- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Wildertools runs on the premise of recycling, re-using and re-invigorating. I had the opportunity to hang with Rick yesterday at his shop and he was showing me how to get the most from your flint and charcloth. This takes miserly to the extremist level, but it was very cool to see just how 'Low you can go'.
First he started of with a teeny, wheeny knapped piece of flint, you can see him pointing to it on the table and the larger piece of flint it was taken off.
The first trial was just getting that little piece to spark. Here he is holding and working his magic. Sorry for the blurr, not much light down where we were at and I was running the camera in continuous shooting mode.
Notice his hold on the U-shaped striker in the top part of the photo. This was a great tip. By holding the U in the upward configuration, you lessen the chances of hanging up the striker rods during the down strokes. His hold is relatively loose, tight enough to keep the striker from jumping on the strike, but not too tight. Keeping that somewhat loose grip allows more spring on the striking rod and makes the striking surface a bit more 'lively' to provide better sparkes.
Now for his next challenge - getting a piece of charcloth to go. Here he had a single strand, that he sort of bundled up and fit to the flint.
Bang - lit that little baby up!
Too bad I didn't get the smile on Rick's face when he got that thing lit. Of course the first words out of his mouth were 'Ouch'. The little charcloth only glowed for about 3 s so it might not be the kind of thing you can blow into fire but you could transfer that ember to a piece of tinder fungus or charcoal if needed.
Rick also demonstrated catching a spark on true tinder fungus and then had me do it for good measure. I didn't get shots of that but it worked and it was the first time I ever managed to get something other than charcloth to take a strike. He then generously provided me with a big chunk of tinder fungus. Very cool of him!
Rick will be displaying his wares at a custom show in Vegas next week. It was really cool to handle and hold his blades that he'll be displaying. As we all seen, he's been showcasing many of his recent works here on the forum. My quick pictures didn't quite do his 'works of art' justice so I just let you guys check out his other threads. The wharncurve (formerly known as the ...'nana') has a really nice chopper type, forward heavy balance to it. The sheath is something to behold. However, that long knife with the hilt is just fantastic. Great balance on it and the lines on this one, whether looking from the top of the spine to the flats are something to behold. Sheath for this one is a great design that includes a baldric style carry. It is one hell of a blade!
Okay maybe a couple of shots!
Thanks Rick - for letting me hang by your shop again, learning a couple of new tricks and also the beers were great!
First he started of with a teeny, wheeny knapped piece of flint, you can see him pointing to it on the table and the larger piece of flint it was taken off.
The first trial was just getting that little piece to spark. Here he is holding and working his magic. Sorry for the blurr, not much light down where we were at and I was running the camera in continuous shooting mode.
Notice his hold on the U-shaped striker in the top part of the photo. This was a great tip. By holding the U in the upward configuration, you lessen the chances of hanging up the striker rods during the down strokes. His hold is relatively loose, tight enough to keep the striker from jumping on the strike, but not too tight. Keeping that somewhat loose grip allows more spring on the striking rod and makes the striking surface a bit more 'lively' to provide better sparkes.
Now for his next challenge - getting a piece of charcloth to go. Here he had a single strand, that he sort of bundled up and fit to the flint.
Bang - lit that little baby up!
Too bad I didn't get the smile on Rick's face when he got that thing lit. Of course the first words out of his mouth were 'Ouch'. The little charcloth only glowed for about 3 s so it might not be the kind of thing you can blow into fire but you could transfer that ember to a piece of tinder fungus or charcoal if needed.
Rick also demonstrated catching a spark on true tinder fungus and then had me do it for good measure. I didn't get shots of that but it worked and it was the first time I ever managed to get something other than charcloth to take a strike. He then generously provided me with a big chunk of tinder fungus. Very cool of him!
Rick will be displaying his wares at a custom show in Vegas next week. It was really cool to handle and hold his blades that he'll be displaying. As we all seen, he's been showcasing many of his recent works here on the forum. My quick pictures didn't quite do his 'works of art' justice so I just let you guys check out his other threads. The wharncurve (formerly known as the ...'nana') has a really nice chopper type, forward heavy balance to it. The sheath is something to behold. However, that long knife with the hilt is just fantastic. Great balance on it and the lines on this one, whether looking from the top of the spine to the flats are something to behold. Sheath for this one is a great design that includes a baldric style carry. It is one hell of a blade!
Okay maybe a couple of shots!
Thanks Rick - for letting me hang by your shop again, learning a couple of new tricks and also the beers were great!
great stuff guys...:thumbup:
