Old Nicholson file Strikers

[willis]

I made some strikers out of oldd Nicholson files,the big one is for a home fireplace and the little one fits in the mini Altoids tin that will fit in the watch pocket of a pair of Levi's.They throw good sparks.I made several medium ones that went into Altoids tins or Crossman airgun pellet tins.

[greyhound352]

Great job on those strikers!

It is rewarding making your own gear.

[offtrail]

Nice job! I used the round or rat tail files for my striker...thanks for sharing.

[wsdstan]

Those ought to work well.  I use the real small files and epoxy a 2" piece into a short section of antler.  I like the big one for the fireplace at home, that is a good idea.

[hunter63]

Nice job...made a few my self over the years.

Like the idea of the hole drilled through the soft part of the tang.

Thanks for posting.

[Sarge]

Good stuff!

I've got a few good file pieces left over from file knives. I've kept them to use as strikers but haven't done anything with them yet. I think you just motivated me to do so   

[willis]

The tangs were soft enough to drill a hole and frequently dipping in a glass of water and grinding slow kept the temper from being ruined.One file had a soft section that would not spark so I heated the strikers I mare from it with a mapp gas torch untill a magnet would not stick,then plunged into a can of pre heated mineral oil to quench and they were good to go and threw sparks readily.I tried several types of flint/chert and found the genuine English grey flint from a nodule I bought from Dixie Gun Works to be the best although the tan keokuk chert and white novaculite I got from goknapping.com worked fine.Here is a pic of the different cherts and flint.The keokuk is tan and the dacite is dark grey,the white is novaculite and obsidian is shiny black.The novaculite,dacite,and keokuk were heat treated by vendor for improved knappability.They English flint threw superior sparks and did not chip off when struck like the others and the lighter colored areas worked as well though not as pretty as the translucent grey.

[wolfy]

I've used the largest of the Tom Fuller hand-knapped English musket flints from Track of the Wolf for my flint & steel sets for years. 

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/141/1/FLINT-ENG-10

They have two usable sharp edges that last longer than any other FLINT that I have ever tried.  It's real English flint and shaves hot sparks off of my steels like crazy and lasts through dozens of fires.

WOLFY APPROVED!

[willis]

Rat tail files huh,offtrail.Never thought of that,but looking at my stash of old files I see some to try out.That big musket flint at only 2 bucks is awesome Wolfy,I am going to order a couple,and some smaller ones for the mini kits.The square shape would fit better than the shards I get from a copper bopper i think.

[offtrail]

Here's a pic of the striker I carry in my fire kit. Just heated it enough to bend it, that's it no grinding needed 

[offtrail]

One more thing, i'm lucky enough to live in an area that has flint on the ground. Most flint you can find and pick up in corn fields and washout ditches. We have very few natural outcrops of flint but had plenty of primitive people that traded flint for other goods. It just lays on the ground, mostly chips but the chips work great with the striker...nice sharp edges!