fire piston video

[sledgemeister]

Ok you guys have pegged my intrest just watched all the vids and I want to make one. In the end of the piston is there a metal cup or is it just wood and if so what stops the piston from burning/wearing out?

 

[Russianblood]

I just ordered one too. :thumbsup: Can't have too many ways to make FIRE. :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

No metal cup that I have seen. Just wood. You drill a hole in the end deep enough so that you can put a piece of tinder fungus, or charred cloth, as in the video here, in the cup before inserting the shart into the cylinder. Yes, you can burn the end out. Keep the end oiled to protect the wood, and to help seal the shoft to help build pressure. that grease will help keep the wood from burning. Mostly, you remove the little bit of burning tinder from the shaft fairly quickly and get it into more tinder so you can blow the small ember into that fire you want. Its the people who want to have a funny looking cigarette lighter and leave the tinder in the shaft to use like a match who burn up their shafts fairly quickly. Wonder why? don't use the fire piston improperly. If you are trying to impress friends with your " friction fire device" , or Primitive lighter, they will be equally impressed if you light a small square of charred cloth with the ember and then light your cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Been there, done that.

 

[Old Ironsights]

I have one of charcoal Dymondwood made by Jeff Wagner of[url] www.firepistons.com[/url]

His are very expensive, with the "The semi-finished model" going for $50.

True, but he also does interesting thinks like Horn, Dymondwood, Cocobolo etc - and the finish work is very nice.

OTOH, had I known about the Ebay version, I probably would have bought it first - but I've had my Firepistons Firepiston for a good bit now.

 

[NORD]

That is really cool! Never seen that before! Amazing what you learn on this forum!

Thank you for sharing!

 

[sledgemeister]

Thanks for the info paul.

 

Interesting. I bet I could build one on my hobby lathe. What is the piston diameter and length?

 

[paulvallandigham]

YOu will have to have a good, new, reamer to make the sides smooth enough to create the needed compression. A drill bit will not be enough. The stem, or piston, is about 2 1/2 long on mine. The casing is longer- 3 inches, not including the handle or knob on the top. One end of the stem is seated in a handle, and the shaft is about 5/64th inch. The whole drilled in the bottom end of the shaft to hold tinder is 3/16"and is drilled about 1/4 " deep. I have seen more primitive ones made of wood, and horn, that are longer, and larger in diameter. Mine is only 5/8" in diameter, making it hard to grasp in my large hand. The wooden ones have more clearance between the sides of the shaft and the hole, but they wrap string or cord around the front end, using a groove in the shaft about an inche back from the end, and grease the cord to create the compression. Since I do not have one of those I cannot tell you how well they work. I would think based on this one, that it would be easier to raise the air temperature to the flashpoint of the tinder if the shaft and tool were longer, giving a longer column of air to compress. I think 5-6 inches for the outer casing would give most hands the clearance so you don't get pinched slamming this down, and if you made yours 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter, you will get a better purchase. I would stay with the same small diameter of the shaft, because the wider that hole is, the more air it has to heat up. You are starting a glowing ember, not the Chicago Fire!

 

[NORD]

I think I am going to go to the hardware store and look for a brass or stainless pipe that is already highly polished...worth a try...if it doesn't work I am going to order me one from the link...good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[Old Ironsights]

Just for grins & comparison I ordered the Ebay one from Emil on the 15th.

Got it today. Emil sent a boatload of extras with his unit. Definately a "working" unit with much less polished appearance than my Dymondwood unit.

HOWEVER, at $25 it will certainly go more places than my dymondwood one will.

Notable differences:

The[url] Firepistons.com[/url] dymondwood piston has no metal parts. That means the maker is using very pricice boring & polishing tools to get the cylinder walls smooth & true. This = $$$.

Also, the tinder cup is cut into the piston, with the seal on the piston being an external shaft winding. Emil's ebay version uses an end-nailed rubber plug to act as both seal and cup. This will probably have a shorter use life than the piston-cut version but he supplied extras. My concern will be with the durability of the nailing arrangement.

The Firepistons version has a hollow in the piston cap to store/carry tinder, and is externally wound in paracord. It came with a small baggy of char cloth & tinder fungus.

Emil's came with a huge baggy of cedar tinder, cup-o'-grease, "cleaning rod", extra rubber piston-cups & nails, char and a tinder box.

Operation is about the same.

Emil's Ebay fire piston is definately a better "deal" for someone wanting to bang about.

 

[tom hargrove]

i have started numerous fires and demonstrated my firepiston many times that came from emil,and have not had to replace anything the nail is intact the washer is as good as the day i got so i think you are worrying, about nothing .by the way would you start an ember with emils piston then one with the diamond wood and tell us if the more expensive one is any hotter. :winking: :bull: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Stony]

There is only one thing wrong with the fire piston. Although I am sure it may go back before the iron age, it is not correct for 18th, or even 19th century America. As well as they may work, as far as period correct, you might as well use a Bic. Like I do, when nobody is looking.

While doing a Google search about fire pistons, I found an article outlining the history of fire pistons. Seems they were in wide spread use in China and other parts of asia. In Europe, they were about to go into mass production when the first practical wooden match was introduced. Another Google search about wooden matches gave 1827 as the date when a "safety" style wooden match was first made. This match required sand paper to light. The first strike anywhere match was first made in 1831 but the compound used tended to poison match makers, gave them a form of lock jaw. It also poisoned anyone who stuck the matchheads in their mouth. It wasn't until 1845 that a safe compound was invented. The fire piston article mentioned that the first pistons were used in England about 10 years before the matches were introduced. So it is possible while not probable that around 1819 - 1820 someone could have come over from England to America and brought a fire piston with him to the frontier. So if you're at a pre-1840 rendezvous, you could get away with using a fire piston or wooden "safety" matches that require a striking surface. You would probably have to glue the striking surface to something wooden as I don't believe the cardboard boxes were in use. In 1807 a patent was given for a fire piston. It's possible.

 

[Old Ironsights]

i have started numerous fires and demonstrated my firepiston many times that came from emil,and have not had to replace anything the nail is intact the washer is as good as the day i got so i think you are worrying, about nothing .by the way would you start an ember with emils piston then one with the diamond wood and tell us if the more expensive one is any hotter. :winking: :bull: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Good to know. Thanks.

So far, the most different/annoying thing about Emils's version is keeping the char on the piston. The Dymondwood one holdt the char/tinderfungus much better. I've never had to dig embers/residue out of it like I have Emil's.

However, I supose it's more of a learning curve thing.

As to heat/compression. Well, With dymondwood I HAVE had this little problem of the char turning into a hard, clear, shiny substance that my wife wants to make earrings out of... :winking: :blah:

 

[tom hargrove]

thank you sir: i stand corrected :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: