Barely any sparks

[rich pierce]

I’d visit an experienced flintlock shooter. Only consider re-hardening the frizzen if you’ve determined that you have a soft frizzen. If it’s soft, the flint will be gouging the frizzen. If you’re not experienced in hardening and tempering steel, it’s not a good idea to try to learn on your flintlock.

 

[dw218192]

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I flipped the flint and tried to position it like @wiscoaster's reference pic. After I knocked all the flakes off the flint, it became a bit blunt and short (~1/8 inch from the frizzen at half-cock), so I'm not sure if I did it right. Good thing is that I can see some sparks now, though sometimes they're very faint.

At least the original positioning of the flint is definitely one of the causes. I'll try with a different flint next.

 

[kyron4]

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I flipped the flint and tried to position it like @wiscoaster's reference pic. After I knocked all the flakes off the flint, it became a bit blunt and short (~1/8 inch from the frizzen at half-cock), so I'm not sure if I did it right. Good thing is that I can see some sparks now, though sometimes they're very faint.

At least the original positioning of the flint is definitely one of the causes. I'll try with a different flint next.

View attachment 338251
View attachment 338253

That's more than enough to set it off. With a new sharp flint you'll be good to go.

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I flipped the flint and tried to position it like @wiscoaster's reference pic. After I knocked all the flakes off the flint, it became a bit blunt and short (~1/8 inch from the frizzen at half-cock), so I'm not sure if I did it right. Good thing is that I can see some sparks now, though sometimes they're very faint.

At least the original positioning of the flint is definitely one of the causes. I'll try with a different flint next.

Most of the time hardly any material needs to be removed to sharpen a flint. I hold my finger under the edge and tap it with the back of a knife if in the gun or set it on a piece of leather and use a sharpened nail to pressure flake a new edge. The ways to do this are many as are the arguments over which way is best/right or wrong.

 

[wiscoaster]

Most of the time hardly any material needs to be removed to sharpen a flint. I hold my finger under the edge and tap it with the back of a knife if in the gun or set it on a piece of leather and use a sharpened nail to pressure flake a new edge. The ways to do this are many as are the arguments over which way is best/right or wrong.

Ya, it's not easy to knap a flint. I occasionally field knap when it's the only way to get shooting again, but I'd rather carry a few extra flints. My problem with tap knapping is almost always breaking off pieces too large. I've never tried pressure flake knapping, but I'm going to give that a try.

Thanks for posting videos.