fire by friction
- Thread starter CRAZY FROG
- Start date
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Make sure
1. the hearth and spindle are dry,
2. the spindle is straight as possible.
3. your technique is locked in.
by 3, I mean keep the foot securing the hearth as close to the spindle as possible, and hook the arm that supports the bearing block around the knee.
this will stop the spindle from wobbling.
Keep your weight above the spindle.
Move the bow slowly and smoothly to start, then speed up.
when you get smoke, speed up a little. when the smoke starts to twist around the spindle, do 30 strokes as fast as you can.
lift out the spindle and sit back.
You should have an ember by now, but don't rush things.
The ember will last for a couple of minutes. Get your breath back.
You don't want a drop of sweat to fall from your brow and land on the coal (this has happened to me, it's not funny.)
Once you've composed yourself, lift the hearth off the ember, and introduce it to your tinder bundle.
Hope this helps.
1. the hearth and spindle are dry,
2. the spindle is straight as possible.
3. your technique is locked in.
by 3, I mean keep the foot securing the hearth as close to the spindle as possible, and hook the arm that supports the bearing block around the knee.
this will stop the spindle from wobbling.
Keep your weight above the spindle.
Move the bow slowly and smoothly to start, then speed up.
when you get smoke, speed up a little. when the smoke starts to twist around the spindle, do 30 strokes as fast as you can.
lift out the spindle and sit back.
You should have an ember by now, but don't rush things.
The ember will last for a couple of minutes. Get your breath back.
You don't want a drop of sweat to fall from your brow and land on the coal (this has happened to me, it's not funny.)
Once you've composed yourself, lift the hearth off the ember, and introduce it to your tinder bundle.
Hope this helps.
And it doesn't have to be a bow drill: the fire plow and the fire saw are also methods for fire by friction (as is, strictly speaking, striking a match 
).
).
I used to call it a numbers game.....
At every stage of the process - from selecting the materials and making the pieces, through burning in your spindle, right up to "going for it" - elevate your chances of success by getting it all as perfect as you possibly can. A few percentage point improvement at each stage makes the difference between success and failure. If you accept less-than-ideal anywhere along the line, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Sounds kinda brutal, but until I was shown how fine the detail has to be, I struggled for a long time before getting my first fire - and once you do, all the effort is worth it!
ATB
Ogri the trog
At every stage of the process - from selecting the materials and making the pieces, through burning in your spindle, right up to "going for it" - elevate your chances of success by getting it all as perfect as you possibly can. A few percentage point improvement at each stage makes the difference between success and failure. If you accept less-than-ideal anywhere along the line, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Sounds kinda brutal, but until I was shown how fine the detail has to be, I struggled for a long time before getting my first fire - and once you do, all the effort is worth it!
ATB
Ogri the trog
As said already, plus get the best wood possible for the parts of the set.
Many folks have a preferance but try a hazel spindle on a lime hearth and your laughing. As hard a bearing block as possible - Hornbeem is good as is Holly. Make sure all is running nice and smooth, and if problems occur try to work out why and sort them out.
Then keep on trying till success. Good luck!
Many folks have a preferance but try a hazel spindle on a lime hearth and your laughing. As hard a bearing block as possible - Hornbeem is good as is Holly. Make sure all is running nice and smooth, and if problems occur try to work out why and sort them out.
Then keep on trying till success. Good luck!
Have a look at the 'Firecraft' sub-forum, under the 'Bushcraft Skills' forum - everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask...
