Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => At the Forge => Topic started by: White Falcon on March 10, 2026, 11:11:54 pm

Title: Looking for the maker.
Post by: White Falcon on March 10, 2026, 11:11:54 pm
They don't sspark with chert. Is there a way to tell if they are made from a file or cold rolled steel? Could they be hardened so I could use them for flint and steel. I got these in a trade. Anyone know the maker?
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: sleek on March 10, 2026, 11:44:11 pm
Could be made from anything but thats a common style to make from railroad spikes.if you run a file across the bag dose it dig in or skate off? That will tell you if its hardened at least.
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: White Falcon on March 11, 2026, 05:48:45 pm
File skates off the knives. They are also magnetic.
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: KHalverson on March 11, 2026, 06:47:35 pm
those knives probably weren't intended to strike flint for sparks..
fire striker knives are a risky business cause everything needs to be very hard and with that hardness also come brittleness
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: White Falcon on March 12, 2026, 11:27:51 am
I was wanting them to be strikers. Is there a way to get them retempered so they will make a spark?
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: JW_Halverson on March 12, 2026, 11:57:33 am
those knives probably weren't intended to strike flint for sparks..
fire striker knives are a risky business cause everything needs to be very hard and with that hardness also come brittleness

Don't I know it! Wone one at a Rendezvous and as soon as I got it back to my campsite I gave it a flick to stick it in a stump and it shattered. *sigh*
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: White Falcon on March 12, 2026, 12:05:18 pm
I know also, dropped my favorite striker and it broke in several pieces.
Title: Re: Looking for the maker.
Post by: KHalverson on March 12, 2026, 05:29:34 pm
I was wanting them to be strikers. Is there a way to get them retempered so they will make a spark?


they don't need retempered.
they need to be annealed ,normalized and reheat treated.
they will be very brittle and prone to breakage.