matter of seconds? Set fire to a cotton rag, drop it on the ground, and gently stomp the fire out. The charred edges of the rag will catch a spark good as anything.

Have fun, but be safe when "playing with fire".:rolleyes: :D

Sarge
 
Alright, bro. I'll try more of that. I think I've got a suitable file I've blunted. I'm going camping this weekend, and my little bag will have an altoids tin in it. I'll bring some t-shirt chards along too. Look for a rock and give it a try.
 
Hey Sarge,

I have been intrigued by these flint strikers for a while.

Sometime when you are gonna use one and got somebody to do some pics I'd love to see a tutorial showing exactly the technique:thumbup:
 
Sarge, you make more neat stuff than anybody I know.

Didn't you say something about furniture too? Colonial stuff?
 
Kismet said:
Sarge, you make more neat stuff than anybody I know.

Didn't you say something about furniture too? Colonial stuff?
Click to expand...

Yup, made a couple tables and some candleabras so far, oh, and had to make myself a toolchest 'cause I keep making tools as I need 'em, and they're starting to pile up. Case in point, I made a game board out of poplar for some friends so they could play an old game called "Fox and Geese". I needed a veiner (that's a small, fine tipped, gouge) to carve a network of connecting lines on the board and didn't have one with me. Been wanting to try a trick I learned studying the "Complete Modern Blacksmith" about how to make gouges. So, a bit of heating, bending, hammering, filing, grinding, et cetera, later, I had me a hair popping sharp little gouge that knocked the job out in no time. Cut grooved lines in that poplar board so slick and clean it looks machine done, but them that know me know better.
When it comes to learning how to make stuff and making the stuff I've learned, I'm pretty much coo coo for cocoa puffs. I also love teaching the stuff, but eager students seem to be increasingly sparse. Doing things in the old ways takes more time, patience, and effort than a lot of the "Nintendo Generation" seem to have an attention span for. They figure why sweat over a hammer and anvil, et cetera, when you can just hop in the car and go buy whatever at Wal Mart. :(

Sarge
 
hollowdweller said:
Hey Sarge,

I have been intrigued by these flint strikers for a while.

Sometime when you are gonna use one and got somebody to do some pics I'd love to see a tutorial showing exactly the technique:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Somebody's already beat me to it HD, the video sells for ten bucks. If you're interested, take a look at this http://jas-townsend.com/product_inf...d=360&osCsid=7c02f0464ff524ef496dec06df127958

Sarge

p.s.: I learned flint and steel firemaking from reading old survival manuals and library books. The unanimous reaction among those I've taught it to is, no kidding, "THAT'S EASY!". And it is, you gotta figure that most of the "old timey" stuff I tinker around with has been around for hundreds of years, so lots of reference material available and no PhD required (thank goodness, 'cause I'm as dumb as a brick).
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Doing things in the old ways takes more time, patience, and effort than a lot of the "Nintendo Generation" seem to have an attention span for. They figure why sweat over a hammer and anvil, et cetera, when you can just hop in the car and go buy whatever at Wal Mart. :( Sarge
Click to expand...

Hey, I resemble that remark.:eek: :D LOL. I'm giving it a shot bro. :p ;) Don't totaly write off my generation. Since 911 I've tried to improve my "old ways" skills at a pretty steady clip. That is one reason I've tried so many of your projects. I don't have the knowledge you do of the historical context most of the time, but I am trying to learn the old ways. One thing I'm looking into now is butchering game. I've dressed it, but always had the butchering done. Another forumite that has been a valuable teacher is HD. His knowledge of herblore, and pictures has been a motovator. Thats what I get here, motovation, tutiledge, and friendship (I hope). What I give, I fear, is headaches.:( ;)
 
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