Because I fell in a creek......

[garypl]

Dave - that is beautiful workmanship! Are you self-taught in engraving or did you take lessons from someone? I would love to learn how to do basic engraving.
Gary

 

[TScottW99]

Absolutely beautiful work! Beats my pill bottle with a sandwich bag to hold my kit.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Absolutely beautiful work! Beats my pill bottle with a sandwich bag to hold my kit.

Do you do this engraving by hand or with a chasing hammer?

 

[Rifleman1776]

ten year old thread, still interesting and informative

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Ah, Dave, my friend! You always add beauty to every-day items, one of the attributes I really like about you.
My brass "reload" tubes are doing well, though I had to mark one end as "top". Got the wrong end more than once! And the little brass oiler is used for every cleaning. The right amount of the right lube in the right place - always!
I'll be in touch with you soon, I hope. Probably on the other forum.

 

[davec2]

GaryPL and Tom A Hawk,
I use a hammer, a 35 year old Gravermeister, and push by hand....whatever it best for any particular task. I studied engraving on my own for several years but then took 10 days of lessons from one of the great masters, Jerry Huddleston. Jerry has since passed away but I learned more from him in 10 days than I had taught myself in 20 years of dabbling.

Craig,
Sorry....I should have pointed out that I always stamp my makers mark on the bottom part of the chargers. But I'm glad all the items have been working out for you.

Best to all,

David

 

[toot]

Someone asked if i had better pictures of this fire kit (without "PHOTOBUCKET" printed across them. I didn't know how to just update the pictures so this is a re-post of the original with the better pictures...

Long story, but sometime back, and in the winter, I was out hiking late in the day with some folks not too accustom to being in the out-of-doors. Long about sundown, I was going to impress them with my flint & steel fire making ability. Crossing a small creek to get to a great spot, I stepped on a loose stone and went head first into the drink. Had to pour the water out of my Ted Cash brass tinder box. Everything was sopping wet and it was now dark. Luckily, one of the "city slickers" had a BIC lighter. Very embarrassing situation.

So, not to be caught in that situation again, I made this little brass, waterproof, fire kit.







It holds a couple of strands of charred cotton rope and a few double ended sulfur spunks. The brass can, with a waxed leather washer, keeps everything dry (even if your dumb enough to fall in a creek). To use, I pinch off a piece of the charred rope and it catches a spark from flint and steel very quickly. Even easier, if the flint rifle or pistol is unloaded, is to put the piece of charred rope in the pan, close the frizzen and snap the lock. Either way, I drop the lit char into the cap of the can and touch one end of a spunk to it. One or two quick puffs of air and the spunk takes light.

The charred rope was also made over an open fire without the use of the usual tin or can with a hole in it.







Well.....might be a waste of time, but I sort of like the look of it..and making even useless things keeps me out of trouble.

how did you char it over an open fire without a tin, keeping it from burning it up?

 

[Skeggs]

Rifleman,

Sulfur spunks are indeed a primitive match. They have been around since the sixth century and are easy to make. Any sort of a wood splint will do, but I use fat wood and split it with a knife into thin sticks about 2 inches long. Powdered sulfur can easily be purchased all sorts of places and melts easily in any throw away metal container like a soda can or the like. Just a teaspoon of sulfur will be more than enough to make a lot of spunks. Melt the sulfur and dip the end of the splints in it. It will harden quickly and then I do the other end to get two usable ends on one splint.

Just dip them once. I dipped each end twice the first time I made them and, if you get too much sulfur, they will drip burning sulfur before the splint takes light. More sulfur doesn't make the spunk light any quicker.

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube on making them. As usual, some are good and some, well, not so much. If you want to light a pipe or a candle with flint and steel, these are much easier than lighting tinder and transferring the flame.

An old lady walks into a country store one day, returning a box of newfangled self lighting matches.
"These ain't no good. They won't light"
The proprietor takes one, raises up one leg a bit, and pulls it across his britches bottom.
The match cracks to life with a big flame.
"You gotta strike them just so" he told her.
The old woman exclaims "Well, if you think I'm gonna come down here and rub a match across your ass every time I need a light, you've got another thing coming!"
Sorry, but this story sparked a memory....