A new request…
- Thread starter Kev
- Start date
52 Ford
Well-Known Member
I'm FAR from an expert on this. That being said, I doubt it needs to be a particular alloy. Ferro rods are a lot softer than steel. If the client does a lot of striking on the rod, they may need to dress the square edge with a stone, but I consider that no different than having to sharpen the actual cutting edge. Having a slightly less than 90 degree edge, as in a negative cutting geometry (think lathe tooling) would probably help with edge retention, but it shouldn't really matter.
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
Nope, you just need a sharp edge that's strong enough to scrape a shard off of the rod.
I personally don't like to use the knife for two reasons. It makes it ugly. The little hot shards can stick to the blade and make little pock marks. And, more importantly, knives are meant to cut things like flesh and you really can't hold a knife by the handle and put enough pressure on the ferro rod to strike it good. So for a few bucks, you can by a really effective HSS striker that is the berries for striking a ferro rod.
Tie a little piece of shock cord through the hole on the ferro rod with the striker on it like this, and then you just stick it through the ferro rod loop and hook the cord over the end of the ferro rod and it's locked in.
I personally don't like to use the knife for two reasons. It makes it ugly. The little hot shards can stick to the blade and make little pock marks. And, more importantly, knives are meant to cut things like flesh and you really can't hold a knife by the handle and put enough pressure on the ferro rod to strike it good. So for a few bucks, you can by a really effective HSS striker that is the berries for striking a ferro rod.
Tie a little piece of shock cord through the hole on the ferro rod with the striker on it like this, and then you just stick it through the ferro rod loop and hook the cord over the end of the ferro rod and it's locked in.
VeraX Knives
Well-Known Member
above is correct. people who will say oh. use a high carbon knife for survival -- DO NOT UNDERSTAND SURVIVAL 
A ferro rod is mostly Lanthanides and Fe afaik?, It may have changed but will spark off anything hard enough, carbon as some people forget, is literally in everything. According to google ya its. cerium lanthanum and iron in a uhm. According to google...(don't trust it)
A ferro rod is mostly Lanthanides and Fe afaik?, It may have changed but will spark off anything hard enough, carbon as some people forget, is literally in everything. According to google ya its. cerium lanthanum and iron in a uhm. According to google...(don't trust it)
52 Ford
Well-Known Member
I agree wicha.
He said bushcraft knife, so I assume it's a knife that's going to be "rode hard and put up wet". I think leaving the spine of the blade with sharp 90(ish) degree edges for the ferro rod wouldn't be a bad thing. I WOULD break the edges where you might put your thumb, though. Perhaps even round them over. As I mentioned, a slight "negative" geometry to the edge would make it more durable.
Like you said, it will mess up the finish. Edit: Call it character
I have found that ferro rods are quite soft and can be scraped with the edge of my pocket knife with no damage to the edge......also it always amazes me when i watch survival shows and people are chopping away at their ferro rod throwing sparks at their tinder pile.....i always scrape the side of the rod lightly so it doesnt spark till i produce a small pile of shavings.....one good stroke on the rod and those shavings ignite and you have a fire every time.......i make a lot of fire starters using the tips of deer antler for their handles and sell them at knife and gun shows and i use the edge of my pocket knife all the time
Edwardshandmadeknives
Well-Known Member
Can always make the striker so that it folds into the handle of the knife. That could be kinda cool, then you don’t mess up your blade. I’ve never tried a ferro rod for fire starting, but I have started fire with a piece of flint, and a simple carbon steel works best, like 1084. That REALLY will mess up your blade though
no expert here but I've used various methods for fire starting for many years.
Carbon steel knives and flint rock. A soft back/spine blade won't work. It has to bee hardened to throw the spark..
Ferro rods. Using blade edge is reserved for emergencies. A small piece of hacksaw blade with a sharp edge will shave off enough of the rod to start a fire and it'll give a good hot spark. If you must use the blade edge use the area closest to the Riccaso and save the rest of the blade for working.
Personally I carry the old Ontario U.S. pocket knife in my survival emergency kit. I cleaned/sharpened the edge of the awl using it to shave ferro shavings and saving the blade. And if needed the spine of the knife can throw an acceptable spark with a flint.
Carbon steel knives and flint rock. A soft back/spine blade won't work. It has to bee hardened to throw the spark..
Ferro rods. Using blade edge is reserved for emergencies. A small piece of hacksaw blade with a sharp edge will shave off enough of the rod to start a fire and it'll give a good hot spark. If you must use the blade edge use the area closest to the Riccaso and save the rest of the blade for working.
Personally I carry the old Ontario U.S. pocket knife in my survival emergency kit. I cleaned/sharpened the edge of the awl using it to shave ferro shavings and saving the blade. And if needed the spine of the knife can throw an acceptable spark with a flint.
jmforge
Well-Known Member
From what I have read and been told, the reason that you need hardened carbon steel to strike with a flint is that it is the STEEL that is being "shaved" off and sparked, much like when we grind a blade. With a ferro rod, it is the ferro stuff that is flaking off and lighting up.
52 Ford
Well-Known Member
Ferrocerium is significantly softer than steel. Not sure about the flint and steel thing. I don't have one on hand to play with right now and never really payed attention when I used one.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
Just realize that bushcrafters take great pride in beating the snot out of their knives. It's the whole point for many of them- to have a knife that they can go out in the woods with and pretend that saws and hatchets don't exist. I'm not hating on them, they're good customers. They like carbon blades that patina well with 90 degree spines that work great for scraping ferro rods, and COULD be used for striking a flint once it gets old and beat up enough that they forgot what they paid for the knife. They like scandi grinds. They like full tangs because they like to split logs and make cabins with their knives (see sentence #1 and #2.) and they like to dig up pine knots and dig pitch out of trees with their knife.
All joking aside, take a look on YouTube at the knives these guys like. Very basic. Very durable. Carbon steel. Scandi grind. Don't round the spine, don't break the corners on the spine. Spear point. Full tang. Toughness over hardness.
All joking aside, take a look on YouTube at the knives these guys like. Very basic. Very durable. Carbon steel. Scandi grind. Don't round the spine, don't break the corners on the spine. Spear point. Full tang. Toughness over hardness.
52 Ford
Well-Known Member
LOL it's true.
Ill be honest. I beat the heck out of my knives. I'll post a picture of my hunting knife next time I'm in the shop. Talk about patina...
My grandpa bought it new when he was 14.
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VeraX Knives
Well-Known Member
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
Truth.
Here's a rule of the thumb. If it's long enough to reach from one side of the log to the other, it will be batoned through it. Even if there's only a 1/4" of the tip sticking through the other side.
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
No it won't. Not with a piece of flint. And good sparking steels will not if tempered too much.
VeraX Knives
Well-Known Member
Which is why I did not say with a piece of flint, maybe.
Edit: The point I was trying to make is that if you are in a survival scenario, a knife IS NOT going to help you. You got bigger issues than trying to spark a fire with a knife and flint. You have a cell phone that would work much better, etc, but thats ALL POINTLESS without WATA
Edwardshandmadeknives
Well-Known Member
You know, if you try to strike a spark off of your cell phone with a piece of flint, it’s not going to work either and it will really wreck your phone.