Mr. Flint62smoothie, cant you dry the fungus out in a microwave a little a a time, I dry wood like that sometimes.
1st Experiment with various forms of Tinder Fungus to fire Snap Locks
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TEST #1 underway ...
Recall, this is Birch Polypore and not true Tinder Fiungus or Chaga ...
Cut into 1/4" thick slices with the hard cap removed. The white fleshy part feels like leathery rubber, even cork-like.
They say that when dried & shaved it was take a smolder, but it sure doesn't feel like it. These pieces have been in the full sun, 70s to 80s every day, for almost a week and they surely don't feel 'dry'. But ... HEY ... it 'coals' really well!
Just for kicks and further experimental archaeology purposes ... I'm soaking the 2 smaller pieces in a black powder/water slurry ... then dry it out, to see what happens. The 1st shootin' test goes down on Sunday!
Recall, this is Birch Polypore and not true Tinder Fiungus or Chaga ...
Cut into 1/4" thick slices with the hard cap removed. The white fleshy part feels like leathery rubber, even cork-like.
They say that when dried & shaved it was take a smolder, but it sure doesn't feel like it. These pieces have been in the full sun, 70s to 80s every day, for almost a week and they surely don't feel 'dry'. But ... HEY ... it 'coals' really well!
Just for kicks and further experimental archaeology purposes ... I'm soaking the 2 smaller pieces in a black powder/water slurry ... then dry it out, to see what happens. The 1st shootin' test goes down on Sunday!
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Maybe, and what I do know is that faster drying does ruin the medicinal properties of mushrooms and chaga, but I really wanted to do it the way they would have way back when ... for my test results to be reflect the historical use.
This may be a really dumb question, but would salting the mushrooms help dry them out at all?
yes
Following, Dale. Instructive thread! I hope you will attempt the urine boil at some point just because some of us "gots ta know." 
Pukka Bundook
54 Cal.
Dry them in a sunny window boys. heat spoils them. I mean oven or any such heat.
The ones we get over here can pretty well be used right off the tree...
Flint,
Your slices look very like those depicted in the old prints .
here you see mine...... use nothing else.
The ones we get over here can pretty well be used right off the tree...
Flint,
Your slices look very like those depicted in the old prints .
here you see mine...... use nothing else.
Pukka Bundook
54 Cal.
Bill,
I am waiting for Dale to report back how the boiling stale urine on the stove went!
The results might go viral!
I am waiting for Dale to report back how the boiling stale urine on the stove went!
The results might go viral!
Without any boiled in urine … and I was AMAZED at how hot and full of a ‘red head coal’ head it burned to!
My only concern now is when firing … where do or will the tinder pieces go?
Do they fly around or do they stay in the serpentine? Stay tuned …
My only concern now is when firing … where do or will the tinder pieces go?
Do they fly around or do they stay in the serpentine? Stay tuned …
Back after a short reprieve...speaking of fungus amungus or "various forms of tender"....
I grew up in the primal days of yore on a farm in the deep East Texas piney woods. I remember distinctly what we called "Rich Lighter" which was a throwback to the pioneer days. Rich Lighter is a splinter of sorts from the heartwood of long leaf pine trees. I don't remember fungus used as a tender; however rich lighter was very common as a tender starter for relighting a fireplace or old cook stove or lighting a cigarette or pipe (I was much too young and never took up the habit) I remember in town next to the courthouse at the backgammon/checker table, there were always R/L burning splinters for the smokers. You could buy these pre-packaged rich lighter splinters at the local grocery!
These splinters were typically up to a foot long and 1/4" wide, kept in jars by the dozens with literally hundreds hoarded and kept sealed for years! Once the end of a single splinter was lit...it would stay lit over the length of the splinter for a day or longer and used to relight another fire. The only way to put out a burning splinter was to dunk it in water...to be reused later.
Downed long leaf Pine trees found in the woods after a strong storm could be split open and a multitude of splinters made out of the heart of the pine..which smelled like turpentine. If a neighbors fire went out...he/she would come visit (or visa versa) and borrow a burning splinter and spares to re-start their fireplace in winter. Two small 2" pieces under fireplace logs will do the tender starter job!
Back to the subject at hand...You could save your urine for other uses??
I have no clue if a rich lighter splinter could be used in a restored or a reproduction matchlock ...but a small piece clamped in a cock would put a fragile lit cord out of business; however, how would you hold a burning splinter away from loading the firearm and its prime powder? The splinter would stay very slow lit for its length if kept protected from rain and the matchlock would be shooting ready for hours on end.
I would certainly prefer an incredible Wheelock however!
Something to ponder I guess?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood
Surprise to me...you can still buy rich lighter...but under the name of fat wood:
https://www.amazon.com/Plow-Hearth-Kindling-Fireplaces-Campfires/dp/B0BTMM5GXK?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1RIKTV2AVYNHW&th=1
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Pukka Bundook
54 Cal.
Flint,
Tinder doesn't get blown about like matchcord does.
It stays put if you clamp it half decent.
All the talk we have had on this forum and others over the years about shortage of caps, finding good flints and all, and yet this most reliable and Fast ignition form comes free! and we can never use it all up!
Tinder doesn't get blown about like matchcord does.
It stays put if you clamp it half decent.
All the talk we have had on this forum and others over the years about shortage of caps, finding good flints and all, and yet this most reliable and Fast ignition form comes free! and we can never use it all up!
TEST #1 complete - Fungus or tinder used as an ignition source is FAST!
I'd go so far as to claim that the FASTEST to fire BP arm is not a percussion gun! Reasoning ... whether a snap/tinder lock with a serpentine, or a wheellock with a dog, or a flintlock with a cock, or a percussion lock with a hammer - that all have an 'arm' that rotates upon release of the trigger to initiate the firing mechanism.
As such, the latter 3 above all require some MECHANICAL intervention to create the ignition sequence, i.e., scrape, strike, or hit ... whereas on a snap or tinder lock, the 'fire' drops immediately into the priming powder, so the lock time is essentially the CHEMICAL speed of the black powder explosion/combustion itself.
And here's some other proof perhaps, albeit quite unscientific and anecdotal. When fired in my 1515 snap/tinder lock, where you can't really shoulder the butt (it's too short ... but you can cheek it very well) - all but 1 of almost a dozen shooters most of whom had never fired any black powdah arm - hit an 8" metal gong hung out at 50-yards on their 1st shot! I claim that stunning result is due to the FAST lock-time! What say you?
Now I've had mis-fires from matchlocks due to some char build-up on the head of the cord itself, even if I just blew across it before firing. When burning, one can see the fibers of the cord smoldering, some red, some black with char, or ash like the gray ash on a cigarette butt, yet the entire head of the dried birch fungus I used burned bright red. No ash, no char, it's just like it consumed itself without any unwanted combustion by-product. It also was blown out of the serpentine a couple of times, from the touch hole force, as mine is a 'press fit' jaw where you squeeze/compress the tinder into the jaw.
Other Things I learned ...
* Tinder fungus doesn't need to be nitrated ... as when nitrated like matchcord, it went up in a WHOOSH!
* It may work better (as in easier to light) when charred like charcloth, so that will be the focus of Test #2. Plus I will look for both chaga and tinder (horse foot) fungus on my next outing in the woods.
... not sure I'm going to need to try boiling it in urine like the Vikings did ... although I do think Bill in Oregon really wants me to so that, LOL!
I'd go so far as to claim that the FASTEST to fire BP arm is not a percussion gun! Reasoning ... whether a snap/tinder lock with a serpentine, or a wheellock with a dog, or a flintlock with a cock, or a percussion lock with a hammer - that all have an 'arm' that rotates upon release of the trigger to initiate the firing mechanism.
As such, the latter 3 above all require some MECHANICAL intervention to create the ignition sequence, i.e., scrape, strike, or hit ... whereas on a snap or tinder lock, the 'fire' drops immediately into the priming powder, so the lock time is essentially the CHEMICAL speed of the black powder explosion/combustion itself.
And here's some other proof perhaps, albeit quite unscientific and anecdotal. When fired in my 1515 snap/tinder lock, where you can't really shoulder the butt (it's too short ... but you can cheek it very well) - all but 1 of almost a dozen shooters most of whom had never fired any black powdah arm - hit an 8" metal gong hung out at 50-yards on their 1st shot! I claim that stunning result is due to the FAST lock-time! What say you?
Now I've had mis-fires from matchlocks due to some char build-up on the head of the cord itself, even if I just blew across it before firing. When burning, one can see the fibers of the cord smoldering, some red, some black with char, or ash like the gray ash on a cigarette butt, yet the entire head of the dried birch fungus I used burned bright red. No ash, no char, it's just like it consumed itself without any unwanted combustion by-product. It also was blown out of the serpentine a couple of times, from the touch hole force, as mine is a 'press fit' jaw where you squeeze/compress the tinder into the jaw.
Other Things I learned ...
* Tinder fungus doesn't need to be nitrated ... as when nitrated like matchcord, it went up in a WHOOSH!
* It may work better (as in easier to light) when charred like charcloth, so that will be the focus of Test #2. Plus I will look for both chaga and tinder (horse foot) fungus on my next outing in the woods.
... not sure I'm going to need to try boiling it in urine like the Vikings did ... although I do think Bill in Oregon really wants me to so that, LOL!
Sam squanch
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Well, thanks… now I have to build a snapping fungus lock arquebus now! I won’t soak the tinder in my urine though, it’s almost 80 proof now, so it would flash its way out of existence……
Sam squanch
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You also must realize the gentle spring and action of your tinder lock probably doesn’t jar the gun very much, helping the shooter stay on target. I’ve shot some muskets that you could feel the vibrations through the stock as the cock fell.
In one book I read, the author shared a very early French gunpowder recipe that instructed saltpeter production to use urine from individuals that heavily indulged in fortified wine, so you are basically historical reenacting.
Sam squanch
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Ok, I’ll round up all the winos in the neighborhood, and give them a bucket.
Doing your patriotic duty
How many shots did you get per piece of fungus and what did you do with a lit piece between shots?
1 to 3, I’d remove them using period not correct needle nose pliers between shots.
I wonder if historically, they were treated as a one use item and thrown away between shots. It would resolve how to safely handle it between shots (not that having a lit match chord wrapped on your arm next to a horn and apostles is particularly safe). Michael wrote that those little arquebusier purses had 4 (trying to remember so I may be wrong) pockets and mine could definitely hold a sufficient amount of tinder to go with the bullets. Fingers crossed I can test it soon!
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