Fire-starter Hack
Intro: Fire-starter Hack
Roger-X had a fire-starter with a pathetic striker.
These are the improvements...
STEP 1: Blade
The original striker that came with it was pathetic and blunt.
We replaced it with a blade given by a friend. I don't know what tool it came from, but his employers make expensive wooden furniture, and find it cheaper to replace slightly-blunt blades than to sharpen them.
Happily, the blade already had two holes drilled in it, presumably for attaching to the tool.
STEP 2: Safety
Unfortunately, the blade is, well, a blade. Being sharp all the way along, every strike drew blood.
Not a useful feature, but easily solved by adding a whole 5g sachet of Sugru as a safe grip.
That's it.
The whole job took less than five minutes, but the fire-starter is now easily ten times more effective than it was.
25 Comments
Southpaw69 10 years ago
I've found that using the back of your knife blade makes a good striker, and one that is interested enough in preparedness to have a firesteel should have a knife on them anyway.
But, this is workable for a redundant unit. Just make a little cardboard sheath for the striker.
shaggydoo121 10 years ago
Kiteman 10 years ago
PopsWorden 11 years ago
To protect your pockets and fingers, cover the sharp edge with a small piece of duct tape.
jimbru 12 years ago
They have tungsten carbide edges to hold up for prolonged use and the blade is interchangeable as it is quite tricky to sharpen. (it is too hard for normal sharpening tools, most probably needs a diamond sharpener to get any result).
As they are becoming dull you just get a replacement blade and keep working.
Great tip to give it a second life on a fire starter though. It is probably going to work for a loong time before needing replacement.
//Jim
icreatestuff 12 years ago
thnks-i.c.s.
ilpug 12 years ago
panzerfaust379 12 years ago
Va1 13 years ago
I hope you did not loose to many fingers while testing your idea.
EvilMarker 13 years ago
roleytherockstar 13 years ago
I will be adding sugru to mine asap.
Kiteman 13 years ago
roleytherockstar 13 years ago
If you have a spare blob, that would be great. I can't see me using a pack full of the stuff.
Thanks
Kiteman 13 years ago
projectsugru 13 years ago
James
Kiteman 13 years ago
JamesRPatrick 13 years ago
It looks like the blade might be from a wood plane. Any ideas for a sheath to make this pocket-friendly?
Kiteman 13 years ago
eranox 13 years ago
Not to sound like a know-it-all, but maybe I can help solve a mystery. I think the tool you're thinking of is a jointer/planer. The small size of this blade and the furniture-making background leads me to think that this might be a blade for a shoulder planer, which makes tenons on the ends of boards. Tenons are little tongue-shaped doodads at the ends of boards that fit into slots on an adjacent board for a strong, good-looking joint. Think flat rungs on a wooden ladder fitting into the rails of the ladder.
Kiteman 13 years ago