well after what seems to be an eternity i have managed to get a coal from the hand drill, i finally got the coal using teasl on poplar...
i watched a youtube video where the bloke wet his hands (by spitting on them) then rubbed it in, i do this but by no means as much as this chap did, so i tried it today, i found it gave much more grip than just a little bit rubbed a little, the key was to rub it in very well, and to do this several times....
i also found i was rushing things and broke my own bow drill rules, i use a 2 stage method on the bow drill, filling the notch, then catching/heating the dust, when applied to the hand drill it worked a treat, so i could have had a coal much sooner with the hand drill. you still need to keep the heat in the board and keep twisting the spindle, but the above method uses less energy.. i was tending to go for it to quickly, this meant i was burnt out too soon, and the dust was to burnt to catch properly as a fuel source..
hope this helps other people and pictures will come very shortly, they are on my phone as i was not expecting to get a coal...
regards.
chris.
i watched a youtube video where the bloke wet his hands (by spitting on them) then rubbed it in, i do this but by no means as much as this chap did, so i tried it today, i found it gave much more grip than just a little bit rubbed a little, the key was to rub it in very well, and to do this several times....
i also found i was rushing things and broke my own bow drill rules, i use a 2 stage method on the bow drill, filling the notch, then catching/heating the dust, when applied to the hand drill it worked a treat, so i could have had a coal much sooner with the hand drill. you still need to keep the heat in the board and keep twisting the spindle, but the above method uses less energy.. i was tending to go for it to quickly, this meant i was burnt out too soon, and the dust was to burnt to catch properly as a fuel source..
hope this helps other people and pictures will come very shortly, they are on my phone as i was not expecting to get a coal...
regards.
chris.