A taste of what I've been up to lately ep 1

[SAC7602]

Haven't been on here for ages, couldn't even remember my user name!

But then I regularly forget what I went upstairs for these days.

Anyway, I also couldn't work out how to see what I posted last so I just thought I'd post up a few bits and bobs of what i've been doing over the last 18 months or so. I hope you enjoy the first "episode".


I decided some time ago now,actually shortly after getting into Canadian canoeing, that pretty much all the scrapers you get with commercial firesteels/ferrocerrium rods are of limited use,some potentially dangerous and almost all, not very efficient. I didn't like using the back of a knife (A La' Ray Mears)for producing sparks or using the cutting edge for scraping up tinder either, I've seen too many people cut themselves using knives for these tasks, in two cases actually severing tendons in their fingers.

So I set about coming up with an alternative tool for the job, that would be efficient and safe in use and easy to use in cold wet hands.

I soon settled on the best material for the job- spare tool steel machine blades, salvaged from the redundant stores area at work. Just over 1mm thick, 25mm wide and about 100mm long, with square cut edges.

A few false starts and cockups later and I had the scraper I wanted:

"The Tinderblade"



hope you like it.

cheers

Steve

ps: Hmm it appears I registered then didn't post anything! introduction on its way next!

[ian c]

That was a good on how the scraper works, are you going to show how you made the scraper?

[beermaker]

My old man makes similar scrapers from worn out hacksaw blades. He cuts a piece about 2.5 inches long from the end of the blade and then grinds the teeth off and squares it up like Steve said. You can make them with an angle grinder but a bench grinder is safer! Using the ends of a hacksaw blade means you have that little hole ready for a lanyard.

[SAC7602]

That was a good on how the scraper works, are you going to show how you made the scraper?

To be honest, it really couldn't be any simpler. I take a blade, grind off the teeth as required and then shape the tip. I take a piece of seasoned hardwood, cut that roughly to size, slot it to take the blade and then epoxy it to the end of the scraper. After that it's just a matter of shaping and sanding the handle to whatever profile is needed.

The real "trick" if there is one, is simply getting hold of the blade blanks-unlikely to be available unless you or someone you know has links to the paper converting industry, where the blades are used to cut the perforations in toilet paper.


I use a simple belt /disc sander combo for most of my sanding and grinding, nothing special and certainly not professional-pure hobbyist territory.

cheers

Steve

[ian c]

Thank you for that Steve I have a bit of a industrial hacksaw blade at work that I might try.