What sort of a handle would you put on this

Doc Ruby

Just going down my "lifetime supply of stuff to get" list there, and I remembered the "bunker" firesteel, second largest of the over the counter blanks, this



the question is what sort of a handle to put on it. I found a nice bit of hard bog oak that would look great, but I might end up just drilling a hole under oil or water to prevent burning the house down and putting a lanyard through it. What handle would you use, if any?

the monk5845

why not just put a simple paracord handle on it?

Hibrion

Go with a nice bit of wood. Make a wide handle with a slight depression in the middle to give you good grip in the cold and wet.

You can buy pen blanks online from various places that are perfect for this.

Doc Ruby

Hibrion wrote: »

You can buy pen blanks online from various places that are perfect for this.

Oh very nice, didn't know you could get pen blanks! If I can I'd like to fit the lot into a single piece, like here:



one part the "holster" the other the handle, but cut so it looks like all one piece when closed...

Red Harvest

Sketch out what you want and I'll turn if for you out of a bit of Oak or Teak, anything else you'll have to provide yourself.

Doc Ruby

Red Harvest wrote: »

Sketch out what you want and I'll turn if for you out of a bit of Oak or Teak, anything else you'll have to provide yourself.

Sound! I haven't even got the stick yet though, just kicking around a few ideas.

eth0

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Oh very nice, didn't know you could get pen blanks! If I can I'd like to fit the lot into a single piece, like here:

How did you manage to cut that saw blade?

Doc Ruby

eth0 wrote: »

How did you manage to cut that saw blade?

Eh thats not mine, its just a random image of coolness on the internet, I've seen a lot of them with a hacksaw blade though. There's a load of others actually, this one is interesting:




More from the bushcraft UK pimp my firesteel competition, maybe we could run a boards version someday!









If I can find the right bit of bog oak it would give it a nice Irish feel though... hmm... the one I have is a bit bendy but would probably do the trick.

Red Harvest

eth0 wrote: »

How did you manage to cut that saw blade?

I'd go at it with an angle grinder with a 1mm thickness wheel designed for cutting stainless steel, that will get through most things About 2euro each last time I bought them singley for a 4 1/2inch grinder.

eth0

Red Harvest wrote: »

I'd go at it with an angle grinder with a 1mm thickness wheel designed for cutting stainless steel, that will get through most things About 2euro each last time I bought them singley for a 4 1/2inch grinder.

I never seen one that's only 1mm thick. Its a very neat cut for an angle grinder

Red Harvest

eth0 wrote: »

I never seen one that's only 1mm thick. Its a very neat cut for an angle grinder

If I get a chance I'll give one a go on a hacksaw blade tomorrow, as I'm interested how it works out but can't think of any problems. The thinner discs cannot be used for grinding, only cutting, but create far less friction and heat, I'd always use them on thin materials like Corigated Glavanised Iron. I did hear a rumour that they are also great for cutting the chains on wheel clamps

Sorry OP going OT

Doc Ruby

Red Harvest wrote: »

If I get a chance I'll give one a go on a hacksaw blade tomorrow, as I'm interested how it works out but can't think of any problems. The thinner discs cannot be used for grinding, only cutting, but create far less friction and heat, I'd always use them on thin materials like Corigated Glavanised Iron. I did hear a rumour that they are also great for cutting the chains on wheel clamps

Sorry OP going OT

Not a bother I love this stuff, I have some thin cutting discs for a dremel tool, would that do the job do you reckon or not beefy enough?

eth0

Red Harvest wrote: »

If I get a chance I'll give one a go on a hacksaw blade tomorrow, as I'm interested how it works out but can't think of any problems. The thinner discs cannot be used for grinding, only cutting, but create far less friction and heat, I'd always use them on thin materials like Corigated Glavanised Iron. I did hear a rumour that they are also great for cutting the chains on wheel clamps

Sorry OP going OT

That's good to know, always keep an angle grinder in the car incase I get that sudden urge to go for an angle grinding session.

krissovo

As nice as they all are for some reason I love the clean lines of the metal one. Some aircraft grade aluminium would be nice and light and look very clean.

Red Harvest

No big deal cutting a hacksaw blade.

Picture says it all really. Clamped the blade to the bench then cut with a disc the same as the new one shown, took all of 2 seconds.



Sorry Doc Ruby I don't think your Dremel is going to have the same impact as a 1500Watt 4 1/4 inch angle grinder

But you can also snap thos hacksaw blades just be careful to cover them and wear googles + gloves when you do. If you bend them in half and then crush the middle in a vice it will snap then do the same again with the quarters. Or gripped in a pair of vice/mole grips and bent back and forth holding the other end close to the bend with a pair of pliers.

@eth0 if I ever spot one at a reasonable price I'll buy a rechargable one , 250 for the deWalt one I'd really like

@krissovo, in a shop line up I might be getting the credit card out for the metal one.

Grizzly 45

I must be using pretty bad hacksaw blades then.As I just cut mine with a tin snips and have been doing so for years.

Red Harvest

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

I must be using pretty bad hacksaw blades then.As I just cut mine with a tin snips and have been doing so for years.

Good point, just tried now, yeah very easy, never tried before as I didn't like the idea of using tin snips on something that is hardened.

Red Harvest

Another idea here. How about a holder rather than a handle?
Start off with a block of wood a bit longer than your chunk of Ferrocerium and drill a half inch hole down through the length of it but dont go all the way through at the end. If you can also cut a half inch plug with a plug cutter. Now on a bench saw cut down the block of wood down through the lenght of the hole but not centrally cut to one side. Slide the firesteel into the hole and use a custom cut plug or piece of dowel to plug the end then carve handgrip etc if required. The MS Paint graphic which is supposed to be a cross section might give a better idea of what I'm on about.

Doc Ruby

That's good thinking there, I wonder could some sort of arrangement be reached where you have a bowl or fork to hold your tinder while lighting it with that? Maybe too complicated... Also I was contemplating the possibilities of just attaching the firesteel blank to a backrest and handle so you could use all of the firesteel, and not be left with a stub at the end:

Red Harvest

No reason you can't use an epoxy resin glue to stick a firesteel to anything you want to.

The idea for the holder above came from looking at one of the little magnesium blocks with a firesteel glued in a grove on the side like this one



But the idea of the wooden holder was to hold the big firesteel in the wood rather than glue it on so you could remove it if you wntd too or revolve it to even out wear.