Clickspring is honestly has some of the best produced machining videos on the internet. Anyone who's into machining and isn't subscribed is making a mistake.
Chris, you have just the right balance of non-intrusive music, narration, and great video quality!! Oh, yes, let me not forget your skill and precision work. I'm an electrical engineer, woodworker, photographer, CNC beginner, and 3D printer user, and I am at awe watching your perfect presentations!!! Thanks for sharing, you inspire me!
This was about as far off of any expectation I had for a next Clickspring video and it was thrilling! Who knew that you could start a fire in such a manner? Well done, Chris. Scott
Aristocob The most interesting part is that Rudolf Diesel the inventor of the Diesel engine got his idea from this very Fire Piston. A self igniting engine using compression to heat even heavy oils above their ignition point. Beautiful video, I like it alot.
I made one of these based on the plans, It turned out well. I bored out the cylinder and then used a smaller drill bit rapped in fine grit sand paper to get a nice finish on the inside.
Although I ended up not going into the trade (at least for now), I went to a 2-year school for watchmakers. The first year was heavily weighted on machining, which became one of my favorite subjects. I loved sitting at one of our Levin instrument lathes and turning tools and parts. That was 15 years ago, and this video took me right back. Thank you VERY much for posting this. Now I'm going to look for more of your videos.
+Switch & Lever the reason is because the air contains a certain amount of heat energy... this is spread out over an area so it can't ignite it but as you compress the air you bring more and more thermal energy into the less space to the point of igniting a piece of ^_^
Absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Video production, camera work, narration, music, video sound/music levels.. very, very, very nice. Craftsmanship and attention to details.. 11 out of 10!
I machined a bunch of these according to modified plans. I highly recommend you double the o ring to two on the plunger and use a new reamer or lapping compound on the cylinder. Surface finish is critical to success. You can eliminate the o-ring cap on the cylinder. I also suggest using chapstick as the lubricant. Charred Toilet paper makes good tinder, no need to punch a hole in the Altoids tin. You can use a BBQ grill or kiln to make tinder. If going with the kiln 1000 F for 2 hours makes it very easy to light.
Thank you very much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you make a fire piston. I am amazed at how well you convey information that is easy to understand. I wish I had the money to invest in a lathe. You make it all seem so easy. But I know, someone as skilled as you makes things look easy when I know that they are not. Thank you again for sharing.
Great timing - perfect for an unusual Christmas gift for my brother! I've not seen this tool before and it looks beautiful too. As always, a very professional production of the video - a pleasure to watch.
Hey Clickspring, Jimmy Diresta recommended you and I want to get more into metal working. Loved the video. I like the voice over format and look forward to watching your other videos.
Your videos are awsome! I made three fire pistons from your plans and they turned out well. Your in-depth descriptions made it easy. They are the most awsome christmas presents ever. The only problem I encountered was drilling the hole in the cylinder. I don't have enough travel on my mini lathe so had to resort to the mini mill (didn't work) then the wood lathe. Not ideal but it finally worked after two tries. Your pistons will become heirlooms for my son and his family.
Even though I explained diesel engines to a friend just yesterday I would never have thought you could start a fire that way by hand! Impressive video Chris!
It's a given that a fire-piston machined by Clickspring won't merely be an everyday ol' ordinary fire-piston, it'll be a work of art made with clockmaker's precision. Outstanding!
Chris, as usual this video is brilliant. I love the way you make engineering look so easy. I've never heard of a fire piston before, now I've got to make one. keep the videos coming, we love them Tim
Now I need a machine shop.........really good video as always Chris. I'm sorely tempted to get me a little lathe but have no space at the moment, maybe in the future
Very nice man! That is a very beautiful machine! I machined me one similar out of acrylic for the body. Was neat to actually see the spark and the water vapor come out of the material on each stroke. From that I learned no matter how wet something is you can still fire it up by letting the vapor out until it finally fires up. The compass is an awesome idea!
Sharp tools make for enjoyable machining, and good results. And yes, it's not easy making tools really sharp, because it relies on so many things: picking a good grinding stone, mounting it to a decent spindle, knowing how to dress it so it runs smoothly, learning how to present the tool so you end up with simple, clean faceted geometry (with only one facet per face), having the patience and dexterity and fine motor control to polish the facets, and the keen eyesight (or the visual aids) to get true edges at the junction of the facets ... a useful tip is that if you can see an edge, it's not truly sharp, because what you are seeing is either a radius or a flatter area adjacent to the edge. A sharp edge is zero thickness so it cannot be seen as an entity in its own right, just as a change in shading. For best results, you want a scarily sharp edge ACROSS the chip which comes off, but the edge which is in line with the flow of the chip should be radiused. The amount of that radius is governed by rigidity of the machine and work (less rigid: smaller radius) and by the feed rate (coarser feed: bigger radius) and the desired finish (finer finish: bigger radius) Another tip: if you cannot develop the manual skills, there are jigs and mechanical aids which can help considerably, and these can be made rather than purchased. Another tip: tangential tooling makes many of the problems moot: you have only to sharpen the top face. However these are only usable under certain circumstances...
Thank you for another fantastic video as always, Chris. If I may put my two cents in, this is also what happens (called Dieseling) when you shoot a spring piston air rifle. The combustible lube droplets (excess will usually ruin a piston seal) ignite under this sudden pressure, adding more power behind the pellet.
+Curt Filipowski I did make the scribe too, but of some 1045 steel and it looks awesome too. Going to do this now too. Too bad I don't have any brass around, I take this small chunks of leftover steel from the job.
Hey Chris, great as usual, can you please add a notification on your Clickspring channel when your vids appear elsewhere, I don't follow make, nor I want or will.
One of the neatest things I've seen on YT. Incredible idea made by a fantastic craftsman. I just sub'd after watching this and to the guys own channel.
Beautiful! Both the project and the video presentation. You have a very artistic eye and skills in multiple areas. Thank you for showing how it's done, and for the plans. This is going on the must do project list! -- Mike
looks great, In the past I have had alot of success using simple Dryer Lint from the filter after drying cotton/wool clothes. Seems to make great tinder but not sure how well it would work in this application. Not sure if this would replace my current favorite of a 9v battery and steel wool from a scouring pad though...this does look alot sharper.
A few friends and I made a dozen or so of these using a polycarbonate material. No compass or storage space but it works great. I may add the compass to mine soon. I use a waterproof cigar holder ( for two cigars) to hold my extra char cloth and tender.
Several commenters didnt know about the fire method. You can buy a fire piston in many places, start with Amazon. But of course many times we are not satisfied with lowly store-bought stuff :)
Brilliant project as always. I've just finished making one for my son but it needs a little tweaking. I think perhaps my charcloth is still a little brown. Best I can get is a bit of smoke. Just as a test, I put the head of a safety match in and it ignited first time, so must be NEARLY there. Maybe replace the o-ring as it got a little worn on the try-fit groove cutting. I like the earlier suggestion to put in a second ring though. Even if it never works, it just looks beautiful!! Keep it up Chris.
Clickspring is honestly has some of the best produced machining videos on the internet. Anyone who's into machining and isn't subscribed is making a mistake.
well at least they're making something lol :)
I could watch milling videos all day long.
Lathe* milling is different, none the less just as entertaining
+bmx4free *Turning
+viperz888 or generally speaking: machining
+Pelle Olsson Yeah, I watch re-runs of "Barney Miller" all the time.
+Pelle Olsson i was going to upvote your comment but i dont want to ruin the 69 :)
Chris, you have just the right balance of non-intrusive music, narration, and great video quality!! Oh, yes, let me not forget your skill and precision work. I'm an electrical engineer, woodworker, photographer, CNC beginner, and 3D printer user, and I am at awe watching your perfect presentations!!! Thanks for sharing, you inspire me!
This was about as far off of any expectation I had for a next Clickspring video and it was thrilling! Who knew that you could start a fire in such a manner? Well done, Chris. Scott
+Aristocob Should go nicely with one those Rusticobs Scott! Cheers mate :)
+Clickspring any chance you could do a video on sharpening cutting tools?
Clickspring could you make 2 gears out of brass if you had plastic copies ?
Aristocob The most interesting part is that Rudolf Diesel the inventor of the Diesel engine got his idea from this very Fire Piston. A self igniting engine using compression to heat even heavy oils above their ignition point. Beautiful video, I like it alot.
The principle has been known since the time of Alexander the Great.
Maybe it is the return of the Make youtube channel; thanks to quality producers like you, Clickspring
Awesome device, awesome craftsmanship, awesome video as always!
+Scrap wood City Cheers, thanks for watching :)
I made one of these based on the plans, It turned out well. I bored out the cylinder and then used a smaller drill bit rapped in fine grit sand paper to get a nice finish on the inside.
This kind of compression igniter was what gave Rudolf Diesel the idea for the diesel engine.
pop1040
Although I ended up not going into the trade (at least for now), I went to a 2-year school for watchmakers. The first year was heavily weighted on machining, which became one of my favorite subjects. I loved sitting at one of our Levin instrument lathes and turning tools and parts. That was 15 years ago, and this video took me right back. Thank you VERY much for posting this. Now I'm going to look for more of your videos.
You never disappoint. Using the heat of compression to ignite the tinder is brilliant. I love your videos so please don't stop.
That is way cool! I had no idea you could even ignite something like this by compression. I may just have to make one myself!
+Switch & Lever Awesome! I'd love to see a S&L version!
A diesel engine ignites its fuel in exactly the same way. Compression ignition.
+A. Zak the inventor of the Diesel engine got the idea after seeing a fire piston
+Switch & Lever Please do! I bet you could make a cool spin on it.
+Switch & Lever the reason is because the air contains a certain amount of heat energy... this is spread out over an area so it can't ignite it but as you compress the air you bring more and more thermal energy into the less space to the point of igniting a piece of ^_^
Absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Video production, camera work, narration, music, video sound/music levels.. very, very, very nice. Craftsmanship and attention to details.. 11 out of 10!
I machined a bunch of these according to modified plans. I highly recommend you double the o ring to two on the plunger and use a new reamer or lapping compound on the cylinder. Surface finish is critical to success. You can eliminate the o-ring cap on the cylinder. I also suggest using chapstick as the lubricant. Charred Toilet paper makes good tinder, no need to punch a hole in the Altoids tin. You can use a BBQ grill or kiln to make tinder. If going with the kiln 1000 F for 2 hours makes it very easy to light.
Chris deserves at least 1M subs! Great craftsmanship and cool little gadget! Cheers!
Thank you very much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you make a fire piston. I am amazed at how well you convey information that is easy to understand. I wish I had the money to invest in a lathe. You make it all seem so easy. But I know, someone as skilled as you makes things look easy when I know that they are not. Thank you again for sharing.
Love everything about this video, the build, the cinematography, the voice, just everything!
Perfectly executed milling and survival tools? Oh yeah, you killing it out there! Excellent job!
Another Excellent video from Clickspring. Detailed with timely close-ups and overlays of secondary parts. Very well done.
Chris, you are an artist with that lathe
Great timing - perfect for an unusual Christmas gift for my brother! I've not seen this tool before and it looks beautiful too. As always, a very professional production of the video - a pleasure to watch.
Hey Clickspring, Jimmy Diresta recommended you and I want to get more into metal working. Loved the video. I like the voice over format and look forward to watching your other videos.
Your videos are awsome! I made three fire pistons from your plans and they turned out well. Your in-depth descriptions made it easy. They are the most awsome christmas presents ever. The only problem I encountered was drilling the hole in the cylinder. I don't have enough travel on my mini lathe so had to resort to the mini mill (didn't work) then the wood lathe. Not ideal but it finally worked after two tries.
Your pistons will become heirlooms for my son and his family.
It is really entertaining watching an excellent craftsman at work.
Your videos are top notch. Photography is tops and your accompanying audio is well thought out / delivered. Please continue doing what you do so well.
Hands down the best channel on UA-cam. Beautiful work my man.
I don't own a lathe but I really enjoy watching your videos and I can't wait to see the clock finished.
I'm starting my cnc machining course soon and watching these kinds of videos get me excited to start learning :)
The statement about the compasses being in a state of confusion was awesome.
Nice to see you here at Make as well!
Aaand that's Christmas sorted for all my camping friends. Thanks for yet another fantastic video.
Ive never heard of this method for firestarting- very nice machine work.
Brilliant project, Chris.
Even though I explained diesel engines to a friend just yesterday I would never have thought you could start a fire that way by hand! Impressive video Chris!
It's a given that a fire-piston machined by Clickspring won't merely be an everyday ol' ordinary fire-piston, it'll be a work of art made with clockmaker's precision.
Outstanding!
You should be on TV. It would make an awesome series, success is assurred. Congratulations!
Another beautiful elegant project
A practical application for basic lathe operations. For the mill-deprived, a drill press would probably do for the lanyard cross-hole.
Just got mine very happy with quality & ease of lighting , was wondering the size of O rings for replacement down the road.
I've never had any desire to use a metal lathe and I'll probably never actually learn how to do it, but man is your work watchable. Great stuff.
Chris, as usual this video is brilliant. I love the way you make engineering look so easy. I've never heard of a fire piston before, now I've got to make one.
keep the videos coming, we love them
Tim
What a clever device. Nicely done. Thanks Chris.
As a machinist I have to say…I dig your style!
The noise you use to show where the O-ring is the exact same one use for the mine-sweeper in Army Men! +Clickspring +Make
Fantastic, well done as always! MAKE is that much better because of Clickspring, keep it up!
Wow, I would carry that thing around just because. It is so beautifully made and with such grace. Awesome job.
Skills, my friend! You've got them! Even on simple jobs, your attention to detail is exemplary!
Hi Chris, very nice project!
Another gem Clickspring! Keep um coming!
dont know y i am addicted to this kinds of videos
Now I need a machine shop.........really good video as always Chris. I'm sorely tempted to get me a little lathe but have no space at the moment, maybe in the future
Chris your videos are so well done thank you!
Very nice man! That is a very beautiful machine! I machined me one similar out of acrylic for the body. Was neat to actually see the spark and the water vapor come out of the material on each stroke. From that I learned no matter how wet something is you can still fire it up by letting the vapor out until it finally fires up. The compass is an awesome idea!
Absolutely exceptional build
I have never had any luck with hobby lathes as there was always to much chatter but you did a great job. Very nice video and very informative. Thanks
My first time hearing of a fire piston. Awesome video as always
Chris, this is just awesome!
Your metal shavings look better than my best project!
Sharp tools make for enjoyable machining, and good results. And yes, it's not easy making tools really sharp, because it relies on so many things: picking a good grinding stone, mounting it to a decent spindle, knowing how to dress it so it runs smoothly, learning how to present the tool so you end up with simple, clean faceted geometry (with only one facet per face), having the patience and dexterity and fine motor control to polish the facets, and the keen eyesight (or the visual aids) to get true edges at the junction of the facets ... a useful tip is that if you can see an edge, it's not truly sharp, because what you are seeing is either a radius or a flatter area adjacent to the edge. A sharp edge is zero thickness so it cannot be seen as an entity in its own right, just as a change in shading. For best results, you want a scarily sharp edge ACROSS the chip which comes off, but the edge which is in line with the flow of the chip should be radiused. The amount of that radius is governed by rigidity of the machine and work (less rigid: smaller radius) and by the feed rate (coarser feed: bigger radius) and the desired finish (finer finish: bigger radius)
Another tip: if you cannot develop the manual skills, there are jigs and mechanical aids which can help considerably, and these can be made rather than purchased.
Another tip: tangential tooling makes many of the problems moot: you have only to sharpen the top face. However these are only usable under certain circumstances...
Thank you for another fantastic video as always, Chris. If I may put my two cents in, this is also what happens (called Dieseling) when you shoot a spring piston air rifle. The combustible lube droplets (excess will usually ruin a piston seal) ignite under this sudden pressure, adding more power behind the pellet.
Gorgeous piece of work.
Another great video, I will be adding one of these to my camping kit. Well done Clickspring
watching the clickspring videos makes me wish I had a lathe do badly. awesome job!
Excellent workmanship
Nice job as always Chris! Jim
how do you make suck amazing cuts the way you do? whether on the mill or the lathe you make such smooth elegant cuts
Love these dudes voice and Australian accent.
Cool projects to of course
I watch many machining videos, you sir are a top notch craftsman.!!!
Truly NICE job Chris!👍
Well the last video inspired me to make the scribe, now I have to take a run at this! Great video as usual.
+Curt Filipowski I did make the scribe too, but of some 1045 steel and it looks awesome too. Going to do this now too. Too bad I don't have any brass around, I take this small chunks of leftover steel from the job.
Your video work and narration is fantastic!!
Hey Chris, great as usual, can you please add a notification on your Clickspring channel when your vids appear elsewhere, I don't follow make, nor I want or will.
wow. Didn't know about a fire piston. And I do miss working on lathes and milling machines now.
Fantastic video. My new favorite channel ;)
Awesome device, awesome craftsmanship,
One of the neatest things I've seen on YT. Incredible idea made by a fantastic craftsman. I just sub'd after watching this and to the guys own channel.
WONDERFULL!!! great video editing as usual.
Thumbs up from Spain amigo!
Cool project Chris. Nice work
That was incredible!
Fantastic video.
Really great project, Chris!
Beautiful! Both the project and the video presentation. You have a very artistic eye and skills in multiple areas. Thank you for showing how it's done, and for the plans. This is going on the must do project list!
-- Mike
Another beautiful job. Thanks Chris.
this video solidifies my desire for a mill! thanks for posting!
fantastic job I love the little mill
I like your milling videos, and this was by far my favorite one!
looks great, In the past I have had alot of success using simple Dryer Lint from the filter after drying cotton/wool clothes. Seems to make great tinder but not sure how well it would work in this application.
Not sure if this would replace my current favorite of a 9v battery and steel wool from a scouring pad though...this does look alot sharper.
Another super project and awesome video! Well done!
Cool, I have a Wilderness Solutions and a Vulcan already. I love your design. Making a fire piston is on my bucket list.
A few friends and I made a dozen or so of these using a polycarbonate material. No compass or storage space but it works great. I may add the compass to mine soon. I use a waterproof cigar holder ( for two cigars) to hold my extra char cloth and tender.
VERY nice work there.
Nice video Chris.
Absolutely brilliant, I have never seen one before. I enjoy your videos allot as they are unique.
Excellent camerawork.
Beautiful work.
great video from clickspring as always...
beautiful project
Hey you should offer week-end classes making these beauties!!!
Several commenters didnt know about the fire method. You can buy a fire piston in many places, start with Amazon. But of course many times we are not satisfied with lowly store-bought stuff :)
Дуже крута штука 👍 дякую за відео! З Різдвом та наступаючим Новим Роком! 🎉🎉🎉
Cool project
Brilliant project as always. I've just finished making one for my son but it needs a little tweaking. I think perhaps my charcloth is still a little brown. Best I can get is a bit of smoke. Just as a test, I put the head of a safety match in and it ignited first time, so must be NEARLY there. Maybe replace the o-ring as it got a little worn on the try-fit groove cutting. I like the earlier suggestion to put in a second ring though. Even if it never works, it just looks beautiful!! Keep it up Chris.
Andy Severn put diesel in it and tell me what happens
LOL Sounds like a pretty dangerous idea to me - don't try that at home kids! (Unless you want a spot on Fail Army)
Great project, and a great video as always Chris @ +Clickspring
Very beautiful. Excellent vid!