# Survival > Primitive Skills & Technology >  Show us your Home made fire pistons

## Erratus Animus

I know there are some resourceful ppl on this site so show us your Home made Fire Pistons.

I did not craft the one on the right however I did redrill it and replaced the broken wood shaft. Once redrilled I place the same brass tube and cap into it like the one on the right. 

The one on the right I made complete with a cherry wood outside. Neither of these ever fail to light now with my char cloth. extra gaskets are carried on the shaft and seal the tubes from dirt when not used.
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I have shown you mine so show me yours  :Innocent:

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## crashdive123

No fire pistons in my kit.

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## welderguy

Ive never tried a fire piston, wouldn't mind researching and trying one after i get friction fire down.

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## Erratus Animus

> No fire pistons in my kit.


Any reason why?

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## Swamprat1958

Your fire piston looks good, I have seen several on-line but have never tried one.  I will have to get over to the other side of the river and look yours over.

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## Erratus Animus

We need to find a time we both have some and I will get some supplies and you can make one quick. No need to buy expensive pistons that may or may not work every time - I say that because I have bought them! Brass tube with end caps, Flare the mouth of the tube with a flaring tool, T 6160 harden Aluminum shaft with groove cut with a file, and finally an o ring. Thats it!

I put a wood outside on the one in the pic but a fancy paracord wrap would work too.

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## Swamprat1958

I think I would rather have the wood covering mine.  Have you ever tried to make one out of wood?

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## Erratus Animus

I have and you MUST have a dense dense wood or seal and polish inside some how. That is why you see cocobolo and buffalo horn from fire pistons. Also I have a scar on my hand where the wood shaft on the buffalo horn piston snapped and when in my hand. this happened in the winter time so I think that might have been an issue , however I have never used a wood one since. Plus they are a pain to wrap.

The reason the piston in the cherry wood does not have a cap is because you can hammer it on anything to get a great deal of heat with one shot.  

I know for certain that gross movements are all you will have if you are for certain hypothemic and I look at that in my choice of personal fire kit. Blast match, fire piston, fat wood , char cloth and wet fire. Cant go wrong unless you didnt bring them along

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## crashdive123

> Any reason why?


No particular reason.  Just something that hasn't made it to my to-do list yet.

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## your_comforting_company

so much to learn, so little time...

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## Rick

You did a great job on them. Very nice. I've always stayed away from them because I prefer the KISS principle I guess. The gaskets always seemed like a fail point to me. I have no practical experience with them so my concerns may be unfounded but that's my view of them. 

That doesn't in any way diminish the fine job you did on those, however.

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## Erratus Animus

I had the same problem with the ones I bought, that is one reason I went to th rubber o-ring. There is a spare on each shat and a few more in my fire kit. I think I like them so much because I made them and so many others have failed at making them, however I don't use them as much as flint and steel or the blast match.

The odd thing is as I think about it I rarely use a lighter because its harder to get a stable fire going than with charcloth. Now how backwards is that lol! :Smash:

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## hunter63

Very nice work, thanks for posting.

I have seen them for sale at anywhere between $40 to $150 bucks, depending on materials.

I have tried to make one at one point, using wood only. 
Gaskets were sinew, the rubber, inside polished, and sealed.

I fooled with it for a time, failed miserably and just sorta lost interest.
I hate to give up on a project or skill set, but life is too short to beat myself up, for no reason, life does that pretty regular.

My reasoning is:
This is an object that has to be made/purchased. "OMG, I for to bring my" .......or "OMG I broke m"".......

Has need of spare parts, and possible breakage, (as you found out).

Large size, compared to matches, Bic, Zippo, Ferro rod, flint(rock)/steel, burning glass or parabolic mirror, wallet size magnifier.

I'm sure that a fire piston isn't the only method of fire-starting you use.......I (and I'm sure most of us ) like redundancy.

Has a "cool factor", agreed, but not cool enough for me to invest money or any more time in. (well, maybe I'll try the copper pipe....LOL)

My main goal is to make fire with "found materials" so mainly working on friction.
Materials, methods, tinder etc.

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## SARKY

There is a good reason I don't have one in my kit. first a good firesteel is pretty indestruckable and second a bow and drill is easier to make/repair in the feild.

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## Batch

That pretty much summed it up for me. I think they are cool. But, I can't justify carrying one when I have a lighter, ferro rod, and pretty decent fire drill skills.

A lighter takes less space and doesn't require char cloth to start a fire. 

Still a cool thing to show off at camp. But, IMHO not a survival tool.

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## Erratus Animus

> Still a cool thing to show off at camp. But, IMHO not a survival tool.




A survival tools is "any" tool that allows one to continue to exist. They are not new nor gimmicks, only to the Americas are thay kinda new and that is because we as a ppl have forgotten the "primitive ways " because we have new stuff. I would wager that more ppl would go without a fire if they had to make and use a bow drill. Hard enough in a controlled setting to make work much less in dire need. lots of burnt calories.

Wind kills the fragile flame of matches and lighters but strengthens the ember.

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## your_comforting_company

What are some things you've used as the ember? I understand Tinder fungus works really well.
Do you think one could be fashioned out of ALL natural materials? i.e. no rubber o-rings, no brass or copper inserts... This is the main reason I have not made one yet.

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## Erratus Animus

I suppose you could since it has been around since the middle 1700" in roman and the same in the Asian and Pacific islands. you are just compressing the air at a fast rate and this creates heat up to and above 800*

I read that the natives of Asia used cane for their tubes, wood for the shaft and the string for their gaskets, lubed with dog fat lol. It would be easier to construct a bow drill than to build a fire piston, however if I HAD to build either to start a fire that would be poor planning on my behalf to begin with. Primitive living skills are not emergency survival skills that ppl should rely on after reading a book or going camping.

As for embers I use char-cloth. You can pre-soak your cotton in saltpeter then make the cloth for a cloth that will ignite even better than the reg cloth does. Cattail seeds and the one I bought a few years ago came with tinder fungus which worked very well.

I am currently looking for more sources in my area experimenting with fungus.

Its just a tool that I am adept at using because I trained with it and for where I live 98% humidity and a good deal of rain I wager the bow drill operator will be wishing he had another means to try and start a fire with.

Preparation for survival is not preparation to survival  outside your geographical area but rather the conditions that exist yearly where you exist. This is why we all have different tools in our BoB's and what seems trivial to one is treasure to another.

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## Pict

I was just sent a simple fire piston as a gift.  It was made by EB Primitives and sells on eBay for about $20.

It uses little rubber discs screwed onto the piston as a gasket.  I have made many coals with it so far.  There are easier ways to light fire for sure but this thing is pretty neat.

I like it for it's historical value.  Apparently they were all set to be the rage when the wooden match was invented.  The fire piston fell by the wayside after that.

They produce a tiny little coal, but plenty to start a bigger coal going in short order.  I have found it is just as easy to start the little coal going and then just use it on the end of the plunger to start another larger piece of charcloth burning in the center of my tinder bundle. You don't transfer the coal, just the heat.

I doubt you could make one in the bush, at least not in a hurry.

Mac

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## Batch

> A survival tools is "any" tool that allows one to continue to exist. They are not new nor gimmicks, only to the Americas are thay kinda new and that is because we as a ppl have forgotten the "primitive ways " because we have new stuff. I would wager that more ppl would go without a fire if they had to make and use a bow drill. Hard enough in a controlled setting to make work much less in dire need. lots of burnt calories.
> 
> Wind kills the fragile flame of matches and lighters but strengthens the ember.


If you grabbed me on a normal day and drop me with just what I carry on my person I will have fire. If you strip me of my every possession and stuck me in the wilds. I would be able to make cordage and acquire the rest of my bow drill with out the need for other tools. I would think it is a lot easier than making a fire piston. 

But, that is what I meant and I did not mean to detract from your post. I just gave my opinion.  :Smile:

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## Erratus Animus

> I would think it is a lot easier than making a fire piston.


 I can agree with that. It is a last resort, but it is a method.

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## Glockster

I got this fire piston from my Grand Father before he
passed away. 
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He got this while in the Philippines during
WWII. My Grand Father was a medic and he
saved a boy that had his jaw blown off by parachute dropped bomb. 
My grand father saved the boys life and the
father was so grateful (the boy was eating months later) that he asked my 
Grand Father if there was anyway he could repay him. My Grand
Father had seen a fire piston used by one of the
villagers and asked the Father if he could find one.
The Father found and gave him two, my Grand Father gave one to a
solider buddy that saved his life over there. My Grand
Father gave me the other one before he passed away. It came with the
fungus n fiber tender and a hand woven pouch to hold it in. The fire piston 
also has a hollowed out area for holding a supply of the
tender. The fire pistons handle has a hole on the "knob" end for storing the 
fat/oil for lubing up the treaded piston seal. It works every time I try it. 
I thought I remembered hearing it was carved from a tusk? 
Very hard not wood for sure...
I made my own for a copper "stub out" (Lowe's or Home Depot) about 1/2 inch ID 
(look like a 50 cal FMJ on one end and open on the other end) and a 1/2 inch OD 
dowel with a o-ring grove that was sealed with paint as the wood was allowing air 
to slip by the pistons compression. I used a knob on the end for comfort while 
shoving in the piston. Works every time as well... I use home made char cord 
and cloth in it.This is my first post! Love the knowledge you guys share on here!
I'll try to make it over to the intros page soon.
Glockster

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## letslearntogether47

Glockster,
That is an awesome story and a beautiful fire piston.
Thanks for sharing.

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## Erratus Animus

very kool indeed ! ty for sharing that. Did he ever work it for you?

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## rwc1969

I don't have a pic, but made one from a mag-lite, it looks like a mini mag-lite. LOL! There's a tut for it on YouTube.

I can't get it to work!

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## Glockster

Hey Guys!

rwc1969: Did you put Teflon tape on the end cap treads that normally leak? and add JB weld to fill up the void? I hear shoving aluminum foil into it works to fill the void too. I made one from a Harbor Freight LED flash light that worked great! 

Erratus Animus: Yes he did show me how to get it to work, It was like magic to me when I was young. Grampa even used it to lite his cigarettes a few times in front of me. BTW I'm a fan of your posts!

Sorry about the size of the picture! I'll resize it on my end...

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## Erratus Animus

Welcome aboard Glockster and ty for the kind words. Many ppl here are much better than me ,but I do try. If you have a question just ask them and I am sure they will help you the best they can.

Take good care of that piston as with the story you told with it I would say it is priceless! thanks for sharing. :Thumbup1:

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## rebel

Great story Glockster!

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## Batch

Yeah, that's a good story to tell around a camp fire and something to light it with as well. Thanks for sharing and welcome on board Glockster!

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## Glockster

Maybe I could add in some gory details to scary up the story a bit LOL

Glad you liked it Rebel

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## rwc1969

> Hey Guys!
> 
> rwc1969: Did you put Teflon tape on the end cap treads that normally leak? and add JB weld to fill up the void? I hear shoving aluminum foil into it works to fill the void too. I made one from a Harbor Freight LED flash light that worked great! ...


Yes I did, thanks for asking. I even stuck it under water to check for air bubbles. She's air tight!

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## Glockster

rwc1969: If the cylinder is airtight then I would next suspect the piston seal design. Does it push back against your hand after pressing it in? If not then your not getting a good seal. If the seal is good with a popping during pull out and pushing back during push in then I would suspect the char cloth. I gauge mine by tugging on the cotton fibers, if it crumbles in my fingers I over cooked it, if it does not pull apart easy or still has a hint of brown (= not black) I UNDER cooked it. it should hold together in between your finger and thumb as you roll it into a small loose ball for inserting into the void at the tip of the plunger. Once you get the right char cloth made write down the temp and length of cook time.  I use the Altoids tins with a small nail hole that I plug about a minute after it stops smoking. The char cloth works every time now! 
BTW I tore apart my GF's cheap Swiffer mop for it's thin hollow aluminum tube shaft then added a slice about 1/3 around it with a thick hacksaw blade. Now I insert the dowels into the "JIG" so that the O-ring groove is at the right distance from the tip and the right cut depth all the way around the 1/2 inch dowels I use by twisting the dowels by hand while holding the blade in place so as not to slice into the jig which would effect O-ring seals on future plungers. Remember to  paint the wood grain of the plunger around the O-ring landing (or it will not seal well) and lube it up with each use. I don't store mine with the plunger inserted cuz it's a pain to get back out IF it is not well lubed or drys out during non use.
Best of luck to ya! It is a rewarding feeling when you get it to work after making it by hand.

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## rwc1969

Thanks Glockster, it does have excellent compression, but after thinking about it and reviewing what you just wrote I think it may be the "void" that is the problem. I'll experiment some more with it.

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## rwc1969

It works! with charcloth, but it won't work with chaga. If I cram the charcloth in real tight it works every time, but if I leave the slightest void it don't work. Pretty neat!

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## Glockster

So Glad you got it to lite up! My home made ones have almost no room once I push them in as to get the best compression ratio and highest heat (they say it can get up to 800 degrees F). The only void I have is the small one I stuff with char cloth like u did. Try it in a windy day and you don't even need to blow on it :-) Thanks for sharing your success!

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## rwc1969

It's quite repeatable using charcloth as long as I completely stuff the void with charcloth and press the piston all the way down until it bottoms out. But, if it's not pressed all the way down or there is any airspace whatsoever in the void it will not work.

Definitely not something I'd rely on, but the fact that the maglite has a parabolic lens, which can start fires, and a water-resistant place to store charcloth and chaga built in, in the lens cap, it is somewhat of a dual purpose item I suppose.

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## hunter63

So after reading y'all hard work on these here fire pistons, I decided to post mine.
No, it doesn't work, so now I thinking that maybe the piston is too small?

I sure there is a void, so maybe packing with char cloth, maybe?

I have tried a rubber "O" ring, imitation sinew wrapped around the grove, tried 
greasing it up w/ Vaseline........Nada.
Guess it's time to start over?

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## Glockster

Is the cylinder material wood or did insert a tube of some sort? I have never used a cylinder made of wood, seem that air would escape the pressure stroke via the woods grains? I know on my design with a wooden piston the air was leaking around the O-ring landing until I sealed it with some clear enamel, after that worked like a charm... I have only used Copper stub outs of cheap Maglite look a likes from harbor freight. The plunger diameter should be OK since my 200 year old one is about that size AND a shorter cylinder, so your compression ration should be better. BTW: A friend tried to make one of all steel and the drill marks down the bore would not let it seal either. 

Good luck and if I can help further let me know...

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## Glockster

Forgot to ask if your getting pressure that pushes back against your hand as you push in? Mine will almost pop back out of the cylinder if I slip off during the shove in.

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## ClovisMan

Here's mine with a parts list from Lowe's Home Improvement.
1 – 1/2x8 Copper Stubout        $4.98         Part Number  148876
1 – 1/2x36 Oak Dowel Rod       $2.32         Part Number  19418
1 – 1.25” Round Knob                $.97           Part Number  59278
1 - #8 O-Ring 10 pack                 $1.97         Part Number  198967

It works well with charcloth. I haven't been able to get dryer lint or cotton balls to light.
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## ravenscar

that is a lot of space taken up........

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## dixieangler

I use this around the house as a novelty. I would not carry it into the woods or if I did it, I do not consider it a reliable fire making tool given its limitations and requirements, O-rings, lube, and char. It is fun to play with.

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This is the best fire piston I have used bought or made. This one is shorter than the original in the link below overall in tube and piston by about three quarters of an inch. It took about four hours to build and was easy. It does work very good. All the parts cost about ten dollars including the ten pack of O-rings. The shoe polish tin or tinder box about four dollars and the Chapstick lube about one dollar. It should not bottom out as the air pressure is very high making the piston rebound in the tube. Here are the instructions for the build in pdf file format.



I use a friction set like this when out in the woods. Friction firebow sets are very reliable as long as the parts are the right parts from good friction wood that is standing, free of sap, and dry. Of course it helps if you have practiced and have experience using it. I am constantly testing woods that are new to me for friction. The best way is using the fingernail test to see if the wood etches before using it.

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I always carry in my pants pocket a mag stick (magnesium block/spark ferro rod) for wet days when dry friction wood may be tough to cut down into or get to. Also a pocket sharpener, cord, bandana, and SAK (Swiss Army Knife Hiker model). I also wear eye glasses that can work for solar fire starting if need be.

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## crashdive123

I got a kick (don't know about the legalities) of the pdf file you linked to.  It starts off "First off i want to thank you for purchasing thise instructions.

Nice fire piston and bow drill sets too.

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## dixieangler

> I got a kick (don't know about the legalities) of the pdf file you linked to. It starts off "First off i want to thank you for purchasing thise instructions.


LOL Me either but it is available right now so I figure it would not be available if illegal. Either that or somebody messed up. lol

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## OhioGrizzLapp

The ops piston looks good. 

I have made and bought fire pistons and used them. I do not feel they are reliable enough to take up room in my BOB. Much easier means to make fire in the wilds. At home to start the fireplace, I just use "Lint Rope," and any kind of sparking device (I have an old bic lighter top hanging at the fireplace) on a bead chain. 

Lint rope is so easy to make.... dryer lint and SLIGHT candle wax scraped infused, you just make a piece of rope from the lint/dry wax using the tri "Rolled Lint cord," (lint cord is made by just rolling the lint with wax chips on a flat surface, make three of these to what ever disered length and then twist into a rope) to make a rope of sorts. Just either braid or twist into a rope. Upper right hand cord, twist left as you twist all three cords to the right. To use, cut a 2" section, fluff it, spark it and have tinder ready as well as fuel. The rolled lint rope will burn about 3 minutes depending how tight you make the rope. Tighter burns longer & smaller, loose burns larger & quickly. 

I make fire faster this way at the fireplace than I can with a match or lighter. 

I would NOT advise to use lint rope in the field (Too humidity touchy) as a survival method, but is fun to make stuff from junk and make useful.

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## Bailey.W

You could actually make one from a Mini Maglite, a project that I'm now working on. Here's a link to a tutorial on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-djD2n2YSv0 There are other great videos about these, but this was the original.

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## Canadian-guerilla

firebows are more in line with my " think primitive " outdoor philosophy than a fire piston

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## Shalako

Interesting. I have never heard of these before, but I never had a problem with plain old Matches. I'm not familiar with Charcloth. I've stuck with wood shavings, dry Bark, Grass. Leaves etc.

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## giqcass

I saw a fire piston on a survival show. None of my friends or family knew what a fire piston was.  When I get an idea in my head sometimes there is only way to get it out.  I immediately went down to our local big box hardware and purchased the parts just before they closed.  I'm still obsessed with the results and plan on hunting down so tinder fungus tomorrow.  It was quite a process because once I made the fire piston I didn't have char cloth so I had to make that too.  I didn't have a good way to heat the cotton to make the char cloth so I also ended up making an alcohol burner out of coke cans.  Eventually I got my first fire piston to work flawlessly.  So of course I made another one and I decided to try making one out of oak as well.  I'm not having as much luck with the oak.  I probably wouldn't want to rely on a fire piston entirely with the other available options but for me it has it's own enjoyment.

Aluminum tube 1/16" thick  1/2" x 36" long
Aluminum Rod 3/8" diameter 36" long
#5 o-ring 3/8 O.D. x 1/4" I.D.
PIC_4541.jpgfire piston.jpg

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## jake abraham

cool looking i am still learning diffrent methods

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## crashdive123

Gigcass - I had to remove your video since it listed your website.  Websites cannot be listed or linked to in the body of posts.  You can however include it as part of your signature if you wish.

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## Thaddius Bickerton

I saw one made using a small screw driver that had been sharpened up to make the drill 

after making it out of wood, the wood needs to be sealed with something like varnish.  the fellow who made the one I saw used "super glue" to seal it up.

used something like jute twine to make a gasket then put some grease of some type on it.

after digging a hole in the end of the stick he put some fungus of some type in it and boom made a coal.  

whole thing took him about an hour to make, although he had roughed out the outside already.

****

I always mean to make me one, but so far haven't.  Somewhere I saw a list of copper parts you could get at the hardware to make one that looked much easier than the primitive one I saw made.  I may do a bit at getting one made.

It would be fun to pull it out to light my pipe when some folk who had never seen one were around.  They already think me using a firesteel to light a piece of Q-tip dipped in vasaline to get a fire is some kind of magick.  LOL

Imagine people wanting to light a birthday cake candles and not having a match in the house and the stove being those glass topped kind and not even willing to put a rolled up piece of paper to their precious stove, then me making a "match" from a q-tip and vaseline that their daughter gave me from her make up kit.

It was sad but funny.

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## WalkingTree

This thread is old but I thought I'd throw this in here anyway to help in case someone is curious later...this point is made but it doesn't get mentioned or thought about nearly as much as other factors so I want to emphasize it again here. I've seen this one fundamental design goal overlooked, believe it or not.

One of the reasons why someone's fire piston won't work which they don't think of often while being concerned with the gasket or the charcloth...is that it needs to be made such that it has a 25:1 compression ratio. A person might just follow a recipe of measurements for the parts and make it, but not make sure that those plans result in the finished product having that vital 25 to 1 compression ratio which makes all the magic work. This of course means that you need to design in a little more compression ratio than that, to allow for not slamming in the piston perfectly all the way or having some micro-leakage due to an imperfect gasket or the materials. Having a little more than 25:1 means that things like a gasket which isn't quite perfect won't matter. You'll still get some ignition. Plan on it never working absolutely perfectly and giving it the potential for more ratio. You can have your exact 25:1 ratio and it'll never work, because reality can have more factors than theory. This means simply adding a half inch or something like that to your cylinder and piston lengths.

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## Erratus Animus

Well all of that sounds good but I too saw the video of a fellow make one with a machete , screwdriver and plant fibers and it worked first time , made from green wood, even lit his cigarette with it. Pretty sure whatever the tolerances are he knew how to overcome them as it was all done under 9 minutes. I have made them and sold them for several years and never used any formula other some basic guides on piston depth and bore size. The long skinny one and the short fat one all light with ease. I have used string, rubber gaskets, homemade leather washers and homemade rubber washers. Even made one so strong on compression it blew the osage body apart. Most I make now are copper liners with sweated bottoms and double rubber gaskets.

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## Erratus Animus

lol I forgot I even started this post lol. I was sent two Vulcan fire pistons 2 years ago and use them for demos and as conversation pieces. They are pretty reliable but I now have a fire steel and bees wax soaked cotton with me anytime I am out.

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