Here's how I make my fire pistons. I'm not a vendor and don't plan on going into the fire piston business 
I just try stuff to see if it works, then I often just move on. I made my first working one of these 10 or so years ago.
My work is ugly but functional. These do last awhile but can come apart at either the cylinder plug or at the O-ring groove. Acrylic is brittle and doesn't like too hard a smack.
Here's some show with miscellaneous parts. See the puff of smoke on the tinder on the saw blade? The longer one works; the smaller one is very inconsistent. One neat thing is you can see the flash when they ignite, especially with paper towel (which doesn't stay lit for me.)
These pistons do work with charcloth and IO tinder fungus.
I start out by buying 1/2" internal diameter clear acrylic tubing and 1/2" clear acrylic rod. The stuff is sometimes called lucite. It's been many years since I did so because at the time I bought 6' lengths of each. But if you google 'acrylic tubing' you should get some hits. The first hit was US Plastics - http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=440&parentcatid=443. I'm not affiliated with this outfit, either. My guess is 3/8" would work better, but I've never tried it.
It's easy to cut this acrylic with a saw into pieces of the proper size. I shoot for a 5-6" length on the piston so figure 6-7" with the cap on. I eyeball everything. Make your cuts and sand or file the edges smooth.
The two tough parts are cutting the groove for the O-ring and the glue-up of the cylinder.
Here's how i cut the groove for the O-ring.
I chuck it into a drill press and use a board to steady a hacksaw blade and let it due the cutting. Again, I eyeball it and check frequently until the groove is sufficient to keep the O-ring and get good pressure in the cylinder. After that's set, I drill either a 1/4" or 3/16" hole into the end of the piston to hold the tinder. Lately I prefer 1/4".
I use standard hardware store O-rings.
To make the cylinder and to glue on the end cap to the piston, you need good acrylic glue. I first started using MEC based acrylic glue from Weld-On called IPS Weld-On #3 or #4. The stuff is carcenogenic so I don't use it anymore. Instead, I take a small glass jar (like those used for jellies) and put about a tablespoon of acetone or nail polish remover into it. Then I add pieces of scrap lucite. I let set over night and in the morning I have glue. I try to get it to be about the consistence of honey. It seems to hold OK.
I sand both the inside of the tube and the outside of the rod to make a better fit and to give the glue gripping surfaces then smear glue onto both the tube and the rod and press together. I let set for 24 hours then trim & sand off the excess. I also sand the piston rod so it more easily moves through the cylinder, and I lubricate it.
Then I check it with tinder. Happy fire pistoning!
I just try stuff to see if it works, then I often just move on. I made my first working one of these 10 or so years ago.My work is ugly but functional. These do last awhile but can come apart at either the cylinder plug or at the O-ring groove. Acrylic is brittle and doesn't like too hard a smack.
Here's some show with miscellaneous parts. See the puff of smoke on the tinder on the saw blade? The longer one works; the smaller one is very inconsistent. One neat thing is you can see the flash when they ignite, especially with paper towel (which doesn't stay lit for me.)
These pistons do work with charcloth and IO tinder fungus.
I start out by buying 1/2" internal diameter clear acrylic tubing and 1/2" clear acrylic rod. The stuff is sometimes called lucite. It's been many years since I did so because at the time I bought 6' lengths of each. But if you google 'acrylic tubing' you should get some hits. The first hit was US Plastics - http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=440&parentcatid=443. I'm not affiliated with this outfit, either. My guess is 3/8" would work better, but I've never tried it.
It's easy to cut this acrylic with a saw into pieces of the proper size. I shoot for a 5-6" length on the piston so figure 6-7" with the cap on. I eyeball everything. Make your cuts and sand or file the edges smooth.
The two tough parts are cutting the groove for the O-ring and the glue-up of the cylinder.
Here's how i cut the groove for the O-ring.
I chuck it into a drill press and use a board to steady a hacksaw blade and let it due the cutting. Again, I eyeball it and check frequently until the groove is sufficient to keep the O-ring and get good pressure in the cylinder. After that's set, I drill either a 1/4" or 3/16" hole into the end of the piston to hold the tinder. Lately I prefer 1/4".
I use standard hardware store O-rings.
To make the cylinder and to glue on the end cap to the piston, you need good acrylic glue. I first started using MEC based acrylic glue from Weld-On called IPS Weld-On #3 or #4. The stuff is carcenogenic so I don't use it anymore. Instead, I take a small glass jar (like those used for jellies) and put about a tablespoon of acetone or nail polish remover into it. Then I add pieces of scrap lucite. I let set over night and in the morning I have glue. I try to get it to be about the consistence of honey. It seems to hold OK.
I sand both the inside of the tube and the outside of the rod to make a better fit and to give the glue gripping surfaces then smear glue onto both the tube and the rod and press together. I let set for 24 hours then trim & sand off the excess. I also sand the piston rod so it more easily moves through the cylinder, and I lubricate it.
Then I check it with tinder. Happy fire pistoning!
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