View Full Version : Viking Pattern Fire Steel
hillwalker
23-05-2005, 15:48
Hi All,
This is my first post to this wonderful site.
I have just had a Viking firesteel set arrive. First impressions where very good however I cannot get it to spark, have been trying most of this afternoon and have managed to produce exactly 3 sparks.
As I may be the one at fault here and not the Firesteel I thought I would ask for advice before contacting the supplier.
Many Thanks
Hillwalker
Paganwolf
23-05-2005, 17:29
its all in the wrist buddy :D make sure your flint as a sharp edge, you can do this by using your steel by holding it flat and sharply tapping the edge in a downward motion to remove any dull edge it may have then holding your charcloth on the top with your thumb, briskly clip the edge of the flint with the steels striking edge also in a downward motion using the wrist to effect the flick, this method works well its all about practice when the steel is forged sometimes carbon is brought to the surface also this may take a few flicks to remove to reach bear steel, give it a go, but if the steel is not producing good sparks the temper may be incorrect, but i couldnt say with out seeing your steel..hope this helps matey..
Hi Hillwalker
Like many things its much easier to demonstrate than describe, how are you using it?
Best way IMO is to hold the flint in your left hand (assuming right handed) with a small piece of char cloth on top of the flint but underneath your thumb, hold the firesteel in your right hand and bring it down in an arc so that it just scrapes a sharp edge of the flint, it should throw quite a few sparks directly onto the cloth. The angle that you present the edge of the flint to the steel does make a difference but it is not massively critical when youre starting out, a bit of practice should make perfect. Also you dont need to hit the flint hard, imagine youre just trying to shave the edge of the steel.
As for the steel itself it could be too soft (can you scratch the striking edge easily with a file?) or it could be the wrong type of steel, or it could even be oily.
This website has an illustration of how to do it, together with pics of genuine firesteels
Viking steels (http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/fire.htm)
A good steel with a good technique should have the sparks hitting the flooor from a standing position.
PS...I didnt supply the steel in question ;)
hillwalker
23-05-2005, 19:23
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the advice. I have followed your tips to the letter with no improvement, just the odd single spark and a piece of flint that has greatly reduced in Size. I have tried striking the flint with the steel softly, firmly and quite hard with no discernible difference between the results.
In answer to your question Jason01 the edge does seem to mark easily with a file but is not oily.
Will try to post some pictures when I work out how too, until then I will keep practicing.
PS It was bought from a site in Sweden
I routinely use Viking style firesteels for my work (http://www.lore-and-saga.co.uk/html/firelighting_with_flint_and_st .html) and have tried many such steels.
Almost all of the ones I have found for sale are really poor.
There is a blacksmith called Dave Barnes who works at Murton Park (http://www.murtonpark.co.uk/html/contact_us.html) who produces the only traditional steels I can personally recommend. Possibly because he supplies people like me who use these things for a living.
Ps. Have to say I have not tried one of Jason's steels but he certainly seems to know what he is about more than most blacksmiths.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the advice. I have followed your tips to the letter with no improvement, just the odd single spark and a piece of flint that has greatly reduced in Size. I have tried striking the flint with the steel softly, firmly and quite hard with no discernible difference between the results.
In answer to your question Jason01 the edge does seem to mark easily with a file but is not oily.
Will try to post some pictures when I work out how too, until then I will keep practicing.
PS It was bought from a site in Sweden
It does sound like you might have a duff one there mate, it shouldnt be as difficult as you describe. If you have an old file you could try that for comparison, just dont use the tang end which will be soft. Failing that I'd be happy to send you a piece of hardened steel to compare it to, plenty in my scrap bin ;)
hillwalker
24-05-2005, 08:21
Hi All
Jason01 That would be very kind of you, will PM you later today with the necessary details.
maverick
24-05-2005, 18:21
Nice informative site Jason!
do you sell any firesteels like the ones on your site? if so you have a buyer :D
Nice informative site Jason!
do you sell any firesteels like the ones on your site? if so you have a buyer :D
Thanks Maverick :) I'll be putting some more stuff up when I get chance but website design is not my favourite pasttime ;)
I do make steels to order, PM sent,
Best
My firesteel turned up today, I had a quick blast on it and got showers of sparks first time. I can only thank Jason for sending this to me and getting it here so quickly, I think he sent it on Monday, that's not bad to Germany I think you'll agree!!
Also, this is the second one he has sent, but Royal Mail or BFPO have lost the original one, which is a bit of a nuisance. So thanks very much Jason.
I'm off to Canada in the next few days on a military exercise, and this will be going with me. Hopefully, I will get R+R out to the Rockies and use this as my primary fire lighting source. I will review it properly as soon as I get back, and hopefully have some nice photos to put up of the terrain and the firesteel in operation. For now, I'll do a first impressions to whet the appetite.
It was safely packaged in a jiffy bag and the three bits inside were wrapped aswell. The firesteel is good looking, I love the elegant curves, and it came with a small plastic bag full of charcloth and a nice piece of flint to get me started. The missus bought me a leather drawstring pouch in suede for my fire kit, and I love the way it all looks together.
I took a small piece of charcloth and rested it atop the flint, and held it in place with my left thumb. Then I skimmed the flint in a sweeping arc with the firesteel, and the charcloth took the spark straight away! Is this beginners luck? I tried another piece. Sweep, strike, spark, glow. Fantastic!! I reckon my daughter could do this. Hang on, lets try.
Well, she's only four, and she didn't light the charcloth, but she got sparks from it all by herself!! Well done Jo'anne!!
I can just imagine this being used by an actual viking, starting his fire up to get a joint of meat cooked, washed down with copious amounts of mead and debauchery, excellent!! The firesteel is addictive, I'm glad I also made some charcloth, I can't get over the magic of making fire!!
This is priced the same as the woodlore firesteel, but looks much more traditional, if you look at the ones on rays' site, the arms seem to be swept back, whereas Jason has neatly tucked the arms back onto the firesteel. It just looks better, trust me!!
I will be playing with this for the rest of the evening, the missus will be pleased!! Cheers once again Jason, and if anyone is thinking of buying one, you can't go wrong with one of his firesteels. More info when I get back from Canada!!
Cheers
Spamel
rapidboy
25-05-2005, 18:49
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/rapidboy1/414_1473_1.jpg
That's one of Jason's on the left and the Woodlore version on the right.
I had the Woodlore first and thought it pretty good but when i got Jason's i realsied what it all about.
The Woodlore is gone and Jason's is here to stay.
Top steel and a top bloke.
rb
Do you happen to have a website address? I'm after a new one to use during my reenactments as the my current one isn't that good!!
Grez..
maverick
25-05-2005, 19:28
http://www.jasonbhall.freeserve.co.uk/ ;)
Try http://www.jasonbhall.freeserve.co.uk/
I had the Woodlore first and thought it pretty good but when i got Jason's i realsied what it all about.
The Woodlore is gone and Jason's is here to stay.
Top steel and a top bloke.
rb
I am another fan and think that RB pretty much summed it up :)
maverick & Slimey,
Cheers for the link...
Grez..
maverick
25-05-2005, 20:36
OK you all convinced me lol
I just sent payment and look forward to my new toy, oops I mean essential peace of equipment :D
Has anybody thought about using the steel as an ornamental but practical peace of clothing jewellery like a boncho or shawl pin for example?
If you got it flaunt it!!
hillwalker
26-05-2005, 18:21
It does sound like you might have a duff one there mate, it shouldnt be as difficult as you describe. If you have an old file you could try that for comparison, just dont use the tang end which will be soft. Failing that I'd be happy to send you a piece of hardened steel to compare it to, plenty in my scrap bin ;)
Hi All,
Jason01 kindly sent me a piece of scrap hardened steel to compare with the Viking fire steel that I had purchased from Sweden that I was having problems with. Well there is no comparison, I get a shower of sparks every time with jason01's scrap and still next to none from the supposed real thing. Lesson learn't!!!!
I think Jason01 will be getting an order in the near future for one of his designs. If he's scrap is this good carn't wait to see how the real mcoy shapes up
Regards
Hillwalker
Jo'anne got sparks today, not bad for a four year old!! She has a bit of difficulty with the tool which is to be expected with a young 'un, but what she lacks in skill she makes up for in determination. The missus had a go and lit a piece of char cloth in a few seconds, and she doesn't like bushcraft that much!! I had to wrestle it back off of her afterwards though!!!
Thanks for all the positive feedback guys, it makes the forging of em a pleasure and its nice to know theyre being used :D
Spamel, I'm glad your steel arrived in time, just! Have fun in Canada.
Cheers
There is another kind of fire steel the Vikings used in a bronze mount.
I've just made one for my own use but I thought you might like a look.
That's cute... How did you do the bronze?
The side plates started life as a couple of large cast strapends from Russell Scott.
The top part was then filed to fit and drilled through for the animal head terminal before the whole thing was rivetted together.
Oh, I forgot to mention.
The steel is a very old file with the teeth ground away. Heated to bright yellow then quenched in ice water (I can hear the sound of teeth grinding in forges up and down the land) ;)
This actually gives the best performance, spark wise, of any of my steels to date.
Nice job Waylander :D , there was also another type with a steel mounted in wood and I was recently commissioned to make a couple of blades to be incorporated into a leather pouch which should be interesting.
By heating the steel to yellow you are increasing the grain size (good for sparks) and then such an aggresive quench will leave the steel very hard, also good for sparks, unfortunately this isnt possible with all firesteels. You can get away with it with a file and if you just want sparks a file is the best material for it with I suspect mostly similar composition to my favourite Stubbs silver steel but with the more popular forged C shaped steels the decorative arms would be left very fragile. You should get a similar result if you heat the steel to yellow, hold it there for a while to increase the grain size then allow it to cool to just above non magnetic before quenching and luke warm water is fine :)
When making C shaped ones I used to just quench the sparking edge which seemed to work quite well.
Certainly I never broke one and the only person I know that did break one of my steels was useing the arms to knapp a new edge on a flint. :eek: