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Fire making, fire lighting or fire craft is the process of artificially starting a fire. It requires completing the fire triangle , usually by heating tinder above its autoignition temperature . Fire is an essential tool for human survival and the use of fire was important in early human cultural history since the Lower Paleolithic .
From the Iron Age forward, until the invention of the friction match in the early 1800s by John Walker, the use of flint and steel was a common method of fire lighting. Percussion fire-starting was prevalent in Europe during ancient times, the Middle Ages and the Viking Age. [3] [6]
The heat eventually turns the wood at the point of contact into charcoal, which is ground to a powder by the friction, that collects into the "V" notch. Continuing operation eventually ignites the charcoal dust producing a tiny ember, which can be used to start a fire in a "tinder bundle" (a nest of stringy, fluffy, and combustible material). [4]
A fire plough (or fire plow) is a firelighting tool. In its simplest form, it is two sticks rubbed together. [1] Rubbing produces friction and heat, and eventually an ember. [2] More advanced are "stick-and-groove" forms, which typically uses a V-shaped base piece of wood, and a "friction stick" as the activator. [2] [3]
Two forms of the fire-saw have been documented in central and western Australia. [3] One model is a split, notched stick as a hearth, and a knife-like hardwood stick as the saw. The other model makes use of the woomera weapon and defensive shield that natives carried. In the Philippines and Oceania, a fire-saw from bamboo pieces is common. [4] [5]
A hand drill with a hearthboard, used as a fire drill. A hand drill is the simplest primitive method to produce rapid rotary motion of a rod. It consists in holding the rod vertically between both hands and moving these back and forth, in opposite directions, as in rubbing them. The rod typically is one or two feet long and half an inch in ...
The control of fire by early humans was a critical technology enabling the evolution of humans. Fire provided a source of warmth and lighting, protection from predators (especially at night), a way to create more advanced hunting tools, and a method for cooking food.
These sparks can be used to ignite tinder and so start a fire. [9] In colonial America, flint and steel were used to light fires when easier methods failed. Scorched linen was commonly used as tinder to catch the spark and start the fire, but producing a good spark could take much time. A spinning steel wheel provided a good stream of sparks ...