[meteorite-list] Small iron for fire making needed

From: MexicoDoug_at_aol.com <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jun 19 17:19:00 2006
Message-ID: <308.63bed6e.31c86ebc_at_aol.com>

Ed wrote:

<<What type of irons would be good for fire-starting? Any ideas? Small
sized ones should be adequate (only large enough to hold between your left thumb
and forefinger, along with some dried plant strands or a piece of
char-cloth.) From what I've seen, I think that slices should also be acceptable - but
they have to be large enough to hold, and thick enough to stand glacing
blow-scraping.>>
 
Hola Ed, You probably know some of this but let me run some ideas by you on
how meteorites might fit into making a medieval BIC lighter (but it won't
cost $1.49). You want the closest thing to hardened steel you can get which,
upon striking against a stone has the potential to release tiny specs of
frictionally lit and burning ( byproduct=magnetite:-(ughh )With that in mind you
probably want to consider the higher carbon meteorites. Unfortunately you want
carbon steel, but meteorites are a little lame in this department.
Reasonable ones are normally in the 0.2% Carbon content range. And on top of that,
not all meteorites are created and weather equal. Some of those like Campos
that have been weathered can exhibit breakdown of cohenite into graphite (yes,
you can actually write with Campo graphite almost like a pencil). That is
needless to say a soft form of carbon. You are looking - I think - for
something that has conserved its iron carbide (cohenite) content, probably that
meteorite cutters complain that causes them to run through too many saw blades
because of the high cohenite content(some other very hard minerals like
schreibersite may or may not be beneficial, I would be wary of having too much of
them). This can be on a case by case basis when cutting samples. There was
actually some guy on eBay you might dig up, a while back cutting curved
shapes like the "S" in Stuperman out of pallasites (I don't approve of this waste
of good material and expressed my opinion, but that doesn't stop anyone, but
your limited ritual piece sounds pretty interesting). I think a miniature
flattened S shape would be just what the Vikings ordered maybe with a
rectangular end representing Thor's hammer for good luck since it is by his grace
that you get some of the lightening stone. Also you might have better luck by
soaking repeatedly and drying your charcloth in extra yellow urine as was a
Viking custom to make it better (a source of the sodium nitrate residue,
similar to saltpeter in gunpowder). Sure slices ought to work, especially those
cut to thin or beveled edges due to the shallow strike angle you will want to
use.
 
Finally, not having the time or expertise to interpret and go through the
carbon and cohenite contents of all the irons, I would suggest you start with
Canyon Diablo which is relatively plentiful and where cohenite (basically an
extra-terrestrial or impact mineral) was identified by iconic meteorite
collector Harvey Nininger. I am sure it was known by North American Indians and
used for something, which relates to you I think as you mentioned Canada better
than some other examples we could come up with). The meteorite is an older
one (fell 50 tya) but it may have somewhat "smelted" upon the heat of its
impact where even trace quantities of diamonds have been detected (Diamond being
another form of carbon quite hard, but not in the steel as you prefer).
 
The lower efficiency of using iron meteorites as a source of firesteel in
olden times probably was solved by medieval alchemists, especially
Germanic/Norse ones who really needed fire to survive and florish, by working the metal
over coals where the carbon was combined into the hardening process as a form
of the art. Also, you can check out Damascus steel, which is the process
revived today since the first millenium knowledge of the Vikings and Crusaders
(and befor that the middle-east), that does exactly this hardenning in
addition of carbon up to 2% (above which properties start to change again and it is
no longer as desirable for forging swords and blades).
 
Hope you find this useful, Good luck!
Saludos, Doug
Received on Mon 19 Jun 2006 05:18:52 PM PDT