How to Make Sparks With an Axe

Often an axe will spark just from use. It can happen while splitting wood, chopping down a tree and especially while sharpening the blade. The reason that the axe sparks is because it is made of steel. The main component in steel is iron, which oxidizes quickly while rusting. The oxidation process actually creates heat, turning the metal red and causing the spark as little pieces break off. The smaller the pieces that you can break off, the more sparks you will create. The harder the steel your axe is made from, the smaller the pieces that break off.

Instructions

- 1
  Sharpen your axe on a grinding wheel. The grinding wheel is made of a much harder material than the iron or steel the axe head is made from. This will cause little pieces of the steel to fly from the axe causing a shower of sparks.
- 2
  Chop wood with the axe. Many trees will have small mineral deposits that have been trapped in them while growing. When the axe strikes the mineral deposits, it will cause a spark from the blade as little chips of steel are released from the head of the axe.
- 3
  Strike a glancing blow across a hard stone surface. The reason that steel sparks against flint is because the flint is much harder than the steel surface. Many rocks found throughout the landscape are harder than the metal of the axe head, chipping little pieces of steel from the axe as it strikes.

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