Ferro Rod & Custom Striker

Well i bought one of those " Magic Strikers " from Canadian tire.
I liked it cause it had the nice big 3/8 ferro rod. But i didnt like the Striker, its big & heavy, not needed in my books.
So i made a much smaller & better IMO striker.

I used " Verawood " dowel. Drilled out a slot for a Jigsaw blade.
The Jigsaw blade i used was Bosch, its a high quality steel, very strong.
And i used " Marine Apoxy " to fix it in place, it isn't coming out, no way.
Drilled a hole to put the string through & done Cool

Took me 25 minutes.

This is the Verawood dowel

This is the Bosch jigsaw blade.

Marine Apoxy

This is it all done ready for Fire lighting Twisted Evil

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Great job. Cool

Now hurry! Go light something on fire! Twisted Evil

^ Oh, i did, 3 times already Razz

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I've always wanted to add a nice over sized wood handle. That way, you always have some kind of tinder too! Nice project, it turned out very nice. Cool

_________________
Where the Eagles fly, and the Caribou lie is where I want to be, the Wolf waits there for me.....
-Les Stroud

Thanks Azarcher Cool

It did work out to my liking.
The striker they gave was pretty much a File ? with a big handle. Rolling Eyes

I guess if you have never used one it would be Ok.
But to much Bulk ? for me. A hacksaw blade works really good, but ! breaks easy.
These jigsaw blades are very well made & high qaulity. Your not breaking these things, lol.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

This forum is quite a learning experience. I've been reading about using saw blades as strikers, and I finally got around to trying a hacksaw blade. Wow, what a difference. Now I'm getting sparks like I see Ray Mears getting on tv. Excuse me; I'm off to try a jigsaw blade now.

_________________

"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

	Drummer Dave wrote:
	^ Oh, i did, 3 times already

Good.

I tried a hacksaw blade, but I think the steel was too soft. After 5 or 6 strikes the spine would be dull. Confused

I even ground off the teeth and used that side, but I think I went too far. Only a half inch section of it will work. It has the least ground off of it.

So I put the new striker on it that came with my new Scout Firesteel. It works better than the old one that came with the Army model. Cool

The best sparks I've ever gotten came from the spine of a knife I'm making out of an old file. It is HIGH carbon steel. I ground the teeth off the spine to expose fresh metal, but the teeth on the side are still there giving superior sparks when struck with the spine. Very Happy

I finished on the bench grinder, just need to do the fine work on the belt sander after I get some sanding belts. Cool

Might try to find a jigsaw blade....

Hmm i had a similar experiance. I found the blade to soft and limber.

I would say try a blade from a sawzall if you want to keep using blades.

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Try using the very top of the broken hack saw blade, I just tried it and WOW, throws way better sparks.

_________________
-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

What do you consider the very top?

Break it at that line, and then use the broken edge.

_________________
-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

Okay everyone, put away your saw blades and your good knives. I've tried several strikers using everything metal I could find. Hacksaw blades are an improvement from the stock striker, and jigsaw blades are better yet. But the best that I've tried so far is the humble disposable knife; the type where you break off the blades as they get dull. All parts of it work: the sharp side, the back, and especially the end where you break off the old blade to start a new one. (That is likely similar to the broken end of a hacksaw blade, as S'Kid suggests. Maybe in both cases the break leaves the metal a bit ragged, which helps to produce more spark.). This throws big sparks that burn just a bit longer than others. As you can see, this knife is almost out of blades. I'm going to pick up some more of these knives at the dollar store or hardware store. You can get smaller ones than this, and it would be easy to drill a hole in the handle for a string. They are a bit large compared to other strikers, but the weight is not bad and you can also use it as a light duty knife to make tinder. It's hard to get a still photo using the self timer, but maybe these will give you the idea. Just give it a try; you likely have a couple of these knives around the house.

_________________

"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

Cool, will call you " Sparky " now Laughing

Good stuff Bushrat Cool

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Maybe I should get a Mini-Superknife at the hardware store....

Those snap off blades, large and small, are some of the best unknown cutters you can get.

They go for $0.98 at the local Ace and I pick one up every time I am in there. When I am making up kits for other people or equipping beginners I always include one. Even people that do not like knives (yes there are some) accept them as utility cutters.

Those small ones have a clip for the shirt pocket that works great to hang them from a string around your neck.

Good sparking is an extra benefit.

_________________
SMILE AND WAVE BOYS, SMILE AND WAVE

oh I almost bought one at a hardware store maybe now I will thanks. Very Happy

_________________

X-acto blades are also very good, but they aren't retractable as far as I know.
I also tried the blade from a safety razor. It works well enough that you should keep it in mind in an emergency, but the disposable knife is somewhat better and more practical.

_________________

"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

With the little retractable knives you can resharpen the blades effectively too.

I taught in a detention center for 10 years. You would be amazed at what you can make an operational knife from.

I have seen the blades removed form Bic disposable razors and fused to toothbrush handles. Styrofoam cups melted into daggers. We had to account for everything, up to and including the lids from the tin cans opened in the kitchen. In the school ink pens were traded out, an empty for a new one.

In my mini-kits I include a 2" section of hacksaw blade. I leave the teeth on and sharpen 1" of the back. I use the end sections with the hole present. I wrap the unsharpened section with artificial sniew. You have a striker, a saw, a knife blade and about 10' of sinew to secure it into a handle.

You could use the jugsaw blades or sawsall blades to the same effect.

_________________
SMILE AND WAVE BOYS, SMILE AND WAVE

Hmm interesting. Thats a new one Bush, it makes sense that they work well. Those box cutters are really cheap too. Like LDS said 98 cents, same thing here pretty much.

I'll try it out next time i'm out.

Thanks Smile

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Haha, thats awesome dave. I use the same ferro rod actually, just cut down some(it was too bulky). Its the best one I can find localy, and I think I paid $14 for it, not bad as I got some fat wood and a File with it. I dont use a striker for my ferro rods, just the spine of what ever knife I have, but that one you made would make me change my mind! Laughing

But the ferro rods the sell work really well, I am surprised. Much better than the swedish arm model I had, that just wore away and broke from the handle. those thing dont take much of a beating in -40*C, you would think they would coming from the sweds though eh? Laughing

_________________
SAR Tech's:
These things we do so that others may live.

Last edited by Fonly on Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:54 pm; edited 3 times in total