elder and budleia

[pignuts]

i've heard of elder and budleia being used for making hand drills, but in my experience they both tend to have a hollow/pithy centre. obviously there must be a way round this. could somone let me know. is it a case of cutting the thicker stems , which tend not to be so pithy, and then whittling them down to the required size?

 

[rich59]

Hi Pignut,

I find that in general hollow sticks work better for hand drilling than the more solid sticks. Elder and buddleia work a little differently to each other. I generally drill onto pine hearthboard.

Elder - has quite a large hollow. I cut 2 year old growth, scrape off the bark and dry it. I then have (in ideal circumstances) a straight stick with 2 ends - the thicker end is usually a bit thick for easy hand drilling. The thinner end is generally about 1.5cm diameter with a woody outer ring and perhaps about 7-8mm diameter of pith in the middle. For me that woody ring works well. It does tend to cut into the hearthboard in a ring rather than a simple depression and 2nd and 3rd coals from the same depression can be difficult sometimes.

Buddleia - has a smaller hollow, and generally a more slender stem. I take stems 1-2 or more years old, scrape off the bark and dry it. I generally get a stick where the thicker end is 1 to 1.5cm diam and the other end 6-9mm diam. The thicker end I find ideal to drill with. With hand drilling it generally forms a fairly flat bottomed depression.

I have much more problem with sticks that are not hollow. Sycamore is one such. Sometimes I get it to work better by scraping out a hollow in the tip of a sycamore drill.

 

[Jeff Wagner]

Mullein is mostly pith with a thin, woody outer skin and it works great. I made up a set last week as a Christmas gift and accidentally made fire while burning in the hearth board on the kitchen floor. I really was not trying to make fire but after three half hearted passes down the shaft I was surprised to find that I had a coal and had to run for the woodstove before it burned through the paper I was using to catch the dust.

 

[pignuts]

amazing .i woulldnt of thought the pithy sticks did the job, but thats good news...
i picked a bunch of budleia from the car park at work today, so im going to spend the evening stripping them ready for drying. did you guys reckon about 1-1.5 cm thick at the drilling end, and can i use commercial pine timber to make a hearth board?

 

[Longstrider]

Whilst I was fireless with the drill, I remembered that I'd seen Elder mentioned as a good wood to start with, so whilst out in the woods I gathered a section of dead elder trunk about 3" diameter (Thinking that I would need a good sized bit for a hearth board). I set it aside at home to dry thoroughly, but in the meantime re-read old threads and saw that it was to be used as the drill, not the hearth. Not to be beaten, I split it down and whittled a drill from the solid wood. It works fine. So far I've managed decent coals from both hazel and elder drills on hearths of lime, ivy and elder.

Does anyone know if mullein grows in the UK ? I've seen it mentioned no-end of times as a good hand drill, but I don't know the plant. Would fox glove stem be any good as a substitute?

 

[rich59]

amazing .i woulldnt of thought the pithy sticks did the job, but thats good news...
i picked a bunch of budleia from the car park at work today, so im going to spend the evening stripping them ready for drying. did you guys reckon about 1-1.5 cm thick at the drilling end, and can i use commercial pine timber to make a hearth board?

Thats about what I estimate as the best diameter. But I don't usually have a tape measure to hand to check.

Mostly I use commercial pine timber. But keep it warm and dry. You want it dry as a crisp. Otherwise it goes soft causing a nice polished depression that you can't get much friction from and also just drills away quickly right through to the bottom giving off coarse sawdust.

 

[rich59]

Whilst I was fireless with the drill, I remembered that I'd seen Elder mentioned as a good wood to start with, so whilst out in the woods I gathered a section of dead elder trunk about 3" diameter (Thinking that I would need a good sized bit for a hearth board). I set it aside at home to dry thoroughly, but in the meantime re-read old threads and saw that it was to be used as the drill, not the hearth. Not to be beaten, I split it down and whittled a drill from the solid wood. It works fine. So far I've managed decent coals from both hazel and elder drills on hearths of lime, ivy and elder.

Wow Longstrider, only a week or so ago you got your first coal.

Does anyone know if mullein grows in the UK ? I've seen it mentioned no-end of times as a good hand drill, but I don't know the plant. Would fox glove stem be any good as a substitute?

Yes, mullein actually originated in the UK and Europe and got imported to the US where it took off as a major weed, presumably due to lack of something that eats it here.

I tried foxglove last year. I found I had a triangular stem that I could not drill with. Teasel is reported to be another possible. I have a good piece hanging about in a damp shed waiting for the summer to try it out.

 

[Longstrider]

Wow Longstrider, only a week or so ago you got your first coal.

.

Yes, thats right Rich, but I had been so determined to succeed that I laid up a stock of wood to try and let it all dry out before I had another go. I was so chuffed at getting it to work that first time, I've been experimenting and practicing almost every day since! (In reality this means showing off my new skill to just about anyone who will watch!) *LOL*

I've Googled for Mullien and found that seeds are available for about a pound a packet. Guess I'll be planting some this coming year to see how good the stuff
is for drills

 

[Jeff Wagner]

I've Googled for Mullien and found that seeds are available for about a pound a packet. Guess I'll be planting some this coming year to see how good the stuff
is for drills [/QUOTE]

Please note that stems are not produced until the second year of the plants growth. The first year growth results in a rosette of furry leaves only. If seeds are desired I can send some, however from my observations I have an impression the seeds have a low propagation percentage. The seed heads contain a great many seeds but only a very few new plants spring up near the mother weed.

 

[rich59]

Mullein.

Last autumn I harvested one head of mullein and had 1000s of seeds. I spread them all round a section of my garden. None came up in those positions.

Mullein seeds are notorious for coming up 100 years after they are sown. There might be a trick to get them germinating early but I don't know what it is.

 

[Jeff Wagner]

Mullein.


Mullein seeds are notorious for coming up 100 years after they are sown. There might be a trick to get them germinating early but I don't know what it is.

I suggest the trick may be to sew the seeds in your garden, around the house or anywhere you do NOT want them to grow...