joaquin39,

I am no expert or even a journeyman at this.

I hope some of the above suggestions work for you;
sounds like they have not yet helped.

Have you experimented in subdued light, so that you
can see the sparks easily?

Generally, I do not think of a fire-steel as starting
newspaper on fire. If there is such a steel for sale,
please let me know; I will upgrade.
For first spark tinder, I think of char-cloth, cotton
with petroleum jelly, magnesium filings.

For "natural tinder", for the first spark, think in
terms of 1)very dry 2)downy (not real down), like cattail
3)fine like a birds nest 4)charred may help.

Flint and Steel method generally produces less sparks
than a fire-steel. After a demo, it only took me 20
seconds to get char-cloth glowing. Then, gently blow,
on the char-cloth; transfer the char-cloth to a downy nest,
gently blowing the whole time, and woosh. Flames will leap
from the nest, so you better have you small kindling ready.