kUKUURI flint striker ?

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Would it be a bad idea to use my Kukuuri burnishing tool as a striker for a fire making kit ? It would be used with a flint spall (SP.) I wouldn,t be using it that much , just enough to learn a new skill and keep a reasonable level of proficiency .
 
That's one of the original purposes of the chakma, Kevin. I don't think it would hurt anything if you are using it as a user anyway. However, out of the dozens and dozens of khuks that have passed through my hands only ONE had a chakma hard enough to throw sparks on my magnesium/steel set. Oddly enough it was my very first khuk :rolleyes:
So, i don't think it'll be a bad idea, but i'm not sure it would work. If you have an old file and a grinder maybe you could make a better one. Sarge has posted some good stuff related to this in the past.

Jake
 
Just tested the Chakma from my WWII with the rod on the end of my magnesium stick. Made sparks. :thumbup:
 
I don't see why not.


Sounds like good thinking to me. Maybe some techno tool heads will weigh in on this shortly.


munk
 
What I was concerned with was damaging a tool that may need a smooth edge to burnish the blade properly . As this doesn,t seem to be an issue I,m gonna find out how to make char cloth and give it a try . I,ll let you guys know how I do . In the meantime if you see smoke signals on the horizon its proabably me burning the house down ! L:O:L
 
Yvsa has commented over the years that many Chakmas are too soft. Seems like one of those would be a great choice, and keep the harder ones for edge burnishing. Or; use only one edge of the Chakma for firestarting and keep the other lines for burnishing.




munk
 
Just about all of my chakmaks are too soft to throw sparks. If they're riding with a "user," I replace them with one of the antique chakmaks from AC. These spark much more frequently and often look quite nice with a bit of cleaning up. (Khukuri-shaped chakmaks are just plain cool.)

The wear from sparking flints is fairly inconsequential. A summer's worth of camping, spread over three chakmaks, didn't create any noticable wear.
 
Too soft? I'm learning something. Satori, I thought the steel had to be soft to come off as a spark?



munk
 
I never seem to have any luck with soft steel. Right about file hard is where I prefer it to be. I suppose that it might be my technique.
 
I'm going to check this out some afternoon when I have the time. It'll be fun, if I don't start a forest fire...

You know it's snowing right now in Montana?



munk
 
The ability to throw sparks is enhanced by the hardness of both striker and flint . The flint is the harder of the two and if the steel is too soft the flint will only gouge off a piece of steel instead of creating a small particle to break off under greater force . If all the force is concentrated on that smaller piece breaking off then there is more friction . Many people think it is the flint sparking when it is in fact the metal . Some of the best strikers are made from files which by their design and function have to be hard . Speed of hand and a good sharp edge on the flint are essential . A proper tinder is of the utmost importance as well , char cloth is one of the best which is produced by heating linen or cotton in a tin to the point of combustion . You leave only a small pinhole in the tin so there is not enough air for it to combust . You are essentially creating charcoal cloth .
 
munk said:
Too soft? I'm learning something. Satori, I thought the steel had to be soft to come off as a spark?



munk
Click to expand...

He ain't kidding Munk, for a fire steel (flint striker) to work when struck against a sharp piece of flint, or other stone in the quartz family (not a ferrocium rod on a magnesium fire starter), it must be non-alloyed, high carbon steel, with a rockwell hardness of around 62, preferably even higher (described by blacksmiths as "brittle hard").

None of the modern chakmas I've tested so far passed muster, but as Dave mentioned, some of the "old school" antique chakmas from AC work as they were originally intended. Old files are plentiful ;) I simply heat up the blade on my "as issued" chakma until the laha softens enough I can pull the blade free with vice grip pliers. Then, it's a simple matter of grinding a matching blade from an old file and re-inserting it into the original handle. Done right, you'd have to look closely to spot any signs of "tinkering".

As far as Kevin's original question, yes, if you use one edge of a suitably hard chakma exclusively as your fire starter, and the other edge exclusively as a burnisher, it can quite happily live with the "double duty". :D

Sarge
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
some of the "old school" antique chakmas from AC work as they were originally intended. Old files are plentiful ;)
Sarge
Click to expand...

:confused: What's AC?
 
AC = Atlanta Cutlery.

Some time back I purchased one of those carbide scraper style "sharpeners." After I saw what it did to the first knife that I tried it on I retired it as a sharpener. Later, on a whim, I gave it a shot against a flint and nearly set my carpet on fire.

Kind of expensive for a firesteel, but it does work extremely well. With its orange handle, though, it would look pretty foolish sticking out of a scabbard.
 
I used to have an old Cub Scout rod that was used for making sparks with a flint. I wish that I had thought to save it as a substitute for a chakma. That thing could make some sparks, especially when used with a pair of scissors.

Bob
 
I gave each of the chakmaks riding in the scabbards on my workbench (Users Row) a few shots on the flint. All sparked at least a little. A few (all newer ones) sparked about as well as the hard AC chakmaks do. The FF's sparked nicely. The chakmaks forged from round stock (the villagers, and my 22" GR) also sparked well.

The sparking surprised me. All of the chakmaks that I considered too soft and replaced in the past are stored in a drawer. I broke them out and tried them. They still don't spark.

I'd been taking it for granted that the things were overly soft for a while and hadn't tested any on the flint in the last couple of months. I should have. Are they getting harder? Are the round stock chakmaks heat treated differently?

Gentlemen, break out the flints and let me know what happens.
 
I love the knowledge you all bring here.
I get to read the neatest stuff.



munk
 
Bob are you saying scissor metal is good striker material . That would be good as I can find abused pairs for next to nothing at flea markets . What is neat about the all metal ones is the thumb and finger ring handles . I think they would loan themselves to striking well . The ring handle would act like a guard to protect fingers when whipping that striker through the air . What kind of flint is everyone using here ? I,m using a grey flint . I struck it with a wood turning chisel and couldn,t getr a spark . I used an old file and got a few 2 inch sparks . Of course practice makes perfect . I have heard that english black flint is supposed to be the best .
 
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