Agate Flints

[Dahonis]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions if I may.....

Does anyone still use them?

Are they easy to get in the UK?

Can you sharpen them with a diamond stone?

And finally, are they any good?

[dromia]

Tried them a few times over the years and never really got of on them, no benefits to me over "flint" and found them a bugger to sharpen in comparison to a few taps of a "hammer".

Also they used to be more expensive and harder to get, they never really got much of a following that I have noticed (except perhaps with johnny foreigner), so that says something.

Best thing is to buy a dozen or so and see how you get on. Mind I want to watch, could be entertaining.

[Dahonis]

Tried them a few times over the years and never really got of on them, no benefits to me over "flint" and found them a bugger to sharpen in comparison to a few taps of a "hammer".

Also they used to be more expensive and harder to get, they never really got much of a following that I have noticed (except perhaps with johnny foreigner), so that says something.

Best thing is to buy a dozen or so and see how you get on. Mind I want to watch, could be entertaining.

Something different to try......the internet is a wonderful thing when bored

[dromia]

They can be very hard on frizzens (lock geometry critical) so if you fit one be vigilant at every shot and cease use if there are signs of wear/gouging.

[Dahonis]

They can be very hard on frizzens (lock geometry critical) so if you fit one be vigilant at every shot and cease use if there are signs of wear/gouging.

I have ordered just the one to see how I get on.

The normal English flints work exceptionally well, just thought I would have a try of something else.

I will take note of the wearing of the frizzen, something I had not even considered, so thank you!

Failing that, I know a good gunsmith who does work on flintlocks

[Born Again]

I used them on a Brown Bess. I found them easy to clamp, because the top and bottom were perfectly flat and parallel. The sparks from the original steel were large but more red than yellow / white, perhaps the agate was digging in too deep. I epoxied a strip of old power hacksaw blade to the frizzen and this improved matters a lot.

This was all many years ago, if it happened now I would probably case harden the steel surface or maybe even experiment with titanium.