Firesteel
Encyclopedia
Ember
Embers are the glowing, hot coals made of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material that remain after, or sometimes precede a fire. Embers can glow very hot, sometimes as hot as the fire which created them...
, usually kept in a tinderbox
Tinderbox
A tinderbox is a small container containing flint, firesteel, and tinder , used together to help kindle a fire....
together with flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and tinder
Tinder
Tinder is easily combustible material used to ignite fires by rudimentary methods. A small fire consisting of tinder is then used to ignite kindling. Anything that can be ignited by a match can be considered tinder; or by more rigorous definition, anything that begins to glow under a shower of...
.
Usage
From the Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
onwards, the use of flint and steel was the one of most common method of fire lighting along with the Fire piston
Fire piston
A fire piston, sometimes called a fire syringe, is a device of ancient origin which is used to kindle fire. It uses the principle of the heating of a gas by its rapid compression to ignite a piece of tinder, which is then used to set light to kindling.-Description and use:A fire piston consists...
, prior to the invention of the friction match. More recently the term 'fire striker' has become synonymous with so called 'artificial flints' which are metal rods of varying size composed of ferrocerium
Ferrocerium
Ferrocerium is a man-made metallic material that has the ability to give off a large number of hot sparks at temperatures at when scraped against a rough surface , such as ridged steel...
, an alloy of iron and mischmetal
Mischmetal
Mischmetal is an alloy of rare earth elements in various naturally occurring proportions. It is also called cerium mischmetal, rare earth mischmetal or misch metal. A typical composition includes approximately 50% cerium and 25% lanthanum, with small amounts of neodymium and praseodymium...
(itself an alloy primarily of cerium
Cerium
Cerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a soft, silvery, ductile metal which easily oxidizes in air. Cerium was named after the dwarf planet . Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earth elements, making up about 0.0046% of the Earth's crust by weight...
) that will generate sparks when struck. Iron is added to improve the strength of the rods. Small shavings are torn off the rod with either a supplied metal scraper, a piece of hacksaw blade, or, commonly, the back of a knife ground at a suitable angle. These shavings then ignite at high temperatures, and they are much more effective than their historical equivalent.
Traditionally a flint and steel were used; however, the flint was not the important part. Any hard, non-porous rock that has a sharp edge, or even petrified wood, can be used to create sparks. The spark comes from chipping small pieces of steel off the striker; finely divided metals ignite immediately in air
Pyrophoricity
A pyrophoric substance is a substance that will ignite spontaneously in air. Examples are iron sulfide and many reactive metals including uranium, when powdered or sliced thin. Pyrophoric materials are often water-reactive as well and will ignite when they contact water or humid air...
, with steel burning at yellow-white heat.
Charcloth is usually used as an intermediate step between the striking and the tinder, in order to more easily catch a spark.