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Tinder Flash, Fire Piston Update
- Thread starter Normark
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 2, 1999
- Messages
- 666
Eric,
What are the dimensions? Is the acrylic a bored cylinder or a tube with a plug glued into the bottom?
Mike
What are the dimensions? Is the acrylic a bored cylinder or a tube with a plug glued into the bottom?
Mike
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 6,651
Hey Mike...
Thanks for the note....
Glued?? Heck no..We use sugar free Trident gum to plug each and every piston..
Actually the barrel is machined from a solid piece of Acrylic and the bore is polished. The piston is machined from a solid piece of Delrin.Theres not much to break or go wrong...The onlything you may have to replace are the seals, and they are about $0.05 each..The OEM seals should last you quite a long time though.
As far as dimensions go,, not sure, don't have one in front of me,but the picture above is the piston in question...
I assure you it is Not a flimsy, cheaply made piston..
Drop me a note...
ttyle
Eric...
Thanks for the note....
Glued?? Heck no..We use sugar free Trident gum to plug each and every piston..
Actually the barrel is machined from a solid piece of Acrylic and the bore is polished. The piston is machined from a solid piece of Delrin.Theres not much to break or go wrong...The onlything you may have to replace are the seals, and they are about $0.05 each..The OEM seals should last you quite a long time though.
As far as dimensions go,, not sure, don't have one in front of me,but the picture above is the piston in question...
I assure you it is Not a flimsy, cheaply made piston..
Drop me a note...
ttyle
Eric...
I got mine from Eric and it's EXCELLENT! This is more fun than I can stand. Want to really freak people out? Get one of these babies! Mine has so much compression that you can't push the piston all the way down. It just seals tighter than a ... well, let's just say it's really tight.
Fill 'er with some char cloth so that a little bit of the frayed material extends from the piston and give 'er a good thump and BINGO, you have a hot coal! A nice nipple pick used for muzzleloading will help you remove the coal and pop it in your tinder bundle. You may not want to rely on this as your only way to start a fire but you sure will have some fun with it and it should last forever. It's very solid. I imagine you can pick up replacement o rings for it at most auto supply stores or a place that sells hydraulic equuipment.
Now that I know how a real one works, I might be able to get mine working. I just have to get the compression level a little higher. Here's a pic of my homemader. But guys, get one from Eric first and then try making your own. His works! Before Eric began selling these, they were only available at 3 times the money so they are a great deal imo.
Fill 'er with some char cloth so that a little bit of the frayed material extends from the piston and give 'er a good thump and BINGO, you have a hot coal! A nice nipple pick used for muzzleloading will help you remove the coal and pop it in your tinder bundle. You may not want to rely on this as your only way to start a fire but you sure will have some fun with it and it should last forever. It's very solid. I imagine you can pick up replacement o rings for it at most auto supply stores or a place that sells hydraulic equuipment.Now that I know how a real one works, I might be able to get mine working. I just have to get the compression level a little higher. Here's a pic of my homemader. But guys, get one from Eric first and then try making your own. His works! Before Eric began selling these, they were only available at 3 times the money so they are a great deal imo.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2001
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- 175
Nice
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Messages
- 1,385
Has anyone tried any tinder other than charcloth? I'm wondering whether drier lint or 0000 fine steel wool would ignite?
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
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- 1,385
Hoodoo,
Thanks very much for the benefit of your experience.
Thanks very much for the benefit of your experience.
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
Did a search but couldn't find anything ... from the above I sorta get what this thing is, but can someone give me the Idiot's Guide on what it does and how it does it?
Thanks!
Joe
Thanks!
Joe
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 6,651
Hey Joe....
Ok,,basically this is how it works...
There is 2 parts to the fire piston..
The Barrel is a solid chunk of Acrylic that has been Exactly machined to certain tolerences.
The Piston which has a couple of features..
Firstly the the piston has a very close fit..The air seal is created by two O-rings that are machined into the piston..
At the end center of the piston is a little hole..This is where the Char cloth is placed...
The piston is placed into the tube and then it is stuck with the hand hard against something solid..
What you have in effect is a simple dielsel engine...
As the piston travels down the tube it compresses the air that is trapped in the tube. The compressed air creates something like 800-1200 degress of heat Extremely fast..The heat is what ignites the charcloth at the end of the piston..
The piston is then quickly extracted,,and the burning ember is placed onto another piece of char,,placed into a tinder bundle and blown into a flame...
Any type of vegtable oil can be used as a lubricant.I've even used siliva in a pinch..
It works Exceptionally well and is fun to watch..
Very little to go wrong.
The clear acrylic tube allows the user and spectators watching to see the Flash of the Tinder..Hence the name Tinder Flash..
Pretty cool,,fun stuff...
Hope that helps Joe..
ttyle
Eric...
Ok,,basically this is how it works...
There is 2 parts to the fire piston..
The Barrel is a solid chunk of Acrylic that has been Exactly machined to certain tolerences.
The Piston which has a couple of features..
Firstly the the piston has a very close fit..The air seal is created by two O-rings that are machined into the piston..
At the end center of the piston is a little hole..This is where the Char cloth is placed...
The piston is placed into the tube and then it is stuck with the hand hard against something solid..
What you have in effect is a simple dielsel engine...
As the piston travels down the tube it compresses the air that is trapped in the tube. The compressed air creates something like 800-1200 degress of heat Extremely fast..The heat is what ignites the charcloth at the end of the piston..
The piston is then quickly extracted,,and the burning ember is placed onto another piece of char,,placed into a tinder bundle and blown into a flame...
Any type of vegtable oil can be used as a lubricant.I've even used siliva in a pinch..
It works Exceptionally well and is fun to watch..
Very little to go wrong.
The clear acrylic tube allows the user and spectators watching to see the Flash of the Tinder..Hence the name Tinder Flash..
Pretty cool,,fun stuff...
Hope that helps Joe..
ttyle
Eric...
DancesWithKnives, if I really knew what I was doing, my homemade one would be working.
Actually, I think I will eventually get it working. It just takes a lot of time to hone the thing out to the right diameter for the piston. Mine is a little too tight yet.
Joe, here is a nice link that will tell you a little history of the firepiston.
http://www.onagocag.com/piston.html
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
Very interesting! Is charcloth the tinder that works best? Any other tinders work well?
Joe
Joe
- Joined
- Dec 1, 1999
- Messages
- 17
I have used both tinder fungus "POLYPORE" and what they call the True tinder fungus "Innotus Obliqous" and both work well in my firepiston. Just cut a small sliver off from the fungus and place it in the hole the same as you would with charcloth.
Can I make a recomendation to the manufacturer? I am in the plastics industry and I know that acrylic is very brittle.
Polycarbonate would be a much better material for the cylinder. Polycarbonate has more than 30 times the impact strength of acrylic. It is not as clear as acrylic and it will yellow a little with age (and heat) but it is a much more suitable material.
If polycarbonate does not light your fire (yes, that was an attempt at humor) the try some acrysteel. It is a modified acrylic and it's somewhere between standard acrylic and polycarbonate in impact resistance.
Best wishes.
Polycarbonate would be a much better material for the cylinder. Polycarbonate has more than 30 times the impact strength of acrylic. It is not as clear as acrylic and it will yellow a little with age (and heat) but it is a much more suitable material.
If polycarbonate does not light your fire (yes, that was an attempt at humor) the try some acrysteel. It is a modified acrylic and it's somewhere between standard acrylic and polycarbonate in impact resistance.
Best wishes.
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
Interesting note on the materials. I have a question about this. In a firepiston, is it impact resistance or strength that you're more concerned about? Since it's extreme pressure we're guarding against, I'd say strength, but that pressure is formed so quickly, maybe it's more akin to an impact.
Joe
Joe
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 6,651
Hey Joe...
I think he was refering to impact of the acrylic barrel...
I've slammed mine against things, and have yet to chip or actually even Scratch the barrel.....
It's pretty darn tough stuff....
I've sent one to Ron Hood to be Hoodified,,so we'll see what Ron has to say about it...
Hopefully it's Good.. Yikes!
ttyle
Eric...
I think he was refering to impact of the acrylic barrel...
I've slammed mine against things, and have yet to chip or actually even Scratch the barrel.....
It's pretty darn tough stuff....
I've sent one to Ron Hood to be Hoodified,,so we'll see what Ron has to say about it...
Hopefully it's Good..
Yikes! ttyle
Eric...