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Originally Posted by kahnjar1
I stand corrected. Just goes to show that we are all still learning. I had always understood that steel/iron was harder than flint, and it was the flint which sparked rather than the steel/iron.  |
Yup, always learning something. I think some confusion arises from the common term "flint" used for the pyrophoric rare-earth ferrocerium alloys used to make the sacrificial sparking elements in cigarette and other lighters. That substance (being relatively soft) is shaved away by the steel part of the lighter, and catches fire to make sparks.
I've wasted some time occasionally trying to use ferrocerium (scavenged from a survival-kit firelighter) in flintlock ignition, using the frizzen as the striker, so to speak, but the stuff is too frangible to withstand impact. Might work in a wheellock, though.