Oil Flints :

[fleener]

Snapper is hear.

Dave Kanger has been coming to Friendship in June for quite a few years and is doing well.

Fleener

 

[DuncNZ]

Well I washed off the oil on all my flints and they are now out in the sun and breeze drying off . People buy by appearance and If I was still in the Firearms business I would oil the gun shop's flint supply then wash them off because they look and feel much better than the dry grey English flints that I used to stock . Presentation is all .
I recognise a number of MLML names on this forum and it gives me a nice warm feeling to see all these great guys are still above ground and making smoke .

 

[toot]

Years ago , when I was on the old Muzzle Loading Mail List , we had a discussion re oil flints .
Some of us had read where oil flints cost more than ordinary flints .
We had quite a discussion with no real satisfaction .
I put a few hundred flints in a glass jar and covered them with lamp oil . Over time I tried these flints .There was no discernable difference between these and ordinary English flints. . I have read again where the subject purchased a hand full of oil flints . This got me thinking back 20 or so years , so I found the jar of flints I left in oil , they were still black and glossy with no chalky areas . The other flints i purchased at the same time were a lighter grey and made a clinking noise when moved about , a number also had chalk spots . I gave these flints an oil bath and they have regained their glossy black - translucent brown look, lost most of the chalk spots and work perfectly .
I read on a post on this Forum where it was recommended to heat flints in a fire as this made them sparkier and easier to nap . I have never heard of this before , so the questions are , How hot? and for how long ?. I know that boulders of freshly mined flint often have water in them , which runs out when struck . I don't believe I made a mistake in oiling my flints , maybe there is more than one way to spark a flint .

remember that lamp oil is KEROSENE, not an oil as in motor oil!. it is a refinement of crude.

 

[MSW]

i think Necchi got it in one: the tiny bits of steel metal off of the steel when the flint strikes it glow white hot as a result of the friction. These fall into the powder (or onto your tinder), and there you go.

 

[Matheu]

Lamp oil was not kerosene as it is now but whale oil. Flints were shipped in barrels oiled (not filled with oil but preoiled) . They shipped better that way not grinding on one another. Whale oil will evaporate. So if you have ever wondered why you would ship square or rectangular flints in a round barrel instead of a box. Barrels don't are water and oil tight.

 

[J. Paul]

I've got a friend that is a flint knapper, he swears by throwing cherts in campfire before attempting shipping. Claims the difference is like night and day for ease of making a propper flake to shape for arrowheads and knives or flints

 

[Pukka Sahib]

There's a business near me named after the owner; Bumstead. So it's a real-world name, too! I love the cartoon.

Ha, ha. That’s actually my son-in-law’s surname.

 

[Artificer]

Well I washed off the oil on all my flints and they are now out in the sun and breeze drying off . People buy by appearance and If I was still in the Firearms business I would oil the gun shop's flint supply then wash them off because they look and feel much better than the dry grey English flints that I used to stock . Presentation is all .

Presentation and Customer Service, both of which you provided.

Gus

 

[SOLANCO]

Why?

Spence

Because he looks in the fridge often enough that he remembers where they are. Heck, I should put half the stuff I own in the fridge!

 

[deerstalkert]

Because he looks in the fridge often enough that he remembers where they are. Heck, I should put half the stuff I own in the fridge!

that, for me would cure my never ending query to my dear wife! "where is the ......."
i could save a lot of breath .

 

[deerstalkert]

I've got a friend that is a flint knapper, he swears by throwing cherts in campfire before attempting shipping. Claims the difference is like night and day for ease of making a propper flake to shape for arrowheads and knives or flints

i suspect he has a little more technique.
the proper and PC technique was to dig a shallow bowl, about eight inches deep. line it with your large spalls, cover with 4-5 inches of earth and build the fire on top. 5-6 hours at about 450* is the goal. i have turned grainy to glasslike with the process. like tempering steel it realigns the grain structure.
ignorant weren't they?

 

[JBrandon]

Right, let's clarify. I have been knapping for 50 years.
As others have said, the flint shaves bits of steel off for the spark. So you want a hard, sharp flint, like the black British or blonde French, or some US flint/cherts.
Heat treatment changes crystalline structure in the flint. It makes it easier to knap - and more brittle. You Do Not want to heat treat flint for gunflints.
And as Deerstalker just said, heat treating flint is more complicated than tossing it into a campfire. If you do that, you will get cracked and broken flint. To heat treat, you need to raise and lower the temperature slowly, make sure the flint is dry, not heat above about 650 F, and lower for many flints. You can do this buried under a fire, but a modern kiln is easier.
Water/oil - it does fill pores in the flint, and for some flints, seems to make it easier to knap, for instance when it is fresh out of the ground. It will not improve a flint's ability to produce sparks. Oil soak may make flint look darker and hide impurities, it won't 'remove chalk' or change quality.

 

[DuncNZ]

What ever flint you use just don't get caught knapping

 

[DuncNZ]

remember that lamp oil is KEROSENE, not an oil as in motor oil!. it is a refinement of crude.

The lamp oil I used is not kerosene , it has no smell and a smokeless flame and gives a bright light . Kerosene was used in pressure lamps and cookers and is lighter weight than the stuff I have .

 

[deerstalkert]

The lamp oil I used is not kerosene , it has no smell and a smokeless flame and gives a bright light . Kerosene was used in pressure lamps and cookers and is lighter weight than the stuff I have .

lamp oil is generally coal oil. different from kerosene.

 

[Coinneach]

Duplicate post

 

[Coinneach]

NAW, I keep mine in a jar of water and I KNOW to go to the fridge when I need more flints. Actually saves time.

YES they ARE in my fridge...

LD

Probably much more convenient than using Ice in a Gin and Tonic too !

 

[Coinneach]

I suspect that all oil does is make the surface darker and feel smoother ,I do know when I got a shipment from Track some flints were blacker and felt greasy compared to the others . I wonder at heating flints to make them easier to work because that could make them easier to snap . And sharpening ordinary flints is a doddle . The question still remains .Why were old timers willing to pay more for selected oil flints if there is no difference ?.

Back to MLML I dropped out when the format changed and my computer at the time was not fast enough . Now I am on optic fiber it is super fast . There were some really knowledgeable and clever people on that list , Dutch Schultz and Bob Roller, Spence 10 and more . I became a member just when I was getting serious about ML shooting and got some seriously good advice . Which is why I used my MLML name on this forum .
Funny thing ,A while back I was in a Rock Shop in the middle of nowhere In the North Island of New Zealand , and I was talking to the owner about the flint he had for sale . He virtually gave me a lecture on flint knapping and pulled out a photocopy of his source material which was an article on flint knapping by Spence 10 .

Is the article on Flint knapping still available ?

 

[M. De Land]

Right, let's clarify. I have been knapping for 50 years.
As others have said, the flint shaves bits of steel off for the spark. So you want a hard, sharp flint, like the black British or blonde French, or some US flint/cherts.
Heat treatment changes crystalline structure in the flint. It makes it easier to knap - and more brittle. You Do Not want to heat treat flint for gunflints.
And as Deerstalker just said, heat treating flint is more complicated than tossing it into a campfire. If you do that, you will get cracked and broken flint. To heat treat, you need to raise and lower the temperature slowly, make sure the flint is dry, not heat above about 650 F, and lower for many flints. You can do this buried under a fire, but a modern kiln is easier.
Water/oil - it does fill pores in the flint, and for some flints, seems to make it easier to knap, for instance when it is fresh out of the ground. It will not improve a flint's ability to produce sparks. Oil soak may make flint look darker and hide impurities, it won't 'remove chalk' or change quality.

I wonder, have you actually tested heat treated chert against Black English or French Amber gun flints in a lock ?

 

[DuncNZ]

Is the article on Flint knapping still available ?


You would have to ask Spence 10 , that article was in the possession of the rock shop owner . I have gone through my reference library and I have 1 book on Gunflint knapping written in the old days , and 1 book on Indian trade guns which has a large section on gunflints , so I am overloading on gunflints at the moment . The trade gun book also has a section on rust removal and how Museums do it , more on that later .I